"What's Jon Reading" - A Compendium Of Great Links To Articles, Columns, Podcasts, Videos and Charts!
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.
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Reading/Watching Recommendations!
GAVIN NEWSOM’S BUDGET IGNORES CALIFORNIA’S TICKING FISCAL TIME BOMB
Hoover Institution policy fellow Jon Hartley argues that Gavin Newsom’s revised budget does not solve California’s deeper fiscal problems. The piece points to rapid spending growth, heavy reliance on wealthy taxpayers, pension liabilities, Medi-Cal costs, and the risk that a proposed billionaire tax could drive more high earners out of the state. Hartley’s bottom line: California’s problem is not a lack of revenue. It is a government that keeps expanding faster than taxpayers can sustain.
WHY CALIFORNIA RANKS SO LOW IN TAXPAYER RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, writes that California’s budget “crisis” is really a spending-discipline crisis. Despite record revenue growth, high taxes, and billions more flowing into the state government, Californians are not seeing better results on homelessness, schools, roads, or public safety. Coupal uses a simple household-budget analogy to make the point: California did not become poor; politicians simply spent far beyond even the state’s massive tax haul.
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