California Is Governable. Really!
Here’s something you don’t hear everyday: No question about it, California is governable.
So said Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable, relaying his own views to the “Getting to Reform” conference hosted by Cal State Sacramento, UC Berkeley and Stanford in Sacramento yesterday. Hauck’s been through these reform efforts many times before. He chaired the state’s Constitution Revision Commission, was co-chair of the California Performance Review Commission, and recently was a member of the Commission on the 21st Century Economy. Inside the capitol building, Hauck served as deputy chief of staff to a governor, and chief of staff to two Assembly speakers.
Many have claimed that California’s size, diversity, and political structure make it impossible to govern. Hauck is convinced that the state can be governed with strong leadership and a change in priorities.
Dem Senators Who Should Be Safe, But Aren’t
Democrats are playing defense in some key U.S. Senate races that should otherwise be considered safe.
Historically, Senate incumbents already tend to be a bit less safe than House incumbents simply because one cannot gerrymander a state. House lines are often drawn and redrawn to protect incumbents, while states don’t change borders without something major…like a war. Even in that revolutionary year of 1994, 92% of House members seeking re-election won, while 90% of Senators won.
A review of the position some incumbent Democrat Senators find themselves in shows a level of vulnerability that is out of the ordinary, and certainly a far cry from the last two election cycles which saw heavy Democrat gains.
We’ve already discussed on these pages how Sen. Barbara Boxer is barely clinging to 50% re-election support in a state that went heavily for Obama and she’s represented for 17 years in the Senate alone, plus the House. But a look at some other states shows she is not the only Democrat incumbent with concerns.
Keep L.A. the Entertainment Capital of the World
Each year, the film and television industry generates more than $40 billion in economic revenue in Southern California. We applaud the L.A. City Council for taking action on a series of film production incentives last week. However, they have yet to take action on the region’s largest, most impactful film retention project — NBC Universal’s Evolution Plan.
NBC Universal’s Evolution Plan will establish Los Angeles as the company’s global headquarters for film and television production. This is an economic development opportunity that other cities and states would welcome with wide-open arms. The project will create 31,000 immediate construction jobs and 12,000 new permanent jobs. It is also estimated to deliver $26 million in tax revenues each year. In this economy, these numbers alone should be enough to warrant the prompt attention of our elected officials.