Infrastructure
California
Celebrating the Return of the Primitive
Private automobiles are no longer allowed on Market Street in San Francisco, California. The result has been an increase in bike ridership. This is, of course, being hailed as progress. So why does it look like the city is resetting the clock to a previous century? When novelist Ayn Rand ...
Commentary
No, Bernie, ‘Medicare-for-all’ won’t save money
On Feb. 24, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., released a document outlining how he plans to pay for his agenda, including “Medicare-for-all.” He claims his signature health plan will save the country billions of dollars each year. That estimate rests on faulty math and flawed assumptions. Medicare-for-all would cost far more than Sanders admits and ...
Commentary
Bernie’s Math Problem
Anyone in earshot of a television set, or a smart phone, is undoubtedly aware that the undisputed front-runner in the Democratic Primary wants to spend more money – a lot of it. And, while these policies are economically flawed, Senator Sanders also has a fundamental math problem. Reviewing his website, there ...
Blog
Would Newsom’s Climate Catalyst Action Fund Fuel Second Coming of Solyndra?
Last week, California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office was on a roll – releasing several, often-critical analyses of some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high profile budget proposals. Particularly pointed was its analysis of Newsom’s proposal to create a so-called “Climate Catalyst Action Fund.” According to the administration’s budget documents, it “would ...
Commentary
Coronavirus could break ‘Medicare-for-all’ — single-payer systems struggle with outbreaks
On Jan. 31, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the head of the president’s Task Force on the Novel Coronavirus, declared a public health emergency in response to the global outbreak of the pathogen. The coronavirus has claimed more than 900 lives around the world so far, including that of Dr. ...
Blog
A Former Speechwriter’s View of the 2020 State of the Union
PRI is fortunate to be home to several former speechwriters for Presidents and Governors, including me. Anyone who has been a speechwriter watches a big public speech like this week’s State of the Union address or Gov. Newsom’s upcoming State of the State address on Feb. 19 with great interest ...
Commentary
China Catches Cold from the Wuhan Coronavirus—and the World Sneezes.
The outbreak of infections from a novel virus that appears to have originated in Central China has elicited a storm of commentary, much of it uninformed. Opinions have ranged from predictions of a worldwide apocalypse to dismissal of quarantines and “social distancing” as a kind of public relations stunt by ...
Agriculture
Could National Water Pipeline Be the Solution to State’s Water Scarcity?
With nearly 40 million people and more than 70,000 farms taking up nearly 25 million acres, California is always thirsty. It is, as well, mostly dry. Deserts make up one-fourth of the state and semi-arid land occupies up at least that much, if not more. Consequently, water is an ever-unfolding ...
Agriculture
A Bold Fix For The West’s Water Woes
The nation’s Western states are facing severe, and worsening, water shortages. There are both consumption and supply problems, and neither will be easy to fix. However, we have a remedy for the latter. More water is used in America per capita than almost anywhere else in the world — more ...
Blog
Assembly Bill 5 Demolishes Autonomous Driving as Biggest Trucking Threat
Despite technological advancements to the movement of goods, trucks will still transport and deliver and incredible amount of goods in 2020. But automation and self-driving research are not the biggest threat to truckers anymore. California’s contested Assembly Bill 5 has emerged as the main crisis threatening truck operators. The regulatory ...
Celebrating the Return of the Primitive
Private automobiles are no longer allowed on Market Street in San Francisco, California. The result has been an increase in bike ridership. This is, of course, being hailed as progress. So why does it look like the city is resetting the clock to a previous century? When novelist Ayn Rand ...
No, Bernie, ‘Medicare-for-all’ won’t save money
On Feb. 24, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., released a document outlining how he plans to pay for his agenda, including “Medicare-for-all.” He claims his signature health plan will save the country billions of dollars each year. That estimate rests on faulty math and flawed assumptions. Medicare-for-all would cost far more than Sanders admits and ...
Bernie’s Math Problem
Anyone in earshot of a television set, or a smart phone, is undoubtedly aware that the undisputed front-runner in the Democratic Primary wants to spend more money – a lot of it. And, while these policies are economically flawed, Senator Sanders also has a fundamental math problem. Reviewing his website, there ...
Would Newsom’s Climate Catalyst Action Fund Fuel Second Coming of Solyndra?
Last week, California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office was on a roll – releasing several, often-critical analyses of some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s high profile budget proposals. Particularly pointed was its analysis of Newsom’s proposal to create a so-called “Climate Catalyst Action Fund.” According to the administration’s budget documents, it “would ...
Coronavirus could break ‘Medicare-for-all’ — single-payer systems struggle with outbreaks
On Jan. 31, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the head of the president’s Task Force on the Novel Coronavirus, declared a public health emergency in response to the global outbreak of the pathogen. The coronavirus has claimed more than 900 lives around the world so far, including that of Dr. ...
A Former Speechwriter’s View of the 2020 State of the Union
PRI is fortunate to be home to several former speechwriters for Presidents and Governors, including me. Anyone who has been a speechwriter watches a big public speech like this week’s State of the Union address or Gov. Newsom’s upcoming State of the State address on Feb. 19 with great interest ...
China Catches Cold from the Wuhan Coronavirus—and the World Sneezes.
The outbreak of infections from a novel virus that appears to have originated in Central China has elicited a storm of commentary, much of it uninformed. Opinions have ranged from predictions of a worldwide apocalypse to dismissal of quarantines and “social distancing” as a kind of public relations stunt by ...
Could National Water Pipeline Be the Solution to State’s Water Scarcity?
With nearly 40 million people and more than 70,000 farms taking up nearly 25 million acres, California is always thirsty. It is, as well, mostly dry. Deserts make up one-fourth of the state and semi-arid land occupies up at least that much, if not more. Consequently, water is an ever-unfolding ...
A Bold Fix For The West’s Water Woes
The nation’s Western states are facing severe, and worsening, water shortages. There are both consumption and supply problems, and neither will be easy to fix. However, we have a remedy for the latter. More water is used in America per capita than almost anywhere else in the world — more ...
Assembly Bill 5 Demolishes Autonomous Driving as Biggest Trucking Threat
Despite technological advancements to the movement of goods, trucks will still transport and deliver and incredible amount of goods in 2020. But automation and self-driving research are not the biggest threat to truckers anymore. California’s contested Assembly Bill 5 has emerged as the main crisis threatening truck operators. The regulatory ...
