Fossil Fuels Witchhunt is a Quest for Cash
The oil and gas industry was born in Pennsylvania on Aug. 27, 1859, when Edwin L. Drake drilled the world’s first commercial oil well. A critic said Drake should leave the oil underground because it was needed to fuel the fires of hell, and to pump it out would protect the wicked from their eternal […]
Raising Property Taxes for Parks Raises Questions about Spending
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors would like voters to approve higher property taxes to pay for parks. It’s the latest tax hike proposal to loom over the county of Los Angeles, joining a government wish-list that includes a half-cent increase in the sales tax for transit and an extra half-percent income tax on millionaires […]
Is the Great Recession Over? In CA Signals are Mixed
On one hand, a recent study of U.S. Census data by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Innovation Group found that Los Angeles County led the nation with the largest number of jobs added, a total of 352,840 between 2010 and 2014. The good news extended statewide. Twenty counties in the U.S. accounted for half of net […]
Bullet Train’s Latest Plan Sends Your Money Far Afield
California, meet the future. In Zaraza, Venezuela, a factory that was supposed to be building the country’s first bullet train stands hollowed out and abandoned. Cattle roam the site and chew on the grass that grows through the rubble. A decade ago, the government said the high-speed rail line would extend 290 miles, carry 5 […]
LA Needs Jobs, Not Tax Hikes, to Fight Poverty, Homelessness
In 2007, about a year before the economy crashed, the Gallup Poll found that 28 percent of Americans had at some point worried about becoming homeless. It’s worse today. A new UCLA study found 31 percent of county residents worried about becoming homeless. Even among people earning between $90,000 and $120,000, 1 in 4 were […]
L.A.’s New Sales Tax Hike for Transit Doesn’t Add Up for Taxpayers
Math is a funny thing. Take averaging, for example. Mark Twain observed that if you have one foot in a bucket of ice and one foot in a bucket of boiling water, on average you’re pretty comfortable. Similarly, consider subtraction. Somehow, government officials have calculated that subtracting money from your wallet for taxes actually puts […]
Why The Police Don’t Care That Thieves Broke Into Your Home
Something strange is going on with crime in Los Angeles. The Public Policy Institute of California says property crimes were up sharply in L.A. County last year, but arrests and bookings for property crimes fell 31 percent. Why? In 2014, voters passed Proposition 47, which reduced some felony theft and drug offenses to misdemeanors. Police […]
‘Civil War’ Between Actors and Ad Industry Fades into the History Books
Motion picture director Billy Wilder was once asked whether he would ever again hire Marilyn Monroe, who was routinely late to the set. “I have an aunt who’s always on time,” Wilder answered, “but nobody would pay a nickel to see her.” That tells you a lot about the business of acting. The ultimate judge […]
Bus Fires are Increasing in CA, Consider CARB’s Regulations
If you saw a school bus engulfed in flames on the side of the road, you probably wouldn’t think the fire was caused by an air pollution regulation. But in all likelihood, it was. In 2008, the California Air Resources Board adopted the Statewide Truck and Bus Rule, which said diesel engines manufactured before 2010 […]
Fourth Sales Tax Hike for Transit Faces Uphill Climb in the San Fernando Valley
A bus schedule drew the biggest applause of the night at the second Valley Transportation Summit, held recently at California State University Northridge. “We have committed to realigning our bus service with the class schedules in a way that makes sense, beginning in June of this year,” Metro’s Deputy CEO Stephanie Wiggins told the packed […]