Rendon Endorsement of Chiang Matters
The relatively early endorsement of California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon for gubernatorial candidate state Treasurer John Chiang is important for a number of reasons. A prominent Latino leader endorsing Chiang shows that former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a previous Assembly Speaker himself, can’t be seen as the candidate that Latino voters and leadership will […]
L.A. County Consumers Survey Impacts Economy – On Mark Or ‘Trump Effect’?
An index assessing consumer sentiment in Los Angeles County, recently released by the Lowe Institute of Political Economy at Claremont McKenna College, sounds a warning signal that could impact the prospects of the local economy. The index reveals a marked downturn in consumer attitudes in the County which is problematic, given that consumer spending accounts […]
The High Cost of a Home Is Turning American Millennials Into the New Serfs
American greatness was long premised on the common assumption that each generation would do better than the previous one. That is being undermined for the emerging millennial generation. The problems facing millennials include an economy where job growth has been largely in service and part-time employment, producing lower incomes; the Census bureau estimates they earn, even with a full-time job, $2,000 less in […]
In Air Quality Talks, Haziest Thing may be the Facts
Suppose it was 1650 and you were accused of being a witch. Would you prefer trial by water or hanging? If you choose trial by water, the people in charge of things will throw you into the nearest lake, river or ocean and wait to see if you sink or float. If you sink, you’re […]
The Pension Monster that Devoured Education
I suppose not too many readers remember the television sitcom, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, from the late 1950s, early 1960s (Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl remembers because she acted in it) but one character, beatnik Maynard G. Krebs, often talked about a movie that he saw many times: The Monster that Devoured Cleveland. […]
Yes, Peter Thiel, You Should Definitely Run for Governor
Dear Peter Thiel, Your spokesman said you would not run for governor. Please reconsider. You should run. All of California wants to see it. You would feel nothing but love if you were to jump in in. Californians love to welcome a new, fresh voice to the political debate. And we’re especially appreciative of unconventional […]
CEQA – Environmental Protection or Principal Constraint to Housing Production?
”The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been turned on its head, becoming a full employment act for lawyers and their client neighborhood groups. The result is that CEQA has become not a protector of the environment, but a promoter of sprawl, pushing the housing market away from existing neighborhoods and onto farmland, where the […]
How You Can Best Help a Family Member in Finding a Job in 2017
Ignore the media meme of the past few years about the bountiful employment opportunities available. Today, though the official unemployment rate remains low, nearly every job opening is receiving tens of applicants (if not more), and being hired requires a lot of effort and often luck. Which is why in 2017, if you have a […]
Kamala for President and Other Odd Political Stories
Writing about political horse races are always more interesting than dissecting the details of policy but aren’t we a bit ahead of ourselves with all the stories about potential presidential candidates in 2020? The current president has been in office far less than a month and already journalists are drawing up lists and making conjectures […]