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AB2170 could boost local taxes
A majority of Californians would rather have lower taxes and fewer government services than higher taxes and more government services, according to a recent Field poll. But the drive for higher taxes and more government services continues unabated in
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Attempted $1B cover-up can’t even crack Top 5 of bullet-train outrages
With any big public works project, a report that an independent consultant had been pressured by the responsible government agency to hide a nearly $1 billion increase in project cost is absolutely outrageous. Pathetically enough, when it comes to the
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Will Beverly Hills ban fracking black gold?
Come and listen to a story about a city named Beverly Hills and its bubblin’ crude. “The Beverly Hillbillies” still plays on TV in reruns, providing laughs about the Clampetts from Tennessee who strike it rich in oil on
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Supreme Court allows L.A. County storm tax
On May 5, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear another appeal in a case mandating tax increases to pay for stopping and cleaning up polluted storm water. The L.A. County Supervisors have been playing hot potato with the highly unpopular
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Mass transit for poor frowned on in Bay Area
There’s plenty of research that shows that bus rapid transit is far the most cost-effective type of mass transit, with a flexibility that’s particularly helpful to the less affluent. This is from a Reason Foundation study released in January about
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$26 minimum wage?
California’s minimum wage rises to $9 an hour from $8 on July 1. Then in 2015, it rises to $10. That’s still pretty low for this expensive state. So Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is proposing $26 an hour. That still
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Taxes, regs clog new biz formation in USA, CA
An alarming new study by the liberal Brookings Institution shows business dynamism has dropped by half from the Reagan Boom of three decades ago. Look at this graph: “Firm entry” means new startup companies. “Firm exit” means the companies are gone.
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SF splits over CleanPowerSF co-op
San Francisco is suffering from a split personality when it comes to establishing CleanPowerSF, an electricity buyers’ club approved by the city’s Public Utilities Commission in 2010 to replace the monopoly Pacific Gas & Electric utility. Such buyers’ cooperatives are authorized
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CA cities gain tool to chop retirement benefits
A cliche in government circles is that there is no “magic bullet” available to address many big, difficult problems. But thanks to a recent action by the California Supreme Court, many local governments now do have a “magic bullet” to
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Analyzing Neel Kashkari’s flyer
Today the first statewide political flyer plopped into my mailbox. It’s from Neel Kashkari, running for governor as a Republican. The whole thing is reproduced at the bottom. This is the first gubernatorial election using the Top Two system. The
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