California has declared war on its middle class, and the special interests controlling the state are doing everything they can to impose this punitive economic model on the rest of America. It’s a quasi-feudal system, with the entire population divided into aristocrats and serfs. The means to destroy the middle class is to engineer an...
The concept of deep water desalination has been around for decades, but only in recent years has the enabling technology been available. Innovations pioneered by the oil and gas industry to better service offshore drilling platforms have matured. These include better ways to protect against corrosion of underwater equipment, and replacing hydraulic with electrical systems....
California’s governor tries — and fails — to blame the state’s homelessness epidemic on someone, anyone else. Confronting yet another calamitous state budget deficit, California Governor Gavin Newsom took time last week to blast the real public enemies: Donald Trump and someone called Amy Bublak. You know Trump. His tariffs have indeed produced volatility in the stock...
Help the charter school community fight AB 84 The Southern California News Group recently published commentary by CPC Vice President Lance Christensen on Assembly Bill 84 and the devastation it would cause to charter schools and thousands of California families. AB 84 threatens a 30% funding cut for charter schools where in-person classroom-based instruction is...
The second fiscal year after the implementation of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus lockdown for San Diego County’s 18 cities saw Del Mar bounce back up in fiscal rankings (see “City of San Diego Fell Behind $191 Million in First Year of Pandemic,” May 15, 2024). The fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, also saw the...
For anyone unconcerned about the state’s ongoing war against the oil and gas industry, or the impact it is going to have on California’s economic health and overall cost-of-living, a study released on May 5 should be required reading. With strong arguments and immutable data, USC Business Professor Michael Mische predicts that by sometime in 2026, we’ll...
Times are tough in Orange Unified, Orange County’s fourth-largest school district. Already facing a years-long decline in state funding that followed the district’s plummeting enrollment, school officials in June 2024 nevertheless agreed to a teachers union demand for a 10 percent pay hike. Union officials celebrated – but only briefly. In September, internal documents show,...
After six years of budget shortfalls, rising homelessness, and an exodus of residents and businesses, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his $321.9 billion May Revision to California’s 2025–26 state budget on Wednesday — which he acknowledged is upside down by roughly $12 billion. Now, with just weeks until the June 15th deadline, he must work with...
On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his May budget revision, proposing $321.9 in total spending for the next fiscal year. Now he must work with the legislature to pass a budget bill by the June 15th deadline. In a press conference outlining his budget to reporters, Newsom focused on blaming the Trump administration for California’s...
Last week I received an email from a representative of a company planning to build a large scale green hydrogen production facility in California. In reviewing the details announced in this email, which was almost certainly sent to other analysts and journalists, I saw an opportunity to take another look at the challenges facing any...
After the state unwisely expanding Medi-Cal in recent years, the program has descended into a fiscal crisis. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes to roll back some of the expansions, but it may be too little too late given pending actions at the federal level. Covering more than one-third of Californians, the Medi-Cal program’s costs are projected to...
The state of California issued its annual comprehensive financial report some 15 months after the customary due date, making it the last of the nation’s 50 states to complete this required task (see Long Overdue Financial Report for California Brings Bad News, March 18, 2024). Don’t think for a minute that the Franchise Tax Board...
When Marc Molinaro takes up his position as the new federal transit administrator, he will have the opportunity to save taxpayers a quick $5.1 billion. All he has to do is decline to provide federal funding for what a high-profile transit advocate recently dubbed “the worst new transit project in the United States”: the extension...
Last month, in recognition of the annual celebration of Earth Day, it seemed appropriate to compile a list of ten common myths that constitute the major premises of modern environmentalism. That list, along with explanations of why each of these premises is unfounded and counterproductive, can be summarized as follows: 1 – There is no climate crisis....