Blog
Post-COVID travel has recovered â except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
Randal O'Toole
October 26, 2023
Blog
What a Web AG Bonta Weaves
With good reason, we are encouraged to understand history, but for some, perhaps, the temptation to repeat past mistakes is just too great. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described sophists, paid philosophers often involved in public works, as those who twisted words and truth to win arguments. According to the ...
Bartlett Cleland
October 25, 2023
Agriculture
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of âindustrial agricultureâ and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
Pam Lewison
October 24, 2023
Blog
Read latest about California's green agenda
Everyday Is Halloween For The Scaremongering Climate Alarmists
âClimate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses,â says The Lancet, âare widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning.â And what does California do about this? It is now the third state to âmandate scaring our kids to death.â Along with Connecticut ...
Kerry Jackson
October 23, 2023
Blog
Greening the âfood desertâ by farming vacant urban land
Greening the âfood desertâ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, Americaâs cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Edward Ring
October 20, 2023
Blog
Read about legislative union push
Staff Unionization Effort Wonât Help GOP Staff
Much has been written about poor working conditions for State Capitol staff and bad treatment by often ill-tempered and inconsiderate legislators. Having worked at the Capitol for nearly two decades, I know firsthand that working there can be a grind. Staff routinely work long hours, often overnight or on weekends. ...
Tim Anaya
October 19, 2023
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Autonomous Vehicles Continue to Drive in California Fast Lane Despite Union Opposition
âDevil wagonsâ and âuntamable beastsâ that reveal the âcarelessnessâ of their owners. Visible intrusions, nuisances, agents of injury that cause âroad battlesâ and should âbe classed with ferocious animals.â Vehicles to be avoided, feared and if possible banned. âTo those who occupy or drive them, they are undoubtedly a fascinating ...
Kerry Jackson
October 18, 2023
Blog
Read part 3 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
What Can California Learn from Norwayâs Prison System? (Part Three)
Critics of the California (and presumably the entire US) correctional system) often point out that Norwegian correctional staff are not armed, and mix freely with inmates. Inmates attend religious services, practice yoga, sports, vocational skills, attend classes, and officers do not use martial terms or ranks. Californiaâs facilities offer many ...
Steve Smith
October 17, 2023
Blog
Will new California laws finally ease the housing shortage?
Californiaâs twin housing and homelessness crises continue to fester. The Legislature in recent years passed some useful bills promoting housing construction by streamlining the local approval process, such as Senate Bills 9 and 10 from 2021. Yet cities remain plagued with homeless encampments. Housing prices, despite soaring interest rates that ...
John Seiler
October 16, 2023
Blog
âNail housesâ Serve as Monuments of Resistance to Planners
âNail housesâ serve as monuments of resistance to planners KERRY JACKSON | OCTOBER 13, 2023 Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously has said that outside of bombing it, rent control is the best way to destroy a city. Though not nearly as efficient as either of those, both planners and the ...
Kerry Jackson
October 13, 2023
Post-COVID travel has recovered â except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
What a Web AG Bonta Weaves
With good reason, we are encouraged to understand history, but for some, perhaps, the temptation to repeat past mistakes is just too great. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described sophists, paid philosophers often involved in public works, as those who twisted words and truth to win arguments. According to the ...
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of âindustrial agricultureâ and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
Read latest about California's green agenda
Everyday Is Halloween For The Scaremongering Climate Alarmists
âClimate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses,â says The Lancet, âare widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning.â And what does California do about this? It is now the third state to âmandate scaring our kids to death.â Along with Connecticut ...
Greening the âfood desertâ by farming vacant urban land
Greening the âfood desertâ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, Americaâs cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Read about legislative union push
Staff Unionization Effort Wonât Help GOP Staff
Much has been written about poor working conditions for State Capitol staff and bad treatment by often ill-tempered and inconsiderate legislators. Having worked at the Capitol for nearly two decades, I know firsthand that working there can be a grind. Staff routinely work long hours, often overnight or on weekends. ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Autonomous Vehicles Continue to Drive in California Fast Lane Despite Union Opposition
âDevil wagonsâ and âuntamable beastsâ that reveal the âcarelessnessâ of their owners. Visible intrusions, nuisances, agents of injury that cause âroad battlesâ and should âbe classed with ferocious animals.â Vehicles to be avoided, feared and if possible banned. âTo those who occupy or drive them, they are undoubtedly a fascinating ...
Read part 3 of 3 part series on Norway's prison system
What Can California Learn from Norwayâs Prison System? (Part Three)
Critics of the California (and presumably the entire US) correctional system) often point out that Norwegian correctional staff are not armed, and mix freely with inmates. Inmates attend religious services, practice yoga, sports, vocational skills, attend classes, and officers do not use martial terms or ranks. Californiaâs facilities offer many ...
Will new California laws finally ease the housing shortage?
Californiaâs twin housing and homelessness crises continue to fester. The Legislature in recent years passed some useful bills promoting housing construction by streamlining the local approval process, such as Senate Bills 9 and 10 from 2021. Yet cities remain plagued with homeless encampments. Housing prices, despite soaring interest rates that ...
âNail housesâ Serve as Monuments of Resistance to Planners
âNail housesâ serve as monuments of resistance to planners KERRY JACKSON | OCTOBER 13, 2023 Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously has said that outside of bombing it, rent control is the best way to destroy a city. Though not nearly as efficient as either of those, both planners and the ...