Despite receiving widespread acclaim for its Diridon Station campus, Google still faces nay-sayers. Read an analysis of the short opposition statement from a director at Working  Partnerships here.

In 2018, Seattle City Council both approved and later repealed a head-count tax that would charge large-grossing businesses with an additional per hour tax rate based on the number of employees. The short lived tax set an upper limit of $275 on the total amount that could be taxed per employee per year, which briefly caused Amazon to pause their estimated potential expansion of 7000 new employees within the Seattle region. Read why that policy was swiftly repealed here.

Opponents of the widely-supported Google campus near Diridon Station suffered substantial setbacks last week as both the courts and urban planning experts sided with Google and the City of San Jose regarding the proposed development. Read more about the reaction to Google’s proposal here.

Last Thursday night, Google representatives met with the Station Area Advisory Group (SAAG), San Jose residents, and City Council members at San Jose City Hall to discuss the company’s first design plan for its proposed campus next to Diridon Station. While the benefits to SJ including tax receipts and downtown development are substantial from Google, it is important to remember that the company received no subsidies or discounts in buying the property for the proposed campus. Read more about this free market development here.

Sacramento's Measure U, passed last year, raised city sales tax by a half a cent. The measure passed, with city officials promising more spending for affordable housing and infrastructure. Read here about why those revenues may not go to local services.

Local progressives inaccurately claim that the South Bay's middle class dwindles because rich techies are taking all the money and forcing everybody out. The claim is false on the facts and shows a limited understanding of economic principles. Read the facts here.

We just had a teachable moment at the San Jose City Council about how government and advocates can pervert language to deliver preferential financial treatment to special interests. At issue during the August 6th, 2019 San Jose City Council meeting was whether the reduction of city fees on developers--specifically fees regarding downtown high rise developments--represents a "subsidy" to those developers, therefore should trigger a series of city regulations preferential to labor unions.