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.
Climate Change and Our Inner Elephant
Last August, the California Business Roundtable released results of a statewide survey that showed 79% of Californians saw global warming as a serious (50%) or somewhat serious (29%) issue threatening to California’s economy and quality of life. The same survey, however, showed strong opposition to regulation (57% oppose vs. 37% support) if the result was a significant increase in the price of gasoline, and even more opposition (66% oppose to 24% favor) if the result was shutdown of manufacturing facilities and loss of middle-class jobs.
In this two-part series, we’ll explore if it’s possible for California to lead on climate change without placing undue burdens and displacing job opportunities for poor and middle-class Californians.
There’s a wonderful book called the Righteous Mind written by one of our nation’s most prominent social psychologists, Jonathan Haidt. The premise of the book, deeply supported by research, is that the reasoning mind of humans plays only a small role in our moral decision-making and most of that role involves post hoc rationalization of why we believe what we do about what is right and wrong. He uses the metaphor of a rider on an elephant to explain the process of moral decision-making. The rider is the human rational mind; the elephant is our moral intuition. The elephant goes where it wants to go. The rider then explains why the elephant went where it did. (more…)
A New State Motto: “Show Me the Money”
Maybe we should change California’s official state motto from “Eureka” to “Show Me the Money.” Most of the high-profile news we get about California deals with the so-called “resistance” to the Trump administration. But, even in those discussions, money is an important barometer. And, consider that money was the key ingredient in many big stories coming out of the state last week.
California buffed up its reputation as a high tax state when Governor Jerry Brown signed the gas tax and vehicle fee increase bill. That will take a chunk of change out of Californian’s pockets, especially hitting hard lower and middle-income taxpayers.
But the top income taxpayers will take a tax hit if the White House proposal eliminating deductions for state and local taxes announced during the week becomes law. Then California’s highest in the nation tax rate becomes more punishing to the high-end taxpayers whom the state relies on heavily to fund services. How long will some top taxpayers stick to their California residences with no-income tax Nevada beckoning from across the border. (more…)
Blaming Berkeley
Thank you, Berkeley.
Recent headlines should remind Californians of yet another way we are lucky. Our state has the world’s best scapegoat: you.
You—our most distinguished public university and all the people, institutions and neighborhoods surrounding it — do far more than research and educate. You serve the vital social purpose of being a convenient punching bag for angry people of all manner of ideological preoccupations.
The right and the center can pin all of California’s liberal sins, real and imagined, on you. And the left sees a reactionary threat in everything, from your fundraising, to police action on or near campus, to the presence of law professor John Yoo, who defended torture under President George W. Bush. Sometimes you’re denounced as dangerously permissive, and other times you’re frighteningly authoritarian. (more…)
All for the Roads?
Gas Tax Money designated for parks, land purchases for animal travel, bike paths.
Don’t Tax Family Businesses Out of California
Family businesses are the bedrock of our communities and the economy. A recent study showed that the state’s 1.4 million family businesses employ 7 million people. Family businesses tend to pay their employees better, train them better, and provide more generous benefits than nonfamily companies. We’re also less likely to significantly downsize during tough economic times.
I know because I’m the president of Holt of California, which was established in 1931 and is now owned by three families.
For years, like all businesses, we have had to adapt to ever-higher taxes and ever-more stringent regulations. To no one’s surprise, our state has ranked dead last the past two years in the annual survey of business executives nationwide conducted by CEO Magazine. But we have survived and now provide a wide range of equipment and servicing for construction and agriculture and employ more than 700 people in Northern and Central California. (more…)
Speeding in wrong direction
After massive flood damage and a near catastrophe at Oroville Dam in February, and in light of the future risk of drought and flooding, this much is clear: California’s critical water infrastructure is badly in need of repair. In fact, the state has almost $50 billion in unmet flood management infra-structure needs, according to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Given these significant new costs and needs, plus the state’s growing budget and pension requirements as well as the very real probability that the Trump administration is going to reduce California’s share of funding for critical things such as education, health care, and transportation, the state’s proposed bullet train is not something we can afford and should be cancelled immediately.
There are moments when circumstances require clear thinking and a willingness to ask hard questions and change course – moments when a fresh look is needed to prevent a tragic mistake. California’s governor and Legislature need to realize that we are at that moment now for the state’s high-speed rail project. (more…)