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.

Can California Survive Another Jerry Brown Surplus?

Oh, brother. California budget history is repeating itself. And so is Jerry Brown.

This week’s LAO projections of surpluses for the next five years immediately recalled the last time the ever-austere Gov. Brown fashioned a big surplus.

It was 1978, and the surplus then amounted to $5 billion – similar to today’s projections in the raw numbers, but even more massive as a percentage (the state budget was less than $15 billion).

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Vidak Warns: Water, Water Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink

The California Department of Water Resources announced this week that the Central Valley may only get five percent of the water it needs next year.

The Central Valley, the heart of California, is the state’s top agricultural producing region, often called “the nation’s salad bowl” for the great array of fruits and vegetables grown in its rich soil.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, author of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, wasn’t thinking about California’s Central Valley when he wrote:

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Early Look at Campaign 2014: Part 3 – State Assembly

We are one year away from the November 2014 General Election, and the California Target Book, which I publish, just distributed its fall edition to subscribers, analyzing and handicapping the upcoming races in California for congress and the state legislature.

Earlier, I reported on the key races for Congress (Part 1) and state Senate (Part 2).

Today, I am covering the state Assembly races; next I will cover the open seats (in safe districts) and possible same party runoffs.

It is too early to pinpoint with any accuracy where all the targeted races will be, but I can share with you as to which races, as of now, I believe have the most potential of being target races.

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Fiscal Good Times Make Brown’s Job Harder

It isn’t that Gov. Jerry Brown isn’t happy to hear Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor say such nice things about California’s financial future, but he would like it better if the state’s top bean counter wasn’t so darned enthusiastic about the good news.

A remarkably upbeat report issued Wednesday projected a state awash in black ink, with growing budget surpluses as far as the fiscal watchdog’s eyes could see.

“The state’s budgetary condition is stronger than at any point in the past decade,” Taylor said in the report. “The state’s structural deficit – in which ongoing spending commitments were greater than projected revenues – is no more.”

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State Revenue Boom Means Time for a Rainy Reserve

The state budget hasn’t been very newsworthy for the past year, which is good news. A big voter-approved tax increase plus a stingy Governor plus a modest economic recovery has put what was a perennial fiscal crisis in the rear view mirror.

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor yesterday confirmed this trend – and then some. Citing the economic recovery and other factors, Taylor released a state budget forecast that projects a $5.6 billion surplus by the summer of 2015, growing three years later to almost $10 billion.

This is good news for taxpayers, since it removes a major rationale from arguments to raise taxes. But it also provides impetus for the multitude of special interests, government unions and public agencies who will inevitably demand higher spending for one or another program.

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Three Words: Cal Poly Sacramento

We Californians need to help Sacramento.

Before you start hyperventilating, I’m not talking about our state government. I’m talking about the city and county, the capital region. With little notice or comment, this Sacramento has become one of the most economically distressed places in California. The housing bust and all those state budget cuts hammered employment in the capital region; homelessness is up, and there are fewer jobs now than there were a decade ago. Empty retail corridors in once-growing suburbs like Rocklin and Natomas are some of the bleakest places I’ve seen anywhere in the state.

It’s therefore understandable that Sacramento leaders want to make a big, transformative public investment in their city. What’s less understandable is the investment they’ve chosen to pursue: a new downtown arena for Sacramento’s second-rate pro basketball team, the Kings.

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