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.
More Supply, Less Regulation Is Path Through Housing Crisis
The California political establishment has passed the Fitzgerald Intelligence Test – that’s the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who in 1936 had this observation: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
In California, that would be the ability to decry income stagnation, wealth inequality, and an embarrassing poverty rate – turning to minimum wage hikes, high wealth taxes, and housing subsidies for solutions. And, at the same time, supporting multiple avenues for the powerful or the clever to insist on their own vision of a “quality of life,” manifesting as extraordinary litigation tools, exclusionary zoning, and underinvestment in public infrastructure. (more…)
California Regulators Ignore Science, Magnify Drinking Water Shortage
In 1983, the Durand Express reported that the city of Durand, Michigan’s water pipes were contaminated with dihydrogen oxide. More alarming, dihydrogen oxide was the main component in acid rain, contributed to the “greenhouse effect” and caused erosion in natural landscapes, the hoax went.
Of course, dihydrogen oxide is more commonly known as water.
Without science, we are susceptible to let fears and ignorance dominate decision-making. Such is the case with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) rule governing perchlorate. (more…)
State Assembly Approves Plan To Bring Back Kelo-Style Redevelopment
Redevelopment agencies would once again have the power to seize private property for big developers under a bill that passed the California State Assembly earlier this month.
Assembly Bill 2, authored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, would give local governments the power to create new entities that would have the same legal authority as redevelopment agencies. These new Community Revitalization Investment Authorities would have the power to issue bonds, award sweetheart deals to businesses and “acquire and transfer property subject to eminent domain,” according to the legislative analysis of the bill. (more…)
Memorial Day
In observance of Memorial Day, we will not publish on Monday, May 25th. Have a great long weekend.
Remember When Brown Was For Local Control?
When I used to write that Gov. Jerry Brown didn’t have much of a plan or an idea behind his second go-round as governor, the protests came back hard. No, no, he’s for local control.
The case for Brown as champion of the locals went like this. He did realignment in criminal justice to give the locals control. His new funding formula for schools included provisions for community plans that would give communities more control. And he was for changes in energy that would empower citizens and communities.
Now, not so much. Brown has doubled down on command-and-control targets from Sacramento on energy efficiency and the environment. Those school community plans? They’re a farce, forcing parents to answer prescribed questions; they can’t honestly be called plans. His much-touted rainy day fund measure limited school districts’ ability to manage their own finances. And realignment – it’s meant more responsibility for locals, but Brown never gave locals the money – or the freedom to raise it. (more…)
All that Analysis of the Glazer Victory
According to the Democratic Party analysis of Steve Glazer’s victory in Senate District 7, Glazer ran a “cynical” campaign appealing to Republicans and, “We know that low turnout elections favor Republicans. When Democratic voters show up and vote, Democrats win.”
I suppose one way to interpret that analysis is that those who only pay attention part time to politics or are not engaged in public affairs and don’t bother to vote in important off-year elections vote for Democrats when they do vote. Some might argue that is a formula for our government’s dysfunction, but that would be cynical and the Democratic analysis already used that term in describing Steve Glazer’s campaign. Both approaches couldn’t be cynical, could they? (more…)