George Runner
Medical Marijuana: This Is the Time to Regulate
As a lifelong conservative, I am no fan of government regulation. Even so, I am convinced it is time for California to aggressively regulate...
Hiltzik Wrong to Criticize a Small Common Sense Change
With Fiona Ma.
The other day Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik unfairly criticized a state Board of Equalization-supported proposal to simplify property tax...
Tax Hikes Look Silly as State Gets Financial Windfall
It must be silly season in Sacramento. As the state receives billions in unanticipated revenues, liberal tax-and-spend lawmakers are proposing massive tax hikes, proving...
Why California’s Income Tax Should Be Abolished
The last thing overtaxed Californians need is another tax. Yet the state Legislature continues to churn out new taxes that, once enacted, rarely go...
Shouldn’t California Have the Best Roads by Now?
If high taxes guaranteed results, California should have some of the best roads in the nation. For years we have had one of the...
Without Prop. 30, California Would Create More Jobs
In his recent essay for the Sacramento Bee, “State’s job growth defies predictions after tax increases,” David Cay Johnston argues that California’s recent job creation numbers prove recent tax increases embodied in Prop. 30 aren’t killing jobs or slowing economic growth. Yet the evidence Mr. Johnston presents is less than convincing -- surprising for an academic and former investigative journalist. He points to recent positive job growth numbers. However, he neglects to mention that ...
No Valid Reason for State (Gas) Tax System to be a...
California taxpayers don’t have to fall asleep to have a nightmare. They experience one every day when they encounter a costly, confusing and constantly-changing tax system. Unfortunately, efforts to change this system only make matters worse. Take the gas tax. California consumers pay ...
A Responsible State Budget Would Eliminate Fire Fee
In the middle of California’s driest winter on record and following an active fire season, our state must provide the firefighting services we need and expect. That’s why I recently sent a letter to Gov. Brown urging him to...
Obama Steals Gov. Brown’s Playbook
Given California’s chronic problems, it is hard to imagine anyone sees our state as a model. It is clear, though, the Obama administration does. To make matters worse, President Obama is using schemes from California’s playbook in his bid to impose our failures on the rest of the nation.
Bullet(!) Tax Surely Will Backfire
If you want to grow government these days, it seems the fashionable thing to do is invent new taxes. Two years ago, legislators conjured up an illegal fire “fee.” Last year, they invented a confusing new lumber tax. Two voter-approved multi-billion dollar tax hikes later, and the politicians still want more of your money. This time they want to tax your...
