Jon’s Weekend Reading Recommendations! Articles, Charts, Videos, Podcasts & More…
I am perusing the web all week, and I write about some of the things I find. But I there is so much great stuff that I do not write about, but I collect for this Saturday column. Enjoy.
This Saturday feature, which is a labor of love for me, is packed with amazing content. It’s very popular. For those of you who subscribe ($70/year, $7/month), this column is a thank you for your support of my independent work. There are a couple of items above the paywall worth reading/watching. But that is the tip of the iceberg. SO MUCH more under the paywall.
THANK YOU for being part of this project and for putting a spotlight on California politics!
Reading/Watching/Listening Recommendations!
THREE FREE CURATED LINKS…
I recently joined Michael Schwartz on San Diego County Gun Owners Radio for a conversation about something I’ve spent nearly four decades watching up close: how gun owners can actually make a difference in politics. We talked about why simply voting for the “pro-gun” candidate isn’t enough, how politicians calculate the importance of the gun vote, and what effective political advocacy really looks like. My message was pretty simple: politicians respond to people who contribute their dime, their time — and hold them accountable.
HE CAN RUN, BUT CAN HE STRADDLE?
Bill Whalen of the Hoover Institution examines Gavin Newsom’s emerging presidential posture and the challenge of reconciling the many versions of Gavin. Newsom opposes California’s wealth-tax initiative while proposing a national billionaires tax; once warned against overregulating AI but now talks about government taking a stake in the new economy; and has shifted his rhetoric on Israel. Whalen asks whether Newsom can successfully straddle these positions—or wind up looking like John Kerry, forever explaining which side he was on before he switched.
TAX HIKES JUST KEEP ROLLING IN AND PEOPLE KEEP ROLLING OUT
Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association warns that California’s chronic budget deficits haven’t stopped Sacramento from pursuing another $14 billion in taxes and “revenue enhancements.” Meanwhile, taxpayers continue heading for the exits: new IRS-based research finds California losing a taxpayer every 1 minute and 44 seconds. Coupal argues the problem could get considerably worse if voters approve November’s proposed wealth tax, driving away precisely the high-income residents whose tax payments California’s budget disproportionately depends upon.
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OK, this column is like an iceberg. You can see 10% of it above the water line. Below the paywall is SO MUCH MORE. I curate a BUNCH of articles, a great chart, a great video, a great long-form story, and much more. And what famous entertainer was born in this day in 1980?
There’s a free trial - try it out, and read all kinds of stuff, curated as a special thank you to our hundreds of paid subscribers!
