California’s Fear of Heights
Want to spook your neighbors this Halloween? Don’t bother with big displays of goblins, ghouls or ghosts. Instead, just decorate your door with a picture of an eight-story apartment building. Californians are famously fearless in most things. We devote ourselves to extreme outdoor sports, buy homes near earthquake faults, and launch startups and make TV […]
Highest Cost Rental Markets: Even Worse for Buyers
There is considerable concern about rising rents, especially in the most expensive US housing markets. Yet as tough as rising rents are, the high rent markets are also plagued by even higher house costs relative to the rest of the nation. As a result, progressing from renting to buying is all the more difficult in these […]
Tax Reform and the “Double Taxation” Issue
With the federal budget passing its first test yesterday, the focus in California will be on the effect of eliminating state and local tax deductions (SALT) on federal tax forms–what it means for California’s revenues and the issue of taxpayers paying what some see as double taxation. Eliminating the deductions will hit many California taxpayers […]
Top Two Is On Kevin de León’s Side
Without California’s top two election system, Kevin de León would not be running against Dianne Feinstein for U.S. Senate right now. That runs contrary to the conventional wisdom, which – like everything else about top two—is wrong. That conventional wisdom is that the top two favors the incumbent Dianne Feinstein because, as the more politically […]
Why I am Running for California Secretary of State
A few months ago, I heard a news story that there are currently 11 counties in the state that have over 100% voter registration. I learned that it is the Secretary of State’s job to enforce all election laws in this state. As I studied the issue, I realized that the current Secretary of State […]
Will China’s new recycling standards mean higher taxes in California?
Do you know where your recyclables go when they leave your blue bin? Would you believe China? But that’s about to change. In July, China notified the World Trade Organization that on Jan. 1 it will impose much stricter quality standards and will turn away shipments that don’t make the grade. In recycling, quality refers […]
Will Amazon Choose California?
Amazon’s competition for a massive second headquarters has launched a number of bids from California. Will the state’s reputation as being difficult for business work against the cities and regions that seek Amazon Headquarters 2? Amazon is looking at many factors in considering a home for its second headquarters outside of its home base in […]
Polling Data is clear; Gas Tax Repeal Doesn’t Help Republicans and May Harm Them
Much has been set in motion over the past several weeks about potential repeals of the gas tax and vehicle registration fee increases passed by the legislature and governor this past year. It doesn’t take a political scientist to understand that many GOP consultants will rightfully use the gas tax issue next year in campaign […]
The New State Role Models
With Congress on what appears to be a permanent hold, the search for a workable political model now shifts increasingly to states and localities. Today America’s divergent geographies resemble separate planets, with policy agendas from immigration and climate change that vary wildly from place to place. The greatest divide lies between the deep blue states, notably California, and progressive […]