Amazon Ahead Even though the Score is Tied
The result of
the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll on the Amazon tax issue
reminds me of the famous headline when Harvard’s undefeated football team made
an incredible comeback from a huge deficit in the final minute of a game to tie
arch rival and undefeated Yale. The Harvard
Crimson newspaper ran a headline: Harvard Beats Yale
29-29.
The poll has the pubic split at this point on the question whether online
retailers should collect sales tax as in-state retailers do. 46% support the
bill signed by the governor requiring the tax collection while 49% oppose it.
Like the two undefeated Ivy League teams of 1968, powerful opponents will
square off against each other over the referendum if it makes the ballot.
Deep-pocketed online retailers like Amazon will be battling big chain stores
like WalMart.
“Eureka” just doesn’t cut it anymore
As state mottos go, California’s "Eureka" just doesn’t cut
it anymore.
What about exchanging it for "We’ll see you in court"? Or
maybe "Of course I’m going to sue." Then there’s always Yogi Berra’s "It ain’t
over till it’s over."
Welcome to California, where nothing is final until the guys
in the black robes sing.
And considering the way the latest state budget guts court
funding, those concerts could be a long time coming.
Once upon a time, California was a place where the Legislature
and the governor could argue out the details of the state budget, with one side
giving a little here and the other side accepting some adjustments there until
everyone agreed on a spending plan that they might not love, but could at least
live with.
The Redistricting Commission is Doing its Job
While there has been recent grousing in the media regarding the
California Citizen’s Redistricting Commission, let’s not forget the
reasons we voted for the initiatives that that proposed creating the
commission in the first place. Before California passed Prop. 11 and 20,
legislators drew their own district lines, often dividing neighborhoods
or groups of people in ways that benefitted their own electoral needs.
Politicians would neglect the public concerns of their home communities
and make back door deals based on their personal desires to stay in
office. This old practice of political gerrymandering suppressed civic
participation in an important democratic process.
By contrast, the Citizens Commission has already successfully engaged the
public in a manner that has never been done before – with thousands of
people turning out to speak or write to the Commission about their
communities.
Restoring California Competitiveness: Let My People Go!
California was a place originally known for its opportunities, beauty,
wilderness, open roads, Gold Rush mentality, freedom, and innovation. Eureka,
the state’s motto, means "I have found it!"
But this place of dreams is now the land of wishful thinking: a
consummate nanny-state of over-regulation, command and control. From the profoundly and absurdly huge ideas
(saving the planet from climate change while China and India march to a
different tune) to the silly (mandating fitted sheets in hotel rooms). And we’re so over-regulated, that I
guarantee, right now, you are breaking some California law this very
minute. (Did you install your CO2
monitor required in every home July 1? No? $200 fine is on its way.)
Where unemployment at over 12% is one of the highest in the nation–two
million people out of work–the state’s bond ratings flirt with junk status,
and private investors are wary of a constantly changing and uncertain
regulatory environment. Where governors
from other states proactively seek and invite the relocation of our best
businesses. And what’s to stop business
from leaving? California has ranked 49th or 50th on numerous national lists as
the worse place to do business for the last several years. According to Dun & Bradstreet, 2,565
businesses with three or more employees have relocated to other states since
January 2007 and 109,000 jobs left with those employers.
From ‘big tent’ to ‘pup tent’ GOP
Co-authored by Douglas Jeffe. Originally published at Politico.
When
you analyze the dysfunctional politics in Washington and Sacramento you can
clearly see that a real problem is that there just aren’t enough Republicans –
moderate Republicans. As with most trends – good and bad – you can point to
California as the place where the demise of moderate GOP lawmakers took root.
What
difference does it make? Plenty.
Today’s
dominant strain of Republicanism views government as the enemy, something to be
shrunk and defeated, not to be fixed. Democrats, with their dependence on the
political largesse of public-employee unions, are constrained by the status quo
and lack the bipartisan partners necessary to pursue constructive improvements
in the way services are delivered and to tackle the economic realities.
Business
has no place to go to push for a positive agenda. In Washington, as well as in
Sacramento and other state capitals across the country, hyper partisanship reigns
and gridlock persists.