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.
Another Political Battle Waged At Expense Of Working Families
This past week we have seen what will happen if we allow the professional political class to continue to run Washington: Nothing.
On Friday Congress failed to pass a key component of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a bi-partisan trade bill that is important to the hard working families of California.
Almost one out of every 10 dollars of the California economy ($174 billion) comes from trade. In fact, over 40% of California’s exports go to Asia-Pacific, the area covered by the TPP. California’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency has said “International trade and investment is a major economic engine for the state of California that broadly benefits businesses, communities, consumers and state government.” (more…)
To Fast Track or Not?
On Friday, the House of Representatives voted against the Fast track Trade Package sent over by the Senate. This comes after months of pressure by environmental, labor, and consumer advocacy groups; the Sierra Club and AFL-CIO among them. California’s congressional delegation was particularly lobbied by both sides of the debate, with groups such as “Main St. 4 Growth” and the Chamber of Commerce vying for Congress member’s support for both TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) and Fast Track (TPA), the combined trade package.
The TAA vote, which would’ve provided $450 million for “re-training” and supplement-income programs for Americans who lose their jobs over expanded trade, was defeated in the House (126 For, 302 Against). TAA is historically supported by Democrats, but the passage of the concurring Fast Track vote, which the majority of Democrats oppose, depended on the passing of TAA. (more…)
Medi-Cal Boom Strains Doctors and Budgets
With Medicaid eligibility expanded nationwide under the Affordable Care Act, Medi-Cal enrollees have discovered that care in California is not keeping up with increased demand.
“Today, more than 12 million Californians, nearly one-third of the state’s total population, are enrolled in the government’s health insurance plan for low-income, disabled and disadvantaged residents,” U-T San Diego reported.
Wrangling reimbursements
The sharply increased burden has driven stark divides into statewide politics. The dispute has centered around reimbursement rates, which have fallen low enough to discourage many doctors from accepting Medi-Cal. (more…)
A Reply to Supporters of Prop 218
I made the case against Prop 218—and for repealing it – a few weeks ago in this space. My friend Jon Coupal wrote forcefully against my argument and for Prop 218.
We’re not going to agree on Prop 218. But there is one point in his rebuttal I want to respond to. It has to do with the impacts of Prop 218 on local politics and local government.
My argument was, in my original piece, that Prop 218 – and other measures like it, including Prop 13– actually creates more spending locally because it takes away the power of local officials to tax. This may seem like a paradox. It isn’t. I wrote: (more…)
AB 465: Trial Lawyers’ Attack On Arbitration
Study after study has shown that consumers and employees actually fare better in arbitration than in court. In a 2006 study by Mark Fellows, Legal Counsel at the National Arbitration Forum, analyzed data from California and found that consumers prevail in arbitration 65.5% of the time, as compared to 61% of the time in court. Many other studies have shown that arbitration is generally faster, cheaper and more effective than the litigation system.
However, that is not stopping the trial lawyers in California from attacking arbitration. Why? Because when disputes are resolved through arbitration, the only ones who don’t benefit from arbitration are lawyers, who have fewer opportunities to profit from the abuse of our lawsuit system. (more…)
The Best Cities For Jobs 2015
Since the U.S. economy imploded in 2008, there’s been a steady shift in leadership in job growth among our major metropolitan areas. In the earliest years, the cities that did the best were those on the East Coast that hosted the two prime beneficiaries of Washington’s resuscitation efforts, the financial industry and the federal bureaucracy. Then the baton was passed to metro areas riding the boom in the energy sector, which, if not totally dead in its tracks, is clearly weaker.
Right now, job creation momentum is the strongest in tech-oriented metropolises and Sun Belt cities with lower costs, particularly the still robust economies of Texas.
Topping our annual ranking of the best big cities for jobs are the main metro areas of Silicon Valley: the San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco Metropolitan Division, followed by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, swapping their positions from last year. (more…)