Disputed Radio Ad Reflects Changing Political Landscape
By now you probably have heard the deceitful radio
ad funded by a group called Californians Against Identity Theft that is
attempting to discourage people from signing initiative and referendum
petitions by scaring them into believing their signatures on the petitions
could lead to identity theft. The dishonesty of the pitch has brought
rebuke from across the political spectrum and by groups that battle
identity theft.
The goal of the Californians Against Identity
Theft is to limit the use of direct democracy. That can clearly be detected on
the group’s
website which highlights not problems with identity theft but accusations
against the initiative process.
At least one California public employee union
has admitted being behind the ad. The public unions are opposed to some
initiatives and referendums that are currently in circulation.
Lt. Gov.’s economic development plan is bold & broad — now make every job count with action
Friday Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom released a California economic development and job growth plan as his first major policy move since he was elected.
Congratulations are in order for Newsom and his report. He is showing he is serious about growing our job base by making the state attractive to manufacturing and other high wage sectors.
California’s economy needs large scale job creation in every sector. Our state must catch up and once again outpace the country’s economic growth. This will require aggressive action not seen in California for over a decade. It will also depend on developing the state’s existing job base and employers as a means to California’s expansion. In the past, Newsom has said many times, that "95 percent of growth is organic," meaning it’s easier to grow an existing California company than start a new one. We could not agree more.
For the past few years, economic development in California has comprised of picking and providing for one winning sector, but consequentially leaving many other losers, often times existing industries, such as manufacturing and other sectors. Every job should count in California.
Lt. Governor’s Proposal – It’s Time to Move Forward
For the past several years, Sacramento
has been focused almost exclusively on the state budget crisis. Ignored
for the most part has been how to deal with California’s unemployment rate,
currently second highest in the nation. Except in isolated instances,
policymakers have failed to address the issue of job creation and
expansion. That’s what makes Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom’s recently issued
"Economic Growth and Competitiveness Agenda for California" a sober assessment of the challenges facing
California and worthy of discussion.
From an international trade
perspective, imports and exports through our ports generate hundreds of
thousands of trade related jobs in California. International trade is a
critical component of the overall economic health of California. However, because of California’s inability to build major
infrastructure projects, California’s role as a gateway for trade is
threatened as alternative gateways are being developed throughout North
America.
The Lt. Governor was right when he
stated "Onerous and inconsistent regulations, slow bureaucracies, and
misaligned policies at the federal, state and local levels present real
barriers to the speed and agility needed to compete in the global economy…
California must also bring its cumbersome licensing and regulatory processes
into the 21st century."
How Los Angeles Lost Its Mojo
Cross-posted at NewGeography.
Los Angeles today is a city in secular decline. Its current political leadership seems determined to turn the sprawling capitalist dynamo into a faux New York. But they are more likely to leave behind a dense, government-dominated, bankrupt, dysfunctional, Athens by the Pacific.
The greatness of Los Angeles stemmed from its willingness to be different. Unlike Chicago or Denver or New York, the Los Angeles metro area was designed not around a central core but on a series of centers, connected first by railcars and later by the freeways. The result was a dispersed metropolis where most people occupied single-family houses in middle-class neighborhoods.
Lured by the pleasant climate and a business-dominated political economy, industries and entrepreneurs flocked to the region. Initially, the growth came largely from oil and agriculture, followed by the movie industry. Defense and aerospace during World War II and the postwar era fostered a vast industrial base, and by the 1980s Los Angeles had surpassed New York as the nation’s largest port, and Chicago as the nation’s leading industrial center.