CalChamber Pursues Litigation of Illegal Cap and Trade Auction
California businesses and consumers are paying hundreds of millions in illegal taxes levied by the Air Resources Board that were never authorized by the Legislature. That is the case being made by the California Chamber of Commerce* in an appeal filed yesterday in litigation to overturn the cap-and-trade revenue-raising auction. The appeal was filed with the […]
Padilla’s Fundraising Ban Plan Falls Short
After almost 15 years as an elected officeholder, Senator Alex Padilla decided this week that politicians shouldn’t be raising campaign money and making laws at the same time. Armed with this newly-found perspective, Padilla introduced a smaller, slighter, weaker version of a ban on fundraising during legislative session that I first proposed in the summer […]
E-Cig Debate: Guilt by Association?
In Hollywood movie scripts, a narrative based on guilt by association might make a compelling story line. But it is a lousy way to make policy – and that is what the Los Angeles City Council is being asked to do regarding electronic cigarettes. A proposed ordinance in the City Council would impose restrictions on […]
Liberal Plutocrats and Their Personal Campaigns
Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Chronicle readers, beware. At a recent confab at a billionaire’s ranch, an elite gathering of business titans agreed to spend $100 million – thanks to legal loopholes that allow them to skirt federal campaign contribution limits – to elect like-minded politicians who will help them halt the wheels […]
Oppose the Obama Administration’s War on US Antique Collectors ~ It Won’t Save a Single Elephant in Africa!
Last week, in a stunning suspension of logic and good sense, the Obama Administration declared war on law-abiding US antique collectors, maybe on you. In essence, the administration is seeking to ban the sale of all ivory products even if legally purchased decades ago. Thursday morning in the Washington Post, Doug Bandow, a senior fellow […]
Pension Funds and the Bubble Economy
“You can’t build a society on artificially inflated asset values, because that accelerates the class division. Immigrants know that even if they work in a low-paying job in a hotel in Houston the chances they can save and buy a house are infinitely better than in California. If you want to have an asset based economy […]