More Tax Hikes in 2017 or 2018?
For taxpayers, the most important issue for California this year isn’t the presidential election, which again will be won in this state by the Democrat, this time Hillary Clinton, by more than 3 million votes. Nor is it the U.S. Senate race, which Attorney General Kamala Harris is expected to win handily. Nor even the […]
Housing Crisis Reaches North Coast Mobile Homes
I pulled into Arcata one August evening, after a long drive from Fort Bragg, and was greeted by a front page banner headline in the Times Standard: “Mobile Home Rent Control Goes to Ballot” This just might be the signature ballot measure of this year. Right now there are no boundaries—not geographical, not economic – […]
Today’s Tech Oligarchs Are Worse Than the Robber Barons
Yes, Jay Gould was a bad guy. But at least he helped build societal wealth. Not so our Silicon Valley overlords. And they have our politicians in their pockets. A decade ago these guys—and they are mostly guys—were folk heroes, and for many people, they remain so. They represented everything traditional business, from Wall Street and Hollywood […]
Pensions: How To Earn 7.8% for 20 Years But Be Short $100 Billion
Board members at CalPERS and other public pension funds often mislead citizens about the reasons for rising pension costs and worsening Funded Ratios (the ratio of pension liabilities to pension assets) but the principal reason is surging liabilities. In 1995 CalPERS reported a Funded Ratio of 96%. Over the next 20 years it earned a […]