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 […]
By now, only the truly delusional deny that California has an acute exodus problem. The number of people and businesses leaving the state is not just significant, it’s quantifiable. A recent study by two economics professors from Chapman University reveals that those who now categorize themselves as “former” Californians, not surprisingly, were motivated most by […]
Two important topics previously addressed by this column are the propensity of progressives to change elections rules in order to tighten their grip on political power and the question of whether Governor Gavin Newsom’s performance in office warrants his removal via recall. As to the former, the last several legislative sessions are replete with examples […]
The Legislature has gone into summer recess leaving a lot of unfinished business. When they return, among the most controversial proposals left unresolved are bills addressing the state housing crisis. While no one disputes the need for more housing, the broader policy issue is whether state micromanaging of local land use decisions is in the […]
In the category of “good news, bad news,” America’s recovering economy has had a significant positive impact on the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF), the primary investment fund administered by CalPERS. CalPERS is the largest institutional investor in the United States and it operates the pension program for over 2 million current and retired California […]
Why do progressives love regressive taxes? The news that, as of July 1, several cities in very liberal Alameda County have increased their sales tax rate to a staggering 10.75%, got us thinking about how many of California’s recent tax hikes have been regressive. In fact, despite the claim that progressives like to “tax the […]
Regrettably, Californians are accustomed to strange bills being introduced in the California Legislature. The designation of an official state dinosaur comes immediately to mind. But others are not just strange, they are purposefully designed to fool the public. For example, Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 1, dealing with the peoples’ right to referendum, seeks to reverse […]
A common complaint among the taxpaying public is that the government spends taxpayer dollars for political ads. In theory, this is supposed to be illegal, but it still happens all too frequently. Up until now, the Fair Political Practices Commission has been an aggressive enforcer against these expenditures. For example, the FPPC imposed a $1.3 […]
