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.
California and Leland Yee: Proof One Party Rule Corrupts
Well over a century ago, British Lord Acton said that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Less remembered is the second part of Acton’s warning: “Great men are almost always bad men.” Acton came to his view as part of his deep concern about the centralization of power in government.
One party rule is a form of the centralization of power. In California, there has essentially been one party rule in the legislature for two decades. Part of that is the fault of Republicans, for not providing a vibrant enough alternative and reaching enough voters. The Democrat lock on the legislature, however, reflects to a greater degree on the voters of California and the California Media.
Lights, Camera and Action Now
Last week, in the first step of what will be a long legislative journey, Assembly Bill 1839, which will retain movie and TV production jobs in California, passed its first committee with a unanimous 7-0 vote. We applaud the members of the Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committee for their vision, but none of us can stop for even one television commercial to rest on this initial victory.
The expansion of California’s Film and Television Tax Credit program via AB 1839 is a response to a state of emergency. As the Los Angeles 2020 Commission pointed out at the end of last year, 183,783 people in L.A. County were employed in motion pictures and video industries in 1993 and by 2013 that number had dropped to 101,127. We are losing the leading role which California has held for 100 years. This is an emergency and it’s time for action.
Does California Hate Marriage?
This weekend, The Accident gets hitched.
The Accident is my term of endearment (really!) for my baby sister Katie, who arrived, unexpectedly, 11 ½ years after me and seven years after my brother. She is scheduled to exchange vows late Saturday afternoon in L.A.’s San Gabriel Valley with her longtime boyfriend, Matt, in a big family wedding that (my mother would like you to know) is costing a fortune.
I thought this family milestone was a totally unremarkable story—hardly worthy of a column—until I came across some data on California and its families. In our state, a seemingly conventional marriage is now exceptional. And Katie and Matt—who, if encountered on the street, would appear to be fairly conventional millennial professionals—just might be radicals.
Orca Welfare and Safety Act is a Game of Opposites
For the sake of killer whales and marine mammals currently living at SeaWorld San Diego, and ultimately animals living at zoos everywhere, I urge the California Assembly to show strong leadership and reject AB 2140. Although this proposed legislation is euphemistically called the Orca Welfare and Safety Act, the bill would actually ensure just the opposite. It is ironic the word ‘welfare’ is used in the title of this proposed bill, because welfare, through the language of the initiative, would be greatly diminished, not enhanced, for the ten killer whales at SeaWorld.
I have been involved with animals for most of my adult life as a biologist and animal manager, including several years as a killer whale trainer. Based on my research and zoological background I know this bill would have a detrimental impact on the health and well-being of animals that thrive on the enrichment they receive from their trainers whether during shows, training exercises or husbandry sessions. This initiative would prohibit the important social interactions and lessen relationships that currently exist between the whales and their trainers. The ‘no breeding’ provision of this bill would be catastrophic. To satisfy this portion of the ban, the five male and five female killer whales at SeaWorld would have to be separated and housed by their gender in different pools. This, of course, is not how killer whales naturally organize in the wild or at SeaWorld. This imposed isolation would destroy the enriching social structure that already exists with the whales. If enacted, the bill would force these animals to be permanently separated in unnatural groupings that would decrease their welfare.
We Owe Rod Wright An Apology
Rod Wright doesn’t deserve this.
Yes, the state senator was convicted of lying about where he lived. But does that mean he should be haphazardly lumped into some kind of State Senate Gang of 3 with accused bribe takers and gun runners?
The media, by describing Wright as one of three lawbreakers are doing most of the wrong here. But Wright’s colleagues did him no favors when they suspended him along with Ron Calderon, accused of taking bribes, and Leland Yee, accused of a host of things, including weapons dealing, at the same time. Wright should have been left out of the suspensions.
How To Build A Winning Water Bond
Six months ago, few people seriously thought there would be talk about a 2014 water bond, except the need to remove or postpone again the controversial measure now slated for the November ballot.
But last fall, public opinion polling showed that voters were starting to renew their trust in lawmakers when it came to spending their money. That may be due to a combination of reforms, including simple majority vote to pass the budget, which eliminated partisan stalemates; temporary tax increases and a recovering economy that reduced the red ink; and, good old-fashioned fiscal discipline imposed largely by the Governor.
This rebounding trust was detected before the drought worsened and water rose to the top of the political agenda.