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.
Don’t Ignore Science with California’s Climate Programs
Regardless of whether a vote is taken before the end of session on the future of California’s climate programs, the conversation taking place about what these programs should look like is a very important one. Clearly Californians place a high priority on reducing the impacts of climate change. Reflecting this, our state’s environmental policies have already gone far beyond any other state and undoubtedly some of our efforts have been successful.
This is all the more reason not to rush an end-of-session extension of our climate programs that fails to address the legitimate criticisms that have plagued them the past few years. Whatever path California ends up taking, it cannot continue to offer a blank check to unelected government officials. (more…)
No Blank Checks for Jerry Brown’s Pet Projects
If approved by a majority of the voters, Proposition 53, the Stop Blank Checks Initiative, “all revenue bonds issued or sold by the State in an amount singly or in the aggregate over $2 billion for any single project owned, operated, or managed by the State must first be approved by the voters at a statewide election.”
This measure, another well-conceived effort to increase transparency into how the State spends our money, deserves our support, a YES vote, much like Proposition 54, the California Transparency Act that prohibits the Legislature from passing any bill unless it has been publicized on the internet for at least 72 hours before the vote. (more…)
An Attempt to Get Public Financing of Campaigns Through the Back Door
Sen. Ben Allen’s SB 1107 wants to allow public funding of campaigns, something voters prohibited years ago. A long time acquaintance of mine, David Keating who now runs the Center for Competitive Politics in Washington, D.C. had an opinion piece in yesterday’s Orange County Register blasting the attempt by Sen. Allen to overturn a vote of the people with what Keating says is an unconstitutional bill. The voters outlawed public financing of campaigns with Proposition 73 in 1988. As someone who signed the ballot argument in favor of Proposition 73, I agree with Keating’s assessment. If legislators want public financing, legislators can’t do it on their own—they have to ask the voters.
California Has A Slow-Motion Housing Emergency
The state is under-building by tens of thousands of new houses and apartments each year that are needed to meet demand. As a result, home prices and rents are soaring and commutes are lengthening – especially in coastal metropolitan regions.
If a fire or flood or earthquake had wiped out a thousand or five thousand homes and apartments, the Governor would have rightly declared a state of emergency with all hands on deck.
Thankfully Californians are not suffering that direct human tragedy. But political gridlock in Sacramento is abetting a similar calamity – the impoverishment of Californians forced to pay dearly for housing and to travel ever further to get to work. (more…)
“Drug Transparency” Bill Hurts Patients, Drives Up Costs
Curbing the rising cost of prescription drugs is something every American supports. And, Senate Bill 1010 attempts to do just this. However, what Senator Hernandez’ legislation fails to do is tackle the real culprit: skyrocketing healthcare costs.
Singling out pharmaceutical manufacturers is easy, convenient and politically expedient. It creates great sound bites in an election year, and allows every legislator supporting the bill to say that they “took on the pharmaceutical industry.”
But, nothing could be further from the truth. (more…)
California for Whom?
“Old in error,” writes historian Kevin Starr, “California remains an American hope.” Historically, our state has been a beacon to outsiders seeking a main chance: from gold miners and former Confederates to Midwesterners displaced by hardship, Jews seeking opportunity denied elsewhere, African Americans escaping southern apartheid, Asians fleeing communism and societal repression, Mexicans looking for a way out of poverty, counter-culture émigrés looking for a place where creation can overcome repression.
Yet, this notion of California as a land of outsiders is being turned on its head, our state’s dream repackaged — often with the approval of its ruling hegemons — as something more like a medieval city, expelling the poor and the young, while keeping the state’s blessings to the well-educated, well-heeled, and generally older population. (more…)