This past weekend was the deadline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign or veto bills. Thankfully, many of the worst bills, like attempts to create a wealth tax and a perennial attempt to repeal one of the most important protections in Proposition 13 by lowering the existing two-thirds vote threshold for both local bonds and […]
It is an article of faith among progressives that income inequality is getting worse in California. In fact, claims of a widening gap between rich and poor are used nationally to justify raising taxes and accelerate the redistribution of wealth. But like other urban myths, such as how Prop. 13 supposedly starved local governments, it […]
High-speed rail advocates are on edge as the governor and the state legislature squabble over where to spend the high-speed rail project’s remaining bond money. Advocates say the delays in funding are feeding into the notion that the project is taking too long and harming public support. They are right to be worried. A recent […]
There are days when those of us who follow the news feel as though we’re living in a parallel universe. What else could explain the wildly divergent news stories about California’s employment figures? On September 17, the state’s July unemployment figures were released and the reaction from Gov. Gavin Newsom was a lot of positive […]
It is the richest of ironies that those who identify as progressives today bear no resemblance to the true progressives of the early 1900s, including California Gov. Hiram Johnson. In fact, so-called “progressives” today seek to tear down Johnson’s legacy of clean government and fighting special interests. This includes efforts to weaken the powers of […]
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill requiring that voters produce identification to show that they are legally entitled to vote. Notwithstanding the fact that 80% of Americans support voter ID laws, progressives claim that such laws constitute “voter suppression.” But to see what real voter suppression is, one need only move west […]
Several weeks ago, this column addressed Senate Bills 9 and 10, both of which deal with the controversial issue of housing policy and, more specifically, density of housing. Taxpayer advocates and neighbor associations have opposed both SB 9 and SB 10 because of the potential loss of local control and higher taxes. Both bills passed […]
Whether you’re looking at historic election results or recent polling, it’s clear beyond any doubt that Californians hate death taxes. Back in 1982, voters overwhelmingly approved two ballot measures to abolish state inheritance and gift taxes—not only abolish them, but ban them permanently. A few years later, rising property values had created a new kind […]
As Governor Newsom stares down the barrel of the pending recall, we wonder if he has given any thought to what he might have done to forestall or, at least, lessen the odds of being bounced. Probably he has not. To all appearances, the governor seems genuinely to believe that the recall is a “Trump […]
Big government interests – and by “big government interests” we mean elected officials, bureaucrats, public sector unions and private corporations that live off taxpayer dollars – do everything they can to erect barriers to taxpayers seeking to vindicate their rights. As this column has previously addressed, those barriers include making it difficult to vindicate rights […]
