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.
Transitioning to an Emerging Green Economy
California may not be alone in its efforts to deal with climate change but neither can state officials ignore the need for a smooth transition to a greener economy that would rely on traditional energy sources. That was the message gleaned from the opening sessions of the 10th annual VerdeXchange conference in Los Angeles dedicated to promoting a green economy.
David Heurtel, Quebec Province’s Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, and the Fight Against Climate Change, argued that California cannot be considered an outlier in the climate change debate given the state’s position as the sixth largest economy in the world. Quebec has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with California creating a linked cap-and-trade system.
State Senator Bob Hertzberg spoke of recent meetings with Chinese officials and Oregon legislators promoting strategies for preventing climate change. The Canadian Minister pointed out that when China employs its cap-and-trade program nationally, as it has proposed to do, 60% of the world’s GDP would be covered by cap-and-trade laws. (more…)
Where Is the Fight in Eric Holder?
The state legislature did the right thing in hiring an outside lawyer who knows Washington as it prepares for a multi-front battle against our unhinged new president and his administration.
But did they pick the right lawyer?
That’s the question Sacramento should be asking about former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The lawyer has a sterling reputation as a thoughtful person and administrator. But looking over his career, there’s little evidence that he’s much of a fighter.
Holder’s time as attorney general was distinguished by the fights he wouldn’t take on. In particular, he repeatedly declined to go after banks and bankers who not only caused the great recession, but also were engaged in money laundering or other fraud. Whistleblowers in the financial industry have frequently said there was little appetite in Holder’s Justice Department to pursue wrongdoers. And the fact that Wells Fargo and its executive never went to jail – for its systemic fraud borders on the criminal in itself. (more…)
Advice for California Republicans: Audacity! Audacity! Always Audacity!
If Donald Trump’s victory has taught Republicans across the land anything, it’s to follow Danton’s cry to the Assembly (the French one, not the one in Sacramento): Audacity! Audacity! Always Audacity!
Shut out of any statewide office and with less than 1/3 in each house of the Legislature, what do they have to lose?
The Bush-Dole-Bush-McCain-Romney sellouts on so many issues, of blending with the Democrats’ socialism, is over. California’s version is the Pete Wilson-Arnold Schwarzenegger-Meg Whitman sellouts, which wimpified the party in this state. That’s why Republicans keep losing.
Wilson, actually, is the exception that proves the rule. After winning the governorship in 1990, he wimped out and joined Democrats in raising taxes a then-record $7 billion. More taxes came in 1993. Down and seemingly out for his re-election in 1994, he grasped the Proposition 187 limitation in immigration and beat Kathleen Brown. (more…)
The Immigration Dilemma
In often needlessly harsh ways, President Donald Trump is forcing Americans to face issues that have been festering for decades, but effectively swept under the rug by the ruling party duopoly. Nowhere is this more evident than with immigration, an issue that helped to spark Trump’s quixotic, but ultimately successful, campaign.
Many Americans are clearly upset about an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, and many also fear the arrival of more refugees from Islamic countries. Perhaps no issue identified by Trump has been more divisive.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s rhetoric has stirred bitter anger among the country’s polite establishment, right and left, as well as the progressive grievance industry. His call for a massive border wall has not only offended our neighbor, Mexico, but also created legitimate concern in Latino communities of massive raids. According to a 2012 study for the National Institutes for Health, the undocumented account for roughly one in five Mexicans and up to half of those from Central American countries. (more…)
Escalating Tax Wars
First came the threat from the Trump administration that California sanctuary cities would no longer receive federal money if the cities defied U.S. immigration policy. Next, former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown said California officials are considering ways to withhold tax revenue from the federal government. “California could very well become an organized non-payer,” he said.
In response, former Assemblyman Tim Donnelly wrote a scolding article detailing how California would come out the worse in such a battle. The idea of withholding taxes to protest policy has escalated. In the Flash Report blog, the headline over a link to Donnelly’s column read: Let’s Stop Paying CA Taxes!
Tax resistance is not new in this country. In fact, the United States became a country because of tax resistance beginning with the 1765 stamp tax. (Ironically, the U.S. government currently issues a First Class Forever stamp to commemorate, of all things, repeal of the Stamp Act.) (more…)
Are Climate Policies Really an Economic Boon to the San Joaquin Valley?
“Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.” – Margaret Peters
State climate policies are boosting the San Joaquin Valley’s economy. At least that’s the basic message that the authors of a recent study are trying to convey.
On January 19 the Bay Area organization Next 10 released a commissioned report entitled The Economic Impacts of California’s Major Climate Programs on the San Joaquin Valley. Conducted by U.C. Berkeley’s Donald Vial Center on the Green Economy and its Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, the study attempts to quantify the economic impacts of three of California’s major climate programs and policies in the Valley: cap and trade, the renewables portfolio standard (RPS), and energy efficiency programs managed by investor-owned utilities. (more…)