Damage Delayed with Legislative Bills
Sometimes, California’s laws are like a guillotine on a timer. By the time the blade drops, everybody who set it up has made a safe getaway. To illustrate, consider four different laws that did their damage long after the perpetrators moved on, and a brand new one that’s likely to raise rents and perhaps tax […]
LA Lawsuit Settlement Allowed Skid Row Conditions Everywhere in City
Why is homelessness increasing in Los Angeles? According to a count taken in January, homelessness is up 23 percent across L.A. County over 2016, a total of more than 55,000 people. News stories round up the usual suspects: high rents, low-paying jobs, drugs, alcohol, mental illness, domestic violence, and the release of prison or jail […]
Supreme Court’s role in public safety is a judgment call
U.S. Supreme Court justices don’t patrol the streets of Los Angeles, but you might be surprised at how much the justices are responsible for what goes on in your neighborhood. As one example, judge for yourself the long-term consequences of the court’s decision in 1972 to throw out a law in Jacksonville, Florida, that allowed […]
In transportation tax rush, did Sacramento break the law?
Did lawmakers break the law when they passed Senate Bill 1, the transportation tax increase? There’s a quaint provision in the California Constitution that reads, “A person who seeks to influence the vote or action of a member of the Legislature in the member’s legislative capacity by bribery, promise of reward, intimidation, or other dishonest […]
Too Many White Students Means Funding Cuts for ‘Desegregated’ LA School
This fall, Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood is set to lose some of its funding because it has too many white students. Parents were told at an informational meeting on March 15 that the cuts could mean the layoff of some teachers because class size was going to increase. Later, the district found […]
Put the Brakes on Mandate that’s Unfair to California Truckers
Senate Democrats gave U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch a hard time over what’s become known as “The Case of the Frozen Trucker.” One cold night on a highway in Illinois, the brakes on trucker Alphonse Maddin’s trailer froze, and he nearly froze while waiting for help to arrive. After three hours, Maddin unhitched the […]
LA’s Measure H Campaign Relied on Public Funds, Charity Funds, and Clout
It’s official. L.A. County voters have passed another increase in the sales tax, making it 9.5 percent starting on July 1. On election night, the sales tax increase was barely ahead of the two-thirds vote needed for passage, but then it carried 73 percent of the 283,029 late-absentee and provisional ballots counted later, one-third of […]
Gov. Brown won’t give up on the future — of his 1970s youth
Gov. Jerry Brown will not take no for an answer. His administration is pushing ahead to issue $2.6 billion in bonds to keep up work on the bullet train, even though the funding for the $64 billion project is drying up everywhere else. The federal government’s initial $3.3 billion, part of the 2009 stimulus bill, […]
Reckless Bill to Repeal Limits on Rent-Control will make Housing Crisis Worse
One of the more depressing tricks employed by people who favor more government control of everything is this: Put government controls on a business, which causes problems, and then use the problems as a justification for more government controls. It’s like trying to reverse a case of alcohol poisoning with a jug of moonshine. Nowhere […]
Protest Tactics are the Real Outrage
When does a protest go so far over the line that reasonable people should start protesting the protest? Possibly now. Wells Fargo has been targeted for destruction by people who are angry that the bank made some of the loans to finance the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. New York City Mayor Bill de […]