Blog
Does California Need Billionaires?
If supporters are able to rack up 874 ,641 signatures, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Should it pass, it will levy “a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth.” Rather than waiting until voters make their decision, a few billionaires have already left California, including PayPal and ...
Blog
Warning signs: Four California cities are facing fiscal crises in 2026
Many California cities will not fare so well on the fiscal roulette wheel. They’re not in Silicon Valley. Their local companies do not include Apple, NVIDIA, Meta/Facebook or Alphabet/Google (whose co-founders are leaving the state, while corporate HQ will remain). Those and many other companies’ rising stock valuations shed tax ...
Blog
Tariffs: The high price homebuilding pays for protectionism
Reality-television stars are rarely consulted on matters of public policy. But in April, Realtor.com asked Tarek El Moussa to comment on the White House’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.. The Southern California entrepreneur, who rose to fame on the popularity of HGTV’s Flip or Flop franchise, warned that higher import taxes would harm “new-home builders” ...
Blog
Lawsuit’s End Latest Sign of High Speed Rail’s Woes
An HSRA official said the decision to pull the lawsuit was made because “the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.” In reality, it’s a tacit admission from the HSRA that it doesn’t deserve the money. At this point, it’s become rather tedious to recite the high-speed rail’s ...
Blog
Despite Newsom’s Claims, California is One of America’s Least Fiscally Stable States
Earlier this month, an optimistic Newsom claimed while presenting his latest proposed budget that it ‘reflect(ed) both confidence and caution,’ but if the state’s past performances are anything to go by, then Californians should be wary. The National Association of State Budget Officers’ (NASBO) latest Fiscal Survey of States shows ...
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–Arctic: The Next Cold War
READ THE PDF Arctic: The Next Cold War “You have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place,” President Donald Trump said in January, referring to the Arctic. Hostile powers are just about everywhere at the top of the world. In late summer 2015, five ...
Agriculture
Chocolate cake is real food, too
All food is “real” food. The implication of using phrases like “real food” suggests there are food that are “fake,” “dishonest,” “artificial,” or in some other way harmful. The colloquialism “the dose makes the poison” is as applicable to food as it is to its toxicological origins. More specifically, one ...
Blog
A simple few steps to provide more affordable, safer housing
A simple few steps to provide more affordable, safer housing By Sal Rodriguez | February 6, 2026 Over the past few years, states and cities across the country have moved to cut red tape around their housing markets in order to spur greater supply and, in the long run, control ...
Blog
Housing costs drove the majority of nation’s fertility drop
The top reason ex-Californians cite for leaving is housing costs — 890,000 exiters over the past decade named the cost of housing as their primary reason for leaving, compared to 514,000 for work and 329,000 for family. The National Taxpayers Union estimates outmigration costs California $4.5 billion in lost tax revenue each ...
Blog
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: The Taxing Wealth Tax
The Taxing Wealth Tax Wayne Winegarden February 2026 To his credit, Governor Newsom is vowing to stop the wealth tax. As we noted in our response to Governor Newsom’s January budget, just the possibility that a 5 percent wealth tax will appear on the November ballot is having a chilling ...
Does California Need Billionaires?
If supporters are able to rack up 874 ,641 signatures, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. Should it pass, it will levy “a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth.” Rather than waiting until voters make their decision, a few billionaires have already left California, including PayPal and ...
Warning signs: Four California cities are facing fiscal crises in 2026
Many California cities will not fare so well on the fiscal roulette wheel. They’re not in Silicon Valley. Their local companies do not include Apple, NVIDIA, Meta/Facebook or Alphabet/Google (whose co-founders are leaving the state, while corporate HQ will remain). Those and many other companies’ rising stock valuations shed tax ...
Tariffs: The high price homebuilding pays for protectionism
Reality-television stars are rarely consulted on matters of public policy. But in April, Realtor.com asked Tarek El Moussa to comment on the White House’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.. The Southern California entrepreneur, who rose to fame on the popularity of HGTV’s Flip or Flop franchise, warned that higher import taxes would harm “new-home builders” ...
Lawsuit’s End Latest Sign of High Speed Rail’s Woes
An HSRA official said the decision to pull the lawsuit was made because “the federal government is not a reliable, constructive, or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.” In reality, it’s a tacit admission from the HSRA that it doesn’t deserve the money. At this point, it’s become rather tedious to recite the high-speed rail’s ...
Despite Newsom’s Claims, California is One of America’s Least Fiscally Stable States
Earlier this month, an optimistic Newsom claimed while presenting his latest proposed budget that it ‘reflect(ed) both confidence and caution,’ but if the state’s past performances are anything to go by, then Californians should be wary. The National Association of State Budget Officers’ (NASBO) latest Fiscal Survey of States shows ...
The Gordon Chang Report–Arctic: The Next Cold War
READ THE PDF Arctic: The Next Cold War “You have Russian destroyers and submarines and China destroyers and submarines all over the place,” President Donald Trump said in January, referring to the Arctic. Hostile powers are just about everywhere at the top of the world. In late summer 2015, five ...
Chocolate cake is real food, too
All food is “real” food. The implication of using phrases like “real food” suggests there are food that are “fake,” “dishonest,” “artificial,” or in some other way harmful. The colloquialism “the dose makes the poison” is as applicable to food as it is to its toxicological origins. More specifically, one ...
A simple few steps to provide more affordable, safer housing
A simple few steps to provide more affordable, safer housing By Sal Rodriguez | February 6, 2026 Over the past few years, states and cities across the country have moved to cut red tape around their housing markets in order to spur greater supply and, in the long run, control ...
Housing costs drove the majority of nation’s fertility drop
The top reason ex-Californians cite for leaving is housing costs — 890,000 exiters over the past decade named the cost of housing as their primary reason for leaving, compared to 514,000 for work and 329,000 for family. The National Taxpayers Union estimates outmigration costs California $4.5 billion in lost tax revenue each ...
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: The Taxing Wealth Tax
The Taxing Wealth Tax Wayne Winegarden February 2026 To his credit, Governor Newsom is vowing to stop the wealth tax. As we noted in our response to Governor Newsom’s January budget, just the possibility that a 5 percent wealth tax will appear on the November ballot is having a chilling ...
