The Way To Reform Initiative and Referenda Is to Let More People Into the Process
Joel Fox was right in this space when he predicted that legislative Democrats may offer proposals to curb the power of the initiative and referendum process. He was right to say that Democrats may use phony reforms to attack a process that saw voters go against them on property taxes, ending cash bail, and regulating […]
Why the California Policy Center Opposes Government Unions
The California Policy Center, established in 2013, exists to expose and undermine the destructive power of government unions. Most Californians still don’t understand the threat these unions represent to the integrity of our democracy, the agenda of our politicians, and the solvency of our public institutions. Government unions, sometimes also referred to as public sector […]
Newsom’s Woke Posturing Masks California’s Dismal Economic Record
If Hollywood were to cast a governor and future president, and if a straight white male were still politically acceptable, he would look like California’s Gavin Newsom. The 53-year-old governor, a former mayor of San Francisco, Newsom handsomely epitomizes the preening politics of the California elite class that has nurtured and financed his career from […]
How Homebuyers Acknowledge COVID-19
Led by an increased interest among millennials, people are flooding new subdivisions where they are looking to upgrade their living situation. But, based on interviews, they are also leaving densely populated, downtown neighborhoods due to the COVID-19 scare. That’s because the “smart growth” ideal of dense, urban-centric dwelling doesn’t square with the reality of home […]
Don’t Give Us Another Lockdown
Following a surge in confirmed cases of COVID-19, Ventura County last week was pushed back into the state’s most restrictive “purple tier.” Given the county’s poor economic performance before and during the coronavirus pandemic, we shudder at the prospect of a second government-mandated shutdown of the region’s economy. Even before the onset of the coronavirus […]
Finding Your Irvine
Late in this year’s strangest California film, “Palm Springs,” middle-aged Roy (J.K. Simmons) sits in his Irvine backyard and advises Nyles (Andy Samberg) on coping with an apocalyptic reality. “You’ve gotta find your Irvine,” says Roy, surveying his Orange County idyll. “I don’t have an Irvine,” replies Nyles, who is in existential despair. “We all […]
The Most Crucial Small Business Saturday is Coming
Small Business Saturday on November 28 is this event’s most important in its 11-year history because of what the pandemic has done to small businesses and their workers. Now with an upsurge in coronavirus cases and potential stiff business restrictions imposed by California governments, it is more important than ever to support small businesses during […]
The First Question for Gavin
Gov. Newsom’s COVID-19 briefing on November 23 was not confidence-inducing. The governor couldn’t hear reporters questions for most of this press briefing. But reporters could. And the first question, from an AP reporter, was a direct hit: Governor, have you lost your credibility on COVID? It was a fair question, and Newsom wasn’t dodging it. […]
Poll confirms Californians’ sour mood on higher taxes
Proposition 15 would have been the largest tax increase in California history and its defeat this month was, by any definition, a huge setback for its sponsors, primarily public employee unions. They had been yearning for decades to crack Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that limits property taxes, and convinced themselves that singling out […]