View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** "Califailure" and the Case for a California Comeback
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear John,

We’re biased, of course, but we figure there are few Californians who know more than Edward Ring about what’s broken in California and how to fix it.

A cofounder of the California Policy Center, Ed is a master of water, energy and forest management policy. Following the Los Angeles wildfires, he was the lone policy expert called to meet with President Trump; his appearance at the president’s elbow was devastating to California’s climate alarmists ([link removed]) . Days later, Ed testified before the U.S. Congress ([link removed]) . In both instances, he outlined the policy and tactical failures that transformed standard brush fires into one of America’s worst disasters.

Ed has not slowed his pace. His latest work appears in the book Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America's Worst-Run State, co-authored with Steve Hilton. It’s an extended answer to a simple question: How does a state with near-perfect weather, abundant natural resources, a strategic location on the Pacific Rim, and home to global entertainment, high technology and agriculture firms — how does that remarkable place rank among America’s most dysfunctional states?

Ring and Hilton blame poor leadership — which is another way of blaming the Californians who vote for them. But why would Californians with eyeballs and functioning frontal lobes continue to vote for incompetent men and women?

Ring and Hilton examine the problem as intellectual (or perhaps psychological) "pathologies" — elitism, narcissism, Maoism, climatism, socialism, bureaucratism, compassionism, cronyism, and incompetism. Devoting a chapter to each, their book offers detailed examples of how these pathologies have become the norm in California. They track the spread of these pathologies to the malign influence on politics of powerful government unions, grand partnerships between select wealthy families (including the Pelosis, Browns, Newsoms, and Gettys) and the special interests driving the state's disastrous climate change legislation.

The book’s second half, "Califuture," lays out a blueprint for restoring affordability and prosperity, reviving a welcoming business climate, rescuing public schools, resolving the homeless crisis, and controlling crime. Ring and Hilton conclude with an inspiring review of the ongoing innovation in California that, when coupled with recommended political reforms, could catapult California to the top of the nation’s most desirable states.

Failure isn’t an option. If California falters, the nation is imperiled — and if America is weakened, the world will become a much more dangerous place.

"There can be no Golden Age without the Golden State," Trump said after his January tour of the burn zone. The reforms outlined in Califailure — and daily on the CPC website — are essential for anyone who believes that California’s comeback story begins right here today, and with all of us.

“Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America's Worst-Run State,” Harper Collins, 2025.

New Podcast ()
[link removed]


** Radio Free California #385: Second to Naan
------------------------------------------------------------

On this week's podcast with CPC president Will Swaim and CPC board member David Bahnsen: Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry shakes off a union shakedown in San Francisco. Elon Musk dunks on former UC Irvine prof and Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro. A 2020 California law threatens to sink the budgets of cities and school districts beneath thousands of sex-assault claims. Listen now. ([link removed])

SUPPORT CPC ([link removed])

============================================================

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER

The California Policy Center promotes prosperity for all Californians through limited government and individual liberty.

Learn more at ** CaliforniaPolicyCenter.org ([link removed])
.
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2025 California Policy Center, All rights reserved.
We send periodic updates to those who opted in on californiapolicycenter.org

Our mailing address is:
California Policy Center
18002 Irvine Blvd Ste 108
Tustin, CA 92780-3321
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]