Separating Good Bailouts From Bad Bailouts
The pandemic shutdown is about to enter its third month, and economic repercussions have just begun. Too much has been shut down for too long. In California, the initial reopen is not going to include huge business sectors – theaters, concerts, conventions, sports, travel, hotels – and other sectors such as restaurants and retail establishments […]
Q&A with Jim Newton, Author of: Jerry Brown, Man of Tomorrow
One might fairly think of Jerry Brown as the keystone that holds together the arc of California history that bridged the 20th and 21st centuries. From his first governorship beginning in 1975 through his last of four terms ending in 2019, Brown has been part of and/or witnessed California’s glorious moments, dark declines and various […]
Creating an investment strategy for economic recovery
The May budget revision unveiled by Governor Newsom last week was prudent and showed the flexibility in the state’s budgeting process to quickly adapt to changing conditions. What remains largely missing from the fiscal agenda, though, is urgent stimulus to the California economy that invigorates job creation while rectifying the significant racial and geographic inequities […]
Economic recovery is an opportunity for the climate
The world is changing around us. While the current COVID-19 crisis can easily stoke fear and anxiety, it also offers a window into what we can accomplish when we work together. We have come together to move mountains to mitigate this pandemic like never before. While we are not out of the woods yet, the […]
The Doddering Deifiers of Density-Part 2
FYI, I am agnostic when it comes to urban density. I look upon it as a lifestyle choice, one of many; my opposition to Wiener and his acolytes’ bills is rooted in their utter lack of tolerance: the attempts to force density upon communities; the attempts to create one-size-fits-all urban schemes that treat us all […]
All Mail Voting Works – for Republicans
For all the Republican howling of late about mail balloting, we have now had our first two all mail ballot elections in California, and guess what, Republicans won both: a State Senate seat in Riverside County and a congressional district in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties that Democrats had won in 2018. Republicans from President […]
May Revise Proposes Major Revenue Raisers
On May 14, Governor Newsom submitted his May Budget Revision (i.e., the “May Revise” to his January 10 budget proposal). As part of the May Revise, the Governor offered a series of “revenue solutions,” which amount to billions of dollars of increased tax payments primarily made by business taxpayers. The May Revise explains, “As part […]
The Doddering Deifiers of Density—Part 1
It probably shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has ever observed the cult that Yimbys and other assorted density fetishists would react reflexively any time the word “density” is mentioned in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. Clearly, they are concerned that concerns about the potential impacts of density could cloud their agenda, which is […]
State has a budget problem — but how big?
The first step to effectively deal with any problem is defining it accurately — and the recession-battered state budget is a case in point. There’s no doubt that the pandemic-induced recession is one of the worst in California history and that its negative fiscal effects — both increased spending and reduced revenues — are many […]
A Push for Taxes to Fill the Budget Hole?
Gov. Gavin Newsom did not include a broad tax increase to help balance the state’s budget but that doesn’t mean we will not see attempts by the legislature to raise taxes. Such a big hit to the economy that led to the $54 billion budget problem is not the time to increase taxes. If the […]