New plans, new price tag for California’s high-speed rail project
KTLA 5 – New cost estimates are in for California’s high-speed rail project, and the price tag has gone up again. The massive rail system is designed to one day connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, with future extensions planned to San Diego and Sacramento.
California’s billionaire tax is an immoral scam
Orange County Register – California found a convenient piggy bank to raid in response to its looming budget crisis. A proposal to tax 5% of the net worth of roughly 200 billionaires is gaining momentum.
Newsom warns Dems: Brace for cuts
Politico – Gavin Newsom delivered a clear message to Assembly Democrats in a closed-door caucus meeting this week: More budget cuts are coming.
California Democrats are clamoring to tax the rich. Why their proposals could backfire
CalMatters – Progressive California Democrats, who have long fought and failed to raise taxes on the rich, are renewing their push this year in light of a specific threat: The seismic federal cuts to Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program for the poor.
BLOG: The cost of California’s mismanagement machine
The Business Journal – A new City Journal report claims California has lost at least $180 billion to fraud on Governor Newsom’s watch. Newsom calls the report “made up.” Respected Sacramento journalist Dan Walters offers a more measured take — some of it is fraud, some is sloppy management and some is political mud-slinging aimed […]
As tax deadlines loom, Californians should note how little they get for paying high taxes
CalMatters – Watt Avenue is one of several Sacramento County streets named for famous inventors, in this case James Watt, father of the steam engine. Watt Avenue is also one of the county’s busiest and most important arterials, with nearly 100,000 vehicles a day crossing its bridge over the American River.
Here’s how Newsom’s spending binge outstripped revenues, creating California’s chronic deficit
CalMatters – An array of charts buried in the fine print of the state budget, unknown to all but a few fiscal nerds, details what California has collected in revenues and spent over the last half-century.