The 2016 tax filing deadline is now just one month away. Which makes it timely to point out how unfair our tax system is to middle class workers who want to prepare for their retirements. It is also timely to explain how there is a completely different set of retirement rules, far more favorable, that apply to unionized government workers.

If you are a member of the emerging “gig economy,” or a sole proprietor running a small business, or an independent contractor, and if you are reasonably successful, then you paying nearly 50% of every extra dollar you earn in taxes. The following table showsthe marginal tax burden for independent contractors who earned more than $81.5K and less than $118.5K in 2015:

Marginal Tax Rate for Independent Contractors (for 2015 earnings > $81.5K and < $118.5K)

The… Read More

Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill to give the Legislature more oversight over the California Air Resources Board. Some say lawmakers then retributively amended language out of Senate Bill 350 by Sen. Pres. Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, which was Brown’s proposal for a 50 percent cut in petroleum use for transportation that the CARB was all set to enforce.

The CARB holds cap-and-trade auctions, which extort and extract money from California businesses deemed polluters by the state. In his 2016 budget, Gov. Brown carved out more than $1 billionof cap-and-trade revenueto pay for his High Speed Train to nowhere.

The high-speed rail project, expected to be finished in 2033, was originally supposed travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two hours and 40 minutes. That was the ballot initiative promise in 2009, which intoxicated voters who narrowly… Read More

The late songwriter Jim Croce listed a number of imprudent actions in his “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.” Along with staying out of Jim’s way, he included the admonition not to tug on Superman’s cape or spit into the wind. Croce might have added to his list the foolishness of taking on Proposition 13.

Promoters of an initiative to impose a $6 billion annual surcharge on both business and residential, property, for the stated purposed of fighting poverty, have abandoned the effort. A measure sponsored by former Board of Equalization member Conway Collis and funded largely by an order of the Catholic Church, the Daughters of Charity, will not appear on the November ballot, as was expected.

It is unclear to Prop 13 defenders why the effort was halted. Some suggested that the governor intervened, convincing backers that too many measures on the ballot would risk rejection of propositions he favored. Others suggest the all-powerful teachers union threatened to oppose the measure because Collis failed to include a payout to education. But it cannot be overlooked that initiative backers may have become discouraged because Proposition 13 remains extremely… Read More

GOP Legislators,

Next week a vote is likely to come before you to reauthorize an expiring multi-billion dollar tax on healthcare in California. A vote that will fail if Republicans, together, simply don’t vote for it.

Last week I wrote a column where I walked through all of the policy and political reasons to reject the notion of doing a “deal” with Capitol Democrats to cast the needed votes for this tax they imposed on managed healthcare organizations three years ago on a party-line vote. I won’t reiterate all of those points, though if you need a refresher or haven’t read it I encourage you to do so.

I just wanted to make one last final appeal to all of you. California government is too big and spends too much. Long in the hands of liberals the… Read More

Former State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, was just sentenced to only 5 years in prison for selling rocket launchers to Muslim rebels in the Philippines… while pretending to be a public servant. The real crime is that he wasn’t prosecuted for selling rocket launchers; Yee got a plea deal despite admittinghe was part of a racketeering conspiracy that involved planning to use his public office to cut deals for money, conspiring totraffic in weapons, and drug money laundering.

Yee was involved with Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, who was convicted of racketeering, murder and other charges in a huge corruption case that stunned San Francisco and the state’s Democratic Party… Read More

First Rule of Government – Government never has enough money,

There is always a good excuse for bigger government and higher taxes. If office holders think it is their job to “be responsible,” they will always be persuaded to raise taxes, because those who get and spend the money will show the officeholder why the taxes are necessary, or how the officeholder will benefit if they vote for the new taxes. What they won’t do is tell them what the voters will do when that officeholder seeks higher office. Most of the tax increase votes described below came when the state was facing dire financial circumstances, and the voters were still unforgiving. Think of how they will feel when there is no serious financial consequences for the state if the the tax increase is voted down.

Don’t get me wrong, those who are thinking of voting for the tax increase this year may not lose their primary (although that is not a guarantee), but they will most undoubtedly lose if they seek any other office. Ask Assemblyman Dick Dickerson, who, in 2001, voted for tax increase because he was sold that it would help his rural district. When he ran for State… Read More

Part ll in a series. Part l is here.

The metastasis of statewide diesel truck regulations created by the California Air Resources Board has forced many large and small truckers out of business. The truckers still in business have had to spend $20,000 to $50,000 per truck retrofit with the CARB’s expensive, mandated Diesel Particulate Filter, or they have had to buy newer model trucks to meet the new regulations. New trucks are hugely expensive.

By the stroke of a pen from unelected career bureaucrats hiding behind layers of government, millions of trucks were suddenly deemed illegal.… Read More

The success of anti-establishment presidential candidates are a powerful reminder that mainstream politicians are not managing America’s political economy or cultural evolution in a way that satisfies most of the electorate. That’s no surprise – it’s a toughjob these days, with few historical precedents to offer guidance.

Earlier this week an essay published in theAsia Times,“A Millennial conundrum: Communism and youth,” offered a concise set of reasons why so many millennials are supporting democraticsocialist candidate Bernie Sanders.The author, Chan Akya, didn’t chastise these youth for their selfish naivete, causedby receiving too many participation trophies during their sheltered childhoods. Instead he gave the following reasons:

“(1) Sharing economy: Technology has propelled sharing into new markets, from cars and vacation homes after opening up personal space on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For people with itinerant lifestyles driven by mobility in jobs, such a sharing economy may end up shaking the… Read More