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.

Hoover’s Golden State Poll: California’s Economic Dissonance

Between December 6 and December 16, the Hoover Institution’s Golden State Poll – a partnership between Hoover and the online polling firm YouGov – surveyed 1,000 Californians on economic and political issues, the second in a series of looks at California’s well-being. Two more surveys will be conducted over the course of 2014.

Pick up a newspaper in California and it’s hard to ignore the talk of a robust economic and fiscal “comeback” – the Golden State adding jobs, while state government, after years of massive budget deficits and painful spending cuts, at last having a surplus to reinvest in government programs. There’s only one problem with such a narrative – well, two if you include the fact that California’s recovery is shallow compared to others past. And that would be a sober   realization that the same champagne giddiness shared by politicians and reporters covering them hasn’t affected California voters.

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CA Public Policy — Too Many Words, Not Enough Diagrams

To be an engaged, informed citizen in California is to be hopelessly behind in your reading.

We’re told that we need to follow the big issues in California, that we need to be informed about policy debates, and that policymakers want our feedback on major proposals. It all sounds reasonable enough, until you see the homework. The governor says his budget is crucial to turning around California government, but the summary of that budget is 271 pages long. High-speed rail is a hot-button issue, but the business plan that gives a full picture of the project runs 212 pages. Your local school district is legally required to get your input into its plans for the new school funding formula, but the law governing the formula is book-length, at more than 70,000 words.

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Restoring Our Golden Promise

After the housing bubble burst in 2007, which precipitated the “Great Recession”, for too many Californians, the opportunity for economic success was lost. The release of Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2014-15 budget, which includes the first surplus in over a decade, has led some legislative leaders to believe that our economic challenges are over and that it is time to start spending again.  Recent temporary tax increases and a resurgent, yet volatile, stock market have brought in more revenues than expected, causing Democratic legislators to irresponsibly call for increased long-term spending with short-term revenues.

However, most economists agree that while the United States’ economy is recovering, it is still not what it once was prior to the recession.  They stress that for our economy to experience a “true recovery,” we must see a substantive drop in the unemployment rate and real employment growth.

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Policy, Short and Sweet

Neel Kashkari’s policy paper for his gubernatorial campaign is on one side of a piece of paper. “Education and jobs,” he says. “That’s it.” Certainly, he’s picked the two topics most important to Californians and if he can fix these two major issues a lot of the state’s problems go away.

The short plan brings back a couple of memories for me. When I was policy director for Richard Riordan’s run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2002, we had a press conference announcing we would put out our budget direction for the state. We kept it short, two pages as I recall. Garry South, Governor Gray Davis’s campaign chief was on hand at the press conference to jab us. “That’s all!” he chided, expecting a full-blown budget document.

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One LA Commuter Dreams of a President Christie

Before the bridge scandal, I didn’t think much of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or his presidential prospects. He seemed too Jersey, too volatile and too moderate to be a contender.

But now I dream of a President Christie.

My conversion has nothing to do with policy or ideology, and everything to do with the politics of the scandal, in which Christie aides blocked traffic to create jams in a small city whose mayor had failed to endorse the governor’s re-election. To recover from Bridgegate and win the presidency, the New Jersey governor will have to respond in ways that could one day make my life a little easier.

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The Divided And Troubled State Of California

It’s a New Legislative Year.  That means it’s time for California Governor Jerry Brown to give his “State of the State” address.  Undoubtedly, Brown along with his California Democrats and their supportive media will claim that California is in good shape.  The truth, however, is that California is facing real problems and is deeply divided economically and politically.

When we consider the state of the state, you might ask what is the core mission of government?  Keeping its citizens safe?  Educating its youth?  Taking care of its roads and water supply?  Or perhaps fostering economic prosperity?  Most people would count those among the most important.  On each of those counts, however, California is in real trouble and government policies are to blame.

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