The Bullet Train Epitomizes Golden State Corruption

By Edward Ring
04/25/2023
It sounded too good to be true, and it was. Travel from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in two hours via high-speed rail. California voters in 2008 approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to build this so-called “bullet train.” They were told not only that the total cost would...

TAGS: California High School Exit Examination, California high speed rail, California High-Speed Rail Authority, Edward Ring, high speed rail

California Per Capita General Fund Spending Doubles – Where Is It Going?

By Edward Ring
02/13/2023
California’s state government is spending twice as much as it did a decade ago, and by every metric that matters to ordinary Californians, things have only gotten worse. Even without further analysis, this is an incredible fact. California’s state government, in constant dollars, is spending nearly twice as much per resident as it did a...

TAGS: California government unions, Edward Ring, government employee unions, Government Finance, Government Spending, Transparency

Pension Costs Are Still Eating Government Budgets

By Edward Ring
12/01/2022
About 20 years ago, I read an ad in a local Sacramento newspaper that said “Get a government job and become an instant millionaire.” The ad went on to describe how public bureaucrats in California enjoyed benefits private sector employees can only dream of, including a guaranteed retirement pension worth the equivalent of millions of...

TAGS: California pension reform, California pensions, Edward Ring, public pensions, Social Security

Inflation-adjusted per capita state spending doubles in one decade – for what?

By Edward Ring
06/16/2022
The California State Legislature has just released the “Floor Report of the 2022-2023 Budget,” and it’s a doozy. Representing an agreement between the budget committees of the Assembly and the Senate, and building on Governor Newsom’s proposal, this $300 billion monstrosity has moved one step closer to becoming final. To fully appreciate how out of...

TAGS: budget, California state budget, Edward Ring, state budget

The Abundance Choice: The Complete Series

By Editorial Staff
06/16/2022
Note: This webpage is dedicated to the complete The Abundance Choice series by Edward Ring. In this series, Edward Ring, a contributing editor and senior fellow with the California Policy Center, examines California’s ongoing water crisis and the many years of failed water policies that got us here. Ring outlines the challenges facing California’s leaders...

TAGS: California water policy, Edward Ring, environmentalism, water rationing, water reuse, water storage

The Abundance Choice – Part 3: The Mechanics of Ballot Initiatives

By Edward Ring
06/14/2022
Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series on California’s water crisis. You can read the entire series including recent updates in his new book “The Abundance Choice, Our Fight for More Water in California.” By the spring of 2021, it was obvious the California State Legislature would not change its inadequate approach...

TAGS: California water policy, Edward Ring, water rationing, water storage

The Abundance Choice – Part 1: California’s Failing Water Policies

By Edward Ring
05/27/2022
Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series on California’s water crisis. You can read the entire series including recent updates in his new book “The Abundance Choice, Our Fight for More Water in California.” In October and again in December, as the third severe drought this century was entering its third year,...

TAGS: California, California water policy, Edward Ring, water rationing, water storage