SaddleBrooke Republican Club » California

California’s High-Speed Spending Spree

Mike Brownfield — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:36 +0000

The State of California keeps sinking into a deeper hole of debt, with reports showing that the state’s budget shortfall is projected to be $16 billion, up from $9.2 billion in January. But despite all the red ink, the state is still going ahead with a high-speed rail boondoggle that would cost billions. The LA Times reports: If California starts building a 130-mile segment of high-speed rail late this year as planned, it will enter into a risky race against a deadline set up under federal law. The bullet train track … More

California Knows How to Party… $16 Billlion Too Lavishly

Andrew J. Coulson — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:07:19 +0000

By Andrew J. Coulson

Californians may be forgiven for expectorating coffee over their morning newspapers today, as they learn that their state deficit is not $9 billion, as Governor Brown’s administration had predicted, but rather $16 billion. Oops. Further increasing the breakfast table choking hazard is the Governor’s “solution”: raise taxes. Gov. Brown is pushing a fall ballot initiative [...]

California Knows How to Party… $16 Billlion Too Lavishly is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

City Council Election Decided by Five Voters After Fraud Investigation

Lachlan Markay — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:01:08 +0000

Can safeguards against voter fraud sway an election? In Vernon, California, it looks like they just did. In response to allegations by the area’s Chamber of Commerce that at least 30 percent of votes in a tight city council race were fraudulent, the city discarded six ballots on Tuesday – just enough to tilt the race in favor of the challenger, who won by five votes. Vernon is a tiny industrial town that, while it has a 40,000-strong workforce, only has 112 official residents. The town survived a state effort … More

City Says “No!” to Multi-Million Dollar Handout from Uncle Sam

Mike Brownfield — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:36:26 +0000

The city of Troy, Michigan, prides itself as being “The City of Tomorrow … Today,” but now it has another slogan to affix to its city hall: “Stimulus Dollars Not Welcome Here.” What’s this all about, you ask? Why would a city say “no” to free money? As The New York Times reports, Troy — a northern suburb of Detroit — was in line to receive an $8.5 million grant from the federal government in order to finance a transportation center that would be part of the Detroit to Chicago … More

Egging on the Regulators: Farmers Face Threat of Red Tape

Alison Meyer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:22:18 +0000

Pork producers are speaking out against legislation that would give federal regulators the authority to mandate cage sizes for egg-laying hens. They’re worried it could lead to a slippery slope that increases red tape for farmers on a range of issues. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), would impose costs between $4 billion and $10 billion on farm production, according to industry estimates. The legislation requires conventional cages to be replaced with new colony housing for hens — about double their normal size. Among the bill’s other requirements: … More

Gay Marriage Still Has an Uphill Climb

Robert A. Levy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:16:36 +0000

By Robert A. Levy

The right answer to the same-sex marriage question is to remove government from the marriage business altogether. That’s a legislative matter, however, and not something the courts should decree. Until then, because state and federal laws confer benefits based on marital status, the equal protection provisions of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments require that same-sex [...]

Gay Marriage Still Has an Uphill Climb is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Government Unions Support California Tax Hike

Alison Meyer — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:58:26 +0000

Two well-connected government unions in California are teaming with Gov. Jerry Brown to support a multibillion-dollar tax increase. The California Teachers Association and Service Employees International Union were the top two spenders for lobbying in 2011 with combined efforts totaling more than $10 million, according to Sacramento Bee. Now they’re using their muscle to champion Brown’s tax hike. Brown’s plan “would raise tens of billions of dollars by temporarily increasing the sales tax and the income tax on wealthy Californians, generating about $35 billion over five years,” according to the … More

Status Quo Stalwarts, Meet Reality[School Choice Week Blast from the Past, Pt. 2!]

Andrew J. Coulson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:06:01 +0000

By Andrew J. Coulson

Back in 1993, when Whitney Houston hit #1 with “I will always love you”, there was something that California-based state schooling advocates didn’t love at all: a school voucher ballot initiative. Much was written on the subject, and in 1994 a booklet was published summarizing the arguments for and against (Voices on Choice, K. L. [...]

Status Quo Stalwarts, Meet Reality
[School Choice Week Blast from the Past, Pt. 2!] is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Will the Last Job Creator to Leave California Please Turn Off the Lights?

Daniel J. Mitchell — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:58:03 +0000

By Daniel J. Mitchell

I’ve written before about whether California is the Greece of America, in part because of crazy policies such as overpaid bureaucrats and expensive forms of political correctness, And we all know that California has one of the nation’s greediest governments, imposing confiscatory tax rates on a shrinking pool of productive citizens. So it is hardly [...]

Will the Last Job Creator to Leave California Please Turn Off the Lights? is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog