Regulations

CA minimum-wage hike: Expect 'very large' effect on low-wage jobs

Gov. Jerry Brown's signalling that he'll approve a bill to raise in two steps the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10 an hour has prompted the usual dumb coverage of minimum wage increases, which notes that business groups/Republicans

Why Arnold owes U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars (non-bullet train edition)

Chris Reed September 12, 2013

Two interesting pieces published recently make a strong case that government can be made far more efficient if we actually tried empirically to evaluate what worked and what didn't. On the Zocalo Public Square website, Pepperdine academic Pete Peterson takes

$1.2 billion in new jails still haven’t been built

John Seiler August 30, 2013

What incompetents. To ease overcrowding, in 2007 the Legislature authorized $1.2 billion for local jails to expand. That was before both the Great Recession hit. Before a federal judge ordered the state to reduce overcrowding in state prisons. And

CA Lifeline program cost could triple under AB 1407

Katy Grimes August 26, 2013

It’s been trendy for a couple of years now for people to dump their phone landlines and go only with their mobile phones, saving money and hassles. The government is going in the opposite direction, setting up both land

Bullet train: Judge shows taxpayers may be saved by Prop. 1A

Chris Reed August 19, 2013

The Friday ruling by a Sacramento judge that the California High-Speed Rail Authority was violating the 2008 state law providing funds for the bullet-train project was the first good news that the many foes of the project have had in

Rainfall study contradicts CA water policy

Wayne Lusvardi August 16, 2013

In the mid-1970s, it was common for many Santa Barbara County communities to deny water meters to limit growth and development. Santa Barbara experienced periodic droughts up until 1991, when it finally built a pipeline connecting to the State Water

Richmond mayor wants mortgages on million-dollar homes

Wayne Lusvardi August 16, 2013

Political theater isn’t reserved for Tea Party and Occupy movement protesters. Another example was on display Aug. 15 at Wells Fargo Bank headquarters in San Francisco. Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and a group of supporters tried to enter the bank’s

CA minimum wage may jump 25%

Dave Roberts August 16, 2013

California has made progress in bringing down the unemployment rate. June’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.5 percent is the lowest since October 2008, according to California Employment Development Department data. Unemployment reached 12.4 percent during the Great Recession, and

Why you need a gun…

John Seiler August 15, 2013

Gun controllers insist that we disarm ourselves. That the police will “protect” us. Here’s the real world. In the placid and well off community of Orange Hills in Orange County: “robbers forced their way into a home and tied up

Bill aims to curb human trafficking

Dave Roberts August 13, 2013

When Angela Guanzon was offered the opportunity to leave the Philippines and work in the United States, she felt like she had won the lottery. But when she arrived, her dream turned into a nightmare. Guanzon was told by the