Critical Choice for California GOP: Which Door—If Any—Leads to Revival?
This political convention has the distinct feel of an intervention. As California Republican delegates descend on Sacramento this weekend to elect a new party chair, rally what’s left of the troops and talk Election 2020, many will be pondering—and likely fiercely debating—a much bigger question: What now?
California Insiders: Trump Won’t Help the GOP Here, but He’s Not Going Anywhere
It’s not news that President Trump isn’t popular in California: a July survey found voters here disapprove of him by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Still, he’s wildly popular among most Republicans, so a presidential visit to the Golden State would surely provide an electoral lift to the state’s struggling GOP candidates, right? Wrong, says California’s political class. […]
Is The Republican Story About Repealing the Gas Tax Hike too Good to be True?
California Republicans say that drivers can have smoother roads, more reliable public transit—and lower taxes. In November, voters will get the chance to repeal a recent increase in the state gas tax and assorted vehicle fees. That tax hike—an extra 12 cents per gallon of gasoline, 20 cents per gallon of diesel, and two new […]
Pin the tail on the donkey: Democrats vie for party endorsement…but why?
If the June 5 primary is the prelude to the November general election, the California Democratic Party is set to hold a prelude to the prelude. This weekend members of the state’s dominant party will meet in San Diego for its annual convention. Platform writing and morale boosting aside, the main task will be to […]
California already may be paying for Trump’s hypothetical tax cuts
Tax reform may not be much more than a glimmer in the eye of Republicans in Washington D.C., but their promise of lower rates and closed loopholes appears to be already jostling state and local finances. Exhibit One comes in the form of a disappointing haul for California tax collectors this summer. In June, the […]
Why Some Experts Say a Court Just Created a New Pathway to “Tax” Californians
Could a few words buried within a recent court ruling make it easier for the state to raise money from Californians? Those words—contained within a decision affirming the constitutionality of California’s policy of charging polluters—are causing a stir among some state budget experts, who wonder if the ruling could be used to could pry loose […]
Trump suggests yanking fed dollars if California’s a ‘sanctuary’—can he do that?
The burgeoning political standoff between California and the Trump administration took another step into unprecedented terrain this week when, on a pre-Super Bowl televised interview, the President denounced California as “out of control” and contemplated cutting its federal funding. The threat came in response to moves by the Democratic-controlled Legislature toward providing additional legal protections […]