Fallout from SB 350 Change
After the governor and legislative leaders announced pulling the 50-percent petroleum cut mandate from SB 350, the controversial climate change bill, fallout whirled about the capitol from finger pointing to relative silence from a main supporter to a defiant stand from the state’s chief executive. As argued here previously, the economic consequences of passing the measure […]
Behind Late Session Defeats for Big Policies, You’ll Find the Mistakes of Reformers
It is entertaining to watch the late-session gnashing of the teeth by the press corps, good government types and Gov. Brown about defeats for big efforts to make changes. Isn’t it terrible that the oil companies managed to neuter SB 350? Isn’t it terrible how the legislature and governor were stymied on finding a way […]
Neither Olympics Nor NFL Will Rescue Los Angeles
We all tend to have fond memories of our greatest moments, and for Los Angeles, the 1984 Olympics has served as a high point in the city’s ascendency. The fact that those Summer Games were brilliantly run, required relatively little city expenditure and turned a profit confirmed all those things we Angelenos loved about our […]
Deceptive and Misleading Claims – How Government Unions Fool the Public
California’s public sector unions collect and spend well over $1.0 billion per year. When you have that much money, you can hire thousands of skilled professionals to wage campaigns, litigate, lobby, negotiate, and communicate. You can hire the best public relations firms money can buy. You can commission research studies that spin facts to support […]
A Victory for Common Sense in CA
California is known nationwide as a “Judicial Hellhole” for the absurd lawsuits tolerated nowhere but here. California has absurd class action lawsuits, widespread lawsuit abuse associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Proposition 65, and constant attempts by plaintiffs’ lawyers to make our state’s problem with lawsuit abuse even worse. But every now and then, lawyers come up empty-handed in their […]
What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Politics
Whenever I find myself in a contentious academic meeting or see clips of Congress trying to kill a bill, I am reminded of capuchin monkeys. Don’t get me wrong –I respect my colleagues, and don’t consider politicians to be sub-human. It’s just that the monkeys I have devoted so much of my life to studying […]