Top Two’s Next Victim? The 2018 Gubernatorial Contest
Boy does California ever need a robust, wide-ranging debate about the future of the state, and the future of governance. And so you might think that the 2018 governor’s race, with the incumbent termed out, would be just the opportunity for such a debate. But there’s no chance of such a debate. Top two will […]
Top Two Reform Speaks to the Political Middle
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, host Chuck Todd made a comment in the guise of a question that talked about the “hollowed-out middle” of American politics, namely how hyper-partisanship will endure because voter behavior in the primaries only results in very conservative Republicans and very liberal Democrats. The story of growing division is […]
Half of Small Businesses Say Regulations are a Problem
According to new research by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small business owners are drowning in regulations imposed by every level of government. It is a major problem affecting millions of businesses, and the federal government is the biggest contributor. For small businesses in California, however, we know that in many areas including labor and […]
Government Policies Perpetuate Poverty in California
Anyone can see the road that they walk on Is paved in gold And it’s always summer They’ll never get cold They’ll never get hungry They’ll never get old and gray ~ Fastball, “The Way,” 1998 Before California was officially christened the Golden State by the Legislature in 1968, it was also known as the […]
UC Berkeley Unfairly Criticized in Wake of Protest
After the violence that shut down the speech of the provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley, the University has come under substantial criticism – including from President Trump, who tweeted a threat to defund it. Many have trotted out the old yarn that the University is nothing more than a hotbed of liberalism and political […]
Caltrain and High Speed Rail and FTA funding – Revolving Door Shenanigans
A brewing scandal involving Federal Funding for the Bay Area Commuter line, Caltrain, has emerged. Caltrain has been seeking funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for its “modernization program”. Caltrain has been seeking approval for a FTA Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) in the amount of $647 million. Caltrain was pushing very hard to […]
California Must Discredit Trump Before Trump Discredits California
California is already on defense in its battle with Donald Trump. We need offense—now. Trump is attacking our state as if it were just another political opponent. His strategy is not merely to punish California; he wants to rob our state of its political legitimacy. So the president of the United States has falsely claimed […]
The Oroville Dam and the Fight for Infrastructure Funding
Might a pending disaster of the Oroville Dam spillway collapse move the legislature to a compromise on infrastructure funding? One of the criticisms that has arisen since the threat of a water deluge is that the dam and spillways were not maintained properly even when warnings about the structure were raised more than a decade […]
Andy Puzder, Abandoning California
President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, Andy Puzder, is being scrutinized for his finances and his business record. There are real questions about his ethics and how he has treated workers. But there can be little debate about his record as a California: he was a traitor to the Golden State. Puzder was a […]