Why I’m Disappointed In The Alleged Calderon Corruption
Here’s another problem with California’s broken governance system, albeit one that you don’t often hear about: Even our corruption is lame. This is a big, grand state, so our corruption should be big and grand. Alas, our system so constrains politician that even their corruption is embarrassingly small. Take the Ron Calderon case, and the […]
Tim Donnelly Proves There Is a God
It’s official: Salvation! Yes, ladies and gentlemen and especially fellow members of the media, Tim Donnelly is running for governor. He may be a polarizing figure, but I believe he has already achieved a bipartisan consensus, at least among California’s Fourth Estate. And that consensus is: there is a God, and he loves us. Before […]
We are LAX
Ask a person from Los Angeles what the city’s signature public place is, and you’d probably hear about Griffith Park, Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Bowl, or a favorite beach. But such places represent the best of L.A.; they aren’t who we really are. The truly emblematic space of early 21st century Los Angeles is, for […]
What’s Missing in the California Gun Bills: Money for Research
I recently had to moderate a Zocalo Public Square event on the gun debate, and in the process, I had to read research on gun politics and gun regulation, from a wide variety of sources. What stood out in my reading was how old most of the research is. Whether the research was about the […]
Five Other Powers We Could Give Initiative Proponents
As noted here previously, the pension initiative seeks to give its proponents the power to defend that measure in court. This is misguided and unnecessary, for reasons I’ve explained here before. But since we are in the totally unreal world known as California Political Reality, people across the political spectrum have naturally agreed that initiative […]
In California, Halloween Isn’t about Neighborhoods
Last Halloween, I felt like the victim in a horror film. I was the guy ignoring the wise warning of my older next-door neighbor. You’ll need at least 15 bags to survive, he told me, with a hollow look in his eyes. Maybe more. But I couldn’t imagine the terrible hunger that the dark night […]
Initiative Proponents As Elected Officials
The recently filed pension initiative includes language at the end (as noted by Joel Fox here) designed to make sure that the measure’s proponents can defend it in court if it passes. One way it does that is by including language that would treat proponents somewhat like elected officials, who would take the state constitution’s […]
What I Like About the Pension Initiative Is Exactly What Will Doom it
California ballot initiatives are a dangerous business, and one that we all would be wise to take a break from, as I previously suggested in this space. But I’m tempted by the new pension initiative backed by mayors. The initiative is a constitutional amendment, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Our constitution already has […]
Skeptical of the Bullet Train, But CA Needs More Track
I’m not a big fan of trains, but my oldest son, Ben, 4, loves them. He’d been lobbying to go on a “big train trip,” and his school would be closed for a couple days at the end of September, when I had a meeting in Sacramento. Why not take the kid on a train […]
California, The One Metric State
California is a big and diverse place that could be judged by any number of measures. But in this state, political and media elites are obsessed with just one metric: The budget, and whether it’s balanced. When the budget is out of balance, we’re in chaos. We’re broken. On those occasions when it appears balanced, […]