The People’s Voice: Coronavirus Edition
California voters are understandably anxious about the health and economic crises facing families and workplaces. CalChamber commissioned a brief survey to better understand how voters want state leaders to address key economic issues as the clock ticks down on the 2020 Legislative session. The chilling events over the past three months have moved California voters […]
Green Policies Won’t Keep California Truckin’
No state advertises its green credentials more than California. That these policies often hurt the economy, driving up housing costs and narrowing opportunities for working-class people while not even doing much for the environment, has not discouraged the state’s environmental overlords. Consider the state’s insistence on electrifying transportation. Even as California reduces its reliable sources […]
CalPERS’ Effort to Become a Lender Takes Curious Turn with Sudden CIO Resignation
Now that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System has decided to become a lender, it follows that the taxpayers who finance the pension fund have the right to know what types of loans will be made and to whom. The process, though, will unlikely be sufficiently transparent. There is legitimate concern that CalPERS will be […]
Has the Legislature Reduced Its Bill Load?
Has the California Legislature reduced the number of bills it is considering and voting on this Session due to the pandemic and their two lengthy shutdowns? This is the first question being discussed in and out of the State Capitol the past few months. And, the answer is a resounding yes. The second question being […]
Another version of ‘ethnic studies’
A year ago, the California Department of Education released a draft of guidelines for implementing “ethnic studies” in public high schools. It unleashed a torrent of controversy — for good reason. The 303-page document was ersatz Marxist agitprop that, if adopted, would have drummed into young minds the notion that in America, anyone not a […]
California’s homelessness crisis is about to get real
The homelessness crisis is about to get real. Up until now, the crisis that has been termed “homelessness” has been made up of a significant, if disputed, percentage of problems that can’t be fixed with housing alone. Billions of dollars have been thrown at non-solutions such as “supportive housing” that costs up to $700,000 per […]
The AG Brought Charges, But Will the Public Empathize with David Lacey?
The California Attorney General charged the husband of Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey with a misdemeanor because he answered a 5 a.m. knock on the door of their home with a gun. News reports portray the incident as a political problem for incumbent Lacey in her hotly contested District Attorney race against progressive […]
Faced with dying Californians and withering businesses, Gov. Newsom steers a middle path. Can it last?
Californians could be forgiven for feeling like we’re running in place. Three months after Gov. Gavin Newsom began easing the stay-at-home order meant to curb the coronavirus pandemic, the virus is raging — and the vast majority of residents are back to living under major government restrictions. About 97% of Californians live in counties where […]
California’s Woke Hypocrisy
No state wears its multicultural veneer more ostentatiously than California. The Golden State’s leaders believe that they lead a progressive paradise, ushering in what theorists Laura Tyson and Lenny Mendonca call “a new progressive era.” Others see California as deserving of nationhood; it reflects, as a New York Times columnist put it, “the shared values […]