The Great Stampede of 2016
In certain parts of America, Baptist churches still hold “cowbell” services that offer churchgoers a Sunday succession of clergy sharing brief vignettes intended to motivate and inspire their congregation to commit to lives of public service. If a shepherd addresses his flock beyond the allotted time, a moderator rings a cowbell, which is the preacher’s […]
Gov. Should Veto Bill That Adds Partisan Politics to Local Government
Among California’s great strengths is that our local government offices are nonpartisan, unlike many states where partisan politics dominates at the local level. But once in a while aspects of our Progressive Era reforms come under attack; and that is the case with Senate Bill 958 currently on Gov. Brown’s desk. It is a bill […]
Prop 54 Hates Your Mom and Apple Pie
The LA Times columnist George Skelton calls Prop 54 “a motherhood-and-apple-pie proposal if ever there was one” in that it supposedly limits the power of special interests. And Skelton adds: “This is the kind of measure that legendary reform Gov. Hiram Johnson and other California progressives had in mind when they established the state’s initiative […]
Investing in the Electric Vehicle Market
Understanding the overall electric vehicle (EV) market, it could be ascertained; EVs will overtake fossil fuel vehicles in the near future; especially in California. While the EV future isbright – California should be cautious – before spending billions of taxpayer dollars without proper due diligence. Elon Musk is a genius, and Tesla’s are spectacular cars, but […]
The States Gaining And Losing The Most Migrants — And Money
When comparing the health of state economies, we usually look at employment and incomes. Another critical indicator worth closer attention is where Americans choose to move, and the places they are leaving. American history has been shaped by migration, from England to the Eastern seaboard, and later from the Atlantic Coast toward the Midwest, and […]
Don’t Bring Back the Candy Tax
It’s not often that California voters support a ballot measure by over a two-thirds vote but that’s what they did in 1992 when rejecting a sales tax on snack foods and candy. Now Assembly members Lorena Gonzalez and Cristina Garcia want the voters to take a second look at that action by supporting a tax […]
Handy-Dandy Guide to California’s Crazy 17 Ballot Propositions, Part 2
This is part two of my review of the 17 propositions on the November ballot. Part 1, covering Propositions 51-58, is here. Proposition 59 would advise California’s members of Congress to overturn the 2010 Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which liberalized contributions to political campaigns by corporations, “to ensure that all citizens, […]
Hey Big Spenders: Three Multimillionaires Stake a Claim on State’s Ballot
California has more billionaires than any other state, and an abundance of direct democracy. Those two facts intersect during election season, when spending by wealthy donors helps determine which initiatives make it on the ballot, and how many TV commercials and mailers campaigns can buy. Their donations carry the potential to influence state policy for […]
California Education is a Game of Chance
Californians may think we have a system of public education. But what we really have is a state system for rationing public education. I got a personal taste of this in the spring, when I took my five-year-old son to our local school district offices to determine his educational future. This being California, the determination […]