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.

No One Is Coming To The Rescue To Solve California’s Housing Crisis. So Let’s Do It Ourselves.

The first signs appeared years ago, in our own neighborhoods, when we noticed just how many grown kids and grandkids were still living in their parents’ spare bedrooms. Why couldn’t these 25-year-olds get a place of their own? Were there really no available apartments? Wait, they cost how much?!

Then, it dawned on us. Look around, and you see it everywhere. In every town in California, there are too many moms and their kids struggling to find a safe place to sleep at night. There are too many older homeowners trapped in oversized houses, priced out of their own neighborhoods, and unable to move—or have their children—anywhere close by. There are too many blue-collar workers leaving the state because of rising rents and four-hour commutes that are bad for the backs, bad for the air we breathe, and bad for their families. And there are too many workers at every income level—from young doctors to teachers and scientists and entrepreneurs—who scoff at the idea of moving here because it costs too much.

There are too many of us who have been wringing our hands about this for too long. (more…)

California Factors Dampen Upward Mobility For The Poor

Children born to low-income parents in California have slightly higher lifetime earnings than children born to low-income parents in other states – but not because they live in California.

Researchers credit the better income mobility to the parents. In fact, these same children would have experienced even greater upward income mobility had they grown up outside of California.

These findings were released by the Legislative Analyst, using data developed by a team of researchers led by Raj Chetty of Stanford. The national study found that barely half of 30-year-olds earn more than their parents did at a similar age, a steep decline from the early 1970s when the incomes of nearly all offspring outpaced their parents.  (more…)

Model for CA GOP Gov. May Be Found in New England

The California gubernatorial election is 22 months away but already the media is filled with stories about the coming campaign. Given the superiority in Democratic voter registration in this state it is assumed that a Democrat will succeed Jerry Brown in the corner office. Yet, for Republicans there may be hope when witnessing the success of GOP governors in another blue section of the country, New England.

Of the six New England states, Republicans head four, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. By voter registration, four New England states are ranked in the top ten as the most Democratic states in the Union as of early last year with Massachusetts number one and Vermont number five. California was number six on the list.

In a Washington Post column last month, James Hohmann attempted to discover how Republican governors captured these Democratic strongholds. (more…)

It’s Time to Hold Climate Change Policy-Makers Accountable

In reaction to the election of Donald Trump California’s Governor, state legislature and Air Resources Board have made clear their intention to double down on our state’s already strictest-in-the-nation climate change policies.

Making such claims is easy when ignoring the current cost burden of the state’s climate policies on consumers and businesses, and how much more the costs will skyrocket under increasingly high greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Unelected bureaucrats at the California Air Resources Board have resisted any legitimate attempt at conducting a comprehensive economic analysis of AB 32, the state’s landmark 1996 global warming law– either during the rulemaking process or once the regulations took effect.  CARB is attempting more of the same with the newly established 2030 40% emissions reduction target. (more…)

California’s Racial Politics Harming Minorities

Across the country, white voters placed Donald Trump in office by a margin of 21 points over Clinton. Their backing helped the GOP gain control of a vast swath of local offices nationwide. But in California, racial politics are pushing our general politics the other direction, way to the left.

Some of this reflects California’s fast track toward a “minority-majority” state. Along with a few other states — Hawaii, Texas and New Mexico — California is there now, with minorities accounting for 62 percent of the population, compared to 43 percent in 1990. The shift in the electorate has been slower but still powerful. In 1994, registered Democrats held a 12 percentage-point margin over Republicans. By 2016, the margin had widened to 19 points. (more…)

Eric Holder to Save the CA Economy?

What caught my attention when legislative leaders hired former United States Attorney General Eric Holder was not the obvious rationale expected of the Democratic majority promising resistance to a Trump presidency on issues of immigration, climate change and health care, or even the need and expense for such a move considering the state Attorney General’s role to stand up for California, but the expectation that Holder’s law firm will help preserve California’s economy. According to the Los Angeles Times, senate president pro tem Kevin de León said, “Hiring the former attorney general — the nation’s top lawyer — it shows that we’re very serious in protecting the values of the people of California against any attempt to undermine the policies that has made us the fifth-largest economy in the world.”

There can be debate over whether the policies de León speaks of actually held back the California economy with its high taxes, burdensome regulations, and restrictive housing, water and transportation policies. (more…)