11 Awesome Props: Prop 31
Editor’s Note: Frequent Fox and Hounds contributor, Joe Mathews, will give his unique perspective on all eleven November ballot measures over the course of the next month. He will take them in the order they appear on the ballot. Some initiatives are ungenerous. They have only one good idea. Prop 31 has a half-dozen of […]
Should Voting on Initiatives Be Like Voting on Foreign Film Oscars?
Should you be able to vote on legislation or constitutional amendments you haven’t read or studied? In California, our answer to this question is: absolutely yes. Voters routinely cast ballots on measures about which they know little more than what they’ve seen in TV ads and on ballot title and summaries. How does this make […]
Falsely Blaming the Legislature for November Ballot Initiatives
The Sacramento Bee recently printed a fairy tale posing as news. “Many California ballot measures spurred by legislative inaction,” read the headline, and the story went on to describe this November’s slate of initiatives as a response to the legislature’s failure to act. This claim is mostly nonsense, as a matter of facts. And in […]
11 Awesome Props — First in a Series
Editor’s Note: Frequent Fox and Hounds contributor, Joe Mathews, will give his unique perspective on all eleven November ballot measures over the course of the next month. He will take them in the order they appear on the ballot. Intro to series: I used to be such a sourpuss about ballot measures, and especially those […]
It’s Not So Easy To Cut Taxes in California Anymore
Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters wrote to Fox & Hounds to criticize my Fox & Hounds post arguing that a Democratic supermajority would be a bad thing. My main point: it would be next to impossible to undo anything that a party with a supermajority could do in California’s supermajority-mad system. Walters’ point: it’s not […]
F&H Ballot Measure Rankings – Top 5 Picks *Updated 10/30*
Memo to Yes on 32: The Railroads Won
When you start talking about the power of public employee unions in 21st century California, it’s not long before you hear the analogy to the power of the railroads in the state back in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Inevitably, the story will be told that Hiram Johnson used the ballot […]
Why Even Democrats Shouldn’t Want Democrats to Get Two Thirds
The Senate pro tem Darrell Steinberg wrapped up the legislative session and then declared he was going to focus on winning 2/3 of the state senate for the Democrats. Is it possible? Yes, though it won’t be easy. In the Assembly, it’s an even longer-shot. But let’s say the Democrats get two thirds. Would that […]
Prop 30 Can’t Be Beaten With Talk of Pensions, Parks and High-Speed Rail
Hey, No on 30 campaign! Could you stop it with the red herrings, please? So far, No on 30 has been talking all sorts of things that aren’t in Prop 30. Yes, yes, I know. The reconstituted high-speed rail project has all kinds of problems. And yes, the pension “reform” legislation should have saved more […]
Are You Behind on Your Proposition Reading?
47,465. That’s the minimum number of words Californians should be reading this fall. At least if they intend to vote on ballot initiatives. The ten initiatives on the ballot, Props 30 to 39, run to a combined 47,465 words, at least by my Microsoft word count tool. Does that sound long to you? Please. That’s […]