Press Sees through Misleading Prop 30 Ads

It is pretty evident that Proposition 30 was created with one specific feature to sell the measure to voters, using deception. And when the ads promoting Prop 30 were released yesterday, the press was not fooled. The measure creates something called an Education Protection Account to receive the new tax dollars raised by income and […]

My Involvement with a Presidential Debate

With President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney set for their first presidential debate in Denver tonight, I flash back to the presidential debate in which I had personal involvement. This debate also involved an incumbent (although as vice-president) and governor of Massachusetts – George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis, October 13, 1988 at […]

IF Prop 30 Passes, Brown Doctrine on Budgeting Could Become Widespread

If Proposition 30 passes, the method used to secure voters’ approval could become a new formula for state and local governments to pass tax increases. We’ll call it the Brown Doctrine after our governor who conceived it. Here’s how the Brown Doctrine works. First write a budget that is balanced only if the voters pass […]

The Struggle for Education Reform Goes to the Movies

Opening in movie theaters today is “Won’t Back Down,” the story of a parent and teacher teaming up to improve the bad conditions at their local school. Pushback has come from the teacher’s unions, who feel unions are the villain of the piece. The story reflects the movement for the “parent trigger” which allows parents […]

The Politics of Migration: Blunting the “Fish Hook”

One item that caught my eye in the new Manhattan Institute study on migration out of California — examined more extensively on this page today by Loren Kaye — is the idea that there has been a greater migration to other states from Southern California than from Northern California. Does that explain California becoming a […]

Lessons on Policy and Politics

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg dropped by my public policy class at Pepperdine yesterday. He told the students he thought the title of his speech should be: “Why Joel Fox is wrong.” Touché. I have been on the opposite sides of many a policy debate with Senator Steinberg over the years, but I […]

NFL Referee Dispute and the “Referees” in State Commissions

Watching pro football over the weekend, you heard about the replacement referees and the controversy surrounding their abilities to call a fair game. In most cases, the criticism of the substitute referees over the first three weeks of the season from coaches, players and fans has to do with their lack of understanding of the […]

Public Ed Involvement in Prop 30 & Trigger Cuts Reminiscent of Prop 13 Campaign

Higher education institutions in California are involving themselves in the campaign for Proposition 30, quite possibly illegally, as they claim to spread information about the initiative. Cal State universities are sending out letters to prospective students suggesting there may not be room for them if the measure fails. Cal State Monterey has a mandatory meeting […]

An Election of No Change?

Let’s stipulate that with the airwaves war on California’s ballot measures just beginning, the numbers released in yesterday’s statewide polls are just a reference point for things to come once the campaigns take shape. Still, the PPIC and Field polls indicate we could be looking at a “status quo” election — after it’s over nothing […]

Cheers for Gov. Brown on Worker’s Comp Reform

Governor Jerry Brown signed workers comp legislation yesterday that he was able to steer through the legislature at the end of the session in a display of skillful political leadership. The reform is projected to increase cash benefits for permanently injured workers while at the same time tighten rules and save costs for employers. Comprised […]