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.
I Really Am Leaving The Country Post-Election
Now that the election is over, are you leaving the country? If not, you ought to reconsider.
I’m not kidding. Yes, a handful of our fellow Californians—prominent citizens from Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston to Miley Cyrus and Barbra Streisand—proclaimed themselves so disgusted with the sorry state of democracy that they pledged to depart the United States after the November elections. And yes, none of them have made actual arrangements for their exile; perhaps their Golden State digs are too swank to flee.
But I do know at least one non-celebrity Californian, whose humble abode is eminently flee-able, who is taking his frustrations with California and American-style democracy overseas. This weekend, in fact, he’s decamping for Europe, where he’ll work to figure out where his country and state are going wrong democracy-wise. (more…)
A Few Questions For My Fellow California Voters
I have a few questions for California voters:
- Californians who voted YES on Proposition 55, can you please explain what your rationale was for voting for an increase in personal income taxes when California already has the highest personal income tax rate in the country?
- Californians who voted YES on Proposition 57, can you please explain what your rationale was for voting to release criminal felons into our communities, thereby creating less-safe communities for our citizens?
- Californians who voted YES on Proposition 58, can you please explain what your rationale was for voting to allow foreign students to be taught in their native language instead of in English when study after study has shown that students become more proficient in English when they are taught in English?
- Californians who voted YES on Proposition 67, can you please explain what your rationale was for banning plastic bags when they are now biodegradable and present no danger to the environment?
California Election Postmortem
California voters yesterday lurched even further to the political Left, the state even more out of step with the rest of the country. In a battle of two Democrats for a U.S. Senate seat, Bay Area leftist Attorney General Kamala Harris trounced Orange County moderate Rep. Loretta Sanchez, two to one – a greater margin than the victory in the state of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.
The Senate election again showed the bankruptcy of the “Top Two” primary reform of 2010, Proposition 14, which was supposed to produce moderate victors. As in many other local races, this race mainly prevented voters from having alternatives on the ballot from the Republican Party and third parties.
On the 17 state initiatives, giddy voters overall imposed massively higher taxes, spending and regulations. Combined with the $15 per hour minimum wage passed earlier this year by the Legislature, California in the future is going to be a much more expensive and less pleasant place to live. The next recession, which could hit next year, again will zoom unemployment above the 10 percent level and rapidly empty the state treasury, despite – or, rather, because of – the tax increases. (more…)
Jerry Brown Is Our President
We’ll soon have two presidents, and one will live in Sacramento
There’s the guy that a plurality of American voters elected Tuesday. He arrives in office as the most unpopular president elect in U.S. history. He’s reviled – and rightly so – by many for his bigotry and belief in all sorts of discredited nosense. He’s seen as a threat to the republic.
But he leads a Republican party that controls the White House and both houses of Congress. Who is the highest-ranking Democrat in DC? Schumer or Pelosi, if they can hold onto their posts. But they don’t really matter. (more…)
Donald Trump’s Victory
Donald Trump pulled it off. He will be the 45th president of the United States.
Hillary Clinton had everything going for her or so it seemed—plenty of money, strong organization, a blue-chip veteran staff, a reasonably united Party, decades of campaign experience and the support of a popular president.
It was not enough.
Trump had something that she lacked and it made all the difference. He knew how to tap into the feelings of millions of voters fed up with politics as usual and determined to bring down the old order that she epitomized. (more…)
Prop. 55: California Voters Extend Highest Income Tax Brackets to Fund Education and Healthcare
California voters on November 8 passed Proposition 55, which is an initiative constitutional amendment which took effect on November 9. This ballot measure was the successful effort to extend the Prop. 30 highest marginal tax rates promoted by Governor Brown and others in 2012 as a “temporary tax” to help stabilize the state’s General Fund. Prop. 55 was opposed by some segments of the business community, but no serious opposition effort was mounted against this ballot measure.
Pursuant to the Attorney General’s Title and Summary, Prop. 55 extends by twelve years the “temporary” personal income tax increases enacted in 2012 on earnings over $250,000 (for single filers; over $500,000 for joint filers; over $340,000 for heads of household). Prop. 55 allocates these tax revenues 89% to K-12 schools and 11% to California Community Colleges, as well as up to $2 billion per year in certain years for healthcare programs. (more…)