The Schwarzenegger-Garcetti Climate Change Road Show
Yesterday may have been the initial stop of a Schwarzenegger-Garcetti road show promoting support by subnational governments for the Paris Climate Change Accord. At least, that idea of taking the presentation national was suggested after the former California governor and current Los Angeles mayor sat for a discussion on how to confront the climate change […]
Local initiative right still under legislative assault
Earlier this year I wrote of an assault on local democracy in the guise of an Assembly measure intending to force citizens to run a gauntlet of local planners and environmental analysis prior to gathering signatures for local ballot measures. In the intervening three months the measure has been overhauled several times, approved by the entire Assembly and now […]
Fault for High Priced Drugs Lies with Drug Makers
When it comes to how high they price their products, drug companies want the public to ignore what they spend on marketing and the tax breaks they get for direct-to-consumer advertising. Instead of simply acknowledging their pricing strategies, drug companies and their lobbyists have launched a finger-pointing campaign at pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). This isn’t […]
Trump’s Example Should Kill the Natural-Born-Citizen Clause
Here’s one bad thing that the Trump presidency should end: the U.S. constitution’s requirement that only a natural born citizen can be president of the United States. Trump’s example demolishes all the arguments for the clause. Chief among these is the clause’s supposed preventive power. The clause is supposed to be a guarantee against efforts […]