Los Angeles Laboratory for Local Tax Increases
In the primary election this month 89 local taxes and bonds faced voters. The total is expected to increase in November. In some jurisdictions voters likely will face multiple tax increases dedicated for different purposes. Los Angeles is a prime example. Today, the transportation agency known as Metro is considering a half-cent sales tax to […]
Higher Education Is Path To Raise Incomes
Globalization and technological change have shattered many of the economic models that have prevailed since World War II. This rapid change has driven justifiable concern about income stagnation and the prospects for this and future generations. Fortunately, there is a positive path forward through higher education, if we don’t take our eyes off the road. […]
California’s Homeless Moment
How did homelessness suddenly become such a hot issue across California? There are many reasons, few of which have anything to do with people who are homeless. Those reasons—economic anxiety, budget surpluses, tax schemes, housing prices, prison reform, health care expansion, urban wealth and political opportunism—have combined to create today’s “homeless moment” in California. For […]
Primary Vote Signals Trouble for CA GOP Congress Members
With Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter running away from the presumptive nominee, there is a panic at the GOP’s congressional committee, the NRCC. It’s very unlikely that Democrats sweep the 30 seats needed to give Nancy Pelosi the gavel again, but there are seats in play that weren’t a few months ago. Nobody expected this conversation in this decade following the […]