Infrastructure
Commentary
Mourning The Many Foibles Of Medicare And Medicaid At 55
Today, Medicare and Medicaid both mark their 55th birthdays. But hold the cake. There’s not much to celebrate on this anniversary. You’d be hard pressed to find two more wasteful, fraud-ridden programs than Medicare and Medicaid. They grow less fiscally sustainable with each passing year. And they routinely deliver subpar care that, ...
Blog
High on Spending, Light on Stimulus: Legislative Democrats Propose $100 Billion Borrowing Plan
This week in Washington, Democrats and Republicans are squabbling over the next economic stimulus package. Republicans have proposed a roughly $1 trillion plan, while Speaker Pelosi is pushing a $3 trillion plan. The partisan haggling and negotiations via shuttle diplomacy have already begun. Upon returning from their summer recess, Sacramento ...
Blog
Biden’s Climate Change Agenda Is Inspired by AOC, California
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden last week unveiled his version of the Green New Deal. The plan, which can be summed up as AOC meets CA, shows just how far Biden is willing to lunge toward the left coast’s environmental agenda. AOC’s Green New Deal, criticized for being light on ...
Commentary
Biden a moderate? Sanders, AOC plans for candidate suggest this instead
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has long been considered a political moderate. A new report from his “unity” task forces should put that reputation to rest. The 110-page document offers detailed policy recommendations for an incoming Biden administration. It would represent the most left-wing governing program of any president ...
Blog
Notes from Taxifornia
Last week, as millions of Californians filed their tax returns on the delayed July 15 tax deadline, there was good and bad news on the tax increase front in Taxifornia. Split Roll Tax Increase Campaign Based on Class Warfare I wrote last month that how the 2020-21 state budget deal, ...
Blog
California Near Rock-Bottom Again on Yet Another National Ranking
Another national list, another nearly rock-bottom ranking for California. It’s become too predictable. When WalletHub, a prolific producer of lists, says that California is 48th among the states on “taxpayer return on investment” (forget for the moment that taxes are not investments but funds to operate government, and a drain ...
Business & Economics
A Better Alternative to More Coronavirus Stimulus Spending and Loan Programs
By Rod Richardson and Wayne Winegarden As the nation grapples with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate may soon consider another federal stimulus package. Some politicians favor trillions in additional federal spending and lending, but before we further explode the debt and deficit, let’s pause and think about what ...
Agriculture
Think July 1 Gas Tax Increase Will Fund Better Roads? Think Again.
On July 1, three days before we celebrate our American freedom, and while we’re still feeling the effects of a three-month loss of that liberty, the state tax on gasoline will increase by 3.2 cents per gallon. It should be enough to ensure California keeps its position as the state ...
Agriculture
CAPITAL IDEAS – Suing Oil Companies: It’s Not About the Environment
Download the PDF In late May, a panel of federal judges resurrected a couple of previously dismissed climate change lawsuits filed by San Francisco and Oakland, and also allowed six other community-based suits to go forward. The plaintiffs aren’t concerned with the environment, nor are they interested in justice. Their ...
Blog
Governor’s May Revise: Everything Old is New Again
Gov. Gavin Newsom released his May Revise budget plan on Thursday – a dramatically different budget from his January plan that anticipated a $5.6 billion surplus. California now faces a $54.3 billion deficit. In a press conference that lasted more than an hour (brief for Newsom), I was reminded of ...
Mourning The Many Foibles Of Medicare And Medicaid At 55
Today, Medicare and Medicaid both mark their 55th birthdays. But hold the cake. There’s not much to celebrate on this anniversary. You’d be hard pressed to find two more wasteful, fraud-ridden programs than Medicare and Medicaid. They grow less fiscally sustainable with each passing year. And they routinely deliver subpar care that, ...
High on Spending, Light on Stimulus: Legislative Democrats Propose $100 Billion Borrowing Plan
This week in Washington, Democrats and Republicans are squabbling over the next economic stimulus package. Republicans have proposed a roughly $1 trillion plan, while Speaker Pelosi is pushing a $3 trillion plan. The partisan haggling and negotiations via shuttle diplomacy have already begun. Upon returning from their summer recess, Sacramento ...
Biden’s Climate Change Agenda Is Inspired by AOC, California
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden last week unveiled his version of the Green New Deal. The plan, which can be summed up as AOC meets CA, shows just how far Biden is willing to lunge toward the left coast’s environmental agenda. AOC’s Green New Deal, criticized for being light on ...
Biden a moderate? Sanders, AOC plans for candidate suggest this instead
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has long been considered a political moderate. A new report from his “unity” task forces should put that reputation to rest. The 110-page document offers detailed policy recommendations for an incoming Biden administration. It would represent the most left-wing governing program of any president ...
Notes from Taxifornia
Last week, as millions of Californians filed their tax returns on the delayed July 15 tax deadline, there was good and bad news on the tax increase front in Taxifornia. Split Roll Tax Increase Campaign Based on Class Warfare I wrote last month that how the 2020-21 state budget deal, ...
California Near Rock-Bottom Again on Yet Another National Ranking
Another national list, another nearly rock-bottom ranking for California. It’s become too predictable. When WalletHub, a prolific producer of lists, says that California is 48th among the states on “taxpayer return on investment” (forget for the moment that taxes are not investments but funds to operate government, and a drain ...
A Better Alternative to More Coronavirus Stimulus Spending and Loan Programs
By Rod Richardson and Wayne Winegarden As the nation grapples with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Senate may soon consider another federal stimulus package. Some politicians favor trillions in additional federal spending and lending, but before we further explode the debt and deficit, let’s pause and think about what ...
Think July 1 Gas Tax Increase Will Fund Better Roads? Think Again.
On July 1, three days before we celebrate our American freedom, and while we’re still feeling the effects of a three-month loss of that liberty, the state tax on gasoline will increase by 3.2 cents per gallon. It should be enough to ensure California keeps its position as the state ...
CAPITAL IDEAS – Suing Oil Companies: It’s Not About the Environment
Download the PDF In late May, a panel of federal judges resurrected a couple of previously dismissed climate change lawsuits filed by San Francisco and Oakland, and also allowed six other community-based suits to go forward. The plaintiffs aren’t concerned with the environment, nor are they interested in justice. Their ...
Governor’s May Revise: Everything Old is New Again
Gov. Gavin Newsom released his May Revise budget plan on Thursday – a dramatically different budget from his January plan that anticipated a $5.6 billion surplus. California now faces a $54.3 billion deficit. In a press conference that lasted more than an hour (brief for Newsom), I was reminded of ...
