Killing the Golden Goose
“I’m a business person. I don’t need folks to start lecturing me on regulations and costs of doing business.” – Governor Gavin Newsom while addressing the Bay Area Council in 2019 The California economy is a sick patient, having been infected with Covid-19 back in March. While currently recovering from its recession, the economy is […]
California Voters Reject Rent Control – Again
Some affordable housing advocates just don’t get it. They keep trying to convince state voters that rent control is a good thing. It’s not. And a strong majority of Californians agree. It’s particularly shameful that strong backing for Proposition 21 – this year’s rent control initiative – came from those in the state legislature who […]
Voters help big business override California lawmakers
Jeff Clayton remembers the day, two years ago, when California passed a law that would put his industry out of business in the state. The ban on money bail — which Democrats advanced saying it would bring more fairness in the criminal justice system — would devastate companies in the American Bail Coalition that Clayton […]
California And The Nation: Record Turnouts, Tight Races
Muddle-headed from sleep deprivation, we try to make sense of the ongoing election chaos. We also look at California races. Inside Golden State Politics podcast. Nancy Boyarsky is the producer and director of Inside Golden State Politics.
The Crime Issue Isn’t What It Used To Be in California
Once upon a time, only three decades ago, crime and punishment were a powerful political message in California. No more. Results of the November election indicate that voters are looking for different avenues to deal with crime and punishment issues. The state that pioneered the Three Strikes movement and built new prisons to accommodate many […]
Small Business Looks at the CA Election Results
Small businesses throughout California are happy to see the ‘No’ vote on Proposition 15 holding a narrow lead, but they will watch to see if it will stick. It’s a direct dollars-and-cents issue for them because they are certain to be hit with the largest property tax increase in California history at the worst possible […]
Why Californians Should Fear San Diego’s Haunted Tower
As Californians explore what to do with thousands of buildings made empty by the pandemic, let’s avoid being as scared and stupid as San Diego. America’s Finest City has seen its civic-minded brains eaten not by zombies, but by a long-empty downtown office building. Indeed, San Diegans are so frighteningly obsessed with 101 Ash Street […]
California Consumers More Confident About the Economy, But…
The confidence of California consumers in the economy has increased somewhat, as businesses in portions of the state reopened in the wake of the pandemic. Yet, uncertainty as to the future trajectory of Covid-19 and the availability and timing of a vaccine is the wild card moving forward. According to a recent survey of Californians, […]
Unions Struggle with Ballot Measures
As often noted by political observers, public and private sector unions are strong political forces in California. While they may have once again supported candidates to their liking up and down the ballot, as this is written they have not been as successful wielding their influence on voters through ballot measures. Let’s add the proper […]
California props and hot races results: What we know and don’t know
Californian’s app-based corporate luminaries such as Uber and Lyft just waged the most expensive state ballot measure campaign in U.S. history — and it paid off big time, allowing those companies to thwart the will of all three branches of California government. By approving Proposition 22, voters allowed those companies to avoid a 2019 California labor […]