California’s crisis of competence
Year by year and article by article, Ralph Vartabedian has revealed to Californians the woeful shortcomings of the state’s largest public works project, a north-south bullet train. Vartabedian, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, has made a virtual career of uncovering the project’s managerial, financial and political failings, lending factual credence to the conclusion […]
The Age of American Nihilism
In this election year of 2020, America is tearing itself apart. It’s more than the Trump vs Biden election. I’ve never seen this country as divided as it is today, and I went through the sixties! The coronavirus, the resultant lockdowns and their economic repercussions, the repugnant murder of George Floyd, and the social upheavals […]
And Now a Wealth Tax To Chase Taxpayers Away
If anyone raises the argument that rich taxpayers would escape California if taxes on them get higher and higher, the response is usually that there is no evidence that that would happen. Yet in the last week, there are clear indications from Democratic elected officials fearing that could happen. In California, the concern is expressed […]
Can L.A. Escape the Cage of Chinatown?
A mother, seeking to protect her daughter and herself, fires a gunshot toward her abusive father, and then flees by car. Los Angeles police, on the scene but in no danger, open fire on the departing vehicle, killing the mother. Her unnecessary death is more than a tragedy, or police misconduct. It’s an emblem of […]
Misusing taxpayer dollars for campaigns
Four of the 12 measures on California’s November ballot were placed there by the Legislature. Let’s assume that legislators had also appropriated $100 million in taxpayers’ money for campaigns to persuade voters to approve the four. It would have been an outrageous and likely illegal misappropriation of public funds under several laws. Using public funds […]
COVID Work Trip Reduction Estimates: CSAs with Transit Legacy Cities
America’s elite central business districts have symbolized the ascendency of big cities, epitomized by soaring office towers. But today, due the COVID-19 pandemic, so much office work performed in these CBDs can be done remotely, that their future seems far less towering than in the past. In contrast, less dense areas, notably exurbs, appear to […]
Open Letter to Gov. Newsom: We answered your call to shut down. Now it’s your turn to Oppose Prop 15
Dear Governor Newsom, Small businesses across California are hurting like never before. My family-owned small business, El Indio Mexican Restaurant and Catering, has never experienced a recession like this in our 80 years of serving the San Diego community. And there are millions of small businesses like nail salons, day care centers, dry cleaners, and […]
Joe Biden’s Historic Decision!
Californians were introduced to the Democrat’s Vice-Presidential choice years ago and they apparently liked what they saw. Now the nation will have the same opportunity with former Vice President Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris to run with him on the Democratic ticket. In their first public appearance as a campaign couple Harris with […]
California Legislators Propose Wealth Tax
On the morning of August 13, Assembly Bill 2088 was gutted-and-amended an elections bill into a wealth tax. AB 2088 is jointly authored by Assembly Members Bonta, Carrillo, Chiu, Gonzalez, Kalra, Santiago, Stone, Ting, and Wicks. Assembly coauthors include Chu and Jones-Sawyer and Senate coauthors include Skinner, Durazo and Lena Gonzalez. In the new bill […]
Kamala! Kamala! Kamala!
We take a close look at Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Joe Biden’s choice for the Democratic vice presidential nomination. What does she bring to the ticket? Will the Democratic left, which opposed her presidential run, turn out en masse for her. And we examine where President Donald Trump and his supporters will attack her. […]