A bold idea for California: Instead of passing so many new laws, how about...
The reaction from politicians to California’s budget deficit – now estimated by the Legislative Analyst to be around $73 billion – breaks down into two camps: the state must either reduce spending or...
View ArticleThe vast Ponzi scheme that is cryptocurrency
Rare is the thing in this world that can be pronounced with absolute certainty as nonsense. Drivel. Bilge, Claptrap. But there are a few such things. And of one of them, we can be sure. So every time I...
View ArticleRuth Bader Ginsburg and Trump’s $355 million fine
Let me tell you about the time Ruth Bader Ginsburg saved Donald Trump $355 million plus interest. It was Feb. 20, 2019, and Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the court in the case of Timbs v....
View ArticleWill California heed the latest warning about its sinking schools?
SACRAMENTO – When COVID-19 shuttered virtually everything in 2020 and forced public schools to begin distance learning, those schools responded with the agility one would expect from a decrepit...
View ArticleAlabama Supreme Court’s embryo ruling reveals a possible compromise on...
An Alabama court ruling that embryos legally qualify as children has produced an interesting conundrum for conservative pro-life ideology. They often claim that abortion at any stage is morally...
View ArticleCalifornia spends billions on homelessness yet the crisis keeps getting worse
California not only has the nation’s largest number of homeless people, but one of its highest rates of homelessness vis-à-vis its overall population. The last official count found more than 181,000...
View ArticleThe pipe dream presidential candidacy of Gavin Newsom or Michelle Obama
Neither California Gov. Gavin Newsom nor former First Lady Michelle Obama will become the Democrats’ 2024 presidential candidate. No amount of President Joe Biden’s mental decline, forgetfulness,...
View ArticleNostalgia versus numbers: Challenging America’s economic pessimism
America is celebrated for its economic dynamism and ample and generously paid employment opportunities. It’s a nation that attracts immigrants from around the world. Yet Americans are bummed, and have...
View ArticleCalifornia made primary elections boring. Voter participation reflects that
California used to have a reasonably workable primary election. It was in June of each election year, giving voters in the two major parties opportunities to select their candidates who would then...
View ArticleGavin Newsom is unpopular, but a second recall drive is doomed for failure
On one level, it’s completely understandable that many Californians believe they and their state would be better off without Gavin Newsom as governor. California has some seemingly intractable issues...
View ArticleMichigan’s primaries reveal major weaknesses for Biden and confirm Trump is...
Tuesday’s primary results in Michigan exposed a major weakness for incumbent President Joe Biden in a key swing state that could adversely impact his chances come November. In the state’s GOP primary,...
View ArticleNew city’s fate will show if California is serious about housing
SACRAMENTO – Surveys consistently show that owning a home is one of the keys to overall happiness, which no doubt explains why debates about housing prices are so emotional – and so dominant in the...
View ArticleI’m all tuckered out by new GOP isolationism
If the game we were playing was looking really well-dressed for the Friday-night mixer at the country club in 1957, damn if Tucker Carlson wouldn’t be the winner, with that perfect navy blazer and its...
View ArticleCrisis at border will be key to November election
In 1980, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro decided to open his country’s border so people could leave. Communist nations had tough border security, not to keep people out, but to keep people in. Castro...
View ArticleDon’t blame Prop. 13 for California’s mental health crisis
The tax-and-spend lobby loves to blame Proposition 13 for all of California’s woes. This has become so routine that we at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association have compiled a “Top 10” list of things...
View ArticleSteve Garvey scores a rare GOP runoff spot in California’s U.S. Senate race
Now it will be Adam Schiff vs. Steve Garvey in what could turn into a bitter runoff battle for the U.S, Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a contest sure to evoke many...
View ArticleThe renewable energy scam won’t save the planet, but it will cost you a lot...
“We’re building a clean energy future,” says President Joe Biden. Who is “we”? Well, you pay for it. He and his “green” cronies do most of the building. Lately, they’re pouring more of your money into...
View ArticleCalifornia’s political flash in U.S. Senate will fade when two journeymen...
In the 173 years since California became a state, 43 men and four women have occupied its two U.S. Senate seats, and a few achieved prominent places in political history. Explorer and soldier John...
View ArticleJohn Phillips: On primary night, California was blue…and Dodger blue
According to Rob Norton, Forbes magazine economics editor, “The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have...
View ArticleSCOTUS’s unanimous decision and the pandemic of Trump Derangement Syndrome
In December 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision based on the “insurrection” clause of the 14th Amendment, ruled former President Donald Trump ineligible to appear on Colorado’s 2024...
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