Even before California’s High Speed Rail bond proposal appeared on the ballot in November 2008, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association commissioned …
California Commentary
Defending direct democracy, defending taxpayers
The powers of direct democracy — initiative, referendum and recall — are powerful tools to control slow-moving or corrupt politicians. These powers …
Deflection as an art form: progressives complain about gas prices
Only in California. Progressive policies in California have forced drivers to pay some of the highest gas prices in the nation. Now, a group of …
Sacramento keeps on fooling us
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” so the saying goes. Unfortunately, California voters have been fooled (aka lied to) so …
New tax proposals are unnecessary and hurt the middle-class
No one disputes that California has a big budget surplus. According to the Office of the Legislative Analyst, California has budget reserves in …
What else is new? Newsom’s budget calls for more spending, higher taxes
To the surprise of absolutely no one, California’s new governor has proposed a state budget with billions in increased spending and lots of tax …
New Year, new challenges for California taxpayers
“There are better things ahead than any we leave behind,” wrote author C.S. Lewis, one of the many thoughts about how a New Year brings hope. As …
FPPC ups the ante on illegal expenditures
Over the last several years, this column has exposed multiple instances of government entities using taxpayer dollars for political advocacy, a …
New study confirms business flight from California accelerating
The evidence is more than anecdotal. According to a recent study, business flight out of California has accelerated to an unprecedented level. In …
What the high-speed rail audit really means
Although the midterm election was held on November 6th, the news media was absorbed for several weeks with undecided close races and the strength of …