Obamacare’s 19 New Californias

If you try to understand Obamacare, you’re guaranteed to get a nation-sized headache. (I tried, and I did.) Federal and state government officials have a mess on their hands, and nearly every statement you can make about the law comes with 17 qualifications. But here’s some health advice for Californians: take two aspirin—and stop thinking […]

The Initiative is on the March — Everywhere But Here

Direct democracy, and specifically the initiative process, is advancing around the world. Except in the U.S. and in California. Ireland’s constitutional convention has voted overwhelming to introduce a new initiative process that would include both petitions to the government (what some Californians persist in calling, misleadingly, the “indirect initiative” even though it is a direct […]

Asking The Wrong Question About Brown’s Political Plans

The LA Times recently asked whether Gov. Jerry Brown is running for re-election, even though it’s obvious that he is. The better question – indeed, the biggest purely political question in California electoral politics – is different: is Gov. Brown running for president in 2016? Brown has said previously that he would be more focused […]

The Number of Day: 245,120

I’m intrigued by the possible gubernatorial candidacy of Neel Kashkari. He’s the sort of Republican – young, smart, diverse, experienced in government and public finance, pro-choice and same-sex marriage – that California Republicans will get behind if they ever become interested in winning statewide elections again. Kashkari is being profiled by media across California and […]

My Kingdom for a Clean Tobacco Tax Hike

This state needs to raise tobacco taxes. For a state as properly focused on health as California, the fact that we have unusually low such taxes is downright weird. We should be well above the national average in our level of taxation. So why not? Part of the trouble is the massive opposition from tobacco […]

Can California Survive Another Jerry Brown Surplus?

Oh, brother. California budget history is repeating itself. And so is Jerry Brown. This week’s LAO projections of surpluses for the next five years immediately recalled the last time the ever-austere Gov. Brown fashioned a big surplus. It was 1978, and the surplus then amounted to $5 billion – similar to today’s projections in the […]

Three Words: Cal Poly Sacramento

We Californians need to help Sacramento. Before you start hyperventilating, I’m not talking about our state government. I’m talking about the city and county, the capital region. With little notice or comment, this Sacramento has become one of the most economically distressed places in California. The housing bust and all those state budget cuts hammered […]

Problem: The Prop 30 Taxes Have No Cliff

Those of us who complain that the Prop 30 revenues are temporary are often told two things. First, that temporary taxes make the most political sense. Second, that the revenues will be made permanent, perhaps in 2016. But the structure of the Prop 30 taxes has a little-discussed political problem that will make it harder […]

Nathan Fletcher’s Next 5 Acts

“Ralph Waldo Emerson had a famous saying, ‘Life is a journey, not a destination.’” – Nathan Fletcher on Facebook. MARCH 2012: San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher left the Republican party, declaring that he felt more at home as an independent. The change was gradual, coming nearly three weeks after he sought a GOP political […]

The Good in a Washington State Initiative on Initiatives

Note: This post was written last month. Eyman’s measure lost in the November elections, winning just over 37 percent of the votes. If you haven’t heard of Tim Eyman, you probably haven’t lived in Washington state. He’s a libertarian-minded activist and force of nature who is responsible for more initiatives than any one in that […]