Housing

Blog

Capping State Home Mortgage Deduction Won’t Increase Home Affordability

Housing affordability is once again at the top of Sacramento Democrats’ policy agenda this session.  Several bills have already been proposed to try and bring down state housing costs. Addressing the state’s housing crisis is now running into conflict with another perpetual top priority for many liberals at the State ...
Blog

Homelessness Task Force Isn’t Up To The Task

A state homelessness task force is recommending that local governments be hauled into court if they aren’t moving people off the streets. It’s unlikely to help. The most probable outcome is an increased burden on the courts and a higher dose of politics into an arena where politics have already ...
Blog

California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like

If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Climate Change

California Green New Deal embraces far left policy wish list under guise of saving the planet

Sacramento Democrats have drawn up a Green New Deal for California, which, the public is being told, is necessary to prevent a global warming crisis. The usual empty talking points that are poor substitutes for climate facts have been strung together to create an atmosphere of doom. But it’s obvious ...
Blog

Taxpayers Exhausted from Newsom’s Marathon Budget Presser

Gov. Newsom’s announcement of his 2020-21 State Budget plan on Friday was another whopper, his speech clocking in at roughly 2 hours and 47 minutes.  Last year, reporters who were used to covering a 30 minute press conference where caught off guard by Newsom’s lengthy presentation.  Los Angeles Times reporter ...
Blog

California And Bernie Sanders a Snug Political Fit

A Washington newspaper has reported that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the socialist from Vermont, has received 300 endorsements from California. That goes a long to explaining why things keep going wrong in the state. “The campaign released endorsements from 40 elected officials, more than 80 community leaders and more than ...
Blog

New Year, New Laws

New Year’s resolutions are about goals and aspirations.  Unfortunately, California’s new 2020 laws serve mostly the aspirations of state politicians and interest groups, not hard-working Californians. Take AB5, a law that forces thousands of independent contractors to become company employees. Gig economy workers from Uber drivers to truckers and journalists ...
Blog

California Politics in 2019: Not Much To Be Happy About

December is about half gone, and, as the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz once sang, “it’s getting cold in California.” In another song from the same 1996 album Duritz also sang that it’s been “a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” ...
Blog

Things Just Keep Going The Wrong Way In California

Two days before Thanksgiving, financial services firm Charles Schwab announced it was relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas. The Wall Street Journal’s explanation: “The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance.” Fresh from its $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade, Schwab, located in San Francisco ...
Blog

Instead of Spending Billions on Housing Affordability, Silicon Valley Should Demand CEQA Reform

Amid much fanfare, several Silicon Valley firms have announced plans to collectively contribute billions to “affordable housing” programs. Last month, Apple announced “a comprehensive $2.5 billion plan to help address the housing availability and affordability crisis in California.”  Their plan includes “a $1 billion commitment to the state of California ...
Blog

Capping State Home Mortgage Deduction Won’t Increase Home Affordability

Housing affordability is once again at the top of Sacramento Democrats’ policy agenda this session.  Several bills have already been proposed to try and bring down state housing costs. Addressing the state’s housing crisis is now running into conflict with another perpetual top priority for many liberals at the State ...
Blog

Homelessness Task Force Isn’t Up To The Task

A state homelessness task force is recommending that local governments be hauled into court if they aren’t moving people off the streets. It’s unlikely to help. The most probable outcome is an increased burden on the courts and a higher dose of politics into an arena where politics have already ...
Blog

California Governor Never Met a Task Force He Didn’t Like

If you were able to make it through California Governor Gavin Newsom’s almost three-hour budget briefing, you’ve probably been following the enormous funding proposals included in the $222.2 billion budget estimate. You can save 167 minute of your time and read the blog post by PRI’s Tim Anaya. Governor Newsom ...
Climate Change

California Green New Deal embraces far left policy wish list under guise of saving the planet

Sacramento Democrats have drawn up a Green New Deal for California, which, the public is being told, is necessary to prevent a global warming crisis. The usual empty talking points that are poor substitutes for climate facts have been strung together to create an atmosphere of doom. But it’s obvious ...
Blog

Taxpayers Exhausted from Newsom’s Marathon Budget Presser

Gov. Newsom’s announcement of his 2020-21 State Budget plan on Friday was another whopper, his speech clocking in at roughly 2 hours and 47 minutes.  Last year, reporters who were used to covering a 30 minute press conference where caught off guard by Newsom’s lengthy presentation.  Los Angeles Times reporter ...
Blog

California And Bernie Sanders a Snug Political Fit

A Washington newspaper has reported that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the socialist from Vermont, has received 300 endorsements from California. That goes a long to explaining why things keep going wrong in the state. “The campaign released endorsements from 40 elected officials, more than 80 community leaders and more than ...
Blog

New Year, New Laws

New Year’s resolutions are about goals and aspirations.  Unfortunately, California’s new 2020 laws serve mostly the aspirations of state politicians and interest groups, not hard-working Californians. Take AB5, a law that forces thousands of independent contractors to become company employees. Gig economy workers from Uber drivers to truckers and journalists ...
Blog

California Politics in 2019: Not Much To Be Happy About

December is about half gone, and, as the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz once sang, “it’s getting cold in California.” In another song from the same 1996 album Duritz also sang that it’s been “a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” ...
Blog

Things Just Keep Going The Wrong Way In California

Two days before Thanksgiving, financial services firm Charles Schwab announced it was relocating its headquarters from San Francisco to Texas. The Wall Street Journal’s explanation: “The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance.” Fresh from its $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade, Schwab, located in San Francisco ...
Blog

Instead of Spending Billions on Housing Affordability, Silicon Valley Should Demand CEQA Reform

Amid much fanfare, several Silicon Valley firms have announced plans to collectively contribute billions to “affordable housing” programs. Last month, Apple announced “a comprehensive $2.5 billion plan to help address the housing availability and affordability crisis in California.”  Their plan includes “a $1 billion commitment to the state of California ...
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