Bring it on. If federal government unions actively oppose @DOGE's Return to Office policy, they will trigger a debate over whether they should even exist. Let's not forget that FDR opposed government unions and their dues come from our tax dollars.

Part of why living in San Francisco is so expensive is because we have to support a very costly local government. Take public transportation as an example. San Francisco spends significantly more per resident on transit than many comparable U.S. cities, a budget around $14.6

Good news in the North Bay. Carpool hours on US 101 will be reduced from the ridiculous 8/day in February. Carpool lanes should exist to increase the number of commuters who can use a freeway at peak and NOT to punish people for driving alone.

Bay Area population rebound stalled in early 2025 according to new State Department of Finance numbers. Doesn't seem that massive transit infrastructure in MTC's Plan Bay Area 2050+ aren't needed since people aren't flocking here.

Full commentary from me today on The East Bay Times (paywalled). https://t.co/etpthphBM2

Can we trust a bunch of local politicians to outperform PGE, SCE, and other utility monopolies? Based on what I learned about Marin Clean Energy and other Community Choice Aggregators, I have doubts.

Quick reminder: the role of Mayor of Richmond, California or of any other California city does NOT have a foreign policy component. Best stick to local issues.

Any thoughts, @TomSteyer ? Looks like our high cost of electricity is the result of the green energy projects you supported.

New from me in the @CaliforniaGlobe: California's 2nd largest independent fire district's finances are seriously upside down.

Gloomy November economic report from the San Francisco City Controller. Employment, downtown foot traffic, and transit ridership all weakening, albeit slightly.

@jbarro 💯🎯 Unions are antithetical to abundance for reasons outlined in Mancur Olson’s seminal “Rise and Decline of Nations.” Special interests, or what Olson called “distributional coalitions” have concentrated member benefits and diffuse societal costs. @grok what percentage of

More Waymo safety data incoming. This time looking at 127 million fully autonomous miles driven through Sept 25. We estimate human drivers would have been involved in 411 more injuries over the same distance, including 48 with pedestrians.

To avoid falling back under state control, Oakland Unified must solve a $100 million budget "problem". The Board's solution includes unspecified cuts and hoping that attendance goes back up.

Someone sent me a map of #BTC holdings by governments. Surprised to see Ukraine coming in at #4 above El Salvador. Turns out that Ukraine's total includes holdings by individual government officials. Either they don't trust their currency or want to move their wealth overseas.

I just got a notification that my United flight has free Starlink. Imagine if the public sector tried to build this. - A decade longer - 10x more expensive - Constantly breaking down The private sector always wins! @elonmusk @SpaceX @Starlink @united

From the standpoint of US consumers, increasing trade barriers with China is an own-goal.

This would cost San Francisco taxpayers a lot of money.

Although the San Francisco cable cars travel at a speed of only 9.5 mph, their 19th century seating/standing arrangements no longer meet modern safety standards.

Tesla reached an all-time record today on optimism that it will finally roll out true driverless robotaxi service. I hope this is true but we have been disappointed before.

California housing policy update: AB 130 introduces Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) fees on new residential development, adding up to $324,000 per unit over time. Builders must price it in, appraisals lag, financing breaks, and new home supply stalls. This explains why lenders are

So we should pay more taxes and ride the bus rather than Waymo so that we can have more "human connection." But there are some humans on Muni that we'd prefer NOT to connect with.