Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–A New Phase of the North Korean Threat
READ THE PDF A New Phase of the North Korean Threat On March 20, Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles from its territory to Diego Garcia, the joint U.K.-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, both missed. Analysts were surprised that Tehran’s regime possessed a missile that could reach ...
Agriculture
Farmer’s share of the grocery dollar shrinks again
Almost everything from the price of a dinner out to the cost to heat one’s home seems to take a bigger chunk out of the wallet lately. According to the Consumer Price Index, the overall cost of goods rose 2.4 percent in January. Even as grocery store prices rose, the ...
Blog
San Francisco new commission struggles to shut down commissions
San Francisco new commission struggles to shut down commissions Sal Rodriguez | April 10, 2026 San Francisco has too many government commissions. Who could’ve guessed? On January 30, the city’s Commission Streamlining Task Force issued a 134-page report on the 152 boards, commissions and similar bodies operating in the city under ordinance ...
Blog
Infill rules help, but growth boundaries remain a housing obstacle
The “landmark” measure — imposed at the behest of environmentalists and agricultural interests — was designed to stop urban sprawl, protect open space and promote transit use. “Observing the loss of farmland and greenspaces, as well as poorly planned development in other states, Oregonians saw that they could no longer ...
Blog
Why Don’t We Find More Waste, Fraud and Abuse in California?
Shocking exposes of waste, fraud, and abuse in state government have dominated media headlines in recent weeks. Our friends Christopher Rufo and Kenneth Schrupp at the Manhattan Institute uncovered an unfinished wildlife “bridge to nowhere” in Agoura Hills, which has cost taxpayers over $100 million to date and counting. CBS ...
Blog
The FTC Is Settling for Lower Drug Prices
The FTC alleged that Express Scripts “artificially inflated the list price of insulin drugs by using anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices, and impaired patients’ access to lower list price products, ultimately shifting the cost of high insulin list prices to vulnerable patients.” This is a big win – and not just for ...
Blog
Students can’t be expected to learn in schools plagued by violence
Students can’t be expected to learn in schools plagued by violence By Rafael Perez | April 3, 2026 A U.S. News & World Report comparison of public schools ranks California’s Pre-K-12 schools 38th in the nation. In California, 51.2% of our students fail to meet English standards and 62.7% fail ...
Blog
Despite setbacks, inter-city bullet train boondoggles keep chugging along
The high-speed rail (HSR) community had a tough 2025. In April, the Trump administration nixed a $63.9 million grant to “the Amtrak Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor previously known as the Texas Central Railway project.” Justifying the decision, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy explained that if “the private sector believes ...
Blog
Read the latest on fraud in California government
Fraud in California Community Colleges Spurs Congress to Act
Across the country, financial aid fraud in higher education has skyrocketed, causing big budgetary hits for colleges and negative impacts for law-abiding students in true need. Perhaps the biggest explosion in financial aid fraud has taken place in the nation’s largest system of higher education—the California Community Colleges. With 2.2 ...
Blog
What Happens When the Government Pays for Enrollment Without Verifying Attendance
To understand why, you have to understand how the system actually works. The state does not simply write checks to parents. A low-income family qualifies for a subsidy, selects a licensed provider, and the state reimburses that provider directly on the family’s behalf through a network of Alternative Payment Program agencies. ...
The Gordon Chang Report–A New Phase of the North Korean Threat
READ THE PDF A New Phase of the North Korean Threat On March 20, Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles from its territory to Diego Garcia, the joint U.K.-U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, both missed. Analysts were surprised that Tehran’s regime possessed a missile that could reach ...
Farmer’s share of the grocery dollar shrinks again
Almost everything from the price of a dinner out to the cost to heat one’s home seems to take a bigger chunk out of the wallet lately. According to the Consumer Price Index, the overall cost of goods rose 2.4 percent in January. Even as grocery store prices rose, the ...
San Francisco new commission struggles to shut down commissions
San Francisco new commission struggles to shut down commissions Sal Rodriguez | April 10, 2026 San Francisco has too many government commissions. Who could’ve guessed? On January 30, the city’s Commission Streamlining Task Force issued a 134-page report on the 152 boards, commissions and similar bodies operating in the city under ordinance ...
Infill rules help, but growth boundaries remain a housing obstacle
The “landmark” measure — imposed at the behest of environmentalists and agricultural interests — was designed to stop urban sprawl, protect open space and promote transit use. “Observing the loss of farmland and greenspaces, as well as poorly planned development in other states, Oregonians saw that they could no longer ...
Why Don’t We Find More Waste, Fraud and Abuse in California?
Shocking exposes of waste, fraud, and abuse in state government have dominated media headlines in recent weeks. Our friends Christopher Rufo and Kenneth Schrupp at the Manhattan Institute uncovered an unfinished wildlife “bridge to nowhere” in Agoura Hills, which has cost taxpayers over $100 million to date and counting. CBS ...
The FTC Is Settling for Lower Drug Prices
The FTC alleged that Express Scripts “artificially inflated the list price of insulin drugs by using anticompetitive and unfair rebating practices, and impaired patients’ access to lower list price products, ultimately shifting the cost of high insulin list prices to vulnerable patients.” This is a big win – and not just for ...
Students can’t be expected to learn in schools plagued by violence
Students can’t be expected to learn in schools plagued by violence By Rafael Perez | April 3, 2026 A U.S. News & World Report comparison of public schools ranks California’s Pre-K-12 schools 38th in the nation. In California, 51.2% of our students fail to meet English standards and 62.7% fail ...
Despite setbacks, inter-city bullet train boondoggles keep chugging along
The high-speed rail (HSR) community had a tough 2025. In April, the Trump administration nixed a $63.9 million grant to “the Amtrak Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor previously known as the Texas Central Railway project.” Justifying the decision, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy explained that if “the private sector believes ...
Read the latest on fraud in California government
Fraud in California Community Colleges Spurs Congress to Act
Across the country, financial aid fraud in higher education has skyrocketed, causing big budgetary hits for colleges and negative impacts for law-abiding students in true need. Perhaps the biggest explosion in financial aid fraud has taken place in the nation’s largest system of higher education—the California Community Colleges. With 2.2 ...
What Happens When the Government Pays for Enrollment Without Verifying Attendance
To understand why, you have to understand how the system actually works. The state does not simply write checks to parents. A low-income family qualifies for a subsidy, selects a licensed provider, and the state reimburses that provider directly on the family’s behalf through a network of Alternative Payment Program agencies. ...