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.
Californians Deserve Better Protection When Shopping
First it was our favorite one-stop-shop – Target – exposing the information of 110 million people. A year later, it was our iconic orange friend that helps us do it ourselves – Home Depot – leaving 56 million store credit card holders feeling betrayed.
Nearly 160 million people, doing what makes our economy tick – shopping – subjected to unwarranted angst and a feeling of helplessness in a nation where 43 percent of companies experienced a data breach in the past year. In California, home of the eighth largest economy in the world, the issue is even more profound – 17 percent of 2012 U.S. data breaches occurred here and reported breaches increased by 28 percent in 2013, according to a recent California Attorney General report. (more…)
Redistricting Case Before the Supreme Court: Will of the People in the Balance
Justice Anthony Kennedy of California is the key to the Arizona Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission case heard before the Supreme Court this week. Sitting in the Supreme Court on Monday, I think he asked questions that suggest he is in the middle and could go either way.
John Myers of KQED, veteran California politics watcher, reminded us of Justice Kennedy’s California roots. Long before donning a judge’s robe, Justice Kennedy drafted an initiative for then-Governor Ronald Reagan. Clearly, he is a person deeply familiar with how the initiative process is an integral part of California’s lawmaking process. (more…)
GOP Pulse Detected
News Flash: The California Republican Party appears to have a pulse. From all appearances, “Dr.” Brulte seems to be weaning the state’s GOP off life support.
Despite the party’s anemic scorecard in the last election, there was a new tone and heightened energy in the air at last weekend’s Republican convention in Sacramento. To paraphrase Monty Python, the CAGOP is “not dead yet.”
Even though Republicans lost every statewide office in the last election and appear nowhere near fielding a top tier candidate for Barbara Boxer’s open U.S. Senate seat, GOP State Chair Jim Brulte, and his cohorts touted the gain of enough Assembly and Senate seats in 2014 to hold Democrats under the two-thirds supermajority in the legislature. (These days, it doesn’t take much good news to bolster GOP hopes.) (more…)
L.A. Voters Want Company
Voters in Los Angeles who bothered to vote in yesterday’s primary election decided they want company when future city and school district elections are called. They overwhelmingly supported two charter amendments to change the timing of the elections to coincide with national elections beginning in 2020. More than 76-percent of the voters approved the change.
“Overwhelming” is a relative term in this circumstance. Preliminary post election night figures showed that only about 8-percent of registered city voters participated in the vote to move the city elections. The Los Angeles school district boundaries, which go beyond the city limits and includes an additional 330,000 registered voters, showed a turnout of a tick under 7 percent. (more…)
John Mockler, Education Guru
(John Mockler, the legendary Sacramento education policy maven, died on Tuesday. State Librarian Greg Lucas captured John’s life and spirit in the following obituary, which ran in Capitol Weekly. – Loren Kaye)
John Mockler, one of the most influential voices on California education policy for more than 40 years, died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He was 73.
“John knew education law like no one else and was able to put school finance on a solid footing that endures even today. He was also a great human being who I will deeply miss,” Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday. (more…)
Supreme Court Opens The Door To A Democratic Gerrymander
Has the United States Supreme Court just given California Democrats the right to gerrymander California’s congressional districts to their hearts’ delight? That’s the most likely conclusion from the oral arguments in a case involving the Arizona independent redistricting commission. If the Court rules for the Arizona legislature, as the oral arguments strongly imply, the Court will also of necessity toss out the current California congressional maps and return California districting to the legislature.
In 2010, California voters took congressional redistricting away from the legislature and gave it to the newly created Citizens Redistricting Commission. Arizona has a similar commission, and legislative Republicans there were unhappy with that state’s new congressional lines. So they sued contending only the legislature can draw congressional districts. The Supreme Court appears likely to agree with Arizona’s Republicans, but in the process it will give a huge gift to California Democrats. (more…)