California Crackup Suggests Another Round Of Reform To Remake California’s Constitution
Editor’s Note: I asked both Loren Kaye and Cal State Sacramento professor and former legislative staffer, Tim Hodson, to review “California Crack-Up” by Joe Mathews and Mark Paul in an attempt to get two perspectives of the book. Unfortunately, Tim disclosed recently that he is battling an illness. We want to take this opportunity to wish Tim and his family well. Loren’s review of California Crackup is below. JF
In California Crackup, Joe Mathews’ and Mark Paul’s provocative yet breezy prescription for what ails the Golden State, the authors exhaustively survey the history of governmental and political reform that has long defined the California polity.
They convincingly argue that five separate efforts over more than 150 years to make and remake the California Constitution "would prove no more successful than its predecessors."
Their solution: another round of reform to remake the California Constitution.
In Indiana: Presidential Politics and CA as a Sad Example
I’m in Indiana where the political conversation is centered on Republican Governor Mitch Daniels’ interest in a White House run in 2012. Or is he interested? Daniels has said he is open to the idea, but he has yet to take the kick-off trips to Iowa and New Hampshire.
Over the weekend the press here buzzed about the possibility with Daniels receiving national attention from Fox News and Newsweek. Arnold-like, Daniels rode around for the cameras on a motorcycle in a charity ride that included hundreds of bikes.
Daniels is getting attention for the top government job because Indiana is in relatively good shape compared to other states suffering during the economic downturn. Locals have told me that when Daniels is criticized for the state’s fiscal condition he points out how much better Indiana is doing than California or Illinois.
On Birthright Citizenship, GOP Flirts With Apartheid
The worst idea in American politics right now may be the effort by some Republicans in Congress to end birthright citizenship – the constitutional fact, under the 14th Amendment, that a person born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.
I do not know the intentions of the politicians advancing this argument, but let’s assume they are well-intentioned people, who believe they are preventing illegal immigration with such a policy change.
Here’s what they also would be doing, perhaps unwittingly: establishing a new American system of apartheid. Think about it. Some people born in the United States would be citizens, because they are born to U.S. citizens. Others born in the U.S. would not be citizens, presumably, if one or both parents were not permanent legal residents of the country.
The Class Action from Hell
A recent lawsuit against Skilled Healthcare California LLC has
had little or no coverage and it is amazing. Skilled Healthcare
California was hit with a penalty of $671 million dollars by a Humboldt
County jury. And that does not even include the punitive damages. The
core issue was whether the company violated a state law requiring
nursing homes to provide a minimum of 3.2 nursing hours per patient per
day (ppd). The key word here is minimum.
Senior
care in this state and country is a huge issue. Skilled Healthcare has
never received one complaint against it on the California Nursing Home
Directory. However, this did not stop the plaintiffs’ attorneys. The
judgement was leveled against Skilled Nursing on behalf of the 32,000
patients it has in California, awarding the maximum damages over a six
year period to the whole class.
This
is a company that provides 14,000 jobs to people in California. Its
stock price plummeted 75% on news of the judgement. It looks like it
cannot appeal the decision because to do so you have to post a bond of
150% to do so and its assets are approximately $2 million. It has also
exhausted its primary professional liability insurance.