California
Blog
Extra Time to File Doesn’t Mask Pain of California’s Huge State Tax Burden
California taxpayers – and all Americans were given a bit of breathing room this year when the IRS announced that this year’s tax deadline would be May 17th, instead of the usual April 15th. The extra month given us to pay and file our 2020 taxes doesn’t mean that Californians ...
Homelessness
$12 billion to house the homeless, but ‘housing first’ doesn’t work
The governor has plans to spend an extraordinary sum of public money on the homeless, most of which would be used to put them up in hotels. Sounds compassionate. But it’s another empty promise. Housing-first policy is indistinguishable from housing-and-nothing-else. Part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $100 billion “California Comeback Plan” ...
Blog
Redistricting: Let the Games Begin
Last month, the Census Bureau announced the official results of the state population counts, determining how many Electoral votes and House seats each state will have for the next decade. As was predicted, California lost a seat along with New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. All were ...
Blog
Being An Entrepreneur In San Francisco Is A Financially Punishing Experience
Living in San Francisco is a dollar-burning experience. It’s the most expensive housing market in the country, and the cost of living is higher only in Manhattan. But what about building a business in the city that fancies itself as The City? Don’t even ask. Nevertheless, we’re here to tell, ...
California
Steve Greenhut – Update on the California Drought
This week’s podcast features Steve Greenhut, author of PRI’s new book Winning the Water Wars. Steve gives an update on California’s drought and how we got here, after failing to prepare during the previous non-drought years. He discusses current legislation, the concept of water markets, and countries that have better ...
Commentary
Insuring more Americans’ health shouldn’t require big government spending
President Joe Biden announced late last month that he plans to permanently expand health-insurance subsidies as part of his $1.8 trillion “American Families Plan.” This new spending would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. The vast majority of uninsured Americans already has access to discounted health plans. But for a ...
Blog
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
Blog
California Drought Brings the Hammer Down on Arrowhead’s “Free Water”
The fight between Nestlé and the California State Water Resources Control Board finally bubbled over last month after years of finger-pointing. In an April 23, 2021 letter, the board ordered that Nestlé cease-and-desist “unauthorized diversions and threatened unauthorized diversions from Strawberry Creek in San Bernardino County…” The letter, which according ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Past, Even if Not Perfect, Set Up Its Prosperous Future
DOWNLOAD PDF Even before it was a state, California was the New World’s new world. Everything that the Western Hemisphere promised was condensed and amplified in what became the 31st state. Not only was it arguably the greatest land of opportunity in human history, but rather than having exhausted itself ...
Blackouts
Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?
While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm. “The managers of California’s electricity system,” the ...
Extra Time to File Doesn’t Mask Pain of California’s Huge State Tax Burden
California taxpayers – and all Americans were given a bit of breathing room this year when the IRS announced that this year’s tax deadline would be May 17th, instead of the usual April 15th. The extra month given us to pay and file our 2020 taxes doesn’t mean that Californians ...
$12 billion to house the homeless, but ‘housing first’ doesn’t work
The governor has plans to spend an extraordinary sum of public money on the homeless, most of which would be used to put them up in hotels. Sounds compassionate. But it’s another empty promise. Housing-first policy is indistinguishable from housing-and-nothing-else. Part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $100 billion “California Comeback Plan” ...
Redistricting: Let the Games Begin
Last month, the Census Bureau announced the official results of the state population counts, determining how many Electoral votes and House seats each state will have for the next decade. As was predicted, California lost a seat along with New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. All were ...
Being An Entrepreneur In San Francisco Is A Financially Punishing Experience
Living in San Francisco is a dollar-burning experience. It’s the most expensive housing market in the country, and the cost of living is higher only in Manhattan. But what about building a business in the city that fancies itself as The City? Don’t even ask. Nevertheless, we’re here to tell, ...
Steve Greenhut – Update on the California Drought
This week’s podcast features Steve Greenhut, author of PRI’s new book Winning the Water Wars. Steve gives an update on California’s drought and how we got here, after failing to prepare during the previous non-drought years. He discusses current legislation, the concept of water markets, and countries that have better ...
Insuring more Americans’ health shouldn’t require big government spending
President Joe Biden announced late last month that he plans to permanently expand health-insurance subsidies as part of his $1.8 trillion “American Families Plan.” This new spending would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. The vast majority of uninsured Americans already has access to discounted health plans. But for a ...
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
California Drought Brings the Hammer Down on Arrowhead’s “Free Water”
The fight between Nestlé and the California State Water Resources Control Board finally bubbled over last month after years of finger-pointing. In an April 23, 2021 letter, the board ordered that Nestlé cease-and-desist “unauthorized diversions and threatened unauthorized diversions from Strawberry Creek in San Bernardino County…” The letter, which according ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Past, Even if Not Perfect, Set Up Its Prosperous Future
DOWNLOAD PDF Even before it was a state, California was the New World’s new world. Everything that the Western Hemisphere promised was condensed and amplified in what became the 31st state. Not only was it arguably the greatest land of opportunity in human history, but rather than having exhausted itself ...
Blackouts, Increasing Crime, Rampant Homelessness, And Man-Made Drought: Is This California Or A Third World Nation?
While still trying to process the unwelcome news that we’re going to have to grind through yet another year of drought, California energy officials told us to also be ready for the power to go out when the days grow long and warm. “The managers of California’s electricity system,” the ...
