California Supreme Court Strikes Down Vergara Appeal
Here’s an axiom of California politics. When it’s the teachers union against everyone – that’s right, everyone else – the teachers union wins. Yesterday’s decision by the California Supreme Court to not hear the Vergara case is just the latest example. Prior to losing on appeal, which brought the case to the attention of the […]
Big Medi-Cal Expansion Not a Success Story
The Affordable Care Act is collapsing, and President Obama blames Republicans. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the president accused Republicans of undermining the health care law’s implementation. “It has come at a cost for the country,” Obama wrote, “most notably for the estimated 4 million Americans left uninsured because they live […]
Status Quo Stands as Supreme Court Stays Out of Education Fights
The state’s teachers’ unions had a good day at the hands of the California Supreme Court yesterday but then so did the state’s taxpayers. The state Supreme Court upheld an Appellate Court decision in the Vergara case, which concerns constitutional protections of students involving teacher tenure, retention and dismissal. Student plaintiffs claimed that they, along […]
Newsom’s Gun Control Initiative Could Bring More Democrats & Republicans Out in November
Polls show that Californians have consistently supported tougher gun control measures in a state which has already adopted the strictest regulations in the nation and in 1989 was the first to ban assault weapons. This will not deter staunch Second Amendment advocates and the National Rifle Association which is gearing up to mount an intensive […]
Court Pension Decision Weakens ‘California Rule’
The one thing some pension reformers say is needed to cut the cost of unaffordable public pensions: give current workers a less costly retirement benefit for work done in the future, while protecting pension amounts already earned. It’s allowed in the remaining private-sector pensions. But California is one of about a dozen states that have […]
Why Donald Trump’s Energy Plan Can Work
It’s time for California to get serious about job growth. Recent data has shown consumer confidence is down from this point last year. Bond yields on 10-year Treasury notes, along with Japanese and German bonds are at all-time lows. This is dragging oil prices back down to depressed levels. Pitfalls are everywhere with global economic and geopolitical uncertainty rising. And now […]
Gut & Amend Bill Would Hurt Small Farms
One out of eleven farmers in California is an NFIB member, and they are telling us this bill will have a devastating impact on their small, independent farms and farmworkers. This is why SB 1066 was defeated earlier this year. This freshly gutted-and-amended version does nothing to alleviate the serious concerns of our farmers across […]
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 – […]