California
Blog
Putting Thumb on Scale of California Elections Threatens Our Democracy
“To the victor go the spoils” goes the old proverb. This statement is true in many things in life, but certainly rings true in politics. Consider the ongoing effort to change California’s elections laws to try and help Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, who is the target of a recall election. ...
Commentary
Republicans, Don’t Settle For Half-Hearted Tweaks To Obamacare
Members of Congress will return on September 5 from their recess. They have a lot on their agenda: reforming the tax code, repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and raising the debt ceiling. President Trump wants to add another item to that agenda. He recently implored Congress to “keep its promise, ...
Blog
Tax Increase Proposal Would Not Make Housing More Affordable
California lawmakers, some of whom long ago demonstrated that they don’t understand why housing is so expensive across the state, continue to show that they have no idea how to fix the problem. Consider, for instance, the plan being moved ahead by Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Marin Democrat. He wants ...
Blog
Legislature Takes Two Steps Back on State’s Housing Crisis
California lawmakers can’t hide from the state’s housing crisis caused by a severe shortage of homes. They’ve even promised to do something about it. But a bill just signed into law last month indicates that the promise is likely to be hollow. Rather than lower government-imposed barriers to home building, ...
Business & Economics
One Club Taxpayers Will Never Be Able to Afford
California’s $100,000 Club has grown to an all-time high. And it’s not a particularly exclusive institution. This one has more than 61,000 members, all of them retired government employees, raking in pension benefits many in the private sector would envy. The membership drive was boosted by a sharp increase from ...
Blog
Beware of Tax Reform’s “Unintended Consequences”
There is little doubt that the U.S. needs comprehensive tax reform. The corporate income tax system is globally uncompetitive; the personal income tax system is so complicated that even the IRS can’t answer taxpayers’ questions. The right reform implements a simple flat tax system with globally competitive rates. What should ...
Blog
An (Artificially) Intelligent Future for California?
Californians harboring dystopian fears would have us believe that the state is sowing the seeds of its own destruction by leading in the development of artificial intelligence. Consider state legislation introduced this year that would fine companies like Uber $25,000 a day per vehicle if they operate self-driving cars without ...
Commentary
The False Promise Of ‘Medicaid For All’
“Medicaid for All” has suddenly become the darling of the health reform crowd. Nevada almost became the first state in the nation to adopt Medicaid for All this year — until Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed the plan in June. Other states, including Massachusetts and Minnesota, are looking into it. These ...
California
Don’t let California prove how single-payer fails patients
Is single-payer health care dead in California? There were a lot of headlines to that effect in late June, after Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon shelved the Healthy California Act, which would have abolished private insurance and established the state as the sole provider of health coverage in California. But advocates ...
Commentary
Trump must dump the unconstitutional health insurance industry bailouts from Obamacare
On August 17, the Trump administration announced it would dole out “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies to insurers on Obamacare’s exchanges for at least another month. The decision comes despite President Trump’s repeated threats to withhold the money, which he has correctly called a “bailout” for the insurance industry. Obamacare orders insurers ...
Putting Thumb on Scale of California Elections Threatens Our Democracy
“To the victor go the spoils” goes the old proverb. This statement is true in many things in life, but certainly rings true in politics. Consider the ongoing effort to change California’s elections laws to try and help Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, who is the target of a recall election. ...
Republicans, Don’t Settle For Half-Hearted Tweaks To Obamacare
Members of Congress will return on September 5 from their recess. They have a lot on their agenda: reforming the tax code, repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and raising the debt ceiling. President Trump wants to add another item to that agenda. He recently implored Congress to “keep its promise, ...
Tax Increase Proposal Would Not Make Housing More Affordable
California lawmakers, some of whom long ago demonstrated that they don’t understand why housing is so expensive across the state, continue to show that they have no idea how to fix the problem. Consider, for instance, the plan being moved ahead by Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Marin Democrat. He wants ...
Legislature Takes Two Steps Back on State’s Housing Crisis
California lawmakers can’t hide from the state’s housing crisis caused by a severe shortage of homes. They’ve even promised to do something about it. But a bill just signed into law last month indicates that the promise is likely to be hollow. Rather than lower government-imposed barriers to home building, ...
One Club Taxpayers Will Never Be Able to Afford
California’s $100,000 Club has grown to an all-time high. And it’s not a particularly exclusive institution. This one has more than 61,000 members, all of them retired government employees, raking in pension benefits many in the private sector would envy. The membership drive was boosted by a sharp increase from ...
Beware of Tax Reform’s “Unintended Consequences”
There is little doubt that the U.S. needs comprehensive tax reform. The corporate income tax system is globally uncompetitive; the personal income tax system is so complicated that even the IRS can’t answer taxpayers’ questions. The right reform implements a simple flat tax system with globally competitive rates. What should ...
An (Artificially) Intelligent Future for California?
Californians harboring dystopian fears would have us believe that the state is sowing the seeds of its own destruction by leading in the development of artificial intelligence. Consider state legislation introduced this year that would fine companies like Uber $25,000 a day per vehicle if they operate self-driving cars without ...
The False Promise Of ‘Medicaid For All’
“Medicaid for All” has suddenly become the darling of the health reform crowd. Nevada almost became the first state in the nation to adopt Medicaid for All this year — until Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed the plan in June. Other states, including Massachusetts and Minnesota, are looking into it. These ...
Don’t let California prove how single-payer fails patients
Is single-payer health care dead in California? There were a lot of headlines to that effect in late June, after Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon shelved the Healthy California Act, which would have abolished private insurance and established the state as the sole provider of health coverage in California. But advocates ...
Trump must dump the unconstitutional health insurance industry bailouts from Obamacare
On August 17, the Trump administration announced it would dole out “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies to insurers on Obamacare’s exchanges for at least another month. The decision comes despite President Trump’s repeated threats to withhold the money, which he has correctly called a “bailout” for the insurance industry. Obamacare orders insurers ...
