The New War Between the States
In this disgusting election, dominated by the personal and the petty, the importance of the nation’s economic geography has been widely ignored. Yet if you look at the Electoral College map, the correlation between politics and economics is quite stark, with one economy tilting decisively toward Trump and more generally to Republicans, the other toward […]
Election Outcome Maybe Predictable, What Happens Next is Not
What may be most telling in the final anticlimactic debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is not a strong premonition of how this race is likely to end——but what could happen after it. Trump responding to moderator Chris Wallace’s query as to whether he would accept the results of the election answered without hesitation, […]
Post-debate Wisdom: 90 Minutes to Nowhere
Our long national debate-mare is over! But not before GOP nominee Donald Trump succumbed to his strongest opponent—himself. After a strong start, Trump abandoned what one Tweeter called the “Kellyanne Conway Trump” for the “Steve Bannon [Breitbart] Trump.” Or, actually, from the auto-animatron Donald Trump to @realDonaldTrump! Trump not only refused to repudiate Russia’s Vladimir […]
Strange Provisions in Proposition 60
Proposition 60, the measure requiring use of condoms in adult films, has a couple of noteworthy provisions that could be precedent setting for future initiatives–one not so good; the other, interesting and different, if perhaps unconstitutional. One item deals with enforcement of the condom law and reinforces the idea of citizens substituting for government agencies […]
Prop 54 Will Enact Significant and Lasting Reform in the State Legislature
One of the oldest political tricks in the book is to claim something does the opposite of what it actually does. But that is precisely what Proposition 54’s small handful of critics do when claiming the measure will give special interests more power. This is the farce Eric Bauman propagated in his commentary, “Prop 54: […]
The Ultimate Recipients of California’s State Spending
California’s General Fund will spend $122 billion this fiscal year. The state budget illustrates that spending in the following manner: But that chart doesn’t show WHO pockets that money. Looked at that way:
Californians Want Much More From Our Neighborhoods
California is a state of large things: A 1,100-mile coastline and giant mountain ranges and big roads, bigger cities, and the biggest vistas. In such a sprawling place, with so much disconnection, how much could people care about their own little neighborhoods? Answer: An awful lot. This is a state of neighborhoods. And Californians are […]
The Unknowns of a Dismal Election
This week large numbers of mail in ballots will begin arriving at county election offices, and shortly we may be able to answer the perplexing unknowns of this dismal election, who is going to vote and will Democratic dreams of an enormous landslide be realized. Neither presidential candidate is running a real campaign right now; […]
California State Legislature Picks a Fight with The United States Constitution
Yet another new law confirms union control of the California State Capitol. Gov. Brown has signed Senate Bill 954, which restricts what kind of construction industry advancement programs are worthy of inclusion in state prevailing wage determinations. As you might guess, Senate Bill 954 ensures that employer payments only qualify as industry advancement if they […]