President Trump wants to cut the budget of the federal Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent, from $8.2 billion to about $5.7 billion, a reduction of $2.6 billion and more than 3,000 positions. The proposed cuts have drawn attacks from politicians, the old-line establishment media, and regulatory zealots. For their part, taxpayers might keep…
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“We are not now in deficit, we were never in deficit and we won’t be in deficit at the end of the year.” That was Susan Hansch, chief deputy director of the California Coastal Commission last August, explaining that the CCC had received almost enough money to repay $1.45 million from the state Department of Finance. According…
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As Tony Barboza notes in the Los Angeles Times, the California Coastal Commission is “the most powerful land-use agency in the nation” and some of the 12 commissioners want to fire the boss, Charles Lester. This action should serve as a timely reminder for Californians of the abuse they face at the hands of…
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The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is an unelected body of regulatory zealots that overrides the elected governments of coastal counties and cities on issues of land use and property rights. As we recently noted, the powerful CCC is moving into animal management, trying to leverage SeaWorld into killing off its orca shows. Now the…
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The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is an unelected body that overrides the elected governments of coastal counties and cities on issues of land use and property rights. As we recently noted, the powerful CCC is moving into animal management, trying to leverage SeaWorld into killing off its orca shows. As Dan Walters of the…
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Back in December of 2012 we noted federal government efforts, headed by then Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, to eliminate a longstanding oyster farm on the California coast, even though the small operation caused no environmental damage and kept 30 people employed. The Sierra Club and California Senator Barbara Boxer applauded Salazar’s move, but Senator…
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California’s vaunted $68 billion “bullet train” is a big hit with politicians eager as always to spend taxpayers’ money. The bullet train, however, will be slower and more expensive than air travel, and in a high-tech state few if any commuters are panting for an essentially 19th century form of transportation. Sold as a…
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Susie Goldring, a “management analyst” with the Environmental Protection Agency, recently decided her co-workers needed catch-up on Hispanic culture. So she put together a fact sheet and tacked on a photo of a Che Guevara mural and his slogan, “Hasta la victoria siempre.” When the Che hit the fan, Goldring said she had no…
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Electric cars have been around for more than 100 years but now the federal government “incentivizes” them, as politicians like to say. Electric vehicles (EVs) purchased in 2010 or after may be eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $7,500. (The credit amount varies based on the capacity of the battery.)…
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Here is an excellent new video on the relationship between economic freedom and economic and social well-being. The freer a country is, the higher the quality of life and more happiness, including less poverty, more prosperity, longer life spans, cleaner environment, less corruption, lower child mortality, more civil liberties, and less unemployment. Freer countries…
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