Californians have suffered through a troubling period of rising consumer costs, commonly referred to as inflation. Over the past three years — June 2023 to June 2026 — consumer prices have risen about 9.5% cumulatively. If you are eager to blame bad government monetary policies, you might want to check in on the latest exploits of AI and big Tech companies. The pricing technology and market power of large retailers increasingly outmatch shoppers. Two recent developments show

The recall was never meant to hand power to politicians — it was meant to take power away from them and the railroads that controlled them. California voters wrote the recall into the Constitution in 1911 as part of Hiram Johnson’s Progressive reforms, aimed at breaking the Southern Pacific Railroad’s grip and the machines that treated public office as private property. It passed with 76.8 percent of the vote. The tool has always been used sparingly. Of roughly 180 attempts t

The State Water Project can’t move without FED help The relicensing of the Oroville Dam hydroelectric facilities has been underway for more than two decades. The Oroville Dam is the cornerstone of the State Water Project, delivering water to 27 million Southern Californians and irrigating 750,000 acres of farmland in the Central Valley. The dam generates about 2.2 billion kilowatt-hours of hydroelectric power annually, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes. Although

My latest Policy & Ethics column ran in the American River Messenger on August 17, 2026. Read the full column at the American River Messenger

My latest Policy & Ethics column ran in the American River Messenger on September 22, 2026. Read the full column at the American River Messenger