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The strange hypocrisy of the ‘just build housing’ YIMBYs

The strange hypocrisy of the ‘just build housing’ YIMBYs Steven Greenhut | October 2, 2024 Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the Free Cities Center’s forthcoming booklet (“Building New Cities from Scratch: America’s Long History of Urban Experimentation”) about new cities, which was prompted by California Forever’s proposal to ...
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Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Democratic plan would bring turmoil to housing markets

A century ago, the federal government involved itself hardly at all in housing, leaving that to state and local governments, and the market. The major exception was housing on federal land, including the District of Columbia, other territories and military bases. That changed in 1937 when, as part of President ...
Blog

California and the SEC face legal challenges to their climate-related disclosure requirements

These requirements are not only financially burdensome but have been challenged on legal and Constitutional grounds. In January, the California Chamber of Commerce sued the California Air and Resource Board (CARB), seeking an injunction against the implementation of SB 253 and SB 261. In their complaint, they argued that California ...
Blog

Spending Watch

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Blog

Read about latest taxpayer-funded giveaway for undocumented immigrants

Newsom Gets One Right in Vetoing Downpayment Aid for Undocumented

Had he signed it, the legislation would have forbidden applicants seeking financial aid for home purchases through the state’s housing purchase assistance program, created by a previous bill, from​​ being “disqualified solely based on the applicant’s immigration status.” But as the governor said in his veto message, funding for the ...
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Time for release: Can cities unshackle themselves from abusive union perk?

Time for release: Can cities unshackle themselves from abusive union perk? By D. Dowd Muska |  September 20, 2024 The stewards for Los Angeles County’s health-science professionals are allowed as much as 1,200 hours each year in a controversial benefit known as “release time,” whereby union officials are released to ...
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Learn about the problems with rent control

Rent-control madness is coming to California’s November ballot

Indeed, the so-called Justice for Renters Act features this simple text: “The state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” If voters approve the initiative, it would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Control Act. That 1995 law ...
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Learn how drug price controls hurt patients, innovation

Senator Sanders’ Price Controls Will Harm Patients

In a patently politicized press release, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who is  Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, claims that the U.S. price of Ozempic is too high. As evidence, he cites generic companies that claim they can sell Ozempic for less than $100 a ...
Blog

All Crime is Local – Why National Crime Statistics Don’t Matter

The FBI doesn’t receive individual reports of crimes, rather, they aggregate the crime statistics reported by thousands of law enforcement agencies who, for ease of comparison, share a common reporting format. This gives us a bird’s eye view of national and state crime statistics, albeit with a lot of errors ...
Blog

The Gordon Chang Report–China: Mastermind of Middle East Turmoil

READ THE PDF On July 23, 14 Palestinian factions, including arch rivals Hamas and Fatah, signed the Beijing Declaration, a unity pact, in the Chinese capital. China’s Global Times, the Communist Party’s semi-official tabloid, termed the deal an “epoch-making event.” In July, Xi Jinping appeared to be driving events in ...
Blog

The strange hypocrisy of the ‘just build housing’ YIMBYs

The strange hypocrisy of the ‘just build housing’ YIMBYs Steven Greenhut | October 2, 2024 Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the Free Cities Center’s forthcoming booklet (“Building New Cities from Scratch: America’s Long History of Urban Experimentation”) about new cities, which was prompted by California Forever’s proposal to ...
Blog

Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center

Democratic plan would bring turmoil to housing markets

A century ago, the federal government involved itself hardly at all in housing, leaving that to state and local governments, and the market. The major exception was housing on federal land, including the District of Columbia, other territories and military bases. That changed in 1937 when, as part of President ...
Blog

California and the SEC face legal challenges to their climate-related disclosure requirements

These requirements are not only financially burdensome but have been challenged on legal and Constitutional grounds. In January, the California Chamber of Commerce sued the California Air and Resource Board (CARB), seeking an injunction against the implementation of SB 253 and SB 261. In their complaint, they argued that California ...
Blog

Spending Watch

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability

The Governor’s Special Session Will Worsen Gasoline Affordability Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson September 2024 The special session called by Governor Gavin Newsom is supposed to save Californians from price gasoline spikes. The governor wants to blame the price spikes on greedy corporations. His accusations are merely a diversion from ...
Blog

Read about latest taxpayer-funded giveaway for undocumented immigrants

Newsom Gets One Right in Vetoing Downpayment Aid for Undocumented

Had he signed it, the legislation would have forbidden applicants seeking financial aid for home purchases through the state’s housing purchase assistance program, created by a previous bill, from​​ being “disqualified solely based on the applicant’s immigration status.” But as the governor said in his veto message, funding for the ...
Blog

Time for release: Can cities unshackle themselves from abusive union perk?

Time for release: Can cities unshackle themselves from abusive union perk? By D. Dowd Muska |  September 20, 2024 The stewards for Los Angeles County’s health-science professionals are allowed as much as 1,200 hours each year in a controversial benefit known as “release time,” whereby union officials are released to ...
Blog

Learn about the problems with rent control

Rent-control madness is coming to California’s November ballot

Indeed, the so-called Justice for Renters Act features this simple text: “The state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” If voters approve the initiative, it would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Control Act. That 1995 law ...
Blog

Learn how drug price controls hurt patients, innovation

Senator Sanders’ Price Controls Will Harm Patients

In a patently politicized press release, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who is  Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, claims that the U.S. price of Ozempic is too high. As evidence, he cites generic companies that claim they can sell Ozempic for less than $100 a ...
Blog

All Crime is Local – Why National Crime Statistics Don’t Matter

The FBI doesn’t receive individual reports of crimes, rather, they aggregate the crime statistics reported by thousands of law enforcement agencies who, for ease of comparison, share a common reporting format. This gives us a bird’s eye view of national and state crime statistics, albeit with a lot of errors ...
Blog

The Gordon Chang Report–China: Mastermind of Middle East Turmoil

READ THE PDF On July 23, 14 Palestinian factions, including arch rivals Hamas and Fatah, signed the Beijing Declaration, a unity pact, in the Chinese capital. China’s Global Times, the Communist Party’s semi-official tabloid, termed the deal an “epoch-making event.” In July, Xi Jinping appeared to be driving events in ...
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