A Proposed Amendment to California’s Constitution to Resolve the Housing Affordability Crisis
Friday May 20, 2022 | Lawrence J. McQuillan

Despite much hand-wringing by California politicians and bills in the state legislature with lofty goals and rhetoric, home prices in California continue to set new records. Apartment rental prices also continue to soar in Southern California, the Central Valley, and Northern California. (more…)

Coastal Commission Ramps Up State Water Deficit
Friday May 20, 2022 | K. Lloyd Billingsley

As expected, on May 12, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to reject the Poseidon Water desalination plant in Orange County. As the California Globe noted, the plant was “decades in the works during a time when California needs more freshwater to combat a drought in the state.”  (more…)

You Are a Soul
Friday May 20, 2022 | Daniel B. Klein

The ontology of the human being is elusive. But let’s say: You are a soul and you own your person.  (more…)

What Makes You My Enemy?
Thursday May 19, 2022 | Randall G. Holcombe

Increasingly, it seems, people are quick to escalate what might be viewed as differences into animosities. This has manifested itself in a number of different ways in recent years. (more…)

Protecting Unalienable Rights
Wednesday May 18, 2022 | James A. Montanye

A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion denying the constitutional legitimacy of the Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion has piqued interest concerning “unalienable” individual rights: (i) whether such rights logically exist; (ii) if so, then how are they to be reified; and (iii) which branch and level of government is constitutionally authorized and best equipped to defend them.  (more…)

Biden’s Deficit Shrinking Claim Fails Fact Check
Wednesday May 18, 2022 | Craig Eyermann

After his first year in office, President Biden doesn’t have much to brag about. That’s especially true when it comes to the economy. So much so that he’s reached into his bag of political tricks and pulled out an old one. He’s trying to make himself look better by fudging facts. (more…)

Conflicts of Interest at the National Institutes of Health
Monday May 16, 2022 | K. Lloyd Billingsley

On May 11, acting National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Lawrence Tabak conceded that $350 million in undisclosed royalty payments to Dr. Anthony Fauci, his deputy Clifford Lane, former NIH director Francis Collins, and hundreds of NIH employees presented “an appearance of a conflict of interest.” Tabak, deputy ethics counselor of NIH since 2010 and in 2009 acting principal deputy director, seemed unaware of developments at his own agency.  (more…)