This November, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on numerous state and local ballot measures in addition to candidates for public office. The ballot measures include local tax measures seeking approval of various parcel tax hikes, sales tax increases and dozens of other local levies. But some of those taxes, even if passed, may […]
“Just a flesh wound,” protests the Black Knight in Monty Python’s famous “Holy Grail” comedy, challenging King Arthur to continue their duel even after all his limbs have been severed. Similar happy talk is coming from the management of California’s big public employee pension funds after CalPERS, the nation’s largest institutional investor, posted a loss […]
Entrenched politicians loathe the tools of direct democracy, which include the powers of initiative, referendum, and recall. Both at the state and local levels, they do everything they can to limit the exercise of those powers, including going to court to nullify what voters do at the ballot box. That’s what happened with Measure K […]
We hate to pick on Attorney General Rob Bonta two weeks in a row, but he’s really given us no choice. Last week we chronicled his hypocrisy on data privacy by posturing as a champion on that issue while negligently allowing his Department of Justice to release sensitive information on Californians who hold carry concealed […]
Examples of hypocrisy in politics are common but in California they are legion. Take Governor Newsom for example. During the pandemic, he lectured Californians to stay home and wear masks while he dined unmasked at a fancy Napa Valley restaurant. And just last weekend, it was revealed that he was vacationing in Montana, a state […]
This column addresses budget issues frequently and, most recently, reported on how broken the budget process is. While the “budget bill” is constitutionally mandated to be enacted by June 15, it only passed by that date for one reason — so the legislators could continue to receive their paychecks. Moreover, since the enactment of the […]
Here we go again. Another “study” purporting to reveal how unfair Proposition 13 is. But this time, the tax-hikers are using the progressives’ favorite catch-all justification: inequity and racism. Prop. 13 has been under constant assault for 42 years by people who want to raise property taxes without limitation. Like all their other arguments, this […]
Once again, the California Legislature has engaged in the most meaningless exercise imaginable – passing the state budget. In other states, where progressivism is less dominant, the annual budget is an important legislative act. In California, it means squat. If the enactment of the annual budget is so pointless, why does the legislature even bother […]
Victor Davis Hanson is a resident scholar at the Hoover Institute and lifelong Californian from the Central Valley. He recently spoke at a conference of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association members. For the naïve who want an optimistic presentation about how great California is, VDH is not your guy. He gives an accurate, if depressing, view […]
The deadline for local governments to place tax hikes on the November ballot is rapidly approaching. This is why political consultants have descended like locusts on city councils, county boards of supervisors and school boards pitching their services. Their objective? Fool, er, convince, voters to approve even higher levels of taxation. These consultants are nothing […]
