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.
Opposition Swarms Against Splitting California
Like hornets rising from a disturbed nest, opposition is swarming against venture capitalist Tim Draper’s proposed initiative to split dysfunctional California into six states, a couple of which might turn out functional. The Chronicle reports:
“Steven Maviglio, a Democratic consultant, and Joe Rodota, a fixture in GOP politics, have formed OneCalifornia, a committee that will oppose Draper’s “Six Californias” plan if and when the constitutional amendment gets on the ballot.”
And you thought there was a two-party system?
Assembly Votes Against Free Competition in Delivering Public Services
Public unions demonstrated once again their hold over the majority Democrats when the Assembly passed a resolution to oppose out-sourcing of public services. The position taken by the Assembly throws out the notion that the goal of government is to deliver services in the most effective way. A secondary goal is to be frugal with taxpayers’ money. Those goals are subsumed by a resolution that clearly indicates that local governments must not consider alternatives to delivering services.
Free competition for government contracts likely would produce the best results in delivering services and controlling costs for local governments. While the non-binding resolution carries no force of law it sets up a scenario for legislators to pass anti-outsourcing measures as they come up.
Why the New York Times’ Sentencing Commission Won’t Work
The New York Times editorial page gave California some free advice recently, and it was worth every penny: establish a sentencing commission to fix your criminal justice system.
The paper’s argument was understandable. Our prison and justice systems are a total mess, with the prisons constitutionally overcrowded and the chief justice of the State Supreme Court saying that our courts are in crisis. And over the past few decades, the federal government and a number of other states have had sentencing commissions that produced significant reforms.
But things won’t be so easy in California.
Reforming Campaign Finance-Let the Sunshine in
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down another campaign limitation—the cumulative amount an individual can give to campaigns. So what else is new?
Money and politics go together like the birds and the bees. Despite the almost universal disgust at the way campaign money distorts the democratic process, the reality is that it would be easier to repeal the law of gravity than to get money out of politics. What we can and should do is get it all out in the open.
For those who wonder how millions of dollars can be spent on campaigns for political offices that barely pay six figures, you only have to look at what is at stake–budgets adding up into the billions and trillions, decisions that shape the economic climate and make or break companies, policies that impact the pocketbooks and quality of life for all of us. With so much at stake, it is no wonder that political spending has grown by leaps and bounds with no end in sight. Money goes to power and power goes to money.
Up For The Count
Among the most-cited statistics by L.A. business leaders is this: We have fewer jobs right now in Los Angeles County than we did in 1990, even though the population has grown by 1 million people since then.
But they may not be able to trot out that line at local luncheon speeches much longer. That’s because the number of jobs locally has taken a big jump.
There were 4,155,300 non-farm jobs in Los Angeles County in February, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. That’s close to the all-time high of 4,196,700, set in February 1990.
Donnelly’s Impact On Republican Candidates
With Democrats reeling from the criminal conduct of their own State Senators you’d think Republicans would be poised to take advantage of this embarrassment. But that is not the case; recent polling shows that Republicans are about to embrace as their candidate for governor a legislator with his own problems with criminal conduct.
That would be Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-San Bernardino) who in 2012 was arrested for bringing a loaded gun onto an airplane at the Ontario airport. Donnelly later brushed this off and was given probation as he pled no contest to violating the nation’s anti-terrorism laws, but since September 11, 2001, law enforcement has had little patience for those who endanger airline passengers with guns.