California
Business & Economics
Dr. Wayne Winegarden Discusses Prop. 55 On Kgo-Am
PRI Senior Fellow Dr. Wayne Winegarden appeared on The Ethan Bearman Show on KGO-AM to discuss the fiscal consequences of California’s Proposition 55 — the state ballot initiative that would extend the “temporary” personal income tax increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000. As Dr. Winegarden explains, California needs ...
California
Would A “Public Option” Rescue Obamacare In California?
Dave Jones, California’s Insurance Commissioner, has lifted a page from Hillary Clinton’s playbook for the rescue of Obamacare – the so-called “public option.” The public option would probably look a lot like Medicaid. Its proponents give it a less pejorative name to lull people into a false sense of confidence ...
California
California’s Surprise Medical Bill Law Papers Over a Systemic Problem
Insured patients who go into hospital for scheduled surgery are often shocked to find they owe bills well beyond what they expected to pay, especially if they understood the hospital and surgeon to be in their health plan’s network. The problem usually occurs when an anesthesiologist or other specialist involved ...
California
New Asset Forfeiture Law Will Protect Property of Innocent Californians
In 2014, the owner of a janitorial company who paid her employees in cash was pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Interstate 5. Officers found $18,000 in her car. She presented paperwork showing the cash was from her business, but she was told they didn’t believe her. ...
Business & Economics
Consumers and Grocers Would Benefit Most By Preserving Bag Tradition
Grocery shopping in California isn’t what it used to be. Traditionally, customers carried their items away in paper bags provided by the store through an unspoken, but well-established and always understood, contract between seller and buyer. But then government got involved and turned a simple transaction into an irksome task. ...
Business & Economics
In California Pension Casino, Taxpayers Going Bust
California has a state pension problem that defies partisan politics. It’s not about Hillary vs. Donald, it’s about math. Past pension promises may exceed the potential for pension asset growth. Whether we are currently or were former California residents, as I am, we all want California to prosper. We want ...
California
CAPITAL IDEAS: Climate Change Bill Will Cost California Hundreds of Millions
A report from Energy and Environmental Economics in San Francisco says cutting emissions between 26 percent and 38 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 could cost $23 billion year. Read Full Brie
California
Temporary Taxes Become Permanent in Prop. 55
Economist Milton Friedman said, and was proved right many times over, that nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program. The same could be said for temporary taxes. They’re about as eternal as death. It’s actually a ghost we are considering here, though, tax hikes authorized by Proposition 30 ...
California
Prop 57 Contains a Loophole for Violent Criminals
With violent crime increasing in California, it seems reasonable to grant early release to inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses to make room in the prison system for truly dangerous felons. Most of us would be happy to trade an accountant guilty of bilking his employer for a serial rapist. One ...
California
Health Care Needs Effective Reforms, Not the CREATES Act
Congress is back in session. With the election looming, this means a frenetic dash to pass bills on a number of big ticket items, including the budget and Zika funding. While the legislative fight over these issues will likely dominate the headlines, we cannot forget about other below-the-radar, but nevertheless ...
Dr. Wayne Winegarden Discusses Prop. 55 On Kgo-Am
PRI Senior Fellow Dr. Wayne Winegarden appeared on The Ethan Bearman Show on KGO-AM to discuss the fiscal consequences of California’s Proposition 55 — the state ballot initiative that would extend the “temporary” personal income tax increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000. As Dr. Winegarden explains, California needs ...
Would A “Public Option” Rescue Obamacare In California?
Dave Jones, California’s Insurance Commissioner, has lifted a page from Hillary Clinton’s playbook for the rescue of Obamacare – the so-called “public option.” The public option would probably look a lot like Medicaid. Its proponents give it a less pejorative name to lull people into a false sense of confidence ...
California’s Surprise Medical Bill Law Papers Over a Systemic Problem
Insured patients who go into hospital for scheduled surgery are often shocked to find they owe bills well beyond what they expected to pay, especially if they understood the hospital and surgeon to be in their health plan’s network. The problem usually occurs when an anesthesiologist or other specialist involved ...
New Asset Forfeiture Law Will Protect Property of Innocent Californians
In 2014, the owner of a janitorial company who paid her employees in cash was pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Interstate 5. Officers found $18,000 in her car. She presented paperwork showing the cash was from her business, but she was told they didn’t believe her. ...
Consumers and Grocers Would Benefit Most By Preserving Bag Tradition
Grocery shopping in California isn’t what it used to be. Traditionally, customers carried their items away in paper bags provided by the store through an unspoken, but well-established and always understood, contract between seller and buyer. But then government got involved and turned a simple transaction into an irksome task. ...
In California Pension Casino, Taxpayers Going Bust
California has a state pension problem that defies partisan politics. It’s not about Hillary vs. Donald, it’s about math. Past pension promises may exceed the potential for pension asset growth. Whether we are currently or were former California residents, as I am, we all want California to prosper. We want ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Climate Change Bill Will Cost California Hundreds of Millions
A report from Energy and Environmental Economics in San Francisco says cutting emissions between 26 percent and 38 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 could cost $23 billion year. Read Full Brie
Temporary Taxes Become Permanent in Prop. 55
Economist Milton Friedman said, and was proved right many times over, that nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program. The same could be said for temporary taxes. They’re about as eternal as death. It’s actually a ghost we are considering here, though, tax hikes authorized by Proposition 30 ...
Prop 57 Contains a Loophole for Violent Criminals
With violent crime increasing in California, it seems reasonable to grant early release to inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses to make room in the prison system for truly dangerous felons. Most of us would be happy to trade an accountant guilty of bilking his employer for a serial rapist. One ...
Health Care Needs Effective Reforms, Not the CREATES Act
Congress is back in session. With the election looming, this means a frenetic dash to pass bills on a number of big ticket items, including the budget and Zika funding. While the legislative fight over these issues will likely dominate the headlines, we cannot forget about other below-the-radar, but nevertheless ...
