The Three Strikes Laws create injustices for everyone including the defendants, their families, and the taxpayers. What we are doing with our present Three Strikes Laws is often heartless, and makes no sense. ... Read More »

Prop. 63 earmarks $750 million-plus annual tax expenditure for a narrow special-interest group, namely the mental healthcare industry in California. To pay for this, it assaults an already-burdened category of California taxpayers: those who earn more than $1 million per year. This taxing scheme is a sham which will likely raise no net revenue, but instead will drive enough high-earners out of state to do damage to California's jobs and economic development. ... Read More »

Talk radio is full of concern these days about illegal immigrants taking away our jobs, burdening our welfare system, and possibly endangering our lives. Employers of illegals are vilified and threatened with prison. People talk of placing troops at the Mexican border to stop illegal traffic. What is going on here? ... Read More »

What could have motivated the new California law, signed by Gray Davis in 2003, which compels any business with more than 50 employees to cover 80% of health care costs for their workforce? When this new mandate goes into effect in 2006, It will make California the first state in the nation to require employers to pay for health insurance. ... Read More »

Yes, the American Civil Liberties Union is branching into healthcare policy. They sponsor a plan called SB 921 - Kuehl, "Universal Health Coverage for All Californians". It is, in ACLU-speak, a "single Insurance plan to be offered by the state of California ..." It's features are - ... Read More »

We are hearing lately about job loss due to "greedy" U.S. corporations contracting for IT services with workers in India at low wage rates. John Kerry has stated "… I want to repeal every tax break and loophole that rewards any Benedict Arnold CEO .. for shipping American jobs overseas". However, Bush chief economist Gregory Mankiw calls outsourcing "… probably a plus for the economy." ... Read More »

Governor Arnold has initiated a project to build 200 refueling stations for hydrogen cars in California. Perhaps he believes, as many do, that hydrogen is a plentiful source of clean energy. However, that is not true, because there is no free hydrogen on earth. All hydrogen is chemically bound into compounds like coal, oil, natural gas, and even water, which means that it will require as much or more energy to extract the hydrogen as the energy you can obtain from it. Therefore, hydrogen is not an energy source at all; it is merely a portable form of energy storage, like a battery. ... Read More »

Public school costs per student are now about twice that of private schools. Charter schools help supply needed competition, but true reform will begin when students pay some tuition directly to the public school of their choice. I do not support vouchers, tax credits, or expanded school funding. I do support charter schools, and I also advocate significant reforms to introduce competition and other market forces, as the only way to make the system responsive to customer needs. Specific steps in that path are: ... Read More »