To the people of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento
Valley and the Imperial Valley and the Inland Empire And All Those Other Places
Not On the Coast That I Never Bothered to Learn the Names Of:

Get ready
for an invasion.

An invasion from the coast.

Because
those of us in the counties are really, really worried about you.

And so we are on our way to visit
you and seek your help.

If you operate a medium or smaller business, you might be feeling left behind.

Your business may be muddling along while the economy is racing ahead. At least, there’s all that news about how businesses are doing so much better. You’d think we are all on some Alpine climb, what with the constant references to how the economy is pulling itself up and getting its footing.

Just look at the stock markets. They’re rising. Even if you’re feeling down. Nasdaq has jumped 15 percent from a year ago.

And large companies? Well, the Business Roundtable just last week said its members – big-company CEOs – never felt better. In fact, business is so good that 52 percent of them expect to increase hiring soon. Good for them.

But you? Maybe not so much.

Cross-posted at NewGeography.

As the American economy struggles to recover, its greatest advantage lies with its diverse population. The U.S.’ major European competitors — Germany, Scandinavia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Italy — have admittedly failed at integrating racial outsiders. Its primary Asian rivals, with the exception of Singapore, are almost genetically resistant to permanent migration from those outside the dominant ethnic strain.

In contrast, America’s destiny is tied to minorities, who already constitute a third of the nation’s population and who will account for roughly half of the population by 2050. Younger and more heavily represented in the labor force, minorities are poised to become the primary source of entrepreneurial growth.

The clear advantage with minorities, particularly immigrant minorities, lies in their own self-selection. Risk-takers by the very act of emigration, they are more likely to start small firms than other Americans. In fact, a recent Kauffman Foundation study found that immigrants  were unique in boosting their  entrepreneurial activities since the onset of the recession.  Overall the share of immigrants among new entrepreneurs has expanded from 13.4% in 1996 to nearly 30% this year.

Does Jerry Brown even care about the will of the people?

Example: he just went and declared
the state’s drought over. No consultation with legislative Republicans. No vote
of the people. Yes, it’s been raining more the past couple years. But what
makes him an expert in weather? It’s hard to believe the arrogance of
politicians thinking that they have special knowledge about the seasons and the
rain patterns.

Declaring
whether the state is in drought, or not, is the sort of momentous decision that
the people of California must make themselves.

The people of California know better than the politicians
when it’s raining. And the people of California know better than the
politicians when it’s not raining. The people of California can see with their
own eyes what the water levels are in our lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

It’s time
to stop politicians like Brown from meddling in meteorology. What Californians
need is a special election that offers them a real choice.

With all the discussion regarding out of control state and
local government pension liabilities, many are struggling with how to balance
committed retirement obligations with projected revenues.  The numbers are dizzying.  Lost in much of this discussion is who owns
the risk?  Right now, it is just the
taxpayers, acting as a backstop, who will shoulder much of the future
burden.  But is that where the discussion
should end?  How responsible are the
employees themselves?

On this "casual" Friday, thought I’d just relate to some of
the items in the news.

TAX DEBATE

Calbuzz thinks I missed the point (to put it mildly) in critiquing
their support for certain tax measures — increasing income taxes for the rich
and property taxes on business. They say I didn’t deal with the concern of the
rich getting richer.

I offered a plan to give fairness to all in the tax system:
a well-constructed flat tax which picks a point on the income scale in which
the tax kicks in and gets rid of most write-offs and loopholes, which I noted
most often benefit the rich.

But, I think I hit the target on the tax proposals they
advocated, which will not solve California’s problems.

Radio talk show host Kevin James — the lone outsider and dark horse in the mayor’s race — announced today he has $500,000 in pledges for this campaign.

On Monday, LA Times columnist Jim Newton offered his thumbnail appraisal of the seven insider candidates, ranking County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Councilman, as the “front-runner” if “he jumps in — really and truly in,” a leap of faith he has shied away from repeatedly over the last couple of decades.

The LA Weekly is polling political observers for how they rate the candidates.

It’s kind of funny when you think about it.

Anyone interested in paying a county income tax on top of a
state income tax? I didn’t think so, but that’s what could happen if SB 653
(Steinberg) becomes law.

In anticipation of government restructuring that would move certain responsibilities to county government, this bill would authorize county supervisors to submit to voters a local personal income tax, a local corporate income tax, and a local sales and use tax.

Over fifty years ago, the legislature declared that income taxes would be the sole purview of the state while counties were authorized to levy other taxes such as taxes on hotel stays and business taxes. SB 653 would open the door to a local income tax to be placed on top of the state income tax, already one of the highest in the nation.

That didn’t take long. The bayonet in last November’s
Proposition 25 to cut Legislators’ pay in the
event of a late budget has been quietly re-sheathed. While proponents had insisted the measure "holds legislators
accountable for late budgets (and) ends budget gridlock," it is conceivable
that the budget standoff could continue well into the summer without any
consequence to lawmakers.

How could this be? Well, as proponents said at the
time, just read the initiative.

"…in
any year in which the budget bill is not passed by the Legislature by midnight
on June 15, there shall be no appropriation from the current budget or future
budget to pay any salary or reimbursement for travel or living expenses for
Members of the Legislature…"

The key phrase is, "not passed by the Legislature."
Note that the Constitution does not require that the bill be enacted, or be
signed by the Governor, or even presented to the Governor for his
consideration.