As California builds its capacity to fight the Leviathan that is the Trump administration, does it risk turning our state government into a Leviathan of our own? This unhappy question occurred to me while reading Gary Gerstle’s recent history, Liberty and Coercion: The Paradox of American Government. The book examines...
Dialysis Companies Spend $111 Million to Kill Prop. 8
SACRAMENTO — Dialysis companies have contributed an extraordinary $111 million and counting to defeat a California ballot initiative that would cap their profits, the most any one side has spent on a U.S. ballot issue since at least 2002. A $5 million donation this week from dialysis provider Fresenius Medical...
Bid To Toughen California Crime Laws Set For 2020 Ballot
SACRAMENTO — A bid to toughen criminal penalties has qualified for California's 2020 ballot, after delays pushed it past the deadline for voters to consider it this November. It would roll back criminal justice reforms implemented through voter-backed Proposition 47 in 2014 and Proposition 57 in 2016. The California Secretary...
Lawmakers Say No to Soda Taxes. What Will Gov. Brown Do?
SACRAMENTO — Soda taxes may stop popping up in California and elsewhere, thanks to a new push by the beverage industry to fight such measures. California lawmakers passed a bill to ban local taxes on soda for the next 12 years Thursday and sent it to Gov. Jerry Brown, who...
Voters Will Get To Say 'Yea' or 'Nay' on Gas Tax Hike
SACRAMENTO — California voters will decide this November whether to get rid of higher gas taxes and vehicle registration fees imposed by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown last year. Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Monday that initiative supporters collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. The...
Draper's 3 States Folly Would Create 1 NorCal Super-State
Inspired by what Robin Williams said about cocaine, pardon me for stating the obvious: Ballot measures are God's way of saying that Tim Draper is making too much money. Draper is the billionaire behind the latest proposal to break up California. In fact, he's a serial offender when it comes...