Steven Greenhut

C alifornia lawmakers can't get their talking points straight when it comes to government-funded healthcare programs. They want to expand them — and there's always some ongoing effort to convert the entire state to a single-payer system — but whenever more people sign up for existing public programs, they get agitated. The latest example involves Assembly Bill 2729, which would penalize large companies if their employees participate in Medi-Cal , which is the state's version of the federal Medicaid system for low-income families, seniors, and the disabled.

We have everything we need to be the informed citizens our founders envisioned. Yet these are the stupidest times.

SACRAMENTO — Waiting in gas lines and listening to sweater-wearing President Jimmy Carter tell us to turn down the thermostat are among my most distinct memories growing up during the 1970s malaise.

Waiting in gas lines and listening to sweater-wearing President Jimmy Carter tell us to turn down the thermostat are among my most distinct memories growing up during the 1970s malaise.

the scaled-back version. Sorry, but senators should reject this entire disreputable measure and put the kibosh on these anti-democratic efforts.

Sorry, but senators should reject this entire disreputable measure and put the kibosh on these anti-democratic efforts.

We should heed Alexis de Tocqueville's warning: "A man's admiration for absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him."

Americans must recommit themselves to a system that limits government abuses against everyone, friends and enemies alike.

S ACRAMENTO — California's property insurance markets have been battered, as major insurers have reduced or halted their underwriting after several years of costly wildfires resulted in sustained losses. The real cause of the problem, as I've documented for The American Spectator , is the state's system of insurance price controls that make it nearly impossible for insurers to price their policies to reflect their risk. Things have looked especially bleak since 2023, when the state's largest home insurer, State Farm, halted new underwriting.