News Media

A California vs. Texas analysis that breaks the mold

The California vs. Texas fight has gotten stale for my tastes. It’s insanely annoying how so many California defenders simply ignore basic facts like Texas is creating more middle-class jobs or that Texas’ Latino and black students do better than

Swearengin had no faith in a) her constituents and/or b) herself

Chris Reed May 22, 2014

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin — an articulate, TV-savvy, photogenic Republican — is a good bet to finish second in the June 3 state primary for controller behind former Assembly Speaker John Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat who will then go

First anniversary of L.A. Times’ worst bias/incomptence ever

Chris Reed May 17, 2014

When it comes to hydraulic fracturing — the energy-exploration technique that has prompted a gigantic U.S. boom in natural gas and oil production — there is a hilariously telling and depressing difference between the national media and the California media.

Mixed GOP reaction to Donnelly: Dumb-de-dumb-dumb

Chris Reed May 16, 2014

The California Republican Party is now very, very down on its luck. But I think state party chair Jim Brulte isn’t just blathering when he suggests the party can make at the least a modest comeback. The main reason for

CA 2014 fire season: A test of government competence

Chris Reed May 15, 2014

The two worst wildfires in recorded state history struck San Diego County in 2003 and 2007, as I wrote about in today’s U-T San Diego. “In October 2003, the Cedar Fire … broke out in the Cleveland National Forest, started accidentally by

$TX routs CA in education test scores$

TX routs CA in education test scores

Chris Reed May 13, 2014

Every time I write or speak on a radio show favorably about Texas compared with California, I get harsh online comments, emails and phone calls. The usual theme isn’t just that California is a nicer place to live. It’s that

U.S. CEOs again call California most hostile to business

Chris Reed May 12, 2014

It’s a May tradition: Chief Executive magazine announces its best and worst states when it comes to receptivity to business. And in what’s also a May tradition, California is found to be the worst. That’s 10 years in a row

Attempted $1B cover-up can’t even crack Top 5 of bullet-train outrages

Chris Reed May 9, 2014

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

Mass transit for poor frowned on in Bay Area

Chris Reed May 8, 2014

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

Jerry Brown expresses satisfaction with CA’s 24% poverty rate

Chris Reed May 4, 2014

If you live in a state that has by far the highest effective poverty rate in the U.S. — at just under one-quarter of the population — you would seem unlikely to express satisfaction with the economics status quo. But