Misguided State Policies Lead To More Companies Leaving California
This spring marks the first anniversary of the announcement that Carl’s Jr., a California burger icon for more than six decades, was relocating its headquarters to Nashville. It’s yet another business that has quit California in what was once an almost quiet exodus of companies but now looks more like a stampede. The list of […]
Golden Gate Bridge Train Service? It’s Time to Get On Board
If California is as serious about public transit as its urban leaders claim, why isn’t there a commuter rail service running over the Golden Gate Bridge? There’s no good reason why our state’s iconic span must devote all six of its lanes to cars. For more than 50 years, engineering studies have shown that the […]
For CA, The End of the Asian Era
For the past 40 years, the Pacific Rim has been, if you will, California’s trump card. But now, in the age of President Donald Trump and decelerating globalization, the Asian ascendency may be changing in ways that could be beneficial to our state. Rather than President Barack Obama’s famous “pivot to Asia,” it now might […]
Howard Jarvis’s Ghost
Gov. Jerry Brown told Republican legislators at a hearing on his gas tax and vehicle fee increase proposal that their opposition occurred because they were “haunted by the ghost of Howard Jarvis.” It is the other way around. Howard Jarvis haunts Jerry Brown. Jarvis, lead author and advocate for Proposition 13, the 1978 tax cutting […]
A Transportation Deal That’s Not Worth Debating
Oh, the drama. Will Gov. Brown and the Democrats get enough votes to push forward taxes to pay for $5.2 billion annually in transportation? Reaction: who cares? $5.2 billion may sound like a lot of money. But it’s a tiny fraction of what California needs to maintain its faltering transportation infrastructure. (For context, it cost […]
You can have infill housing or an unreformed CEQA , but not both
If the question is housing affordability or greenhouse gas reductions, livable cities or infrastructure investment, then the answer often involves “infill housing.” Dense housing in communities with existing infrastructure is the holy grail for planners, environmentalists and many elected officials. “Encouraging new housing development in infill areas would spur economic growth, reduce monthly household costs, […]
Can Jerry Brown Rally Dems In Legislature For $54 Billion In New Taxes?
California Governor Jerry Brown is on the eve of a self-appointed April 6 deadline to push what he has titled the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, which seeks to impose new gasoline taxes and car registration fees to bring in an estimated $52.4 billion in increased tax revenues over the next decade alone. […]
California: The Republic of Climate
Gov. Jerry Brown, center, flanked by Senate President pro tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, right, and Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, left, speaks during a news conference prior to signing legislation in Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016. AP Photo/Richard Vogel To some progressives, California’s huge endorsement for the losing side for president reflects our […]
The Democratic Folly In Filibustering Gorsuch
Democratic US Senators have now launched the first partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in American history in an attempt to defeat Judge Neil Gorsuch. They seem to be doing so because their Democratic base demands it, but the upshot will be to end any influence Senate Democrats will have over Supreme Court nominees […]