A barrage of new bills was introduced into the California Legislature this past week including a bill that masks a huge blow to property rights under the guise of increased public protection. Assembly Bill 2206 by Assemblyman Gomez is almost identical to AB 2299 introduced in the 2011/2012 legislative session by Assemblyman Feuer. The bill would shield the names of public safety officials from land records, which are currently open to public viewing. The reason put forth is to protect these individuals. However, County Recorders and others familiar with the public land records system, recognize the harmful effects this bill would have on property rights.

Under the provisions of AB2206, certain documents that contain the names of public safety officials would no longer be open to public review. Today anyone can research property records and see every document recorded to evaluate its authenticity. This is crucial with the rise of mortgage and real estate fraud that often… Read More

It’s good to be in with the “in” crowd, especially when the “in” crowd is made up of Sacramento politicians capable of doling out millions of dollars in tax credits.

Those currently in with the “in” crowd include any industry or company that can somehow attach “green” to their credentials. This helps explain why the state just provided the successful Tesla electric car company a $35 million tax subsidy. Yes, contrary to Kermit the Frog’s song… Read More

Driving from the foothills of El Dorado County through the majestic heights of the Grapevine, to the Restored Mission in San Juan Capistrano, today is a much different experience than it was just a few years ago. Where once there were abundant orchards and farms plush with economic opportunity now lies a dry, fallow moonscape. This reality is having a devastating impact on California’s families and its economy.

Water has always been and continues to be a precious resource and the source of great division in California. It is an integral part of our… Read More

What’s missed in the “minimum wage” brouhaha is that a large segment of those who stay at the minimum wage level actually make $12-$30+ an hour. That’s because — in states such as CA — a full minimum wage must be paid to ALL employees — including “tip” employees. Waiters, busboys, valets, hotel room cleaners, casino employees, etc. make much — often MOST — of their living off tips. In some other states, these job categories often can be paid a reduced minimum wage — understanding that their total compensation includes tips. Not so in California. http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm And because these employees make so much in tips, they will NEVER be paid more than the mandated minimum … Read More

A significant legal victory took place last week for those of us who strongly believe in the Second Amendment rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. A three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, on a two-one vote, overturned a lower court ruling in the case of Peruta vs. County of San Diego and, without going into all of the whys and wherefores, ruled unconstitutional California’s law that required the issuer of a permit to carry a concealed firearm to provide a reason (beyond simply desire, or self defense) for wanting the permit, which had to be approved by the issuing authority (typically a county Sheriff). The ruling is a bit more nuanced than that and you can get more information… Read More

The Senate Budget and Fiscal Committee hearing on Feb 6 about using cap and trade funds to fund High-Speed Rail was a lesson in bad government economics.

Roll over Milton Friedman.

Friedman, anAmerican economist, statistician, and writer who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades,once said that there is no such thing as different schools of economics; there is only good economics and bad economics.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2014-15budget proposes to spend $850 million from cap-and-trade auction revenue on various projects — including $250 million on the state’s high-speed rail project. However, this would defy the very purpose of cap-and-trade.

Under AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act… Read More

Every election is an opportunity for voters to choose a new vision, and new leadership, for California.

With sky-high unemployment, the nation’s highest poverty rate, too many failing schools, and the nation’s worst business climate for jobs, rarely have we been given a better opportunity to offer new leadership for the Golden State.

That’s why I’ve taken the first steps to become the Republican Party’s candidate for Lt. Governor this year.

More than any other elected office in state government, the Lt. Governor’s office is what the holder makes of it. The incumbent, Gavin Newsom (D-San Francisco), has his vision for the office, which strongly resembles that of a taxpayer funded gubernatorial exploratory committee for 2018. I have a different vision: to transform the office into a platform to develop and advocate for the major reforms California needs to restore its competitiveness, including tax reform, regulatory reform, education reform, and reining in the frivolous lawsuits that are costing California jobs every day.

Free of the day to day grind of legislative sausage-making, the Lt. Governor’s office should be an incubator for… Read More

“You can’t build a society on artificially inflated asset values, because that accelerates the class division.Immigrants know that even if they work in a low-paying job in a hotel in Houston the chances they can save and buy a house are infinitely better than in California. If you want to have an asset based economy then accept we’re going to have feudalism because the price of entry is just too high.” – Joel Kotkin,CPPC Interview, January 4, 2014

What Kotkin is referring to is the result of decades of increasing legislative restrictions on cost-effective land and energy development, combined with Federal Reserve policies designed to minimize the cost of borrowing. In the first case, prices for land and energy, the building blocks of a healthy economy, are artificially inflated through constraints on supply. In the second, the supply of borrowed money is artificially increased via ultra-low interest rates.

This so-called “asset economy” might also be called a “bubble economy,” because it cannot be sustained indefinitely. For… Read More