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 get placed in newspaper op-ed pages.
Co-publishers Tom Ross, Bryan Merica and I have kept F&H going over this time investing our own time, funding, and staff help. Last year at this time we considered closing the site, however with an election on the horizon we decided to keep F&H going through the election year. With the election come and gone, and with no sense of additional resources, we have decided to close the site down.
Fox and Hounds will live on, at least, with my articles collected in the California State Library.
On a personal note, I have spent over 40 years in California policy and politics. There have been some incredible high moments and some difficult low points. It pains me that politics too often is a blood sport, frequently demonizing the motives of opponents and using the legal system as a weapon in public discourse. At Fox & Hounds, we tried to adhere to the practice of giving all a voice in the debate, yet keep the commentaries civil and avoided personal attacks.
F&H offered the opportunity to publish different perspectives (even ones that criticized my writings!). We had success as indicated by the Washington Post twice citing Fox and Hounds Daily one of the best California political websites and many other positive affirmations and comments received over the years.
Tom, Bryan and I want to thank our many readers and writers for being part of our journey. The publishers of Fox and Hounds Daily believe that we added value to California and its people. We hope you agree.
Immigration Reform: A Pathway To Impeachment
The case for impeaching President Obama will be very strong if he does one thing: go really big on amnesty for the 11 million undocumented workers in America. There are nothing but upsides for Obama and the Democrats if this happens, leaving his Republican foes with only the constitutional response of impeachment, which is a legitimate response to what they would sure view as an illegal action.
Obama should announce his executive order on immigration around Labor Day. He should try to cover as many of the 11 million undocumented as possible. His executive order should including ending deportations for people who have not committed a crime; work permits for any person gainfully employed in this country; legalization for all persons working in agricultural (farmers will love that); and increased high skills visas (business will love that.)
Democrats have made it clear with the recent border crisis involving 57,000 unaccompanied children that they are not interested in border security. But we don’t have a secure border anyway; according to the Pew research Report, about 40 percent of the illegal aliens in America today are people who came here legally but overstayed their visas. And our immigrant population has change dramatically; most now come from Asia. Only 14 percent are from Mexico. The southern border is no longer the source of most illegal immigration. (more…)
97% of Contributions to Yes on 46 are from Trial Lawyers
Since the formation of the committee in support of Proposition 46, donations have come almost exclusively from lawyers who stand to profit from its passage. This is not surprising, considering the trial lawyers spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to qualify Proposition 46 for the ballot.
The committee has raised just over $4 million, with more than 97 percent has come from attorneys and law firms. Major donors include the Consumer Attorneys Issues PAC ($1.1 million) and the law firms of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson Shapiro Davis ($250,000), Panish, Shea & Boyle LLP ($125,000) and Casey, Gerry, Schenk, Francavilla, Blatt & Penfield. ($115,000).
If you’re not familiar with those firm names, they all specialize, at least in part, in personal injury law. That’s not exactly what I’d call a broad base of support. But it all makes sense, once you look at what Prop. 46 will do. Under Prop.46, the ceiling for pain and suffering awards in medical negligence suits, set at $250,000 by the State Legislature in 1975, would be raised to $1.1 million. (more…)
Is It Time for A Quota on Turnout?
It’s been nearly two months since the June elections, and still people across the political spectrum are talking about the record low turnout, and offering all kinds of analysis of what happened and a variety of ideas about what should be done.
But the most direct approach for guaranteeing higher turnout has yet to be suggested. That approach? A guarantee of a high turnout.
That’s not a fiction; it’s a legal fact. In some countries, there are “turnout quotas” for some elections. They can work in slightly different ways, but the gist is that for the results of an election to be considered valid, a minimum number of voters – the quota – must show up.
Turnout quotas are blunt instruments, but they do provide insurance against big decisions being made by very small number of voters – or what we call political reality in California. Not enough voters, no valid election. (more…)
More Politicians Should Visit the Real World
For a week he walked the streets of Fresno, a homeless man looking for work. At night he slept on park benches, during the day he tried to ward off hunger, sometimes with the bananas a grocer sold him at five for a dollar. At the end of the week, still unemployed, Neel Kashkari, Republican candidate for governor, caught a bus for Los Angeles and home.
Trailing incumbent Governor Jerry Brown, who is seeking his fourth term, by 20 points in opinion polls, some observers dismissed Kashkari’s week on the streets as nothing more than a political stunt. They see Kashkari’s entire campaign as no more plausible than Don Quixote’s crusade against the windmills.
Call it political theater, or not, Kashkari has illuminated a very important defect in the California governing class. That is that most Sacramento politicians are physically and psychologically removed from the severe problems faced by millions of Californians. California unemployment ranks fourth highest among all 50 states. Millions more, counted as working, are barely getting by on part-time, low wage, service and retail jobs. They could be a lost paycheck or two away from joining Mr. Kashkari in using a park bench as a bed. A quarter of the state’s residents are living in poverty, and with 12 percent of the of our nation’s population, California can lay claim to one third of the welfare cases. (more…)
Californians Deserve To Hear More From Sacramento on Cap and Trade Expansion
It is good to hear a public dialogue is occurring on the vast expansion of California’s cap-and-trade system coming January 1, 2015, when gasoline and diesel used by millions of consumers and businesses will be regulated for the first time under the state’s cap and trade program.
According to economic analysis by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), this expansion of cap and trade will increase gasoline prices by as little as 4 percent and as much as 19 percent. With gasoline prices currently averaging around $4 a gallon, that is a price impact of 16 cents to 76 cents.
The Western States Petroleum Association has long supported California’s clean air goals and believes a well-designed market based system is the most effective way to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. Our members’ refineries have been regulated under the state’s cap and trade program for stationary sources since 2012 and have been paying hundreds of millions dollars into that program each year. (more…)
California Needs a Statewide School Bond
The Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) announced leading a radio and television issue advocacy effort in support of Assembly Bill 2235, a measure that would allow voters to decide this November on urgently needed funding for school facilities throughout the state.
California schools are aging, desperately in need of billions of dollars in repairs, upgrades and technology to prepare students for today’s workforce. This backlog grows by the day and our schools need new funding.
It has been nearly a decade since California provided state voters with the opportunity to vote on a statewide school bond.
There are no more construction dollars. Local districts are doing their part to partner with the state, it’s time for the state to meet their end of the bargain. (more…)