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.
Harris-Sanchez’ Top Two Disaster
The Top Two Primary System voters enacted in 2010 with Proposition 14 has flopped in the race to replace Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate. The official summary that year was written by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown, who supported Prop. 14, and read, “Encourages increased participation in elections for congressional, legislative, and statewide offices by reforming the procedure by which candidates are selected in primary elections.”
It was pushed onto the ballot by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during his Goetterdaemmerung year, when the budget collapsed from his overspending (up 25 percent in just two years, from 2005-2007) just before the Great Recession and he became obsessed with increasing taxes. In return for Sen. Abel Maldonado providing the crucial Republican vote for the $13 billion tax increase in 2009, Arnold tailored Prop. 14 to help Maldonado, supposedly a moderate (but he once was a conservative) get elected governor. (more…)
California’s Coming Election Has More in Common With Brexit Than You Think
Do you think Brexit was a singularly British form of folly, having little to do with California? Think again. California is the global capital of Brexit-style votes, and this November’s state ballot is littered with mini-Brexits.
Don’t think of “a Brexit” as a vote to leave a larger political or economic union. (California isn’t about to leave the U.S.—though a Trump presidency would sure stir a movement for Calexit). Brexit is better understood as a special kind of ballot measure—a plebiscite. Plebiscites are placed on the ballot not by civic or interest groups to advance a cause but by powerful politicians to serve their own political needs.
And plebiscites—to put it bluntly—are cursed. The term comes from the Latin pleb- (the common people) and scitum (decree). But these days it might as well mean “backfire.” (more…)
“Sin” Taxes on the Ballot This Fall
Two measures have qualified for the November ballot that ask California voters to increase so-called “sin” taxes. One measure, the Healthcare, Research, and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act, will add an additional $2.00 per pack to cigarettes sold in the state. Currently, the tax is $0.87 per pack, which ranks lower than the cigarette tax in 33 other states. The other measure, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, proposes to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and impose a state tax on its sales.
States use sin taxes not only to raise revenue for state treasuries, but also to affect behavior. The notion is that as the price of a product goes up, consumption will drop, and with that drop, negative societal consequences—the rate of lung cancer, for instance—will decrease. In fact, revenue from sin taxes often fund related treatment or health care programs. (more…)
The Only Convention That Makes Any Sense
Politics has gone mad here in mid-summer.
The political conventions make no sense. The Republicans, the folks who used to defend the flag, are running down the country. Their nominee could taint the party for a generation or more. The Democrats are suddenly the conservative party, defending the status quo.
Both parties have turned against foreigners. The Republicans demonize immigrants and foreigners overseas (who are all trying to use trade to cheat us, or want to get in the country to blow us up). The Democrats have it half-right—embracing immigrants – and half awful (they are anti-trade).
Xenophobia is bipartisan these days. (more…)
In CA, Political Power Resides where Jobs are Strong
The California Business Roundtable’s monthly report on the state’s employment situation feels like a Jackson Pollock painting with bright colors here, dark spots there while containing hints to why the state’s political power resides where it does.
The Roundtable’s California Center for Jobs and the Economy reports the state’s unemployment rate is 5.4% in June, an uptick of .2% from May. While California ranked first in job creation from June 2015 to June 2016 with 388,211 jobs created (Texas is second with 234,004), California ranks only 22nd when the job creation is calculated as a percentage change. Employment growth per 1000 population California is 21st.
While job gains in the fields of Accommodations, Food Services and Health Care lead the list, job losses are most in the good paying fields of manufacturing and construction as seen in the accompanying chart. (more…)
We Need A Prop 13-Style Ballot Initiative For Gasoline And Diesel Taxes
Attorney General Kamala Harris has reportedly opened an investigation of oil refiners over gasoline prices. But if she truly wants to know why gasoline and diesel cost so much in California, she’ll be grilling the wrong suspects. She should instead investigate the general assembly.
Politicians love to conduct oil industry inquisitions. They know that to some voters, it makes them look like bold warriors fighting on behalf working families. Whenever there’s a spike in gasoline prices, government probes spike, too. Oil companies are characterized as “greedy” multinational corporations “conspiring” and “colluding” to “gouge” customers just because they can. What these faceless, soulless firms are doing is an outrage that must be countered by government power.
Inevitably, these investigations find no villains and prices, primarily determined by supply and demand, soon fall off their highs. In some cases, the drop is precipitous. Do oil companies then garner praise from politicians and bureaucrats for declining prices? Never. It’s as if nothing has happened. Media are uninterested and elected officials look for the next bogeyman. Playing to the electorate is a never-ending task. (more…)