Blog
It’s Reparations Season Again, Again
There is, as they say, a lot here – including many points that illustrate serious problems with the overall idea of reparations. First, speaking as a businessman, it is unclear how many firms would actually be impacted by the bill. Roughly 99.9% of all America-based corporations were founded after 1865, ...
AI
California’s Next Governor Inherits an AI Mess. Whoever Wins Must Manage Better.
A new Public Policy Institute of California survey found that seventy-three percent of Californians oppose building data centers in their own communities. Sixty-three percent worry about the environmental effects. Majorities of both parties are opposed. The divide isn’t as partisan as it is a divide between the communities enjoying the ...
Agriculture
ESA changes make for a robust law
The most recent revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are almost exclusively addressing property rights and which entity – state or federal – is responsible for the protection of land where threatened and endangered wildlife live. The federal government recently narrowed the definition of “harm” in the ESA. Citing ...
Blog
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization By Sal Rodriguez | August 11, 2026 Fiscal challenges — from diminishing revenues to rising expenses — are a common reason for localities to decide to put out services to bid. For the vast majority of things a city government can ...
Blog
A not so Brightline: California’s other bullet train boondoggle
It’s happening. This time, it’s really happening. That’s what dignitaries at the pseudo-event told themselves on April 22, 2024 — the day Brightline West “officially broke ground on the nation’s first true high-speed rail system.” Bureaucrats, politicians, and civic leaders predicted nothing but sunshine for the long-sought HSR route linking ...
Blog
Taxpayer Dollars Should Not Fund Political Campaigns
Taxpayer dollars should be used for legitimate public responsibilities, such as maintaining roads, public safety, education, keeping communities clean, and paying down debt. Financing political campaigns should not become another government responsibility. Public campaign-financing programs use taxpayer dollars to help qualifying candidates run for office. Supporters argue that these programs ...
Blog
Homicides Fall to Record Lows
During the same period, the number of Black Californians killed by homicide fell from 690 to 372—a reduction of 318 victims, or 46 percent. Among Black men, the demographic group at greatest risk of homicide victimization, the number fell from 613 to 310, a decline of 303 victims, or nearly ...
Blog
This Is No Way To Close California’s Housing Gap
This is the sort of behavior that is making it nearly impossible for California to ever close its housing gap, which, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2017 campaign material was a 3.5 million unit deficit that needed to be closed by 2025, which turned out to be his next-to-last year in the ...
Blog
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...
Blog
Austin’s housing solutions offer a model for California cities
As LAist’s David Wagner reported, only about 16% of Orange County households earn the $350,400 needed to afford the county’s median home price of $1,442,930, according to the California Association of Realtors. That’s all despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office boasting on July 13 about his record of “hundreds of pieces ...
It’s Reparations Season Again, Again
There is, as they say, a lot here – including many points that illustrate serious problems with the overall idea of reparations. First, speaking as a businessman, it is unclear how many firms would actually be impacted by the bill. Roughly 99.9% of all America-based corporations were founded after 1865, ...
California’s Next Governor Inherits an AI Mess. Whoever Wins Must Manage Better.
A new Public Policy Institute of California survey found that seventy-three percent of Californians oppose building data centers in their own communities. Sixty-three percent worry about the environmental effects. Majorities of both parties are opposed. The divide isn’t as partisan as it is a divide between the communities enjoying the ...
ESA changes make for a robust law
The most recent revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are almost exclusively addressing property rights and which entity – state or federal – is responsible for the protection of land where threatened and endangered wildlife live. The federal government recently narrowed the definition of “harm” in the ESA. Citing ...
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization
After union flex, Folsom squelches plan to eye privatization By Sal Rodriguez | August 11, 2026 Fiscal challenges — from diminishing revenues to rising expenses — are a common reason for localities to decide to put out services to bid. For the vast majority of things a city government can ...
A not so Brightline: California’s other bullet train boondoggle
It’s happening. This time, it’s really happening. That’s what dignitaries at the pseudo-event told themselves on April 22, 2024 — the day Brightline West “officially broke ground on the nation’s first true high-speed rail system.” Bureaucrats, politicians, and civic leaders predicted nothing but sunshine for the long-sought HSR route linking ...
Taxpayer Dollars Should Not Fund Political Campaigns
Taxpayer dollars should be used for legitimate public responsibilities, such as maintaining roads, public safety, education, keeping communities clean, and paying down debt. Financing political campaigns should not become another government responsibility. Public campaign-financing programs use taxpayer dollars to help qualifying candidates run for office. Supporters argue that these programs ...
Homicides Fall to Record Lows
During the same period, the number of Black Californians killed by homicide fell from 690 to 372—a reduction of 318 victims, or 46 percent. Among Black men, the demographic group at greatest risk of homicide victimization, the number fell from 613 to 310, a decline of 303 victims, or nearly ...
This Is No Way To Close California’s Housing Gap
This is the sort of behavior that is making it nearly impossible for California to ever close its housing gap, which, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2017 campaign material was a 3.5 million unit deficit that needed to be closed by 2025, which turned out to be his next-to-last year in the ...
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts
California’s latest ‘green’ strategy threatens local recycling efforts By Steven Greenhut | August 7, 2026 California’s state recycling agency, CalRecycle, boasts that “California is building a circular economy that can recycle all waste by reducing how much trash we make [and] creating responsible recycling markets.” There’s nothing wrong with recycling, of ...
Austin’s housing solutions offer a model for California cities
As LAist’s David Wagner reported, only about 16% of Orange County households earn the $350,400 needed to afford the county’s median home price of $1,442,930, according to the California Association of Realtors. That’s all despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office boasting on July 13 about his record of “hundreds of pieces ...