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 Higher Education Needs a New Strategy of Reinvesting in the Workforce
The Little Hoover Commission, the state’s independent oversight agency, spent more than 12 months and nearly 75 pages on a new report identifying the shortcomings in California’s higher education system and calling for a new strategy to develop the highly educated workforce needed to grow and sustain our economy.
Few will argue with the commission’s conclusion that California’s higher education system is not working as it should – or that the state needs a new strategy to repair this vital economic engine. But no engine can run on fumes. And that is what the commission is suggesting with its failure to recommend new funding for our financially strapped public colleges and universities.
As the Little Hoover Commission itself points out, slashes in spending have meant higher education enrollments could not keep pace with population growth. California community colleges have turned away more than 600,000 students in recent years.
New Primary Rules Force Politicians to Think
For those folks still saying California’s primary election changes aren’t doing a thing, take a look at the House vote to end the government shutdown.
Seven of California’s 15 GOP congressmen (and yes, they are all men), went against the majority of their Republican brethren and supported the Senate plan to end the House GOP-led shutdown and send hundreds of thousands of federal employees back to work.
Now it could be a coincidence that two of the seven, Gary Miller of Rancho Cucamonga and Hanford’s David Valadao, are among the Democrats top targets in 2014 and represent district that, when redrawn before the 2012 elections, became instantly more competitive.
Better to Live in a Red State or Blue State? The Debate
California was the subject of both admiration and derision in the Intelligence Squared sponsored Oxford-style debate on the topic: For a Better Future, Live in a Red State. California’s former governor, Gray Davis, was one of the debaters defending blue states, while Chapman University professor and radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt spoke up for red states. These Californians were joined by New America Founder Michael Lind on the blue side of the table, and Wall Street Journal editorial writer Stephen Moore on the red.
Davis argued that blue states are better because they aim to give economic opportunity for everyone by investing in education and infrastructure, protecting the environment and providing a safety net. The former governor said if you look at the top ten states with the highest average income nine are blue states.
Neighborhood Legislature Would Revolutionize CA Government
In the midst of the recent government shutdown, polls showed that a full 78% of the electorate wanted to vote out ALL incumbent members of Congress. While California’s government wasn’t shut down – it is controlled by one party so this is not a realistic possibility – its legislature doesn’t fare much better in most opinion polls.
Why? High unemployment and a high cost of living are certainly culprits but when people are asked, they say that Sacramento is owned by special interests, the funders who fund the campaigns. They also say they are turned off by the whole process – by the media campaigns – and they feel their vote doesn’t matter.
BART Strike is a Teachable Moment
Reactions from the press and public to the BART strikes this year have been overwhelmingly negative. In one of the safest Democratic strongholds in the U.S., there is serious talk of outlawing future BART strikes.
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on October 19th, “That discussion has already begun, in letters from California lawmakers to Gov. Jerry Brown, from state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who said he “looking into legislation that could prevent future strikes,” a petition drive by a Democratic Assembly candidate in the East Bay seeking the same, and a piece by editorial page editor John Diaz in Sunday’s Chronicle supporting a Republican proposal that BART unions be made to honor the no-strike clause in their last contract.”
Obamacare by the Numbers: Not a Pretty Picture
“The Affordable Care Act is no longer a political abstraction,” writes a Washington Post blogger. He’s right; it’s underway and the picture of Obamacare “by the numbers” is not pretty. The national rollout has been a disaster because of a crashing website that has prevented people from signing up and may take months to fix. But Covered California, the state’s own Affordable Care Act webpage, is also glitch-ridden and its rollout has been less than impressive.
It is amazing that three years after the law was passed so little is known about what it actually does. Put simply, it is intended to assure health insurance coverage for all Americans via a system of state insurance exchanges, expansion of Medicaid (MediCal in California), and a mandate for individuals to buy insurance. The first step in this process began on October 1 with the opening of the insurance exchanges, so it is worthwhile to see what the numbers tell us about how the new system is doing.