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Government fails to earn respect of Californians
Nine out of 10 Californians believe state government wastes their tax dollars. Two-thirds believe state government is run for the benefit of a few special interests and state officials cannot be trusted to do the right thing. Those results from a Public Policy Institute of California survey are similar to the dissatisfaction with and distrust of state government that […]
Gas Tax vs. Fee on Miles Driven
Seeking a creative and long-term solution for financing highway and road construction and upkeep, a new commission kicked off its investigation of a “Road User Charge” as a possible replacement for the well-traveled gasoline tax. Created by 2014 legislation and given the nod by Governor Brown, the ponderously-named Road User Charge Pilot Program Technical Advisory Committee kicked off its […]
Assisted Suicide Back From The Dead
Physician-assisted suicide has returned to California’s political agenda. After years off the table, the issue gained new life in the wake of Brittany Maynard’s high-profile decision to end her life. Maynard, 29, an assisted-suicide activist living in Oregon, advertised her impending death as a dignified response to the “aggressive” form of terminal brain cancer that left her […]
VIDEO: CA Law Driving Egg Prices Higher?
“Taxifornia” author James Lacy explains to Fox Business’s Stuart Varney how a California law could drive up the prices of eggs. Also discussed is the state’s potential mileage fee for drivers.
A Short History of Proposition 13
(Note from the author): Proposition 13, the 1978 property tax measure, continues to be in the news in California with talk of reforms in some quarters. Just this week, the Public Policy Institute of California polled some issues related to Prop 13. The poll found that 66% of likely voters found Prop 13 to be […]
CPR Blog
Taking the Right Fast Track on Trade
One aim of President’s Obama’s trip to Asia is coming to agreement on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. To enhance that prospect, the President has asked that Congress resurrect “fast-track” trade negotiation authority, which puts trade agreements to up-or-down votes, with no amendments. Without fast-track authority, such negotiations make little headway, because, as Peter […]
Mercy and Liberty
March is Women’s History Month. But virtually ignored is one woman who played a central role in American history—Mercy Otis Warren—who died 200 years ago this October. Termed “The Conscience of the American Revolution” and called a genius by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, Mercy Warren was a leading force behind our freedom. Sister of […]
Some Old Wisdom on Politics
America’s so-called public servants have supported ethically questionable policies, picked our pockets and eroded our rights. Yet they simply pretend that fact away, tar opponents for everything and pitch themselves as America’s unifiers. That is breathtakingly mendacious. In sharp contrast to their rhetoric, the competition to control government to help friends out of others’ pockets […]
Publisher’s Corner
ABAG claims $1.3 million embezzled
The “Association of Bay Area Governments” or “ABAG” is a nonprofit lobbying group that many Bay Area local governments pay big annual dues to, in order to coordinate their efforts to get more funding from Sacramento and Washington, D.C. ABAG, based in San Francisco, is not exactly a government agency, rather, it is like a […]
Cali-Culture
Go Pete Caroll!
Seahawk’s coach Pete Caroll is one win away from making football history! If the Seahawks win the Superbowl, he will be the only football coach in history to have won two Superbowls and two collegiate football national championships. And those college championships were as head coach of our state’s University of Southern California Trojans. There […]
Trending News
Police Face New Rules When Seizing Money From Drug Suspects
As reported by the Orange County Register: Local police are scrambling to fill the financial hole left in their drug-fighting resources by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to stop allowing them to take cash and property from suspected dealers without warrants or convictions.Holder’s decision is limited to federal asset forfeiture rules. And for regional […]
Regulation of Uber, Lyft Thrown Into Question by California DMV
As reported by the Sacramento Bee: California’s burgeoning efforts to regulate ride-for-hire companies like Uber and Lyft have reached a fork in the road after the Department of Motor Vehicles issued an advisory that, in mandating commercial registration, threatens to upend the companies’ business model. Conceived as an alternative to taxicabs, firms like Uber, Lyft […]
Drone Carrying Meth Falls Near Border
As reported by the U-T San Diego: A small aerial drone crashed about two miles from the U.S. border in Mexico carrying several pounds of methamphetamine, Mexican police said Wednesday. The discovery at a shopping mall parking lot in Tijuana, within walking distance of the U.S. border crossing, raises the prospect of a new, high-tech […]
California Gold Miners Score Win Over State
As reported by Dan Walters at the Sacramento Bee: California’s 21st century gold miners have scored a second major victory over state efforts to restrict – or ban – them from searching for the precious metal in rivers and streams on federally owned land, such as national forests. On Monday, San Bernardino County Judge Gilbert Ochoa, […]
Possible Successors to California Sen. Barbara Boxer
The Sacramento Bee details a relatively long list of potential candidates to replace Sen. Barbara Boxer, who will retire when her term ends in 2016. The list includes such names as Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Kamala Harris and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: California Sen. Barbara Boxer’s announcement today not to seek a fifth term has […]
