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.
How Long Can This California Employment Expansion Last?
Since February 2010, California has been experiencing near-steady monthly job growth, with a net gain of over 2.3 million payroll jobs from early 2010 through October 2016.
How does this lengthy job expansion compare to previous expansions in California? How long can it continue? (more…)
Best states for MFG growth since the recession
Since manufacturing is the engine of economic growth, especially for the middle class, we thought we would see which states are having the sector’s best bouncebacks since the recession. Of the 32 states that average more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs overall, Michigan has attracted the largest percentage of growth with 32.49 percent since 2010. California was 24th of 32 states at 2.57 percent. (more…)
Ready! Get Set! Propositions for the 2018 Ballot
Is it too early to look to the 2018 California election? Nahhhhh!
One thing I’ve urged Republicans for decades now is to go on the offensive. And the best way to do that is sponsor several initiatives every election cycle that outrage Democrats. Doing so, on top of the fun factor, forces them to spend millions against the good initiatives, taking money away from pushing bad initiatives and Democratic candidates.
After the election earlier this month, I sat and drank beers with my pal Jim Juroe, an attorney in Orange County. Here are some initiatives we came up with. The first couple should be on every ballot, just on principle – whatever happened the previous election, win or lose. It now takes from $2 to $3 million to gather the signatures to put an initiative on the ballot. Not chump change, but also not impossible. (more…)
Is CA Better Off Under the Top-Two System?
Since voters approved the top two primary in June 2010, the system has been praised, criticized and analyzed with varying degree of intensity but without a consensus about whether it improved democracy in California. More analysis is coming this Friday as the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California is hosting a discussion of the U.S. Senate race that featured two Democrats vying for the prestigious and powerful post.
Attorney General and Democrat Kamala Harris bested Congresswoman and Democrat Loretta Sanchez by nearly 3 million votes out of about 11.5 million votes cast. However, about 2 million voters skipped over that race when voting. Politico Senior Reporter David Siders will moderate the discussion between Sanchez strategist Bill Carrick and Harris strategist Sean Clegg. (more…)
Force Trump to Prove Voter Fraud Now
For California to counter the kleptocratic, white supremacist movement that’s about to take over the White House, it needs to start treating Donald Trump more seriously, aggressively and strategically.
Our failures to confront Trump properly revealed themselves in the official response to the president-elect’s baseless and wholly dishonest allegation that there’s massive voter fraud in California, involving millions of voters.
It’s not easy to read the mind of someone as deranged as Trump, but there was method to the madness. Trump’s legitimacy is being questioned, given his loss in the popular vote. So he wanted to put California, where he lost by more than 3.5 million voters, on the defensive by airing voter fraud allegations on Twitter. (more…)
Caltrain Electrification Project is speeding towards disaster
The local California Bay Area commuter train, Caltrain, has for years been planning to convert from diesel powered trains, to electrically powered train sets. Obtaining funding for the project, which has doubled in projected cost in the last 5 years, has been the major obstacle for Caltrain in achieving that goal.
Now we find Caltrain is being reckless in approving going ahead with the electrification project, while the proposed funding for the project is highly questionable to say the least. At the upcoming Dec 1st Caltrain Board meeting, the directors are being asked to approve a series of actions, to immediately start construction of the project. (more…)