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Dan Richard vs. CWD over bullet train, via James Fallows

Chris Reed July 15, 2014

Wait, there’s still more from the suddenly feverish debate over the bullet train. The head of California High-Speed Rail Authority takes on my July 11 CWD post knocking Jim Fallows for his support of the project point by point.

Six Californias?

Today entrepreneur Tim Draper is submitting signatures to put his Six Californias idea onto the 2016 ballot. That will give him two more years to sell his idea that the state — which by then will be crammed with 40 million

Fallows cites CWD critique of his bullet-train stand

Chris Reed July 15, 2014

The Atlantic’s James Fallows, to his credit, followed up on his post last week touting the California bullet train project with another post acknowledging the strong push-back he had received. His respectful, straightforward tone was far different than the norm

Dems back Prop. 45 medical insurance price controls

John Seiler July 14, 2014

The Democratic Party just backed Proposition 45, which would give the state insurance commissioner vast new powers to regulate medical insurance rates. According to the Bee, the initiative pits “trial lawyers and consumer groups against doctors and hospital groups.” According to

CA law promoting school choice, competition barely used

Chris Reed July 14, 2014

Advocates of education choice in California have been fighting the good fight for decades. They’ve gotten nowhere with school vouchers but have a strong record with charters — albeit a record that requires a constant struggle to defend against the

Backdrop to CalPERS’ many debacles: Agency thinks it’s great

Chris Reed July 13, 2014

The giant California Public Employees’ Retirement System, as one might suspect from its massive and self-important Sacramento headquarters, thinks it is the bomb — a flawless organization that should inspire awe in onlookers. Yes, of course, the phenomenon of government

Berkeley: Poor have right to free pot

John Seiler July 13, 2014

This sounds like a Cheech and Chong routine. The People’s Republic of Berkeley has mandated that medical-marijuana dispensaries must give free pot to poor people. As marijuana is legalized in more places, that likely will spread across the country. In

Profiting from stem-cell public-private partnership

John Seiler July 12, 2014

While governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger loved to tout “public-private partnerships”; another phrase for which is “crony capitalism.” One such partnership he backed was Proposition 71 back in 2004, which allocated $3 billion to fund stem-cell research. Except that, with interest, the

LeBron James skips CA — again

John Seiler July 11, 2014

LeBron James just signed a contract to go back to Cleveland from Miami. Travis Waldron at ThinkProgress gloats this disproves theories that sports superstars avoid states with income taxes, such as Ohio, for those without, such as Florida — as James

7 ways James Fallows is wrong about the CA bullet train

Chris Reed July 11, 2014

Writing on The Atlantic’s website, the much-respected journalist/intellectual James Fallows — a Redlands native who knows California better than nearly all other national pundits — has come out as a big fan of the state’s bullet-train project. He promises to