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.
Happy President’s Day
Happy President’s Day!
Fun Fact: The holiday was originally established to celebrate George Washington’s birthday, but now it always takes place on the third Monday in February, so it acts as a combo celebration for Washington, Abraham Lincoln and any other presidents you like.
Fox and Hounds Daily will resume publishing on Tuesday, February 21st.
Read All the Lines in an Editorial
We are often told that we must “read between the lines” to get a true understanding of what the words on a page mean. In the case of political campaign material, it is safer to read all the lines in the original source material from which the campaign material is quoted.
Take the contentious Measure S on the Los Angeles City ballot March 7. The measure, sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would put a two-year moratorium on certain Los Angeles developments, avoid one time adjustments to the plan that approve specific developments and require the city council to redo the city’s planning documents.
If you read the cuts taken from Los Angeles Times editorials included in the campaign mailers that are hitting mailboxes it would seem the Times’ editors are all for the measure. (more…)
Top Two’s Next Victim? The 2018 Gubernatorial Contest
Boy does California ever need a robust, wide-ranging debate about the future of the state, and the future of governance. And so you might think that the 2018 governor’s race, with the incumbent termed out, would be just the opportunity for such a debate.
But there’s no chance of such a debate. Top two will keep the conversation narrow.
California’s top two system (I don’t call it a primary, even though the state does, because top two eliminates primaries) has many faults. In 2018, we’ll experience how, in the names of expanding choices, it eliminates our choices.
All the candidates of all parties are on the ballot in the first round of balloting. That is supposed to encourage moderation and spur turnout and give voters more choices, but it does the opposite of those things. (more…)
Top Two Reform Speaks to the Political Middle
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, host Chuck Todd made a comment in the guise of a question that talked about the “hollowed-out middle” of American politics, namely how hyper-partisanship will endure because voter behavior in the primaries only results in very conservative Republicans and very liberal Democrats.
The story of growing division is a common theme in political cable news, which can often focus on partisan conflicts and Twitter wars.
Well, Chuck, while that might be true where you live and obviously guides how you produce your program, it isn’t the case where I live.
Since Californians passed the Top Two primary in 2010 that middle vote, which Todd and others think has been disenfranchised nationally by the hyper-partisanship, has been alive and well in the Golden State. (more…)
Half of Small Businesses Say Regulations are a Problem
According to new research by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small business owners are drowning in regulations imposed by every level of government. It is a major problem affecting millions of businesses, and the federal government is the biggest contributor.
For small businesses in California, however, we know that in many areas including labor and environmental law, the state frequently reaches far beyond federal regulations, which only compounds the regulatory burden imposed by the federal government.
According to the survey, 25 percent of small employers say regulations are a “very serious problem.” Another 23 percent say regulations are a “somewhat serious problem.” (more…)
Government Policies Perpetuate Poverty in California
Anyone can see the road that they walk on
Is paved in gold
And it’s always summer
They’ll never get cold
They’ll never get hungry
They’ll never get old and gray
~ Fastball, “The Way,” 1998
Before California was officially christened the Golden State by the Legislature in 1968, it was also known as the Land of Milk and Honey. The California dream of prosperity was touched off by a gold rush, and there followed for decades a steady flow of millions seeking better lives. Fastball’s Tony Scalzo didn’t have California in mind when he wrote “The Way,” but for many, his description is the image they see in their heads when they think of migrating to California. That is the dream. (more…)