As we noted, Jerry Brown has jacked up gasoline taxes and fees by $5.2 billion, and the governor slams those less than worshipful of this hike as “freeloaders.” Brown is a big booster of “subsidiarity,” which means that bureaucrats can use tax money designated for needy school children to boost the salaries of bureaucrats…
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Joel Kotkin, a Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, charts “California’s Descent to Socialism,” a new statist strain that “more resembles feudalism than social democracy” and being advanced by, “among others, hedge-fund-billionaire-turned-green-patriarch Tom Steyer.” He wants to double down on environmental and land-use regulation but as Kotkin observes, the state’s already severe land-use…
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As we noted, California’s Board of Equalization has managed to misallocate nearly $50 million in tax revenue. BOE members have been spending public funds to promote themselves, staging useless events, and dishing out raises to high-salaried staff without performance reviews. The shabbily constructed BOE headquarters in Sacramento remains a safety threat and bottomless money…
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The Financial Choice Act designed to undo Dodd-Frank financial regulations has passed the House and as it moves to the Senate opponents are crying foul over attempts to weaken the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). Ed Mierzwinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group told Consumer Reports, “The bill would leave the successful…
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Despite a wet winter and thick snowpack, California still faces increasing demands for water. New sources are always welcome and the Cadiz project seeks to pump groundwater from private holdings in the Mojave Desert to supply homes in arid southern California. San Bernardino County approved the project but the loudest voice against it is…
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President Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord on the grounds that it puts the energy reserves of the United States, including coal, “under lock and key” while allowing other nations to develop their coal resources and coal jobs. The Paris deal is therefore “a massive redistribution of United…
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In 2012, John Duarte was plowing his wheat field in Tehama County, California, when a government inspector accused him of “deep ripping” the land and violating the Clean Water Act, which declares seasonal “vernal pools” to be “wetlands.” So according to the government, Duarte needed a permit to farm his land, but the farmer,…
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California governor Jerry Brown has signed off on a $5.2 billion deal that will raise the tax on gasoline, raise the tax on diesel and raise user fees on motorists. Before the Memorial Day weekend, Brown ranted that those who complain about this tax hike are “freeloaders.” This doesn’t deserve a response, but taxpayers…
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While beating the drum for tuition hikes, University of California president Janet Napolitano maintained a secret slush fund of $175 million and tried to block an investigation by state auditors. That was okay with the University of California regents, who hailed the leadership of the former Arizona governor and Department of Homeland Security boss….
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As we noted, failed presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been pushing California to establish what he calls “single payer” health care. This is a misnomer for several reasons, particularly on the issue of cost. As legislators recently learned, the price tag is $400 billion a year to cover all health and administrative costs, twice…
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