California
Business & Economics
Good tort system a budget key
The deteriorating economy has pushed many state budgets into deficit, including Alabama’s, but the problem is not uniform. Indeed, a new study by the National Conference of State Legislatures examines the revenue and expenditure situation in the 50 U.S. states for the current fiscal year and next. Sixteen states face ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
June 1, 2008
Business & Economics
High (Tax) Times in California?
It is going to be a long hot summer in California’s capital as negotiations heat up over what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late April projected to be a $20.2 billion budget deficit for next fiscal year, starting July 1. Because a two-thirds majority is required to pass the budget, some ...
Lawrence J. McQuillan
June 1, 2008
Business & Economics
The Government’s Scapegoats
With food and energy prices soaring, housing prices collapsing, and the economy sinking into what could be a deep recession, the government has been searching around for villains. The latest scapegoats are speculators, OPEC, and of course, the big bad oil companies. As usual, our government ignores its own role ...
Robert P. Murphy
May 31, 2008
Commentary
Will Romneycare Hurt Mitt’s VP Bid?
As I was glassing over the news that I have missed over the last week, I came across this item from May 21 edition of the Wall Street Journal: The New Big DigMay 21, 2008; Page A18 Mitt Romney’s presidential run is history, but it looks as if the taxpayers ...
Tommy Oliver
May 28, 2008
Commentary
School-choice successes grow
Georgia approves private-school scholarships funded with tax credits Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law last week a universal school-choice program that uses corporate and individual tax credits to create $50 million in scholarships to private schools. The law is the latest advance in the school-choice movement, which has seen ...
Vicki E. Murray
May 22, 2008
Commentary
Independent explores new perspective
A whole new world of political thought opened to Vancouver’s Ceci Ryan Smith last month at a well-known ranch in California. She was guest at a conservative women’s conference at the Reagan Ranch Center. Ceci (wife of Vancouver’s Dave Smith, mother of two, board member of the Vancouver Housing Authority ...
Tom Koenninger
May 21, 2008
California
San Francisco Health Access Plan Shakedown?
I have long alleged that the real (unstated) objective of San Francisco’s Health Access Plan was to direct more tax money and power to the City’s public health bureaucracy, and the experience so far does nothing to dispel that. It’s certainly not doing much to get health care to anyone, ...
John R. Graham
May 21, 2008
Business & Economics
California Budget Revision Proves It: You Can’t Trust the State With Health Care
As California struggles to get control of its budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger (who as recently as January collaborated with Democrats to almost wrangle a $15 billion health care tax and spending increase through the legislature) has been forced to propose cutting $2 billion (5 percent) from the state budget for ...
John R. Graham
May 14, 2008
Business & Economics
Ending the Revenue Rollercoaster – The Benefits of a Three Percent Flat Income Tax for California
The PRI flat-tax plan for California will greatly simplify the current tax code. It will completely eliminate the alternative minimum tax, as well as estate, inheritance, and gift taxes. It will also revamp the convoluted, loophole-ridden corporate and personal income-tax codes with a simple flat rate of 3 percent on ...
Robert P. Murphy
May 13, 2008
Business & Economics
New speaker’s agenda
SACRAMENTO — Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, sounds as if she wants to continue the good working relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger forged by outgoing Speaker Fabian Nunez, also a Los Angeles Democrat. Bass, who takes office Tuesday, said at a news conference today that Schwarzenegger has talked to ...
Pacific Research Institute
May 12, 2008
Good tort system a budget key
The deteriorating economy has pushed many state budgets into deficit, including Alabama’s, but the problem is not uniform. Indeed, a new study by the National Conference of State Legislatures examines the revenue and expenditure situation in the 50 U.S. states for the current fiscal year and next. Sixteen states face ...
High (Tax) Times in California?
It is going to be a long hot summer in California’s capital as negotiations heat up over what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late April projected to be a $20.2 billion budget deficit for next fiscal year, starting July 1. Because a two-thirds majority is required to pass the budget, some ...
The Government’s Scapegoats
With food and energy prices soaring, housing prices collapsing, and the economy sinking into what could be a deep recession, the government has been searching around for villains. The latest scapegoats are speculators, OPEC, and of course, the big bad oil companies. As usual, our government ignores its own role ...
Will Romneycare Hurt Mitt’s VP Bid?
As I was glassing over the news that I have missed over the last week, I came across this item from May 21 edition of the Wall Street Journal: The New Big DigMay 21, 2008; Page A18 Mitt Romney’s presidential run is history, but it looks as if the taxpayers ...
School-choice successes grow
Georgia approves private-school scholarships funded with tax credits Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law last week a universal school-choice program that uses corporate and individual tax credits to create $50 million in scholarships to private schools. The law is the latest advance in the school-choice movement, which has seen ...
Independent explores new perspective
A whole new world of political thought opened to Vancouver’s Ceci Ryan Smith last month at a well-known ranch in California. She was guest at a conservative women’s conference at the Reagan Ranch Center. Ceci (wife of Vancouver’s Dave Smith, mother of two, board member of the Vancouver Housing Authority ...
San Francisco Health Access Plan Shakedown?
I have long alleged that the real (unstated) objective of San Francisco’s Health Access Plan was to direct more tax money and power to the City’s public health bureaucracy, and the experience so far does nothing to dispel that. It’s certainly not doing much to get health care to anyone, ...
California Budget Revision Proves It: You Can’t Trust the State With Health Care
As California struggles to get control of its budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger (who as recently as January collaborated with Democrats to almost wrangle a $15 billion health care tax and spending increase through the legislature) has been forced to propose cutting $2 billion (5 percent) from the state budget for ...
Ending the Revenue Rollercoaster – The Benefits of a Three Percent Flat Income Tax for California
The PRI flat-tax plan for California will greatly simplify the current tax code. It will completely eliminate the alternative minimum tax, as well as estate, inheritance, and gift taxes. It will also revamp the convoluted, loophole-ridden corporate and personal income-tax codes with a simple flat rate of 3 percent on ...
New speaker’s agenda
SACRAMENTO — Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, sounds as if she wants to continue the good working relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger forged by outgoing Speaker Fabian Nunez, also a Los Angeles Democrat. Bass, who takes office Tuesday, said at a news conference today that Schwarzenegger has talked to ...