California is one of the least affordable states to live. And it appears it's about to get a little more expensive for residents.

Rolling back regulations for developers is a path the legislature could have taken to make building homes more cost effective. But the California State Senate instead passed a bill that will tax real estate transaction documents.

The new fee is expected to generate between $200 and $300 million for affordable housing.

The biggest headline this week on President Donald Trump's election integrity commission is that 44 states plus DC have partly or fully rejected the commission's request for a broad array of personal voter data if it is publicly available per state law.

In a paper published by The Economic Journal last month, a study by the Norwegian School of Economics in partnership with the Pennsylvania State University Department of Sociology and Criminology, found that marijuana legalization has led to a decrease in violent crime in U.S. states that border Mexico.

This week, T.J. is joined by Adam Gordon, local San Diegan attorney, who previously served as a Deputy District Attorney in the San Diego County District Attorney’s office.

The two discuss election reform and criminal justice - including campaign contributions, free speech, body-worn cameras, over-criminalization, asset forfeiture, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6O0jjlLLs

Reddit is the well-known “front page of the internet.” It is full of memes, videos, news links, and -- generally -- liberals. Ironically, Donald Trump's online army also makes its home at /r/The_Donald. And the two sides don’t often get along.

Our health care system is a disaster. You won’t find much disagreement with that statement — maybe just fingers pointing in different directions as to why.

We’ve had endless debates on health care, and various presidents have tried to expand coverage only to be challenged by the powerful insurance and health care industry.

President Obama signed the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) into law. It was a negotiated, watered down version of his attempt to get universal coverage, and it has been under attack ever since it passed.

Getting elected as a third-party candidate is no easy feat in the United States.

The United States of America's Founding Fathers were spurred to declare independence by a long litany of abuses by the King's government in England.

In many cases, if you read through the text of Jefferson's Declaration, you'll find these abuses are procedural in nature. It wasn't precisely what the government did, but how the government did it that mattered.

Simply the processes of government themselves, the form of the rules for engaging in the act of governing, can be the most powerful way to exercise tyranny, and the Founders understood that well.

There is no question that the biggest event internationally this week will be the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Hamburg, Germany at the G20 summit, and we can expect the eyes of the international community will be watching the two world leaders.

Here is a look at what will be the expected topics:

The Fourth of July is here and Americans across the country will celebrate the nation's birthday with fireworks, picnics, trips out of town or to the beach, barbecue, concerts and countless other ways.

So, to celebrate our nation’s birthday, we wanted to give you four facts on the Fourth that you might not have known.

The Fourth of July commemorates the adoption and print recognition of the Declaration of Independence. But the resolution for independence was actually approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.