Economy

California Vs. Texas: Oil And Natural Gas — Comparing The Two States 1 In 5 Americans Call Home

Continuing a series of California and Texas comparisons, this piece examines the two most-populous states’ oil and natural gas policies and outcomes. Policy matters. Even if a nation or state is endowed with significant natural resources, history shows that tax rates, regulatory burdens and rule of law largely determine whether those resources are harnessed or...

October 29, 2018

Energy & Environment

California Vs. Texas In Electricity: Comparing The Two States 1 In 5 Americans Call Home

The two most-populous states, California and Texas, are home to one in five Americans. More alike than different in many aspects—diverse population and economy, abundant natural resources—the two states differ in one important respect: policy. With some exceptions, California is progressively liberal while Texas is free market conservative. These states’ similarities and differences invite comparisons...

October 25, 2018

Economy

California Vs. Texas: Jobs — Comparing The Two States 1 In 5 Americans Call Home

The two most-populous states, California and Texas, are home to 67.8 million of America’s 325.7 million residents, some 20.8% of the population. These two big states are alike in many key respects, even while being very different in others. Both states are large in land area and population, blessed with abundant natural resources, and diverse....

October 24, 2018

Economy

Low-Tax States Almost Double The Job Growth Of High-Tax States After Trump’s Tax Cut

States with a lower tax burden, such as Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Texas, created private sector jobs at almost double the rate of their high tax peers in the first nine months of the year, according to new government data. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published its monthly state-level jobs report last Friday, detailing...

October 23, 2018

Economy

California’s liberal policies are creating a one-party state — by subtraction, not addition

The San Francisco Business Times featured a series of articles in mid-October chronicling the “Bay Area exodus” as California’s high housing costs, congestion, the nation’s highest marginal income tax rate, and heavy regulatory burden act to push out all but high-end tech companies. The business journal assembled a handy list of 31 San Francisco-region companies...

October 22, 2018

Economy

The Trump Manufacturing Jobs Boom: 10 Times Obama’s Over 21 Months

The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, six months into former President Obama’s first term. The economy continued to shed jobs until the following March. Manufacturing was particularly hard hit, with almost 2.3 million manufacturing jobs—some 1 in 6—lost between January 2008 and March 2010. As is the case during recoveries, jobs bounced back,...

October 18, 2018

Economy

Trump’s Economy Is Creating Factory Jobs 10 Times Faster Than Obama’s

On June 1, 2016 at a town hall sponsored by PBS, Eric Cottonham, a steel workers’ union member from Indiana, asked President Barack Obama about manufacturing jobs creation, saying, “All of our jobs have left, or are in the process of leaving.”01:07 In response, Obama noted that some jobs have gone overseas and that “I’ve been trying...

October 12, 2018

Economy

Odd but important: Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke had a debate about U-Hauls

In his first debate with Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso, Sen. Ted Cruz promoted Texas’ low taxes and light regulations as essential to job creation, citing as evidence, “The cost of a one-way U-Haul from California to Texas is more than 300 percent the cost the other way around.” Why mention U-Haul at...

October 5, 2018

Taxes & Spending

Government Spends Millions To Lobby Government — Time To End The Practice

The term “lobbyist” was first used in 1842 to describe people seeking to influence members of Congress. The name was descriptive because they’d hang out in the lobbies of the hotels where senators and representatives would stay when they were in session in Washington, D.C., which 176 years ago was far shorter than today. Americans...

September 29, 2018

Criminal Justice

Trump Administration Touts Crime Rate Drop

On September 24, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) released its annual national crime statistics for 2017. The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics show that major crime rates are down nationwide with both violent crime and property crime rates in decline. The national crime rate peaked in 1991 and has generally trended downward with crime last year...

September 28, 2018

Economy

America, don’t be like California – misery loves company

Once again, California has the highest poverty rate in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent report, the Golden State’s Supplemental Poverty Measure averaged 19 percent between 2015 and 2017. Nationwide, poverty dropped in 2017 from 14.7 percent to 14.1 percent, but California’s rate was proportionately 35 percent higher than the national average. In...

September 21, 2018

Taxes & Spending

When Government Workers Elect Their Bosses, The Taxpayers Pay

There were about 14.8 million workers in unions in 2017, some 10.7% of the workforce, down about half from 20.1% in 1983. In the private sector, about 6.5% of workers are represented by a union. But in government at the federal, state, and local level, 34.4% of workers are unionized. Union membership in industry has a long...

September 20, 2018