Former Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson once referred to Sacramento as a “cowtown,” but Gloria Romero, a pro-labor Democrat who served as California’s Senate majority leader from 2001 to 2008, takes exception to the belittling description. The capitol building in Sacramento, she says, has “the eighth most powerful economy in the world under that dome,” and it operates not unlike other wealthy kleptocracies. “There’s no other way to say it politely. It’s owned.”
Worth A Look
Britain Unleashed: David Cameron Needs a Change of Heart – and Some Fire in His Belly: The Prime Minister David Cameron wants to tweak the status quo, but he should smash it to show decline is not inevitable, says Allister Heath.
This Government’s great tragedy is that it is run by a group of youngish, privileged men who have never known what it is like to be truly excited by economic and political ideas. David Cameron and George Osborne are creatures of the establishment, prisoners of the received wisdom, too interested in power for power’s sake.
The End of TV and the Death of the Cable Bundle
Two small pieces of news yesterday could make for a big headache for TV.
This Meaningless Green Drivel, by Environment Guru: Scientist’s U-turn on doomsday claim
He was once a guru to environmentalists, claiming climate change would kill billions of humans by the end of this century. But it seems James Lovelock has had a change of heart.
Featured News
Canadians on the Move, to Smaller Communities
The Canadian Dream is increasingly being realized in smaller areas For decades, Canadians moved to the larger cities (census metropolitan areas, or CMAs) with their economic opportunities. The latest estimates indicate that CMAs have 72 per cent of the nation’s...
Leadership Needed in Canadian Healthcare; Apply Within
When the Premiers were first called to a sit-down lunch to talk about healthcare with Prime Minister Trudeau, there was plenty of talk about the potential for systemic change, innovation and accountability. It seemed that Canadians and their leaders were finally on...
Reaganomics: What We Learned: From December 1982 to June 1990, Reaganomics created over 21 million jobs. The right policies can do it again
For 16 years prior to Ronald Reagan’s presidency, the U.S. economy was in a tailspin—a result of bipartisan ignorance that resulted in tax increases, dollar devaluations, wage and price controls, minimum-wage hikes, misguided spending, pandering to unions, protectionist measures and other policy mistakes.
The Swedish Model: It’s the free-market reforms, stupid..
In a Europe plagued by debt crises, one country has no budget deficit at all and is currently returning to surplus. This same country is consistently among Europe’s fastest growing economies, with GDP growth set to hit 4% this year. That country is Sweden.
Confessions of a Greenpeace Founder: New book describes environmental group’s descent into extremism, author’s conversion to reason
“The truth is Greenpeace and I had divergent evolutions. I became a sensible environmentalist; Greenpeace became increasingly senseless as it adopted an agenda that is anti-science, anti-business, and downright anti-human. This is the story of our transformations.”
Confessions of a State Stimulus Czar: I’d like to think Vermont did better than many states, but much of the money ended up continuing bloated programs, sustaining government jobs or building solar cells in China.
“I’d like to think Vermont did better than many states, but much of the money ended up continuing bloated programs, sustaining government jobs or building solar cells in China.”
Government ‘Fixes’ Only Worsen Problems
“Songs that are “golden oldies” have much less pleasant counterparts in politics — namely, ideas and policies that have failed disastrously in the past but still keep coming back to be advocated and imposed by government.”
Canada’s Competitive Edge: A warmer climate for capital up north.
“It wasn’t long ago that Americans viewed Canada as a poorer neighbor with only one competitive advantage—in hockey. No more: On January 1, Ottawa cut the nation’s corporate tax rate to 16.5% from 18%, compared to the U.S. federal rate of 35%.”
A Wind Power Boonedoggle: T. Boone Pickens badly misjudged the supply and price of natural gas…
After 30 months, countless TV appearances, and $80 million spent on an extravagant PR campaign, T. Boone Pickens has finally admitted the obvious: The wind energy business isn’t a very good one.
The Last Global Warming Conference Ever?: In Cancun, the activists have traded their sackcloth and ashes for sun-wear and tropical breezes
“This global-warming/climate-change stuff is a great racket. Over in England right now, they’re locked in the jaws of a very early freeze-up. The roads are iced, the plows overworked, and people are angry. But there’s a precious subset of the English population that are not enduring the frigid and premature torments of a northern winter.”
Defying Trend, Canada Lures More Migrants
“As waves of immigrants from the developing world remade Canada a decade ago, the famously friendly people of Manitoba could not contain their pique. What irked them was not the Babel of tongues, the billions spent on health care and social services, or the explosion of ethnic identities. The rub was the newcomers’ preference for “M.T.V.” — Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver — over the humble prairie province north of North Dakota, which coveted workers and population growth.”