By Tom Tanton and Jean Pagnone

When California makes the news, it is typically an example of what not to do. It is a state with high unemployment, out of control spending, and high taxes. Therefore it should be no surprise that California is in the news again thanks to California Air Resources Board and AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act.

Additional revelations about ‘scientists’ fudging underlying data have surfaced and advocates for the poor are awakening to the economic devastation wrought by CARB’s implementation. Now CARB has issued a legislatively required update to its ‘scoping plan.’ Discussions have reignited about the need, the mechanism and the overall benefits of this bureaucratic attempt to do something about the weather. Most significant perhaps is the application of cap and trade rules to transportation fuels which are scheduled to go into effect January 2015. This new, permanent hidden gas tax created by CARB and implemented without legislative approval will likely cost Californians 15 cents to over a dollar more per gallon of gas, with that amount continuing to increase. That adds up to $3 to $9 billion dollars taken out of… Read More

California has one of the highest costs of living in the United States. California also is one of the most inhospitable places to run a business in the United States. And despite being blessed with abundant energy and an innovative tradition that ought to render the supply of all basic resources abundant and cheap, California has artificially created shortages of energy, land and water, and a crumbling, inadequate transportation and public utility infrastructure.

The reason for these policy failures is because the people who run California are the public sector unions who control the machinery of government, the career aspirations of government bureaucrats, the electoral fate of politicians, and the regulatory environment of the business community. To make it work, these unions have exempted government workers, along with compliant corporations and those who are wealthy enough to be indifferent, from the hardships their policies have created for everyone else.

Here’s just a taste of what California’s middle class, too rich to qualify for government handouts and too poor to be indifferent, has to endure compared to the rest of the United States:… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to offer this original commentary from Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. Stone is also candidate for State Senate. — Flash]

As the immigration crisis at our border continues to grow, the President and Congress need to consider the short and long-term impact on local communities of their inability to enforce our laws and control our borders.

As the County Supervisor who represents Murrieta, California, I am deeply concerned about the lack of enforcement of the U.S. border. Mexican Cartels are now involved in human trafficking and… Read More

Last week the Secretary of State’s office gave a name and number to the trial lawyers’ “sue anyone in a white coat” ballot measure — Proposition 46. This measure, of course, is a measure that I strongly oppose because while more lawsuits and bigger payouts may be good for the lawyers, it will be bad and costly for everyone else. As if Obamacare and California’s rush to insert the government into the healthcare field wasn’t driving up costs… Read More

In a dubious deal between the Service Employees International Union and the Los Angeles Unified School District, minimum-wage workers will receive pay increases to $15 an hour, nearly doubling some workers’ salaries.

The contract agreement will significantly boost the wages of 33,000 bus drivers, janitors, school security, cafeteria workers, and teacher’s aids,… Read More

It’s election season and finally there’s a bit of good news for California politicians seeking reelection. A recent Field poll shows that, for the first time in 7 years, there are more California voters that think they are financially better off than those who believe they are worse off.

However, for the political elite, that is the end of the good news. The poll also reveals that more than half of voters, 53%, see the state being in economic bad times while only 25% see these as good times. And to top it… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: We are pleased to offer this original commentary from Matt Peterson of Americans for Tax Reform – Flash]

Fresno Farm Workers Exploited By Big Labor

By Matt Patterson, Americans for Tax Reform

My how the tables have turned.

In California, the legendary Cesar Chavez helped to form the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1962 to help protect the rights of workers laboring in America’s agricultural community.

Today, the organization Chavez founded has become the oppressor of workers, actively seeking to suppress their rights and shut out their voices in pursuit of their own political power: Workers at a farm in the Central Valley are being forced into an organization they do not wish to join — the United Farm Workers.

How did it come to this?

In 1990 the UFW won an election at Gerawan Farming, Inc., a grower of peaches, apricots and other tree fruits in the Fresno area. The election was certified in 1992, but then something strange happened: After an initial negotiating session in… Read More

The crisis resulting from tens of thousands of Central American children traversing dangerous territory to cross our porous border is one that demands leadership. But don’t look for it from those who currently occupy California’s highest offices.

In a Friday story, the Los Angeles Times discovered that for governor aspirants Gavin Newsom (D) and Kamala Harris (D), politics trumps all.

While most of the crossings are not taking place along the California-Mexico border, there is an obvious impact on our state as federal agencies use California-based facilities to process the children.

The protests and counter-protests taking place outside of the Murietta Border Patrol facility symbolize the strong emotions evoked by this crisis. It was difficult enough to have a reasonable discussion about immigration before the current crisis. That is made even worse by today’s chaotic atmosphere. Some semblance of order must be restored, and that requires some leadership.

It seems that Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris are not… Read More