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...
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...
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...
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 every reasonable standard of governance, California’s elected politicians have made a mess of the Golden State. Reciting the litany of failures has become so common that it’s hardly worth the trouble. Chaotic, unsafe downtowns. Retail businesses giving up and relocating. Chronic government budget deficits, despite the nation’s highest taxes, set to go higher still....
California voters will decide this year whether the state will remain the global center of technology innovation or begin a steady decline. Their choice for governor and on a key ballot initiative will make the difference. The top three Democratic gubernatorial candidates enjoy strong backing from organized labor, including the state’s all-powerful public-employee unions. If...
Public sector unions collect nearly $1 billion a year to control Sacramento. Normal citizens? A trickle against a torrent. TL;DR California’s public sector unions rake in $921 million annually and spend hundreds of millions controlling elections—but there’s a legal pathway to break their grip. California’s public-sector unions are the Colorado River of political spending. Normal...
The scandals erupting in Minnesota offer another example of how easy it is for generous U.S. welfare programs to squander billions of dollars. And while it’s important to hold accountable the individuals who figured out how to scam the system, until the system itself is changed, for every billion-dollar fraud that is uncovered, others will take...
A health-care union’s ‘one-time fix’ for federal Medicaid cuts could easily become permanent. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest labor unions in the country, has launched an experiment in California to determine whether it can wring a large amount of revenue from the state’s billionaires. Its idea is a one-time retroactive...
Public sector unions constitute the bedrock of progressive power in the United States. The estimated total nationwide membership exceeds 7 million, or 32 percent of all public employees. This compares to an equal number of unionized employees in the private sector, 7 million, but that only represents 6 percent of private sector employees. The fact...
Unrestrained public employee union power drives up costs, erodes accountability, and holds taxpayer’s hostage, especially in California. The Power Imbalance at the Heart of Governance Public employee unions consistently put their interests ahead of what serves the broader public, creating a dynamic fundamentally different from private-sector unions that must run within market constraints. These public...
You would have to dig into the fine print of legislation signed yesterday to see how non-union business owners and workers got screwed, again. If A Tree Falls In The Forest And No One Hears It – Did It Make A Noise? What we witnessed yesterday afternoon should alarm every Californian who values free enterprise...