The #1 Global Lesson on Direct Democracy: We Need More Time
The 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy (full disclosure: I was co-president of the event) finished up last week in San Francisco after five nights and days of discussion of initiative and referendum around the world.
While there were many disagreements, one verdict of those in attendance was crystal clear: American direct democracy moves too fast for its own good.
That goes double for California, particularly in the eyes of our foreign visitors. It convinced me that the most significant initiative reform in our state would be simple: more time.
Job Creation Takes Priority in Los Angeles
The
business community often complains about L.A. City Hall’s lack of
action to make Los Angeles more business friendly for job creators.
This week, I am pleased to extend congratulations to City officials
for their recent actions on five of the L.A. Area Chamber’s top
business and budget priorities.
On the jobs front, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council
approved a three-year tax holiday for all new businesses that open in
Los Angeles over the next 36 months. This incentive is especially
important for startups and small businesses, and could create more than
55,000 new jobs, according to a recent report by the USC Marshall School of Business.
At the same meeting, the Council approved a taxpayer’s bill of rights,
and voted to move forward with an independent economic analysis of
comprehensive business tax reforms. The reforms to be studied include a
60 percent reduction in the City’s gross receipts tax for businesses in
the highest tax category. The recommendations originated with the
volunteer Business Tax Advisory Committee appointed by Mayor
Villaraigosa and the City Council last year.
SOAR laws are a two-edged sword
Cross-posted at the Ventura County Star
Years ago, voters throughout Ventura County approved the SOAR (Save
Open-space and Agricultural Resources) initiative. The ostensible
purpose of the initiative was to stave off the conversion of
agriculture-zoned properties to other uses unless the electorate
approved the conversion.
So, farmers and ranchers face a daunting challenge if they want to
convert their farmland to urban uses, but did they get anything in
return? That is to say, while SOAR protected farm fields from being
converted, did it also offer any protections to the farmers that would
enable them to stay in farming?
The apparent answer to this question is yes, as farmers and ranchers discovered at a recent
Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Fed Has Spoken
Like something caught between being the Great Oracle and the Wizard of Oz (ignore the man behind the curtain), on Tuesday, the Fed met and has now spoken about the lousy economic numbers of late last week and the general morass in which we find ourselves. The Fed announced Tuesday morning, that it will use the proceeds from the Fed’s own gigantic (and getting bigger all the time) mortgage-bond portfolio to buy long-term Treasury securities.
So what, you ask?
The dismal economic performance of late (can you spell DoubleDipRecession) has, in the Fed’s inscrutable judgment, required it to now continue, as it has done since 2007, pumping vast amounts of US Dollars into our gasping economy, to prop up the housing and financial markets.