CalPERS Pays Million-Dollar Salaries for Below-Median Returns

Principles for a Californian Realignment: The Grand Alliance

With midterm elections just around the corner, both major political parties are themselves coping with divided constituencies. The Democratic Socialists vie for dominance against more moderate Democrats. MAGA Republicans confront disaffected libertarians and neocons. And outside all these polarized factions are millions of voters that don’t find any politician or political agenda credible enough to...

By Edward Ring

Subsidizing the Visible Hand: California’s Departure from 1776

As the United States celebrates the semiquincentennial of its founding in 1776, it is worth reflecting on a remarkable historical coincidence: the birth of our nation occurred the same year Adam Smith published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Smith’s seminal work articulated the concept of the invisible hand,...

By Marc Joffe

How Much Flow Preserves the Delta?

When choosing what policies and projects might best ensure abundant water for California’s ecosystems, farms, and cities, the role of the delta is central. Even if large scale desalination were to someday deliver over a million acre feet of water per year to California’s coastal cities, how we manage the delta affects many times that...

By Edward Ring

The Bear Flag and California’s history blind spot

June 14 is the anniversary of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt that helped set California on the path to statehood. But how many California students could explain what the Bear Flag Republic was, why it mattered, or how California became a state? The truth is, we have no idea. California schools are expected to teach...

By Sheridan Karras

Taxing Away Success

We are witnessing a troubling migration—a flight of capital and talent from states that have adopted increasingly aggressive tax policies. Elon Musk moved Tesla and X from California to Texas; Palantir relocated to Colorado. High-profile individuals and corporations are pulling up stakes and relocating to states with more favorable tax policies. A casual observer might...

By Mark Moses

The unions that count California’s votes

As Los Angeles County worked through more than 700,000 uncounted ballots after the June primary, the argument focuses on the speed of the count. But it is also worth wondering just who is taking so long to count our votes. In California’s largest counties, the permanent employees who process and tabulate ballots are represented by some of...

By Marc Joffe

In California, the Real Scandal Is What’s Legal

Greetings and welcome to this momentous 92nd edition of the Carnival of Fools! If you’re looking for informed commentary on the state of the war in Iran, then I’m happy to announce that you’ve come to the wrong place. I have no idea what’s going on in the Middle East or inside of Donald Trump’s...

By Jeffrey Blehar

How the Machine Buried Spencer Pratt

Spencer Pratt’s LA mayoral bid surged on Election Day, only to be reversed as California’s entrenched political machine reshaped the final count after the vote. Bill de Blasio appeared on NewsNation on June 2 and was asked to comment on Spencer Pratt’s campaign. De Blasio smugly described Pratt’s ads as “inappropriate” and wondered, “Who is...

By Edward Ring

An Alternative Vision for the Potter Valley Project

A recent article in Grist characterized recent efforts by the Trump administration to preserve Scott Dam as a “culture war crusade.” That is accurate, so long as we recognize that efforts to demolish the dam – and diminish the value of the entire Potter Valley Project that the dam is a part of – are also the result of a culture...

By Edward Ring

Five Billion Barrels of Crude Oil

There is no realistic scenario imaginable that does not include Californians consuming at least another five billion barrels of oil before the state achieves its much touted official goal of a “clean energy future.” Here are the numbers: In 2025, Californians consumed 484 million barrels of crude oil. To understand why another five billion barrels is the...

By Edward Ring

California’s “Wealth” Tax is Coming for Everyone

If you own property in California, you’re not safe. A new ballot measure will empower the state to confiscate a percentage of the assets of any resident, even though its initial provisions don’t communicate that intent. California’s “One-Time Wealth Tax for State-Funded Healthcare, Education, and Food Assistance Programs Initiative,” which has already qualified for the November ballot,...

By Edward Ring

When City Councils Play Secretary of State

In the years since the National Civic League published “Is It None of Our Business?,” the trend of city halls tackling national issues has shifted from a novelty to a standard operating model. The League’s 2023 analysis argued that local agencies should embrace a broader national agenda—a shift they championed as a positive phenomenon. However, from...

By Mark Moses

Fine Tuning the “Water Renaissance” Plan

The recently released “Water Renaissance” plan, a product of “conservation groups and tribes,” gets a very big idea right. There is no reason why California’s coastal megacities should have to import water. With that one visionary presumption, this report has made a major contribution. In fact, it doesn’t go far enough. With massive, targeted investments,...

By Edward Ring

CalPERS Pays Million-Dollar Salaries for Below-Median Returns

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) continues to demonstrate a stunning disconnect between its investment performance and the compensation it awards its top administrators. A 255-page forensic investigation conducted by former SEC lawyer Edward Siedle and pension analyst Chris Tobe, commissioned by the Retired Public Employees’ Association of California, details a culture of secrecy...

By Marc Joffe