Kill Retiree Health Care. Now.

Do the Democrats care more about public employees with health insurance than poor children without it? The question is harsh, but fair.  Gov. Brown and the Democrats, in the name of frugality, were willing to shut down Healthy Families and move children into MediCal – in the name of saving money and avoiding duplication. By […]

Obsessed With Who Funds Initiatives, Less Interested in What They Would Do

You may have heard that this could be the Year of Initiative Reform. With so many groups considering reform proposals, I’ve been on the good government meeting circuit, participating on panels with would-be initiative reformers. Among my good government friends, there is one big consensus on initiative reform: we must know more, much more, about […]

Austerity Now! Austerity Forever!

California’s elites are so eager to lick the budget crisis forever that they are working feverishly to preserve said crisis. That’s the paradox of the powerful conventional wisdom that has taken hold of Gov. Brown and elites of both parties. We have rough balance of the budget – so let’s preserve it at all costs, […]

Was Prop 29 a Fraud Too?

There’s an unexplored California political angle on the Lance Armstrong story: was Prop 29 – the ballot initiative he backed last spring – part of his anti-cancer cover for doping? Even asking that question will almost certainly enrage the health advocates and cancer groups who backed the initiative. But it’s still a fair question. Armstrong […]

Who Needs CEQA When You’ve Got Local Ballot Measures?

CEQA reform could be a good thing for California. But it’s also overrated. Especially in a state with direct democracy. So let me offer the following prediction: if CEQA is changed to reduce the ability of businesses to use the law to frustrate competitors and to make it harder for local communities and environmental groups […]

Beware Initiative Reform

Many California leaders and groups want to make this the year for reforming the initiative process. You’d think I’d be one of them. I’ve written two books that dealt in detail with the initiative process. I help run a global forum on direct democracy. I teach a class on the subject. I write about it […]

Fear Not, Phil Mickelson

Dear Phil, I’ve always felt a certain kinship to you because we’re both California residents. I realize we don’t run into each other much, since I drive the roads (you fly yourself everywhere by private jet) and eat at In N’ Out (you’re a Five Guys guy). But it was nice to know you were […]

Chancellor Brown?

Could Gov. Jerry Brown be his own chancellor of the University of California? If he were anyone but the governor, you’d think he was auditioning for the job. Over the last several months, Brown has effectively set policy on a host of financial matters, blocking fee hikes and successfully pushing for online education. He’s also […]

In My Second Week, Online Education Is Hard

Gov. Jerry Brown wants California’s public university systems to figure out how to make online classes work. As it happens, I’m trying to do the same thing. So far, I haven’t figured out much. Of course, it’s only the second week of a brand new online class I’m teaching at Arizona State University, where I’m […]

Brulte the Ethiopian

Before buying a house about a year ago, my family lived in a rented apartment in the heart of Los Angeles, near the tar pits and the county art museum. We were also a block north of the stretch of Fairfax known as Little Ethiopia. As a special treat, we enjoyed dining in the several […]