Farewell to a California Treasure
I’ll miss Joel Fox, who died Jan. 10 after a long battle with cancer. But California and its nearly 40 million residents will miss him more. Someone looking at Joel’s resume would instantly peg him as an old-school conservative Republican. And they would be right. Long-time president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, founder and […]
A Fox, A Hound, and a Friendship
If political differences are destined to leave us divided and friendless, how do you explain the life of Joel Fox?
Fox died on January 10 after more than a decade of living with cancer. He was California’s most prominent taxpayer advocate since Howard Jarvis, for whom he worked, and whose anti-tax organization he led from 1986 to 1998. Fox, a Republican, advanced conservative ideas on TV and op-ed pages. He advised the campaigns of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor Richard Riordan, and U.S. Sen. John McCain.
That profile, in our polarized times, might make you think Fox was one of those political ideologues who are driving the country apart. But the opposite is true.
Fox, more than any person in California politics, built deep relationships with people across the political spectrum. And he did not do this through consensus or compromise. Instead, Fox built friendships on disagreement itself—a warm, open, and curious style of disagreement.
Fox and Hounds Daily Says Goodbye
With this article, we end publication of Fox and Hounds Daily. It has been a satisfying 12½ year run. When we opened in May 2008, our site was designed to offer an opportunity to those who wished to engage in public debate on many issues, especially in politics and business, but found it difficult to […]
Black Bart Winners for 2020—The Crisis and the Chief Responder
Covid-19 pockmarked California’s political landscape like no politician or ballot measure ever could. It ended or damaged lives, put a dagger into the heart of a healthy economy, it disrupted well planned political agendas, it shrunk government budgets and shocked the day-to-day life of all Californians. It could not be ignored. Neither could the person […]
My New Year’s Wish: Fact-Checking the Correctness of “Politically Correct” Environmental Policies
Norm King served as city manager in three Southern California cities and is the former executive director of the San Bernardino Transportation Commission. It is important for the reader of the following critique of various “politically correct” assertions to understand that I believe that climate change is serious and is caused by human activity, that […]
For Every California Kid, A Seat in the Bar
Santa, California children need more this Christmas than you can fit in the sleigh. But could you at least give every Californian under 18 their very own barstool? Why universal barstools? If our kids are going to get back to education and socialization anytime soon, their best shot lies in restaurants and bars—the places that […]
Black Bart Nominee Devastated the Year for All Californians
In attempting to decide what action or actor on the California political scene had the greatest effect on the state’s policy and politics, naturally, you first think of politicians. None stands out more than Governor Gavin Newsom. He has been in the center of the crisis management dealing with outside disasters with the pandemic and […]
Does This Black Bart Nominee Have a Ghost of a Chance?
It’s a difficult year to pick a Black Bart, at least among the living in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom made a good start against homelessness and COVID-19, only to strike a deadly blow to his own career with one wine-fueled dinner in the Napa Valley. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein lost her way, and appeared on […]
Legal Guidance For The Vaccine, Employers And Workers
(Latest in a series since March on the pandemic’s employment impacts, and rebuilding America’s job base. The previous ones are here.) As the vaccine arrives this week, so too do questions from employers regarding the role of the vaccine in the workplace and in return-to-work protocols. Can an employer mandate a vaccination for a worker […]