LA’s Measure H Campaign Relied on Public Funds, Charity Funds, and Clout
It’s official. L.A. County voters have passed another increase in the sales tax, making it 9.5 percent starting on July 1. On election night, the sales tax increase was barely ahead of the two-thirds...
View ArticlePut the Brakes on Mandate that’s Unfair to California Truckers
Senate Democrats gave U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch a hard time over what’s become known as “The Case of the Frozen Trucker.” One cold night on a highway in Illinois, the brakes on trucker...
View ArticleToo Many White Students Means Funding Cuts for ‘Desegregated’ LA School
This fall, Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood is set to lose some of its funding because it has too many white students. Parents were told at an informational meeting on March 15 that the...
View ArticleIn transportation tax rush, did Sacramento break the law?
Did lawmakers break the law when they passed Senate Bill 1, the transportation tax increase? There’s a quaint provision in the California Constitution that reads, “A person who seeks to influence the...
View ArticleSupreme Court’s role in public safety is a judgment call
U.S. Supreme Court justices don’t patrol the streets of Los Angeles, but you might be surprised at how much the justices are responsible for what goes on in your neighborhood. As one example, judge for...
View ArticleLA Lawsuit Settlement Allowed Skid Row Conditions Everywhere in City
Why is homelessness increasing in Los Angeles? According to a count taken in January, homelessness is up 23 percent across L.A. County over 2016, a total of more than 55,000 people. News stories round...
View ArticleDamage Delayed with Legislative Bills
Sometimes, California’s laws are like a guillotine on a timer. By the time the blade drops, everybody who set it up has made a safe getaway. To illustrate, consider four different laws that did their...
View ArticleWould California benefit from becoming a right-to-work state?
The California Association of Psychiatric Technicians is raising money to fight Donald Trump. The union that represents 6,200 state mental health workers has decided to charge members $6.50 per month...
View ArticleWill China’s new recycling standards mean higher taxes in California?
Do you know where your recyclables go when they leave your blue bin? Would you believe China? But that’s about to change. In July, China notified the World Trade Organization that on Jan. 1 it will...
View ArticleHow the iPhone put the spotlight on sexual harassment
Someday, when the history of the smart phone is written, historians should give the devices credit for finally ending one of western civilization’s oldest traditions, the sexual harassment and assault...
View ArticleCrime—Statistics and Perception
Is the LAPD cooking the books to make the city’s crime rate look lower than it is? That’s the allegation from Captain Lillian Carranza of Van Nuys Division, who has filed a claim alleging that...
View ArticleThe Kate Steinle tragedy changed history
The Kate Steinle case was always about more than just the Kate Steinle case. The 32-year-old was shot in the back while walking with her father along San Francisco’s Pier 14. She collapsed and died in...
View ArticleLos Angeles Public Officials are not Serious about Solving Homelessness
If you thought voter approval of two new taxes in Los Angeles to provide housing and services to the homeless would mean our government officials had no more excuses to ignore the problem, guess again....
View ArticleMaking housing more expensive to build won’t make it more affordable
Only a politician could believe that making housing more expensive to build will create more affordable housing. But in Los Angeles, that’s what Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council are asserting....
View ArticleDe León’s tax dodge may be legal, but it might not be for long
Unless California is trying to break the Guinness World Record for tax evasion, it’s hard to see what will be accomplished by the plan put forward by Senate Leader Kevin de León to get around the new...
View ArticleCalifornia’s Infrastructure Boondoggles Continue
Every news story about the bullet train seems to be accompanied by a photo of workers building a viaduct in Fresno County. This does nothing to dispel the impression that high-speed rail in California...
View ArticleCap and trade is looking more and more like a tax
The veneer that keeps everybody from seeing that the cap-and-trade program is really just a tax is coming unglued. Mayor Eric Garcetti blasted out an email newsletter happily announcing that the Jordan...
View ArticleLet’s ditch these long commutes and start working remotely
If you’ve ever wished that someone would wave a magic wand and make traffic disappear, you’ve come to the right place. For my next trick, ladies and gentlemen, I will do something that is not just...
View ArticleWhen do We Finally Say ‘No’ to Tolerating the Damage and Chaos of Homelessness?
What’s the best way for a free country to make decisions about how to spend tax money? One way to do it is to hold elections to choose public officials who will make decisions on behalf of the people...
View ArticleWith Air-Quality Standards, is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?
Have we reached the point where air pollution regulations are harming people more than air pollution itself? That’s the question at the heart of the dispute between the Trump administration and...
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