Placing Sales Taxes on Services Creates Upward Mobility for Few
Some have called Senate Bill (SB) 8, Senator Robert Hertzberg’s proposal to impose sales taxes on most services in California, needed tax reform. The basic argument made is that while California’s economy has shifted over the past 50 years from being based on agriculture and manufacturing to information and services, the state’s tax policy remains […]
Governor’s Budget Is Good News Not Because It’s Bigger—But Because It’s Better
For almost 20 years, California’s state budget has been locked in the same cycle: In bad times, governors divide the pain. When dollars are flowing again, they divide the spoils—often at the cost of the state’s long-term fiscal stability. As it was, so it shall be, say the cynics. It’s just politics, right? Maybe not. […]
“Hose Rage” and Other Odds and Ends
We all know about “Road Rage” but because of California’s dire drought conditions we may need to get ready for “Hose Rage.” This term was used in Australia during long periods of drought when neighbors would turn on neighbors who were using excessive amounts of water to wet lawns. There was even a reported homicide attributed […]
CA Could Lose Congressional Seats if Supreme Court Changes Law to ‘One Citizen-One Vote’
While the immediate reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court taking up the “one-person, one vote case” has been liberals and minority groups saying “Oh, S***” and conservatives getting excited, the case is much more complicated than that. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of plaintiffs, it would affect two distinct (and often confused) processes. Most articles I’ve […]
Stock Market Soars — And So Do Public Pension Costs
The way our government accounts for public employee pension promises is nothing short of fraud, yet no public official has gone to jail or paid a price for what surely ranks among the largest muggings of citizens in US history. Let me explain. As the stock market reaches record levels, little is heard anymore from […]