The California Legislature will be back in business on Monday Jan. 7. As the new and returning legislators prepare for legislating a very damaged California, I recommend they read “Rich States, Poor States,” published by theAmerican Legislative Exchange Council.

Prosperity is no laughing matter when the fate of a state is on the line. The numbers don’t lie. With 50 years of solid economic data, what makes a state prosperous is as evident as what kills a state’s economy.

California is not dead yet, and the fate of the state can be determined by the 2013 Legislature.

Jonathan Williams, one of the authors of the 2012 “… Read More

Like many politicos, I was watching the quasi-debate on the floor and subsequent vote by the House of Representatives on the ugly fiscal cliff legislation that both in process as well as content exemplified why so many are cynical about the politicians on Capitol Hill.

It seemed that just after that vote, like a wildfire, another story spread — that Speaker John Boehner was not going to be bringing up the nearly $60 billion spending bill passed by the U.S. Senate that was to provide financial support to those states, cities, communities and residents hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy — primarily in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. Mostly I heard outrage from pundits, and many in the media declaring this a terrible mis-step by Boehner right on the heels of the fiscal cliff debacle. Of course rather infamously now, New Jersey’s Republican Governor, Chris Christie, ripped Boehner and the House Leadership a new one in a nationally televised press conference. Christie is notoriously good gutting those with whom he has issues, and I am quite certain Boehner did not enjoy the experience.

Well… Guess what? When you take a closer look at the Hurricane… Read More

It’s 2013! To celebrate, below is a list of 873 NEW California laws that (in most cases) took effect on 1 January. Good luck not violating any of these.

According to one pundit, nationwide, in 2012 about 40,000 new state laws were put in place. http://investmentwatchblog.com/2012-new-laws-take-effect-40000-of-them/ Imagine you are a nationwide business — try to get your arms around that. And remember, these are only the NEW laws.

How many TOTAL California state laws are there? No clue. Google was no help. I suspect no one knows — as many laws modify (and often expand) previous laws.

And of course, the 50 state legislative cumulative total starts to generate the same headache we experience trying to grasp infinity.

Oh, I forgot. What about all those county and city laws? Uh oh.

And, of course, the rogue elephant trampling on our rights — all those federal laws.

Previously I’ve written about how we are all criminals. With this many laws (many of which are vague or contradictory), how could you… Read More

I hope you don’t need $1,635, because that is what the average tax increase will be on the majority of Americans.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 80 percent of American households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 will be out more than $1,600 next year. And that’s just the starter.

The much hyped last-minute fiscal cliff deal negotiated Jan. 1 between Vice President Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and President Barack Obama, cuts only $15 billion in spending but increases tax revenues by $620 billion. The 41:1 ratio of tax increases to spending cuts is no deal for Americans.

The tax increase is primarily due to the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to the Tax Policy Center in Washington.

While the bill, known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, will protect millions… Read More

(I’m playing around with Storify to create content with embedded stories.)

[View the story “Fiscal Cliff Disaster” on Storify]… Read More

The Obama administration has a lot riding on California’s implementation of Obamacare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. How the state implements the new insurance exchanges, and whether or not it is done successfully, will be an important test of nationalized health care.

But a state-run health exchange puts the burden onto the state and the expense ultimately on the taxpayers. The state loses the authority and flexibility needed to best meet the needs of its people… Which is why more than 30 states have told the Obama government… Read More

Many people are sitting around unemployed (or often UNDERemployed) in California, waiting for the state’s economy to recover. The state and federal governments’ response is to PAY people to stay unemployed — with unemployment benefits, food stamps and a host of other taxpayer subsidies. And, sadly, too often this policy produces exactly what one would expect — persistent unemployment.

In the “Dust Bowl” days of the 1930’s, the fabled Oakies picked up and moved for a better economic opportunity — often in California. There was no welfare state to entice them to sit in the dirt and do nothing. Necessity dictated theirmobility

Today’s Californian are less anxious to find work outside the Golden State, though many are indeed leaving for better economic opportunities. Last year we lost a net 100,000 migrants to other states (100K more than moved to CA FROM other states).

Here’s a WALL ST JOURNAL video about one California family that is moving to Williston, North Dakota, where unemployment is as low as 1%. The mom and dad have been unemployed since the recession started, but finally the… Read More

Given Thursday evening’s events in the House, it looks more and more like we may be going over the “fiscal cliff”. Therefore, I wanted to give you an update on what that could potentially mean for you. I also wanted to clarify the total impact of the income tax rate changes that we will face should we go over. These figures, which appeared in my previous “Laptop Report”, have been updated.

The total impact of all the income tax rate changes is estimated to raise revenue of roughly $4.5 trillion over 10 years. The total effect of all of this would be to reduce the deficit by approximately $7.7 trillion over the next ten years according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That means CBO projects an “average” annual deficit of roughly $230 billion if we are over the “cliff” vs. a deficit of about $1 trillion a year if everything is extended.

Again, these projections are based on “static modeling”. That means they do not take into account the economic impacts and the behavioral changes that will occur as a result of what I’ve outlined above. When these tax hikes take place, people will most certainly take actions to… Read More