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.

Aiming for Supermajority, California Democrats Play Trump Card

The one shred of power Republicans hold in the California statehouse—enough seats to block Democratic lawmakers from a “supermajority”—is on the brink in this election.

Already California is one of only seven states in which Democrats control the legislature and the governor’s office (as compared to 23 states where the GOP holds both). Here, Republicans no longer hold a single statewide office. What they do have is enough seats to block Democrats from a two-thirds majority—meaning that Democrats can’t raise taxes or pass certain kinds of bills without some bipartisan support.

But even that modicum of clout could slip away at the polls next month. The Republican share of California’s registered voters has dwindled to just 27 percent. Demographics, voting trends and turnout at the polls all threaten to cut even further against the GOP here. And of course there’s the elephant in the room: Donald Trump, a presidential nominee quite unpopular in California. (more…)

In California, Taxes Are Almost Always Temporary

It’s the talking point that won’t die: that California’s temporary taxes aren’t really temporary. It’s an argument usually offered by the anti-tax crowd when they’re opposing some tax hike proposals. You just can’t trust those “temporary” tax proposals, they say, because no taxes are ever temporary.

That is nonsense. In California, the opposite is true. Tax hikes here are almost always temporary. And that’s a problem, for two reasons. Our tax structure doesn’t make much sense. And way too much of our spending—because it’s protected by the constitution – is permanent.

The latest temporary-is-permanent claims are surfacing from people like Joel Fox in this space and the columnist Tom Elias. Elias recently wrote that California has only seen one temporary tax disappear on schedule (an old Pete Wilson tax on the rich). (more…)

How Would President Hillary Affect California?

Should Hillary Clinton be elected president on Nov. 8, how would that affect California?

1– National recession. As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard just reported in the Telegraph, “The risk of a US recession next year is rising fast. The Federal Reserve has no margin for error. Liquidity is suddenly drying up. Early warning indicators from US ‘flow of funds’ data point to an incipent squeeze, the long-feared capitulation after five successive quarters of declining corporate profits.”

Uh-oh.

There are ways to deal with this. When something similar happened 35 years ago, President Reagan and Fed Chairman Paul Volcker met it with cuts in taxes and regulations and stabilizing the dollar at $350 an ounce of gold – even though Volcker pushed up interest rates to kill off the 1970s inflation. As Reagan later admitted, it was a mistake to delay the bulk of his tax cuts to 1983. But when the tax cuts finally freed the economy, that year it grew at 7 percent, and at least 4 percent annually until President George H.S. Bush’s “Read my lips! New taxes!” tax increase of 1991 sparked a recession. (more…)

Final Legislative Tally for Small Business: Challenges Ahead in 2017

As the leading voice of small business in California, NFIB has been front and center this legislative session advocating for and against bills which would have significant impacts on our struggling small businesses across the state. In my three decades working in politics, I don’t think I’ve seen a legislative session pass such a high number of bad bills which will result in higher costs, additional mandates, and burdensome regulations on our job creators.

This is why NFIB regularly updated and shared our The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly list of bills which have the greatest impact, either positive or negative, to small businesses in California. Although many legislators leave Sacramento and go back to their districts claiming to be friends of small business—the reality comes from how they voted on The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly bills. (more…)

California’s Governors Should Send Their Kids To Public Schools

Citizens feel confident President Obama would never move himself and his family to another country for their safety. National security is the #1 presidential responsibility. Citizens expect presidents to experience the consequences of their leadership in that regard.

In California, K-12 education is the #1 gubernatorial responsibility. It’s the first and largest category in the Governor’s Budget, accounting for 42% of the state’s General Fund. Governors sign off on the Education Code that governs recruiting, retaining and firing teachers and more. Just as the US military is the largest enterprise operated by the federal government, K-12 education is the largest enterprise operated by the state. In fact, it’s the largest enterprise of all in California with >300,000 employees. (more…)

Anne Gust Brown for Attorney General

Gov. Jerry Brown’s best choice for attorney general – an appointment he must make after Kamala Harris’ election to the U.S. Senate — is obvious: his wife, Anne Gust Brown.

Call it nepotism if you want. But Anne Gust Brown is highly qualified. She not only had a distinguished career as a lawyer. But she helped run the attorney general’s office during her husband’s four-year stint there before becoming governor

And while there are many other qualified candidates interested in the post, the first lady is the only one who can redefine the job in the way it needs to be redefined. As teammate of the governor. (more…)