California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown
California Burning – How the Greens Turned the Golden State Brown
In October 2016, in a coordinated act of terrorism that received fleeting attention from the press, environmentalist activists broke into remote flow stations and turned off the valves on pipelines carrying crude oil from Canada into the United States. Working simultaneously in Washington, Montana, Minnesota, and North Dakota, the eco-terrorists disrupted pipelines that together transport 2.8 million...
By Edward Ring
Class size matters…not a whit
Class size matters…not a whit
Perhaps the “fake news” story of the year – actually the last 20 years – is that small class size is essential to learning. Under the leadership of its cantankerous president Alex Caputo-Pearl, the United Teachers of Los Angeles is planning to strike – very possibly in January. The union’s demands haven’t budged, even as...
By Larry Sand
Thanksgiving for California Taxpayers – An Uncertain Future
Thanksgiving for California Taxpayers – An Uncertain Future
In this season of Thanksgiving, taxpayers in California have reason to pause when asked for what they are thankful. Considering the costly plans of the newly elected Legislature and governor, taxpayers may be most grateful for the fact that the state hasn’t yet built a wall encircling the state to keep them from leaving. After...
By Jon Coupal
The delightfully, annoyingly persistent Rebecca Friedrichs
The delightfully, annoyingly persistent Rebecca Friedrichs
In Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country, teacher, wife, mother, devout Christian and Supreme Court plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs (David) has written an informative, enjoyable and, at times, infuriating book in which she weaves revelations about her humble roots, marriages, problems with...
By Larry Sand
Rejection of Proposition 6 doesn’t end the taxpayer revolt
Rejection of Proposition 6 doesn’t end the taxpayer revolt
It is understandable that many California taxpayers are disappointed with the election results. The defeat of Proposition 6 means that last year’s big increases in both the car tax and the gas tax imposed on us by Sacramento politicians will remain in effect and California’s drivers are stuck having the second-highest gas tax in the...
By Jon Coupal
California’s Legislators Lack Private Sector Experience
California’s Legislators Lack Private Sector Experience
Back in the days of adding machines and manual ledgers, final election results in California were usually done by midnight on election day. Sometimes there would be a few precincts counting ballots into the wee hours of the morning, and you wouldn’t know a result till the next day. Fast forward to 2018, and the...
By Edward Ring
NEA’s defective election reflections
NEA’s defective election reflections
Teachers union wants us to believe that it won big on Election Day…in spite of the facts. On November 7th, the National Education Association proclaimed “Voters deliver big wins for public education.” The union insisted that Election Day saw pro-education candidates sweep into office at every level of government. NEA President Lily Eskelsen García was...
By Larry Sand
California’s Voters Approve New Taxes and Reject Tax Repeal
California’s Voters Approve New Taxes and Reject Tax Repeal
Although hundreds of election results remain to be decided across California, thanks to millions of vote-by-mail ballots still being counted, we can already project with reasonable accuracy the total amount voters approved in new taxes and borrowing. At the local level, new taxes nearly always are approved by voters. In 2016, out of 224 local...
By Edward Ring
An open letter to Randi Weingarten
An open letter to Randi Weingarten
This is the fourth in a series of missives to the president of the American Federation of Teachers. (The first three can be accessed here, here and here.) My Dear Randi, It has been a while! I hope you are well, though I suspect recent events have you a bit off-kilter or even a tad...
By Larry Sand
How to NOT Solve California’s Housing Crisis
How to NOT Solve California’s Housing Crisis
There are obvious reasons the median home price in California is $544,900, whereas in the United States it is only $220,100. In California, demand exceeds supply. And supply is constrained because of unwarranted environmental laws such as SB 375 that have made it nearly impossible to build housing outside the “urban service boundary.” These laws have...
By Edward Ring
California Ed-doctrination
California Ed-doctrination
Indoctrination in government schools is a big problem; giving parents choices can solve it. Recently in southern California, a public high school student was given an assignment in English class to pick an issue and make an argument for and against it. The 16-year-old decided to do her essay on the Dreamers. But her teacher...
By Larry Sand
The charter school haters dig in
The charter school haters dig in
The education traditionalists’ attacks on parental choice are unrelenting. All across Texas, children are hoping to get into a charter school. In San Antonio alone, 40,000 families await the chance to pick a school that best fits the needs of their child. Nationally, over 3 million students now attend these schools of choice, which get...
By Larry Sand
Red teachers/Blue unions
Red teachers/Blue unions
How long will conservative teachers dutifully fund the teacher unions’ leftist political agenda? As I wrote in July, following the Janus decision, teachers unions had two roads to travel. They could become more politically ecumenical as a way to attract teachers who were no longer required to join, or they could continue to do business...
By Larry Sand
Janus: Hysteria, reality and foggy windows
Janus: Hysteria, reality and foggy windows
The Janus case, which gave public employees a choice whether or not to join a union, elicited apocalyptic proclamations, but the reality – thus far – has been quite different. “I listened as the right wing launched attack after attack on unions and on what collective bargaining gains for working people, those they serve and...
By Larry Sand