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.
Jerry Brown And Barack Obama Going In Opposite Directions
The mid- term report card is out for Governor Jerry Brown and it shows him getting higher marks than fellow Democrat, President Obama, whose troubled tenure is winding down.
A generation apart, Brown is receiving very favorable grades while Obama’s popularity is steadily eroding.
The reasons for the disparity are many and complex. But the starting point is economics.
The nation has rebounded after the near financial collapse of 2008 with positive news on the unemployment front, accelerated hiring in some quarters, upticks in consumer spending, and a revival of business investment. (more…)
They’re Writing about the Governor’s Race — of 2018!
The election to choose California’s governor is still about four months away yet two columns appeared in Los Angeles papers Monday discussing the governor’s race in 2018 – Jim Newton in the Los Angeles Times wrote about three potential Democratic candidates who might be the next governor; John Phillips in the Los Angeles Register discussed possible candidates from both major political parties.
I understand – most journalists don’t think the race for governor will be close this year and there is theoretically great drama with an open gubernatorial seat and a slew of potential viable candidates over the horizon.
But let’s not pass up this year’s race too quickly. (more…)
Six Takeaways from the June Primary
For those of us involved in polling and election analysis at PPIC, the just-released California Secretary of State’s (SOS) Statement of the Vote offers a treasure trove of data about how our democracy is working. The latest SOS report also deserves close scrutiny because the top-two primary, which had its debut in June 2012, operated in statewide contests—such as the governor’s race—for the first time this year. My colleagues Eric McGhee and Daniel Krimm have provided an excellent analysis of the outcomes of legislative district races. Here, I’m going to focus on six election trends—regarding statewide offices, state propositions, and voter participation—that surfaced in my read of the final numbers. (more…)
Turning Japanese: How Japan’s Breakdown in Employment Is Resembling Ours
Over the past four years, we have written frequently about major shifts in the structure of employment in California: the breakdown in full time employment and rise of alternative forms of contingent, project-based and part time employment. Precarious Japan, a new book from Duke University Press, examines how a surprisingly similar shift is impacting the Japanese economy.
The book, by Duke University Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Ms. Anne Allison, focuses on “Precarity”. The term refers to precarious employment, and Professor Allison sets out the following narrative. (more…)
The California Economy: A Strength vs Weakness Breakdown (Part. 2)
The problem with analyzing California’s economy — or with assessing its vigor — is that there is not one California economy. Instead, we have a group of regions that will see completely different economic outcomes. Then, those outcomes will be averaged, and that average of regional outcomes is California’s economy. It is possible, even likely, that no region will see the average outcome, just as we rarely see average rainfall in California.
California’s Silicon Valley region continues to be a source of innovation, economic vigor, and wealth creation. But the Silicon Valley, named because silicon is the primary component of computer chips, no longer produces any chips. The demands for venture capital are also changing, with the demand for cash falling because new products often take the form of apps instead of something that is manufactured. This type of investing doesn’t need the infrastructure that the Silicon Valley provides. Increasingly, other communities such as Boston, Northern Virginia, and Houston are becoming centers of technological innovation. (more…)
All State Businesses Deserve Tax Help
Hooray for Hollywood! Oh, yes, and hooray for batteries for electric cars. And another hooray for some jet plane manufacturers. It seems the state Legislature has found a number of causes to create state tax credits to encourage business and jobs in the Golden State.
All well and good, but what about businesses that don’t qualify for tax credits? You would think legislators would recognize that with the rash of requests for tax help they are dealing with this year that something is wrong with the business climate.
What’s wrong is high taxes and a briar-patch of regulations that California businesses have to deal with. The state is continually ranked near the bottom of surveys on good places to do business. (more…)