California

California

Californians Aren’t Embracing Sound Rent Control Policy Quite Yet

California voters earlier this month firmly rejected a proposition that would have repealed the state’s restrictions on rent-control laws. Nearly 62 percent said no, local governments cannot regulate the price of housing. But don’t mistake the vote with a sudden embrace of free-market housing policies. After all, October polling by ...
Blog

Tax Reform Making a Difference in Increasing Opportunity for All Americans

In the early 21st century, American fiscal policy must balance and prioritize two fundamental goals. First, we need to create the best possible environment for investment and innovation, setting the stage for another century of unparalleled prosperity. Second, we need to ensure that the largest possible number of Americans, from ...
California

California’s predictably blue midterm elections – and what it means for you

The midterm elections were a rather tiresome affair in California. The Democratic Party maintained its dominance in the state, holding majorities in the Legislature, securing the governor’s mansion yet again, and sending another mass of winning candidates to Washington. As news goes, there’s not much to see here. Conventional wisdom ...
Blog

Elon Musk Shows Private Sector Could Build Better, Cheaper Bullet Train

While high-speed rail, California’s monument to folly, mocks itself with unfinished concrete pillars rising toward the sky like empty hands and tracks leading to nowhere, a tunnel burrowed by entrepreneur Elon Musk beneath Los Angeles might be the forerunner to a transportation system that’s faster, cheaper, and safer than a ...
Blog

What to Expect from California’s New Governor and Liberal Supermajority

The 2018 election has come and passed. To paraphrase California’s governor-elect, Gavin Newsom will move to the “corner office” come January, “whether you like it or not.”  While a few races are still up in the air as of this writing, it looks like he will have a Democrat supermajority ...
California

Statewide Polystyrene Ban Would Bring Unintended Consequences

Supposedly civic-minded prohibitions on consumer conveniences always have unintended consequences. California’s single-use plastic bag ban, for instance, has led to a surge in E. coli infections, created a swarm of thicker plastics bags that are a greater environmental hazard than the outlawed single-use plastic bags, boosted shoplifting, and been the ...
Blog

Los Amazon? Not.

It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
California

San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam

San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
Blog

More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions

In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
California

So, Now What? The PRI All Stars Post-Election Wrap Up

The PRI All Stars are back with a post-election wrap up on the results of the key races and propositions in California and nationally.  We discuss what the election results will mean for single-payer health care, tax reform and free-market policies, and what Californians can expected from a divided Congress, ...
California

Californians Aren’t Embracing Sound Rent Control Policy Quite Yet

California voters earlier this month firmly rejected a proposition that would have repealed the state’s restrictions on rent-control laws. Nearly 62 percent said no, local governments cannot regulate the price of housing. But don’t mistake the vote with a sudden embrace of free-market housing policies. After all, October polling by ...
Blog

Tax Reform Making a Difference in Increasing Opportunity for All Americans

In the early 21st century, American fiscal policy must balance and prioritize two fundamental goals. First, we need to create the best possible environment for investment and innovation, setting the stage for another century of unparalleled prosperity. Second, we need to ensure that the largest possible number of Americans, from ...
California

California’s predictably blue midterm elections – and what it means for you

The midterm elections were a rather tiresome affair in California. The Democratic Party maintained its dominance in the state, holding majorities in the Legislature, securing the governor’s mansion yet again, and sending another mass of winning candidates to Washington. As news goes, there’s not much to see here. Conventional wisdom ...
Blog

Elon Musk Shows Private Sector Could Build Better, Cheaper Bullet Train

While high-speed rail, California’s monument to folly, mocks itself with unfinished concrete pillars rising toward the sky like empty hands and tracks leading to nowhere, a tunnel burrowed by entrepreneur Elon Musk beneath Los Angeles might be the forerunner to a transportation system that’s faster, cheaper, and safer than a ...
Blog

What to Expect from California’s New Governor and Liberal Supermajority

The 2018 election has come and passed. To paraphrase California’s governor-elect, Gavin Newsom will move to the “corner office” come January, “whether you like it or not.”  While a few races are still up in the air as of this writing, it looks like he will have a Democrat supermajority ...
California

Statewide Polystyrene Ban Would Bring Unintended Consequences

Supposedly civic-minded prohibitions on consumer conveniences always have unintended consequences. California’s single-use plastic bag ban, for instance, has led to a surge in E. coli infections, created a swarm of thicker plastics bags that are a greater environmental hazard than the outlawed single-use plastic bags, boosted shoplifting, and been the ...
Blog

Los Amazon? Not.

It’s official. Amazon has announced plans to establish its second headquarters in New York in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and Crystal City, Virginia, which is just outside Washington, D.C. I first wrote about Amazon’s search in a blog back when several California cities were vying for HQ2, ...
California

San Diego Ignores Alternatives in Rush to Ban Styrofoam

San Diego has just dreamed up a Styrofoam prohibition so harsh that it will require consumers to change their foam containers to alternative packaging when they visit city property. The City Council recently voted 5-3 to approve an ordinance banning “the distribution of egg cartons, food service ware, and food trays which ...
Blog

More Election Woes: Tax Hikes to Save Pensions

In some excellent reporting by Chris Reed of CalWatchdog, Reed found that more than 100 local governments in California asked voters for tax hikes on Election Day, double the 56 the Bond Buyer said it recorded in November 2016. These 100+ measures were on top of the 36 city and ...
California

So, Now What? The PRI All Stars Post-Election Wrap Up

The PRI All Stars are back with a post-election wrap up on the results of the key races and propositions in California and nationally.  We discuss what the election results will mean for single-payer health care, tax reform and free-market policies, and what Californians can expected from a divided Congress, ...
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