The “Top Two” System: Working Like It Should
California’s new “top two” election system is now having exactly the impact that its sponsors hoped it would. It is moderating the legislature. This can be seen in the remarkable success the business community enjoyed in this legislative session despite the fact that the Democrats enjoy a two-thirds majority in both houses. At the beginning […]
Damn The Evidence! The Top-Two Primary Is a Moderating Force Because Consultants and Media Say So!
This column is brought to you by the Department of I Can’t Believe We’re Still Having This Argument. As you know, the state’s political-media-good-government elite has long argued that the top-two primary was going to have a moderating effect. Indeed, this has become more than argument, it has become an article of faith. I speak […]
Businesses Urge Congress Not to Shut Down Government
On Monday, 251 business organizations from every corner of the United States co-signed a letter to Congress stating, “With the U.S. economy continuing to underperform, the federal government needs to maintain its normal operations pending a successful outcome of broader budgetary reforms. It is not in the best interest of the employers, employees or the […]
Modernizing California City Financial Reporting
We are all aware of the highly publicized cases of city bankruptcies in California, and while these are individually serious cases, there has been a lot of speculation, often without solid analysis, concerning how vulnerable many of California’s stressed cities are to bankruptcy or default on bonds. Much of the inaccurate guesswork and sensationalism is […]