Steinberg’s Prison Plan Misses A Key Point
What part of “forthwith” doesn’t Darrell Steinberg understand? If there’s one thing the federal judges holding sway over California’s prison overcrowding lawsuit have been consistently clear on, it’s that they want the problem fixed and they want it fixed now. Every time Gov. Jerry Brown has gone to the judges and suggested that California has […]
Of Political Blogs and Libraries
Given the consideration the Fair Political Practices Commission is giving blogs and the fact that pay walls are being constructed around newspaper articles (there’s a pay wall around the article linked to in this paragraph), it’s clear political blogs are gaining attention and will undoubtedly play a bigger role in political debates. That’s not a […]
Labor Day 2013: How We Reached the Tipping Point Against Full Time Hiring
(This is a longer version of an essay that originally appeared in Zocalo Public Square). Labor Day 2013 brings a landscape of job scarcity that is now well-documented: more and more applicants per job opening, more and more part time jobs and lower wage jobs, fewer and fewer full time jobs with benefits, fewer and […]
Governor Needs to Call Special Session on Prisons
I applaud the Governor’s bipartisan effort to acquire additional inmate housing space and direct the attention of the Governor and the Legislature to an available facility in Live Oak (Sutter County) as well as California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities in Paso Robles and Ione, which are in jeopardy of disposal as surplus properties […]
The Strong Arm of California Labor Unions
If you thought California’s labor unions couldn’t get any stronger, you would be wrong. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the U.S. Secretary of Labor in your corner. In a letter to Governor Jerry Brown, Secretary Tom Perez said that the Department of Labor can withhold up to $1.6 billion in federal mass transportation […]