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.
Confronting Income Inequality: Economic Growth is the Answer
Income inequality is taking center stage as a high profile issue in both national and California politics this year.
An op-ed in Friday’s Washington Post by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch gained attention when he wrote there was one issue he agreed with Democratic Socialist and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. (Sanders) “believes that we have a two-tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness… I agree with him.”
The reference to the agreed upon “two-tired society” caught my attention because of a speech the late congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Jack Kemp, gave to the Heritage Foundation over a quarter century ago. Kemp was addressing the argument put forth by former New York governor Mario Cuomo that America had created a society of two static classes– the rich and the poor. Kemp argued, rather, that America was divided into two economies. (more…)
An Important First Step Toward a Water Market
What gets measured gets managed, ” management guru Peter Drucker once said. In the fourth year of a historic drought, Drucker’s statement is especially relevant.
Simply put, in spite of numerous databases containing information on hydrology, biology, water quality, water use and other technical information, there is no single entity responsible for collecting and reporting all the data necessary for regulatory and water supply managers to make informed and science-based decisions to manage our precious water resources.
What if we could apply the best minds of Silicon Valley, Silicon Beach and individual water agencies throughout the state to address the measurement problem? Why shouldn’t policy makers and all water users have access to a uniform set of reliable and consistent data to make instantaneous decisions that could help us lead to a more sustainable water future? (more…)
Kashkari Proves Brown Wrong, At Last
More than a year after the gubnernatorial campaign of 2014, we finally have a definitive answer to one of that contest’s questions.
Is Neel Kashkari a tool of Wall Street?
The answer is decidedly no. Yes, Gov. Brown endlessly recycled that talking point, linking Kashkari relentlessly to Wall Street. It was exaggerated then, given Kashkari’s limited experience on the street. But after this week, the charge now seems laughable – discredited by Kashkari’s own words and actions. (more…)
The Golden Land: A Prop 13 “Q & A”
“The future always looks good in the golden land, because no one remembers the past.”
Joan Didion wrote that line about California a decade before Prop 13, the Great Tax Revolt of 1978. The revolt was born out of concern for older Californians, who were being priced out of their homes by high property taxes. But as time speeds on, memories get vaguer and the reason the revolt occurred in the first place gets muddied by the Politics of Taxation.
As a teen in the late ’70s, I grew up with passionate discourse, both pro and con, on Prop 13. Savior or Boogie Man? Depends who you asked. My dad bowed to the altar of Prop 13, while my educator friends said it destroyed the state. (more…)
New Power to Pull an Initiative Off the Ballot–Will it be Used?
Against the background of a likely long November ballot full of initiatives, a new power controlled by initiative proponents may come into play for the first time — perhaps shortening the ballot by a measure or two. Two years ago, then Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, shepherded a bill through the legislature that made changes to the one hundred year old initiative law.
Among the provisions of that law, initiative proponents were given the power to pull an initiative before the Secretary of State had certified it, even though enough qualified voters had signed petitions to get the measure on the ballot.
The intent of the reform was to pressure initiative proponents and legislators to come up with compromise legislation and solve the problem addressed by the initiative preventing the need for a ballot campaign. (more…)
The Death of Political Parties in California?
Are both political parties collapsing in California?
Over the past few years the release of Secretary of State data showing a drop in Republican registration has become a routine news story in California.
The trend line for the Grand Ol’ Party certainly isn’t a good one, but it’s not as singularly bad as overly simplistic headlines might suggest. While no party wants to see a decline in membership it’s helpful to look at what’s happening to both major parties to provide better context.
Republican registration has dropped 7% since 2006 and now sits at just over 27% of registered voters in the state. Republican voters tend to be older, whiter and more likely to vote than their Democrat and ‘No Party Preference’ counterparts. (more…)