Boehner and McCarthy Take Charge
The vote to pass the “cromnibus” spending bill in Congress confirms the one of the biggest political stories of 2014: Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy are fully in charge in the House and will no longer allow Tea Party types to push them around. Anti-Boehner Republicans tried to stop the bill because […]
Black Bart Award Nominee — Legislature is California’s Comeback Story
Pigs are taking wing. There are snowdrifts outside the devil’s door. The Chicago Cubs will win the World Series. And the California Legislature is my pick for the Black Bart award. Yeah, that’s pretty much the same Legislature that in 2009 defined dysfunction by forcing the state to issue IOUs because lawmakers couldn’t agree on […]
Stu Spencer: Primaries Important in Presidential Runs
The New York Times ran an article that said big time Republican Party donors were trying to clear the presidential field of like-minded establishment candidates so that the donors could put their resources behind one candidate. Stu Spencer, who was Ronald Reagan’s campaign manager, thinks that is a bad idea. “There is nothing wrong with […]
Take the High Speed Rail to a New Disneyland
On Christmas Eve, it felt like the park was all ours. When I was growing up in the 1980s and early ’90s, Disneyland was so reliably empty on the day before Christmas that it became a family tradition to spend December 24 in the “Happiest Place on Earth,” often along with a visit to my […]
Winds of Change in Contra Costa County?
As multiple districts across California voted for bonds, parcel taxes, and fees, something happened in Contra Costa County in 2014. Since 1937, the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association has been an active countywide organization that holds local cities, districts, and the county accountable and transparent while opposing unneceassary taxes. Contra Costa County is one of seven […]