More Than Just Another Piece of Nonsense Legislation
Nobody in the United States Patent Office ever actually said, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” The faux-quotation was a joke that became famous sometime around 1900, when there was a general feeling of being overwhelmed by the fast-paced development of new technology and gadgetry. Similarly, nobody in California ever said, “Everything that […]
The Bullet Train Fiasco
In 1962, the Mona Lisa was assessed at an insurance value of $100 million. That would be about $837 million today, and not even close to the most expensive painting in the world. The priciest creation ever made with paint is not in the Louvre Museum but in a government office in California, where the […]
Expect More Surcharges as Businesses Cope with Cost of Doing Business in California
“Stopped by a Pizza Hut to bring some food in last night and was met with this beauty,” an L.A. Daily News reader emailed under the subject line, “Soon to be all over California?” Two photos were attached. One showed a bright red sign displayed prominently on the restaurant counter. Printed in bold type was […]
Civil Rights Attorneys Sue over Greenhouse Gas Regs that Affect Housing
In what may signal the beginning of the end of alarmism over climate change, a group of civil rights activists is suing the California Air Resources Board. The issue is CARB’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by effectively limiting new housing construction. The lawsuit says this is driving up the cost of housing, worsening […]
Sacramento’s New Way to Tax the Water You Drink
Another new tax is headed for your water bill, as if it wasn’t high enough already. Gov. Jerry Brown has been trying to push through a statewide tax on drinking water, the first ever in California history, and as you might imagine, it has been a challenge for him. People are fed up with new […]
The Idiocy of California’s Water Crisis
It’s not new that most of the rainfall in California is in the north and most of the people and farms using water are further south. It’s not new that California has wet years and dry years, or that the state is at risk of both flooding and drought, sometimes simultaneously. What’s new is that […]
What Could go Wrong in Building Tiny Houses for Homeless?
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors just voted to go forward with a pilot program to house homeless people in tiny houses in the backyards of single-family homes. And if you pay taxes in L.A. County, you’re going to pay for it. The program will pay $75,000 to homeowners who agree to have a […]
With Air-Quality Standards, is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?
Have we reached the point where air pollution regulations are harming people more than air pollution itself? That’s the question at the heart of the dispute between the Trump administration and California about the Environmental Protection Agency’s air pollution program known as NAAQS, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. President Trump recently issued an executive […]
When do We Finally Say ‘No’ to Tolerating the Damage and Chaos of Homelessness?
What’s the best way for a free country to make decisions about how to spend tax money? One way to do it is to hold elections to choose public officials who will make decisions on behalf of the people who elected them, then hold a fully public process to create budgets and appropriate the money […]
Let’s ditch these long commutes and start working remotely
If you’ve ever wished that someone would wave a magic wand and make traffic disappear, you’ve come to the right place. For my next trick, ladies and gentlemen, I will do something that is not just unlikely, not merely improbable, not only death-defying, but actually believed — up to this moment — to be impossible. […]