Saturday Reading Recommendations

Over the course of the last week, I read some things that I think you, as a subscriber to “So, Does It Matter?” might enjoy!

There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on out there, and while I try to bring you some great content during the week, I do keep track of things that you might find worth your time, and this Saturday feature is when I share some “weekend reading” with you… Hope you enjoy. Please share this if you enjoy it.

So, here we go…

One Big Beautiful Bill

Yesterday the President signed the One Big Beautiful Bill. I keep wanting to put that inside of quotation marks — except that in the actually written text, that is actually what it is called!

There is a massive amount of content out on the web about the bill, the policy, the politics. I thought I would share just a few things that I found interesting or useful.

First of all, I find that the best way to actually parse through what is and is not in the bill, is the robust Wikipedia Page for it. And if you want a deep dive on the tax side of the bill, this analysis from the Tax Foundation may help you out. Yesterday I wrote a brief analysis, if you missed it, praising the good, but lamenting that due to too many moderates in the GOP caucuses, we didn’t get nearly enough spending cuts in the bill.

I thought you might be interested in reading a libertarian negative critique on the bill — it’s not very long. A column from Veronique De Rugy on Reason Magazine’s Online Page. Veronique never minces words. And of course everyone likes to eat sausage, but no one really wants to see how it is made. This Politico piece looks at the pork baked into the bill.

Look, if I was in Congress, with some trepidation, I would have voted for the final bill. There is SO MUCH good policy in it — on the top of the list would be making permanent the Trump Tax Cuts of 2017. But there’s no doubt the failure to cut enough spending was a bummer, especially on a bill that relied only GOP votes. I presented some of these critiques because I assume you, like me, have been inundated with lots of the positive spin on it.

Is The Likely New Socialist Mayor Of NYC Creating Envy in San Francisco?

Someone on X had fun with AI and created this awesome image of Democratic Nominee for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani taking a selfie with his big backer and fellow left-winger Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That said, Politico ran a story that was focused on the fact that the progressive/socialists in San Francisco have serious envy of the rise of Mamdani all of the way across the country. And respected longtime center-right California focused columnist Dan Walters, over on CalMatters, has a very similar analysis, which is worth a read.

Katy Grimes Does A Deep Dive On Gavin Newsom’s Personal Finances

Source: WikiCommons

My great friend Katy Grimes, who heads up the California Globe (a great website providing center-right news, analysis and opinion) penned this piece looking at the shadowy LLC that purchased the Newsom Family home… for them? As Newsom continues to prepare a run for President (like his planned trip to South Carolina) — the many articles of Katy on Newsom will be much read!

The “Dissing” of GOP Assemblyman Carl DeMaio

If you missed it, earlier this week on the floor of the Assembly Chambers conservative Assemblyman Carl DeMaio was giving a lengthy speech criticizing the Democrats for putting forward a completely crazy extreme resolution on gay rights, I think for Pride Month or something. Multiple times he was interrupted on purpose by Democrat Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, who didn’t like what DeMaio was saying. The interruptions were to acknowledge birthdays of various legislators. It was so condescending. If you have about seven minutes to spare it’s worth watching. It’s embedded above. Whether you watch it or not I would encourage you to read this column by Mark Barabak of the Los Angeles Times appropriately criticizing what happened. How bad does it have to be when anyone at the LAT is coming to the defense of a conservative?

Housing Legislation

Finally, a couple of items on the legislature and housing legislation. Last week I wrote this critique of budget trailer bill passing that appropriately waived CEQA requirements to build (certain) housing projects - but it was filled with accommodation to the trade unions forcing higher wages thus making the housing more expensive. Loren Kaye, who is an expert on California policy, wrote even more about this bill on his Substack page. It’s worth reading to understand how narrowly this bill was written to accommodate high density projects. And then my friend Susan Shelley in her regular weekly column that appears in all of the papers owned by the Southern California News Group has a terrifically horrifying write up about yet another awful housing bill. You should read it and then you can worry if your neighbor is going to build an 85 foot high apartment building right next to you!

Hope you are having a great holiday weekend and… What are YOU reading? If during the week you see a story you think I should share with readers pass it along (Jon@SoDoesItMatter.com).

Jon

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