In Air Quality Talks, Haziest Thing may be the Facts
Suppose it was 1650 and you were accused of being a witch. Would you prefer trial by water or hanging? If you choose trial by water, the people in charge of things will throw you into the nearest lake, river or ocean and wait to see if you sink or float. If you sink, you’re […]
Equality of poverty spreads in California
Tucked away in Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2017-18 budget was some very disturbing news about jobs in California. Although new jobs have been created, they don’t pay much. The governor’s budget proposal says the tax revenue coming into the state treasury isn’t growing fast enough to keep up with spending because over the last four years, […]
Falling incomes turn California into modern-day Dust Bowl
Nearly 60 percent of California voters with children living at home agree with the statement, “my children will have a better future if they leave California.” More than 75 percent now think “earning enough income to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle is becoming almost impossible in my part of California.” In Los Angeles County, it’s 87 […]
With Election Over, Commercial Breaks are Safe Spaces Again
Congratulations. If you are reading these words, you have survived the 2016 election. On TV news, peace has returned to the commercial break. Did you ever in your life think you’d be grateful for the return of ads for reverse mortgages? A month of wall-to-wall political advertising is enough to make a person yearn to […]
California has a New Climate Policy that Won’t Help
You wouldn’t expect a document titled “Vibrant Communities and Landscapes” to make so many people this angry. “We are writing to express our concern and dismay over the draft ‘Vibrant Communities’ document,” wrote the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) on behalf of more than 163 business groups, 325,000 employers and 3 million jobs. “Radical […]
Big Medi-Cal Expansion Not a Success Story
The Affordable Care Act is collapsing, and President Obama blames Republicans. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the president accused Republicans of undermining the health care law’s implementation. “It has come at a cost for the country,” Obama wrote, “most notably for the estimated 4 million Americans left uninsured because they live […]
A Full Plate Of Higher Taxes Awaits LA Voters This Fall
Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 24 this year, but for politicians in Los Angeles, turkey day isTuesday, Nov. 8. That’s when they will attempt to carve up taxpayers with at least four proposed tax increases – a sales tax hike and three measures that would increase property taxes. It’s no coincidence that these tax-hike proposals are all on […]
Why Raise Taxes For Mass Transit When Driverless Cars Are The Future?
The news from Florida of the first-ever fatal accident in a driverless car, a 2015 Tesla Model S, was quite a surprise. They’re here. Ready or not, autonomous driving technology has arrived, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned about technological change, it’s that there’s no going back again. The National Transportation Safety Board is […]
Local Voices Unwelcome As State Promotes Affordable Housing
From 2011 through the first quarter of 2014, more building permits for single-family homes were issued in the city of Houston than in the entire state of California. That might be one reason that in April, the median selling price of a single-family home in Houston was $217,000 while in California it was $509,100. There […]
For California Businesses, Even Tax Breaks Are Torture
California has a terrible reputation of being unfriendly to business, but that’s just because some people don’t have a sense of humor. If you love comedy, check out the website of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) at www.business.ca.gov. There you’ll find all the incentives, programs and helpful information that the state of […]