California
Blog
Crime in California 2024
Crime in California 2024 by Steve Smith | July 15, 2025 On July 1, as it has for over 50 years, the California Department of Justice released three statistical reports covering crime in general, homicides, and juvenile crime. On the positive side, there are some reductions particularly in violent crime ...
Blog
How’s That ‘Accelerated’ Fire Rebuild Going?
The toll from the wildfires is staggering: More than 18,000 structures were burned, 53 square miles were incinerated, 30, maybe more, people were killed, a couple of hundred thousand were evacuated. For the latter, there are pieces to pick up. Some estimates say more than 11,000 homes were destroyed. Politicians, ...
California
Dr. Ed Amos – A First Hand Acccount of the Southern California Wildfires and Recovery
This week, we talk with Dr. Ed Amos, noted physician and neurologist who tragically lost his home in the Pacific Palisades wildfires. He shares his first hand experience on the day of, and the immediate aftermath, of the wildfires, and offers a close-up view of just how effective government at ...
California
The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide on C-SPAN’s Book TV
This C-Span interview was conducted at FreedomFest, an annual libertarian conference held in 2025 in Palm Springs, California.
Blog
Limiting Freight Train Length More About Union Demands Than Safety
The perpetual tribulations of the high-speed rail are reported with an almost clockwork frequency, but they aren’t the only train stories in California. Freight trains might soon be getting a larger share of the attention. In their eternal search for more dues-paying members, unions want to shorten freight trains. Rail companies are naturally opposed. ...
Blog
Spending Watch
An Irresponsible FY2025-26 Budget All but Ensures Future Fiscal Crises
An Irresponsible FY2025-26 Budget All but Ensures Future Fiscal Crises Wayne Winegarden July 2025 Another fiscal year, another lost opportunity. In a June 2025 Spending Watch analysis, I lamented that Newsom was relying on gimmicks to close the current $12 billion budget deficit. The final budget the governor and legislative ...
California
Are Democrats abandoning Newsom’s “California Way”?
“The Seven Year Itch” is not only a great Marilyn Monroe movie, but a natural occurrence for California governors and legislators of the same party in the seventh year of an eight-year administration. Governors dominate legislators for most of their tenure, then lawmakers begin to push back and act more ...
Blog
Read about California's growing crime problem
Violent Crime in California– The Newsom Years, 2019-2023
Newsom, in turn, called out the murder rates in each of the lawmakers’ home states, proclaiming that Alabama had “…3X the murder rate of California”, Oklahoma had a murder rate “…40 % higher than California’s” and Arkansas was “literally DOUBLE California’s”. In order for Newsom’s posts on X to be ...
Blog
Slowing Consumption Poses an Additional Fiscal Threat to California
The California New Car Dealers Associationnotes that total new vehicle registrations in the state stagnated in 2024 and are expected to decline slightly in 2025. The California Chamber of Commerce reports that tourism, which generated over $12 billion in tax revenue from both international and domestic visitors in 2024, is ...
Blog
Newsom and the National Guard
Newsom’s office stated that the president’s order and the presence of the guard: “not only caused widespread panic and chaos, but have unnecessarily created an additional diversion of resources as the state tries to calm a community terrorized by this reckless federal action.” In fact, the “panic and chaos” was ...
Crime in California 2024
Crime in California 2024 by Steve Smith | July 15, 2025 On July 1, as it has for over 50 years, the California Department of Justice released three statistical reports covering crime in general, homicides, and juvenile crime. On the positive side, there are some reductions particularly in violent crime ...
How’s That ‘Accelerated’ Fire Rebuild Going?
The toll from the wildfires is staggering: More than 18,000 structures were burned, 53 square miles were incinerated, 30, maybe more, people were killed, a couple of hundred thousand were evacuated. For the latter, there are pieces to pick up. Some estimates say more than 11,000 homes were destroyed. Politicians, ...
Dr. Ed Amos – A First Hand Acccount of the Southern California Wildfires and Recovery
This week, we talk with Dr. Ed Amos, noted physician and neurologist who tragically lost his home in the Pacific Palisades wildfires. He shares his first hand experience on the day of, and the immediate aftermath, of the wildfires, and offers a close-up view of just how effective government at ...
The California Left Coast Survivor’s Guide on C-SPAN’s Book TV
This C-Span interview was conducted at FreedomFest, an annual libertarian conference held in 2025 in Palm Springs, California.
Limiting Freight Train Length More About Union Demands Than Safety
The perpetual tribulations of the high-speed rail are reported with an almost clockwork frequency, but they aren’t the only train stories in California. Freight trains might soon be getting a larger share of the attention. In their eternal search for more dues-paying members, unions want to shorten freight trains. Rail companies are naturally opposed. ...
Spending Watch
An Irresponsible FY2025-26 Budget All but Ensures Future Fiscal Crises
An Irresponsible FY2025-26 Budget All but Ensures Future Fiscal Crises Wayne Winegarden July 2025 Another fiscal year, another lost opportunity. In a June 2025 Spending Watch analysis, I lamented that Newsom was relying on gimmicks to close the current $12 billion budget deficit. The final budget the governor and legislative ...
Are Democrats abandoning Newsom’s “California Way”?
“The Seven Year Itch” is not only a great Marilyn Monroe movie, but a natural occurrence for California governors and legislators of the same party in the seventh year of an eight-year administration. Governors dominate legislators for most of their tenure, then lawmakers begin to push back and act more ...
Read about California's growing crime problem
Violent Crime in California– The Newsom Years, 2019-2023
Newsom, in turn, called out the murder rates in each of the lawmakers’ home states, proclaiming that Alabama had “…3X the murder rate of California”, Oklahoma had a murder rate “…40 % higher than California’s” and Arkansas was “literally DOUBLE California’s”. In order for Newsom’s posts on X to be ...
Slowing Consumption Poses an Additional Fiscal Threat to California
The California New Car Dealers Associationnotes that total new vehicle registrations in the state stagnated in 2024 and are expected to decline slightly in 2025. The California Chamber of Commerce reports that tourism, which generated over $12 billion in tax revenue from both international and domestic visitors in 2024, is ...
Newsom and the National Guard
Newsom’s office stated that the president’s order and the presence of the guard: “not only caused widespread panic and chaos, but have unnecessarily created an additional diversion of resources as the state tries to calm a community terrorized by this reckless federal action.” In fact, the “panic and chaos” was ...
