Finding Common Ground in California
Finding Common Ground in California
In California, environmental regulations have brought infrastructure investment to a standstill. Without expanding energy, water, and transportation infrastructure, it is nearly impossible to build housing, the cost-of-living is punitive, water is rationed and food is overpriced, the overall quality of life is reduced, and money that ought to be paying skilled workers to operate heavy...
By Edward Ring
No to California’s public officials: Raising the pay of government workers is not the biggest challenge facing California
No to California’s public officials: Raising the pay of government workers is not the biggest challenge facing California
In 1988, with the California economy churning out record revenue, state Democratic lawmakers and their progressive allies had interesting, constructive options. They could fund the water storage projects that experts said a fast-growing state badly needed. They could fix the frayed infrastructure cited in state audits covering dozens of agencies. They could even upgrade the...
By Chris Reed
Normal parents fought Merrick Garland and saved America in just 18 days. In California, the battle continues
Normal parents fought Merrick Garland and saved America in just 18 days. In California, the battle continues
On October 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI to investigate parents of school-age kids who object to school closures, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, the teaching of critical race theory, and a new law that deprives parents of information about medical treatments recommended for school-age kids. Garland spied with his beady eyes a “disturbing...
By Will Swaim
The kids most definitely are not all right
The kids most definitely are not all right
The latest NAEP scores indicate a very troubled education system, and eliminating standardized tests certainly won’t solve the problem. On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or “nation’s report card,” test scores in both reading and math declined for 13-year-old students, the first drop registered in 50 years. The test showed that...
By Larry Sand
SEIU’s dirty little secrets
SEIU’s dirty little secrets
California’s largest union has two names it doesn’t want members to know about. The first is Alma Hernandez. The second is Mark Janus. Hernandez is the now-former top boss at California’s largest labor union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In a truly let-them-eat-cake-moment, she’s been charged on multiple counts of embezzlement and tax fraud...
By Jackson Reese
Listen: Episode 195: Profiles in (Executive) Courage
Listen: Episode 195: Profiles in (Executive) Courage
Netflix execs handle/mishandle an employee walkout over the streaming service’s latest Chappelle special. In-N-Out tells San Francisco no, its employees won’t play the role of “vaccination police.” Elon Musk says he moved Tesla HQ to Texas in part because of Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s tweet in which she swore at him. President Biden shows how little...
By Will Swaim
Parents Marched on Sacramento and Across the State to Protest Student Vaccination Mandate
Parents Marched on Sacramento and Across the State to Protest Student Vaccination Mandate
Thousands of parents and students took part in a school walkout across the state on Monday protesting Governor Newsom’s school vaccine mandate. Many of them came to the state Capitol in Sacramento for a rally called “Our Children, Our Choice,” and many more rallied in their home districts, leaving some school districts to mark notable...
By Brandon Ristoff
Reining in rogue educators
Reining in rogue educators
To ensure transparency, all classroom lessons should be recorded. Over the past year, there have been many suggestions as to how concerned parents could deal with the “woke” agenda that has become all too prevalent in our nation’s classrooms. Most recently, a new group, Parents Unite, held a conference in which several fight-back strategies for...
By Larry Sand
California dystopia update, October 2021 edition
California dystopia update, October 2021 edition
Even with an infusion of new state and federal funds, the San Francisco Unified School District got a grim warning on Sept. 15 from the state Department of Education: a state takeover loomed unless district officials offered a plausible plan to wipe out $116 million in red ink by Dec. 15. Even as enrollment plunges...
By Chris Reed
Tesla Departure Will Kick California Exodus to High Gear
Tesla Departure Will Kick California Exodus to High Gear
Elon Musk made waves last week when he announced during a shareholder meeting that Tesla Motors will move its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. While Tesla’s move in particular isn’t terribly surprising (the company announced last year that its new gigafactory will be located in Austin, and Musk himself recently relocated there...
By Brandon Ristoff
Honest satire
Honest satire
Last week, the satirical website The Babylon Bee published an article proclaiming, “kids form union and donate millions to Newsom so they won’t have to get vaccinated.” As with any good parody, this piece centered on truth: the most effective voices in California’s education system are teachers unions, because they have a lot of money....
Listen: Episode 194: Mind If We Smoke?
Listen: Episode 194: Mind If We Smoke?
National Review’s Radio Free California Podcast Episode 194 “Government mismanagement of California’s forests is making Americans everywhere sick. San Francisco is killing its black residents. Gavin Newsom makes mail-in ballots permanent, hands over Manhattan Beach property he says was stolen from its black owners in 1924, signs off on ethnic studies requirements for high schoolers,...
By Will Swaim
Activist parents are painted as terrorists
Activist parents are painted as terrorists
America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat from parents, according to the National School Boards Association and Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland. In a story straight out of the “No matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up” file, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President...
By Larry Sand
Listen: Episode 193: Oil, Academic Toil, and FBI Trouble
Listen: Episode 193: Oil, Academic Toil, and FBI Trouble
The Southern California oil spill reveals the immediate need to drill on land. U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland pours gasoline on the fire of public debate around masks, vaccines, and racial reckoning in the nation’s public schools. L.A. will require vaccination proof for all indoor spaces. A UCLA business prof suspended for “racism” fights back....
By Will Swaim