Hollywood’s Predators Are State Subsidized
Who enabled Hollywood’s sexual harassers and predators? There are many answers to that question in the ongoing debate about power, sex and abuse, but let’s not forget one group of people who have backed the predators. The taxpayers of California. The state has long backed TV and movie production with tax credits. Among the tax-subsidized […]
A U.S. Home Ownership Turn Around?
The Census Bureau reports that home ownership in the United States rose to 63.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017. This continues a rising trend since the second quarter of 2016, when home ownership had dropped to 62.9. This equaled the previous low of 51 years before (1965), just a year after annual data […]
Jerry Brown Meets Doc Brown: Has California Gone “Back to the Future” on Taxes and Crime?
Despite changing demographics and a sharp veer to the ideological left, is it possible that California could take a political trip back to the future as two staples resurface that drove the state’s politics in the more conservative 1980s and 1990s? Look around and you’ll see indications that even in this liberal bastion on the […]
How can the Legislature fix a problem when the “fix” is in
We expect our courts to call foul when legislators pass laws that cross the constitutional line. Thousands of farmworkers are hoping that our highest court will allow them to have the same rights that all other workers in our state and country have, and strike down California’s misguided experiment in forced contracting. The California Supreme […]
Public Health Must be Centerpiece of Cannabis “Green Rush”
The cannabis tsunami is already crashing violently against the shores of the Golden State. With voters having approved first medical and subsequently recreational marijuana in our state, and an historic legal launch date of January 1st, every Cheech, Chong, and Mary Jane is jumping aboard the cannabis bandwagon. These are, indeed, pioneering times here in […]
Can California adopt Korea’s nuclear cool?
Can Californians learn to be as cool as Koreans in the face of nuclear annihilation? Visiting Seoul last week, I asked people how they stay sane while living within range of North Korea’s weapons. After all, Kim Jong Un’s capital, Pyongyang, is just 120 miles from Seoul—the same meager distance protecting San Diego from Los […]
Republicans Vote For A Tax Increase
California Republicans are about to vote for a major tax increase, on California Republicans. That’s what will happen when they pass the Congressional Republican tax reform bill that does away with the state and local tax deduction to your federal taxes, widely used by middle class Californians. President Trump and Republican leaders have made a decision that their tax reform will be mainly to lower the corporate tax rate […]
California Has Become A Graveyard For Independent Candidates
As the popularity of the major parties has declined, independent and minor party candidates have been doing well. During the last fifteen years, independent or minor party candidates have been elected to state legislatures in 25 states. Also during the last fifteen years, such candidates have either been elected, or come in second, for Governor or U.S. […]
Democrats in Sacramento Should be Honest in Tax Policy
The tax plan announced by Speaker Paul Ryan is a positive move towards simplifying our tax code and making taxes more transparent to working families. While some Californians will be adversely affected by an elimination of the deductions that currently exist for state and local taxes paid, a bigger question arises: Why don’t we just […]