Tax Increases Fuel Job Growth?
I have a question. I mean this in all sincerity. I ask it without intending a drop of cynicism. My question is this: How do tax increases create jobs? The question is prompted by the governor’s news...
View ArticleArguments Nobody Makes
I don’t usually comment on federal issues, finding as I do enough material in the strange stuff going on around me in Sacramento. But with the Legislature out of session and your pocketbook safe for a...
View ArticleAbuse of Process – Sometimes Even the Press Fights Back
In conversations with local voters over the last few weeks, I’ve discussed several abusive practices the Democrats used recently to ram bad policy ideas through the legislature. These practices draw...
View ArticleOur Lawless Supreme Court
Lawless. That’s the right word for the Supreme Court’s decision in the redistricting case. Lawless, in that it ignored the law to reach a decision the Court was explicitly prohibited from reaching....
View ArticleA Double-Barreled Attack on the Bill of Rights
The Democrats in Sacramento push a prodigious amount of freedom restricting legislation. But last week, we saw something special even for them: a single bill unabashedly aimed at both your First and...
View ArticleWhen Your Only Tool is a Hammer
Recently, the Assembly passed a bill touted by Democrats as giving another “tool” to local government in the fight against a particular problem. But it wasn’t another tool; it was the same old tool,...
View ArticleCalifornia’s Phantom Budget
On Friday, the Legislature passed the state budget and, while I don’t want to sound like a crank, I have to ask: Really? This is how we do things in Sacramento? This is how we govern the nation’s most...
View ArticleI Can’t Keep Up
I’m really trying. But I just can’t keep up with dumb ideas from the other party. On the campaign trail, I’ve told the story of a meeting last year with some plaintiffs’ lawyers who specialize in...
View ArticleCRAZY DEMOCRAT BILLS (PART 1)
When the November election gave the Democrats a supermajority in both houses of the legislature, press reports quickly focused on whether they would use this dominance to raise taxes. Trial balloons...
View ArticleCRAZY DEMOCRAT BILLS, PART TWO
The other day in this space I showcased a number of bad Democrat bills that had recently made their way through legislative committees on the strength of the Democrat supermajority. Today, I thought I...
View Article2014 Legislative Outlook
The new legislative session begins today and I thought I would use the occasion to take a shot at answering a virtually unanswerable question: What can we expect from Sacramento for the coming year?...
View ArticleThe Citizens’ Legislature and Other Gimmicks
In this space not too long ago, an argument was made in support of the so-called “Citizens’ Legislature,” a new initiative proposed for the 2014 ballot that is now in the signature circulation stage....
View ArticleA Coming Fiscal Crisis?
California’s budget situation is rosy for the first time in my more than three years in the legislature. I’d like to say “You’re welcome.” But I can’t for two reasons: First, while my Republican...
View ArticleA Surprising Way to Budget
The Assembly Budget Committee heard from the governor’s office last week in defense of the proposed 2014-15 budget. I thought I’d share the bizarre and surprising answer I got to a question I asked...
View ArticleYou Don’t Get to Keep Stolen Property; Neither Should Your Bank
[Publisher's Note: We are pleased to offer this original commentary from Assemblyman Don Wagner (R-Irvine) - Flash] You don’t get to keep stolen property. That’s a pretty basic legal principle. If...
View ArticleThe Opportunity of a Lunchtime
OnAugust 26, Gov. Brown hosts a luncheon for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in the historic Governor’s Mansion as part of reciprocal trade visits. The governor has invited members of the...
View ArticleWagner for State Senate
With the support of my family, friends, and numerous community leaders, I am excited to announce my candidacy for the 37th State Senate District seat here in the heart of Orange County....
View ArticleThe Governor’s Legacy
Today is a good day to talk about Jerry Brown’s legacy. This morning, he was sworn in to his fourth term. Already California’s longest serving governor, he can look forward to another four years to...
View ArticleFairness in Elections
A case now before the United States Supreme Court, Evenwel v. Abbott, is causing considerable upset among Sacramento Democrats. That is because a victory for the plaintiffs will have a significant...
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