California at Politicon
The third annual Politicon convention in Pasadena on all things political produced long lines for lively debates and entertainment, and while a major focus was on national events, as always California and Californians captured a good share of the spotlight. CNN’s Chris Cillizza asked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra how much time he spent confronting the […]
Utah housing lessons for CA
Sorry, Utah. And apologies to the rest of the West. California’s epidemic shortage of housing hasn’t just sickened our own state—by driving up prices, forcing residents into rentals and onto the street, and putting a $140 billion annual drag on the Golden State’s economy. The disease is spreading to our neighbors, too. Today, every significant […]
Herb Wesson’s Latest Pitch: City Owned ‘Bank of Los Angeles’ … Is It Worth the Risk?
On Tuesday, Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson made a motion to look into the feasibility of creating the “Bank of Los Angeles” with a vision statement of “financing the building of affordable housing,” making loans to “small business entrepreneurs,” and accommodating the cannabis industry and its banking requirements. “WE THEREFORE MOVE that the […]
“Tax Land Wealth” Theory Ignores Ability to Pay
A recent Los Angeles Times op-ed by three professors at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs suggests the way to raise revenue to deal with homelessness is to tax land because “housing scarcity delivers unearned wealth to people who own housing.” This tired argument of taxing land wealth ignores two important principles: ability to pay and […]
The California taxpayer’s case for independence
On Tuesday afternoon, Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office cleared the California Freedom Coalition’s initiative, “California Autonomy from Federal Government,” for circulation. If passed, it would direct the Governor, in coordination with our congressional delegation, to negotiate more autonomy for California, possibly up to the point of California becoming an independent country. Why should California want […]
Cap-and-trade deal also cut taxes
As part of a comprehensive, bipartisan solution implementing the state’s ambitious climate change goals, the legislation that extended the cap-and-trade program also included several useful tax reductions. These tax cuts will help mitigate cost increases on rural Californians and partially offset some costs for California manufacturers and energy producers. Sales tax exemption Manufacturers gained a […]
The Cities Creating The Most High-Wage Jobs
As the country moves toward full employment, at least as economists define it, the quality of jobs has replaced joblessness as the primary concern. With wages still stagnant, rising an anemic 2.5% in the year to May, the biggest challenge for most parts of the U.S. is not getting more people into the workforce but […]
Surprising Item in Poll on the Environment; But What If They Asked a Follow-Up Question
The Public Policy Institute of California released its poll on Californians & the Environment and the poll indicated that residents and voters are definitely pro-environment. But, the poll included a surprise for those who followed the cap-and-trade debate. Californians were asked if they supported cap-and-trade even if the process added 15-cents per gallon to gasoline. […]
We did it in CA, Now Let’s Make Washington Work for Us
(Editor’s Note: Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been fighting gerrymandering once again – this time by supporting a case, Gill v. Whitford, that is expected to be heard by the United States Supreme Court this fall. The case is the first purely partisan gerrymandering case to go to trial in 30 years, and seeks to […]