Triple Tie for First in GOP Senate Debate
If you listen to the campaigns – something that’s not generally recommended – Friday’s GOP Senate debate resulted in a three-way tie for first.
“Today’s debate … made it clear that Tom Campbell is the most serious challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer,” crowed the former congressman’s staff.
“One thing was clear coming out of that debate: Carly proved she is the best candidate to beat Barbara Boxer in November,” said an elated spokeswoman for Fiorina.
“DeVore Wins First Debate,” was the headline on Assemblyman Chuck DeVore’s web site.
Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, even if it’s a little bit, well, self-serving. And to be fair, judging a debate is always going to be subjective.
A Long Way to Go
Maybe the optimists are right. The Governor has said “the worst is over” for the California economy.
But even if California has reached the nadir of our economic tumble, we’ve got a long way to go to climb back out.
The chart below tells the story (it looks worse than earlier versions since the employment numbers recently have been revised downward). Since the recession began in California in the summer of 2007, we’ve lost 1.3 million jobs – nine percent of employment. This is far worse than any other recession for the past half-century, but worse for construction (35% down), manufacturing (16% down), retail (12% down), and finance (14% down). The only sectors not seeing major job losses have been government (flat) and health care (up four percent).
Taxes Increase; Businesses Leave: An LA Case Study
Word out of Los Angeles on Friday was that the Los Angeles City Council voted to cut business taxes for Internet based firms. In the middle of a catastrophic city budget shortfall? How could that be?
The City Council was not reckless as it might appear. In fact, the tax cut measure will benefit the city’s treasury over time.
The City of Los Angeles taxes business according to the type of business carried out, with different categories paying different tax rates. For example, businesses that fall into the category of “multimedia businesses” pay a gross receipts tax based on a rate of $1.01 per $1,000 of gross receipts. A business that falls in the “business and professions” category pays a rate of $5.07 per $1,000 of gross receipts.
While I have problems with the Los Angeles business gross receipts tax, let’s put that aside for the moment and see why, despite the big budget shortfall in the city, council members chose to lower the tax on Internet firms.
Is a “Green Job” really a Job?
As the English language goes, if you have to qualify a noun by preceding it with an adjective, then the subject is generally considered diluted.
For instance, if you feel the need to say you’re a “Registered Republican,” then you’re probably not wholeheartedly Republican. If you find yourself saying you’re a “Progressive Democrat,” there’s a strong likelihood you’re more “Progressive” than “Democrat.” And if you know deep down you’re a “bleach blonde” then trust me, you’re not really a blonde.
Such is the case with the nomenclature we’ve assigned to this phrase “Green Jobs.”
It begs the question: Is a “Green Job” really a Job?
Job numbers are hard and fast. Numbers in, numbers out. Each month, we receive a Jobs report showing the Net Loss/Gain of Jobs in this nation.
An Employment Director Who Failed-And Lessons For California Today
In the Spring of 1975 as a graduate student at Oxford University, I took the train to London one Saturday to attend a session of national Labor Party officials. Michael Foot, was the national Employment Secretary at the time in the Labor government of Harold Wilson, and one of the main speakers.
I thought of this Saturday long ago as I read that Michael Foot died Wednesday at the age of 96. I don’t recall anything of that session other than Foot’s oratory. He was a brilliant orator, as even his many opponents in the Labor Party, such as Dennis Healy, acknowledged. At one point in he declaimed of an initiative he regarded as misdirected, “Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles”. Indeed.
Foot had a lengthy career in government and politics, starting in 1934 when he joined the Labor Party. He served in Parliament from 1945 to 1955, and later from 1960 through 1992. He actually led the Labor Party from 1980 through 1983, when he lost in a landslide to Margaret Thatcher and was replaced by Neil Kinnock.