What’s Missing In This Election? Bread and Circuses
The Romans got it right: if you want to keep the people happy, you give them bread and circuses. But California politicians forgot that rule; and consequently we are about to have a primary with possibly an historic low turnout of voters. The lowest primary turnout ever was June 2014; June 2018 could match it. […]
Antonio Drives Down the Center Lane
I watched Antonio Villaraigosa’s 24-hour straight “Progress Never Sleeps” tour hit the Carpenters union hall in Sylmar yesterday. There was the usual chants of support, reminders from the union leaders that as mayor Villaraigosa “put us to work, that’s why we are here,” and even a harmonica rendition of the Star Spangled Banner with Villaraigosa […]
The Big Query for Our Next Governor
Next week, California will take the first step in choosing its next governor. Lots of fancy promises have been made – our next governor is going to expand all kinds of popular programs which will make California greener, better educated and more connected. I’m not against any of those goals, laudable as they are. I […]
‘Revenue Accountability Project’ Aims to Ensure That Every Penny of Taxpayers’ Money Is Spent Efficiently
When I was a boy, I sat at my grandmother’s dining room table and watched as she meticulously went through her monthly bank statements, comparing them with her receipts. If even a penny was missing, she would call the bank. As I grew, I began to understand that during the Great Depression, which consumed the […]
Progressives’ Situational, Self-Serving, Love of Transparency
We’ve all heard of “situational ethics.” This column is about “situational transparency,” a phenomenon among progressives who love transparency in matters of public policy, except when they hate it. Let’s review the areas in which progressives support transparency: the salaries of CEOs, the race and gender of employees, the details of business supply chains and, […]