Proposition 55: A Lesson in Not-So-Temporary Temporary Taxes
Coming out of the Great Recession that ravaged the state budget, Governor Jerry Brown and the state’s teachers’ unions joined forces to successfully push Proposition 30, a 2012 ballot initiative labeled, “Temporary Taxes to Fund Education.” Yet, despite a General Fund that grew 42 percent since Governor Brown became governor and Proposition 98 education spending that increased […]
Case Study: How Politicians Motivate Companies to Leave California
Manufacturing is the number one industry in California to pack up and move to states considered to be friendly to business. Since such losses are happening more frequently, let’s take a look at the record of a politician from a district that will soon lose a major employer. In this case, it’s Senator Connie Leyva […]
Edmund D. Edelman: Great Man Passing
Toward the end of the film “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) has just lost his case defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been unjustly accused of raping a white girl. Dejected, and bearing the heavy moral burden of having failed the local black community, he walks down the […]
Loretta Sanchez, Negotiator
It’s rare that a political candidate shows herself to be not up to the job in a debate negotiation. But Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez demonstrated just that in the back-and-forth over debates in her race for U.S. Senate against Attorney General Kamala Harris. Sanchez badly trails Harris, so she needed as many debates as she could […]
Bill Signed by Gov. Brown Hurts Farmers and Farmworkers
California already is among the least business-friendly states in America. This legislation (AB 1066) Adds to an already long list of reasons why businesses and farmers are leaving California. The consequences of this legislation are hardly unknown. Farmers across the state have been sounding warning bells about AB 1066 since similar legislation was rejected earlier […]