Blog
LA Mayor Karen Bass revives the ‘free transit’ debate
LA Mayor Karen Bass revives the ‘free transit’ debate By Sal Rodriguez | October 2, 2026 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has revived the conversation about “free” public transportation. Upon assuming the role of chair of the Los Angeles Metro Board in July, the mayor declared her intent to “develop ...
Sal Rodriguez
October 2, 2026
Blog
Why Karen Bass is in Big Trouble in LA Mayor’s Race
It’s been a difficult re-election campaign for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to say the least. Now comes word that, despite holding narrow yet unimpressive leads in the primary election and public opinion polling throughout the campaign to date, Bass is now trailing Democratic socialist challenger Nithya Raman by 11 ...
Tim Anaya
October 1, 2026
Blog
Newsom Had Veterans’ Backs – For a Day – Then Signed a Law That Could Bar Some Veterans from Public Employment
On September 28, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed five bills supporting California veterans and servicemembers and had a message for those who served. “Veterans served us honorably; now it’s our honor to serve them,” Newsom declared. “California has their backs.” One day later, he signed a law that says otherwise. Assembly ...
Steve Smith
September 30, 2026
Blog
Homeowners’ underinsurance and why it happens
In the aftermath of the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, thousands of homeowners learned a terrible fact that compounded their tragedy. Although they had intended to insure themselves sufficiently to rebuild, their coverage was inadequate to the need. This hidden problem was brilliantly described and analyzed in the series, “Burned,” ...
Patrick Wolff
September 29, 2026
Blog
Didn’t We Just Vote on Proposition 1? Ballot Numbers Add to Confusion
This November, Californians will decide the fate of 14 different statewide ballot measures. While it sounds exhausting, we’ve voted on more in the past – a whopping 29 in the November 1988 election and 28 in the 1990 general election. Adding to the confusion are the ballot proposition numbers themselves. ...
Tim Anaya
September 25, 2026
Blog
Why cities should convert public property to private housing
In a recent piece for Works in Progress, “a magazine of new and underrated ideas to improve the world,” Zigmund Forrest and Maxwell Tabarrok noted that since “the completion of Battery Park City in 1976, there has not been a single major urban land reclamation project in the United States.” ...
D. Dowd Muska
September 24, 2026
Blog
California’s home insurance market: Political trouble on the horizon
California’s long-distorted insurance market reached a level of dysfunction in 2023 that had tangible consequences for average homeowners. Following a series of costly wildfires, they struggled to find insurance, faced soaring prices and, in many cases, had no choice but to turn to the overburdened, state-created insurer of last resort, ...
Steven Greenhut
September 22, 2026
Blog
As Other Crimes Decline in California, Why Do Rape Cases Remain So High?
Recently, California has had some genuinely good crime news. In 2025, violent crime declined 10.2 percent. Homicides fell from 1,666 to 1,374, robberies dropped nearly 20 percent, and property crime continued downward. But one violent crime has proved remarkably resistant to the trend. Rape has settled into a stubborn plateau. ...
Steve Smith
September 21, 2026
Blog
New Mexico’s ‘free’ childcare program is another costly disaster
New Mexico’s ‘free’ childcare program is another costly disaster by Paul Gessing | September 18, 2026 National media outlets which rarely report on any news from New Mexico were eager to report on the big news this past November that the Land of Enchantment had become the first state to ...
Paul Gessing
September 18, 2026
Blog
‘Inclusionary zoning’ seems designed to exclude new housing
One often-overlooked impediment to housing construction is something known as “inclusionary zoning,” which requires builders to set aside lower-income housing in order to gain a project’s approval — or pay a large fee to the local government. A July study from the University of California Irvine (UCI) finds that these ...
Kerry Jackson
September 17, 2026
LA Mayor Karen Bass revives the ‘free transit’ debate
LA Mayor Karen Bass revives the ‘free transit’ debate By Sal Rodriguez | October 2, 2026 Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has revived the conversation about “free” public transportation. Upon assuming the role of chair of the Los Angeles Metro Board in July, the mayor declared her intent to “develop ...
Why Karen Bass is in Big Trouble in LA Mayor’s Race
It’s been a difficult re-election campaign for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to say the least. Now comes word that, despite holding narrow yet unimpressive leads in the primary election and public opinion polling throughout the campaign to date, Bass is now trailing Democratic socialist challenger Nithya Raman by 11 ...
Newsom Had Veterans’ Backs – For a Day – Then Signed a Law That Could Bar Some Veterans from Public Employment
On September 28, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed five bills supporting California veterans and servicemembers and had a message for those who served. “Veterans served us honorably; now it’s our honor to serve them,” Newsom declared. “California has their backs.” One day later, he signed a law that says otherwise. Assembly ...
Homeowners’ underinsurance and why it happens
In the aftermath of the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, thousands of homeowners learned a terrible fact that compounded their tragedy. Although they had intended to insure themselves sufficiently to rebuild, their coverage was inadequate to the need. This hidden problem was brilliantly described and analyzed in the series, “Burned,” ...
Didn’t We Just Vote on Proposition 1? Ballot Numbers Add to Confusion
This November, Californians will decide the fate of 14 different statewide ballot measures. While it sounds exhausting, we’ve voted on more in the past – a whopping 29 in the November 1988 election and 28 in the 1990 general election. Adding to the confusion are the ballot proposition numbers themselves. ...
Why cities should convert public property to private housing
In a recent piece for Works in Progress, “a magazine of new and underrated ideas to improve the world,” Zigmund Forrest and Maxwell Tabarrok noted that since “the completion of Battery Park City in 1976, there has not been a single major urban land reclamation project in the United States.” ...
California’s home insurance market: Political trouble on the horizon
California’s long-distorted insurance market reached a level of dysfunction in 2023 that had tangible consequences for average homeowners. Following a series of costly wildfires, they struggled to find insurance, faced soaring prices and, in many cases, had no choice but to turn to the overburdened, state-created insurer of last resort, ...
As Other Crimes Decline in California, Why Do Rape Cases Remain So High?
Recently, California has had some genuinely good crime news. In 2025, violent crime declined 10.2 percent. Homicides fell from 1,666 to 1,374, robberies dropped nearly 20 percent, and property crime continued downward. But one violent crime has proved remarkably resistant to the trend. Rape has settled into a stubborn plateau. ...
New Mexico’s ‘free’ childcare program is another costly disaster
New Mexico’s ‘free’ childcare program is another costly disaster by Paul Gessing | September 18, 2026 National media outlets which rarely report on any news from New Mexico were eager to report on the big news this past November that the Land of Enchantment had become the first state to ...
‘Inclusionary zoning’ seems designed to exclude new housing
One often-overlooked impediment to housing construction is something known as “inclusionary zoning,” which requires builders to set aside lower-income housing in order to gain a project’s approval — or pay a large fee to the local government. A July study from the University of California Irvine (UCI) finds that these ...