Should the government spend money to benefit private companies? Should the government spend money to influence voters? In California, they do it all the time. There are laws specifically written to prevent this, but they are undermined by aggressive exploitation of loopholes combined with lax enforcement. And to be fair, genuine ambiguity often makes it hard to know where the lines belong. Let’s consider these one at a time.

Using Taxes to Benefit Private Companies – Corporate Welfare

Gifts of government resources to private organizations – in the form of subsidies to corporations, for example, or payments made under unlawful contracts – are illegal in California.

Article 16 Sec. 6 of the California Constitution, the “gift clause,” prohibits the giving or lending public funds to any person or entity, public or private. Here’s the actual language:

“The Legislature shall have no power to give or to lend, or to authorize the giving or lending, of the credit of the State, or of any… Read More

Recently California progressives have been touting two studies that supposedly prove that it’s the poor people who are moving out of the Golden State, while the rich people are moving in. The INFERENCE is that the rich are replacing the poor — the common MSM interpretation. For instance:

Another assertion is that these studies represent CURRENT migration patterns. But digging deeper, it turns out that both studies are badly outdated.The SACRAMENTO BEE study(published March, 2017) uses the interstate migration figures from 2005 through 2015.The California Legislative Analyst’s Office study(February, 2018) uses the interstate migration numbers from 2007 to 2016.

But it’s more than just outdated numbers. The California state income tax rates on the wealthychanged dramatically for the… Read More

“If ever I was in any position to actually be accountable, I would be accountable to the will of the voters. I would not (put) my personal opinions in the way of the public’s right to make a determination of where they want to take us, as (it) relates to the death penalty.”Sept. 15., 2016 Lt. Governor of California, Gavin Newsom

These altruistic words of Gavin Newsom to the editorial board of the Modesto Bee, during the 2016 battle over the elimination vs the acceleration of the death penalty, melted away like the Sierra Nevada snowpack with his declaration of a death penalty moratorium in California.

Simply put, he acted exactly as he said he wouldn’t and justified his actions by proclaiming the death penalty “…is inconsistent with our bedrock values and strikes at the very heart of what it means to be a Californian.” (Emphasis added.)

How utterly patrician! Apparently, Governor Newsom never read the quote by President Dwight D. Eisenhower who said, “You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.”

Having been slapped in… Read More

In November 2018, former Assembly Republican leader Kristin Olsen wrote aguest commentaryforCalMattersentitled “GOP is dead in California. A new way must rise.” She’s right on both counts. California’s GOP is dead. And a new way must rise.

Unfortunately, theNew Way Californiapolitical action committee that Kristin Olsen, Chad Mayes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have formed, at least so far, is heavy on inclusive rhetoric but short on the sort of bold policy proposals might actually excite voters. Snippets from theNewWayCA website:

“The most durable solutions have bipartisan support.” “We will work collaboratively to advance solutions on issues that are important to all Californians.” “Not everyone has the same chance to develop their abilities.” “Often it is clear that a helping hand is needed because too many people are excluded from achieving their dreams.” “Race, religion, gender do not determine a person’s abilities or natural rights, and should not… Read More

“The ruling is also an implicit endorsement of the state Public Employment Relations Board’s conclusion that the employees hired since the measure took effect must be made whole and get a pension equivalent to what they would have received pre-Proposition B.” – Editorial, San Diego Union Tribune, March 18, 2019

The ruling in question is the California’s Supreme Court’s August 2018 decision which found that “San Diego’s six-year-old pension cutbacks were not legally placed on the ballot because city officials failed to negotiate with labor unions before pursuing the measure.” It’s in the news again this week because the U.S. Supreme Court has just announced they will not hear the City’s appeal of the California ruling.

What’s going to happen now is uncertain. Back in 2012, a super-majority of San Diego voters, 65 percent, approved pension… Read More

I’m not convinced that global warming is real, is man-made and is harmful. I think the jury is still out on all three issues. But that’s not important.

“Climate change” skeptics have lost the debate — it’s “settled science” (not really, of course) that we have to do something to solve the problem NOW. A clear majority of the voters have bought into that urgent need. Faced with that political reality, here’s an idea worth considering.

There’s an incredibly inexpensive way to reverse global warming — an option that you probably have never heard of via the MSM. Scientists at MIT, Harvard and other places have cautiously suggested that this strategy should be seriously considered.

In essence, the idea is to inject particles into the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere — not our breathing air in the lower atmosphere). This injection would mimic the effect of a major volcanic eruption — occurrences that have reduced global temperatures for years. Water vapor forms crystals when attracted to these… Read More

The Tax Foundation’s annual “Facts and Figures” booklet is out for 2019. Much to consider, and I just got the download. But one thing jumped out at me that I’ll comment on for now.

A common refrain of CA progressives is that California is shortchanged by the feds — that blue states such as ours get short shrift when federal aid is parceled out to state governments. Turns out, it’s a non-issue.

When looking at the percent of our CA general revenue budget, 32.2% comes from the federal government. The 50 state average is 32.9%. We are slightly below that average — 29th in rank. https://taxfoundation.org/publications/facts-and-figures/ Table 9

But given how much more the Golden State compensates public employees vs. the other states, it’s amazing that the feds still cough up over 32% of our budget. For instance, in California we pay our firefighters 60% more than the other states’ average. We pay our police 56% more. Most other categories of our state and local public employees are similarly overcompensated. Yet our… Read More

A couple of months ago, I wrote a series of articles about the California Republican Party, and its challenges. I analyzed the Party, the activists, the electoral tactics, the office holders and the message. We have big challenges at all levels, on that we all agree. Solutions are the source of disagreement. The one area I have yet to analyze, and offer a solution for is the problem I will call the donor dilemma.

There are two types of money in politics: ideological money and partisan money. Ideological money is money given to a candidate because the donor is passionate about the opinions and beliefs of the candidate to which they are giving. Partisan money is given because of party loyalty. For Democrats, ideological money tends to come from government based unions. They are socialist ideologues, and therefore give only to Democrats who are committed, openly or privately, to implementing a socialist agenda. Partisan money tends to come from trial lawyers and business interests who are committed to their crony capitalist agenda.

For Republicans, ideological money comes from wealthy donors who are motivated by their beliefs in free enterprise, family or… Read More