Blog
Not seeing much progress: The failure of cities’ Vision Zero
But as is often the case with feel-good, word-salad progressivism, Vision Zero’s results fall somewhere between mixed and disappointing. San Diego, Portland, Las Vegas, Denver, Charlotte, Philadelphia — the list of underperformers isn’t short. One elected official in Seattle grew so frustrated, he requested an investigation. In April, Rob Saka ...
D. Dowd Muska
May 21, 2026
Blog
Higher Energy Prices Could Cost Families Over $1,100 in 2026
Californians face a $1,518 increase in energy costs – higher than the $1,120 increase faced by the average U.S. family and much higher than $809 increase New York residents will see.[1]The below map illustrates the estimated increase in annual energy expenditures between 2025 and 2026 should the current elevated prices ...
Wayne Winegarden
May 20, 2026
Blog
On Juvenile Justice Policy Debates Driven By Untested Dogma, Not Data or Honest Timelines
Two 2026 bills—Assembly Bill 1902 by Asm. Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) and the failed “Lorenso’s Law” (AB 2040) by Asm. Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare)—show how lawmakers are grasping for answers. But the most glaring flaws run deeper. The system’s rigid age cutoff means some offenders—many who are adults by the time ...
Steve Smith
May 19, 2026
Blog
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started
Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started Wayne Winegarden May 2026 With the release of the May Revise, budget negotiations between the Governor, Assembly, and Senate will now kick into high gear. Tax revenues for the current fiscal year are better than ...
Wayne H Winegarden
May 18, 2026
Blog
Finding the missing middle: How to build more starter homes
“Affordable housing” has become a commonly used phrase in California because there is so little of it. Activists demand it and policymakers promise they can produce lots if it through their clever legislating. But their plans usually include housing where they want it (near public transit centers), not necessarily where ...
Kerry Jackson
May 15, 2026
Blog
Higher pay, fewer trips: What Seattle’s gig law got wrong
According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University analyzing Seattle’s law in a National Bureau of Economic Research study, the average base pay per delivery jumped from about $5.37 to $12.52, but tips fell so much that more than one-third of that gain disappeared, and monthly earnings for highly active drivers were ...
Anthony Velasquez
May 14, 2026
Blog
The Gordon Chang Report–China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do?
READ THE PDF China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do? “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk,” Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, boasted in January 2018. “This ...
Gordon Chang
May 12, 2026
Blog
What Do These 14 California Counties Have In Common?
“The exodus from California is real, troubling, and has become too large to ignore.” That was the message of “California Migrating,” PRI’s report in 2021 on the mass migration of Californians to other states. The trend has not abated since. From 2020 to 2025, California lost nearly 1.7 million more ...
John Merline
May 11, 2026
Blog
California Governor Candidate Becerra’s Price Controls Would Backfire on Families
At a recent California gubernatorial debate, former Attorney General Xavier Becerra was asked which specific cost, gas, groceries, utilities, or childcare, would he lower first as governor. He answered: “…one of the things that I will do immediately is I will freeze utility rates, and I will freeze home insurance ...
Anthony Velasquez
May 8, 2026
Blog
Fact-Checking Katie Porter’s Homeless Claim
Porter made her point in response to Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s suggestion that homelessness could be mitigated primarily through drug abuse treatment. Porter, whose campaign has not responded with a request asking for her source, scolded Hilton. “You would learn in my bankruptcy and consumer protection class that the majority ...
Kerry Jackson
May 7, 2026
Not seeing much progress: The failure of cities’ Vision Zero
But as is often the case with feel-good, word-salad progressivism, Vision Zero’s results fall somewhere between mixed and disappointing. San Diego, Portland, Las Vegas, Denver, Charlotte, Philadelphia — the list of underperformers isn’t short. One elected official in Seattle grew so frustrated, he requested an investigation. In April, Rob Saka ...
Higher Energy Prices Could Cost Families Over $1,100 in 2026
Californians face a $1,518 increase in energy costs – higher than the $1,120 increase faced by the average U.S. family and much higher than $809 increase New York residents will see.[1]The below map illustrates the estimated increase in annual energy expenditures between 2025 and 2026 should the current elevated prices ...
On Juvenile Justice Policy Debates Driven By Untested Dogma, Not Data or Honest Timelines
Two 2026 bills—Assembly Bill 1902 by Asm. Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) and the failed “Lorenso’s Law” (AB 2040) by Asm. Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare)—show how lawmakers are grasping for answers. But the most glaring flaws run deeper. The system’s rigid age cutoff means some offenders—many who are adults by the time ...
Spending Watch
Spending Watch: Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started
Despite the Rhetoric, Newsom’s Revised Budget Confirms That California’s Budget Troubles Are Just Getting Started Wayne Winegarden May 2026 With the release of the May Revise, budget negotiations between the Governor, Assembly, and Senate will now kick into high gear. Tax revenues for the current fiscal year are better than ...
Finding the missing middle: How to build more starter homes
“Affordable housing” has become a commonly used phrase in California because there is so little of it. Activists demand it and policymakers promise they can produce lots if it through their clever legislating. But their plans usually include housing where they want it (near public transit centers), not necessarily where ...
Higher pay, fewer trips: What Seattle’s gig law got wrong
According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University analyzing Seattle’s law in a National Bureau of Economic Research study, the average base pay per delivery jumped from about $5.37 to $12.52, but tips fell so much that more than one-third of that gain disappeared, and monthly earnings for highly active drivers were ...
The Gordon Chang Report–China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do?
READ THE PDF China Has Proliferated Nuclear Weapons. What Should America Do? “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk,” Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, boasted in January 2018. “This ...
What Do These 14 California Counties Have In Common?
“The exodus from California is real, troubling, and has become too large to ignore.” That was the message of “California Migrating,” PRI’s report in 2021 on the mass migration of Californians to other states. The trend has not abated since. From 2020 to 2025, California lost nearly 1.7 million more ...
California Governor Candidate Becerra’s Price Controls Would Backfire on Families
At a recent California gubernatorial debate, former Attorney General Xavier Becerra was asked which specific cost, gas, groceries, utilities, or childcare, would he lower first as governor. He answered: “…one of the things that I will do immediately is I will freeze utility rates, and I will freeze home insurance ...
Fact-Checking Katie Porter’s Homeless Claim
Porter made her point in response to Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s suggestion that homelessness could be mitigated primarily through drug abuse treatment. Porter, whose campaign has not responded with a request asking for her source, scolded Hilton. “You would learn in my bankruptcy and consumer protection class that the majority ...