Limited Government is Desperately Needed
by Richard Colman Does anyone remember Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address as president, which he gave on January 20, 1981? For those who may have forgotten what Reagan said, here are some quotations: “It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result […]
The Shock of Proposition 13
By Richard Colman, California Political News and Views, Proposition 13 of 1978 lowered property taxes for millions of Californians. The impact of Proposition 13 reverberated forcefully around the United States. Suddenly, residents of other states wanted property-tax reductions. The California vote took place 40 years ago on June 6, 1978. Proposition 13 passed […]
Colman: A Nation of Beggars (Schnorrers)
By Richard Colman, California Political News and Views America is becoming a nation of schnorrers. Schnorrer is German or Yiddish word meaning beggar. A conventional beggar is someone who, usually on a street, asks for money, cigarettes, or something else. A beggar could also be a relative or friend asking for a “loan.” But there […]
Your Land is My Land
. By Richard Colman When, in 2014, Vladimir Putin militarily grabbed Crimea and the eastern Ukraine for Russia, the seizure was an example of imperialism, the acquisition of inhabited territory by a foreign nation. Something similar to imperialism is going on in California. No military force is involved, but political force is. Adolf Hitler seized the […]
Northern California May Need a Dose of Free-Market Capitalism
. By Richard Colman Economically, everything appears to be getting worse in Northern California. The same situation may also exist in Southern California. Housing in Northern California is drastically overpriced. Try finding a decent home for less than $1 million or $2 million. Taxes are high. California leads the nation in the sales tax, the gasoline […]
Franklin Roosevelt is Alive and Well
. By Richard Colman Four-score and five (not seven) years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president of the United States. The date was March 4, 1933. (By 1937, inauguration day was moved to January 20.) The importance of Roosevelt’s election has implications for the current era. And the current era may bode ill for Republicans. At […]
The Folly of Tariffs
. By Richard Colman Tariffs on imported goods only prop up inefficient firms. Simply put, a tariff is a tax. And the money from that tax goes to government. Tariffs also raise prices on consumers. If the Japanese can make better and cheaper cars than the Americans, let the American auto manufacturers figure out how to […]
There are too many people in California.
. By Richard Colman The state is starting to resemble Calcutta (Kolkata), India. California, at least most of it, should not even be inhabited. There are too many earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, and mudslides. Housing is too expensive. Taxes are much too high. Hugh traffic jams exist in every metropolitan area. With 39.25 million people, California, […]
Labor Unions Should Reinvent Themselves
By Richard Colman, California Political News and Views, Venal, backwards, and unimaginative are words that can be applied to the American labor movement. Sixty years ago, organized labor was powerful and feared by businesses. Today, organized labor, except in the public sector, is a ghost of its former self. In the mid-1950’s, about one-third of […]
Tyranny is Back: Its Time for Change
By Richard Colman, California Political News and Views Tyranny — not the kind that tortures or kills people — is back. The tyranny is not coming from business. The problem is not Wall Street or Hollywood moguls, annoying as these entities can be. The tyranny, as Thomas Jefferson would have predicted, is coming from government — […]
