Fearless Prediction: CFT and Munger Will Combine Forces

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

The talk about the three competing tax initiatives is all about Gov. Brown. Can he convince/force the other two measures – one from the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign (the millionaire’s tax) and the other from civil rights lawyer Molly Munger and the state PTA – to stand down, delay, or join [...]

5 Reasons The Governor Shouldn’t Blame Others for Crowded Ballot

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Monday, February 13th, 2012

It’s just terrible that Gov. Jerry Brown’s initiative to raise taxes temporarily can’t be considered by voters all by itself. Instead, it has to go on a big crowded ballot along with a host of other measures, including competing tax-hiking initiatives. I, for one, sure hope Gov. Brown tracks down whoever is responsible for forcing [...]

But Jerry Brown Has a Plan

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Friday, February 10th, 2012

“You ain’t got no problems, Jules. I’m on the mother-f***er. Go back in there and chill them n****rs out, and wait for The Wolf who should be coming directly.” –Ving Rhames, as Marsellus Wallace, in Pulp Fiction California’s budget is constantly out of balance. The current budget was called balanced last July, and is already [...]

Dystopia Now!

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Jerry Brown is right about us journalists. We love dystopia. For those who don’t know, the word is defined by Merriam Webster as “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives.” Our kind of place.

Finland Surpasses California

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

The signature gathering season has begun, and in California – home to Silicon Valley – the process is purely a 19th century affair. Print your name and address, and sign with pen and paper. Online gathering is illegal, the state says. If only we lived in Finland. The Finns are joining the direct democracy club [...]

Proof That A Bigger Legislature Saves Money

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Monday, January 30th, 2012

After a recent speech to a gathering of community college presidents and board members from around California, I was asked if a larger legislature – I’ve proposed going from 120 to 360 members – would cost more money. The answer: it shouldn’t. Additional members could do more of the work that staffers do, thus reducing [...]

Trigger Cuts? Why Not Trigger Taxes?

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Trigger cuts are on their way to becoming a staple of budgets. So why not trigger taxes? Republicans have opened the door to such a discussion with their arguments against Gov. Brown’s initiative to hike income and sales taxes for five years. The GOP talking point is that tax revenues are already coming back and [...]

How to Start High-Speed Rail

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

I have big doubts about high-speed rail, but I was glad to see Gov. Jerry Brown take on the subject in a big way. This is a governor who has ducked big questions and big fights. At least he’s thinking bigger—and touching off a big debate. But pushing for high-speed rail won’t be enough. Brown [...]

Initiatives Aren’t War. They’re Land Mines

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

My friend Joel Fox, the Fox in this Fox & Hounds Daily, is fond of comparing ballot initiatives to war. In columns, he performs the cool trick of taking writing about war, replacing the word “war” with “initiative,” and showing how the meaning doesn’t seem to change much. But the comparison is a little bit [...]

Can We Do a Re-Vote for Black Bart?

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

I fear that Fox & Hounds Daily rushed to judgment. I know. Shocking. And on a politics blog of all places. But this particular mistake came in a moment of deliberation. My colleagues and I thought long and hard about the winner of the Black Bart Award for 2011. And we chose Controller John Chiang. [...]

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