Handy-Dandy Guide to California’s Crazy 17 Ballot Propositions, Part 2
This is part two of my review of the 17 propositions on the November ballot. Part 1, covering Propositions 51-58, is here. Proposition 59 would advise California’s members of Congress to overturn the 2010 Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which liberalized contributions to political campaigns by corporations, “to ensure that all citizens, […]
Handy-Dandy Guide to California’s Crazy 17 Ballot Propositions, Part 1
With folks filling out absentee ballots, now’s a good time to tee up all the ballot propositions. This is Part 1. Voters are burdened with 17 propositions this year thanks to a 2011 law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that dumped all initiatives circulated by mere citizens on November ballots. Legislators, being our Platonic guardians, […]
How to Make Enemies and Influence People With Newspapers
Are newspapers kaput? Not quite yet. And they still will be influential in this November’s election, especially at the state and local levels. On Thursday, the New York Times ran an article, “Want to Own a Newspaper? A Vermont Contest Has Trouble Finding Takers.” No question about that. Newspapers today are about as valuable as […]
Runaway Legislature Demands Return to Part-Time Operation
When the Legislature finally adjourned at the end of August, it again screamed the need for a return to part-time operations. The “reform” of the late 1960s that imposed a full-time gathering of busybodies in the Capitol was one of the state’s biggest mistakes. Misguided voters passed Proposition 1A in 1966, the same year they […]
Terminating Farm Worker Jobs
We can’t predict whether Gov. Jerry Brown will sign Assembly Bill 1066, which the Legislature just passed and which imposes stricter overtime rules on farm labor. But even if he vetoes it, a similar bill will be passed in 2019 and signed by the next governor. That’s all the incentive farm owners need to keep […]
Will Anti-Gun Obsession Doom Gavin Newsom in 2018?
Lt. Gov. Newsom is known for three major policies: same-sex marriage, pot legalization and gun control. He has pushed them hard, the last two with initiatives for the Nov. 8 ballot. Proposition 63 would impose more gun control and Proposition 64 would legalize marijuana for recreational use. The policies will not help him in the […]
Would Prop. 61 Really Cut Drug Prices?
It passes strange that, after so many scandals, the Veterans Administration is a being held up as a model for prescription drug prices. But that’s just what Proposition 61 does. The Ballot Summary reads: “Prohibits state agencies from buying any prescription drug from a drug manufacturer at any price over the lowest price paid for […]
How Do You Keep Them Down on the Farm with Excessively High Wages?
One of the ironies of our time is that progressive laws often hurt those they’re supposed to help. Restrictions on housing construction, such as almost anything the California Coastal Commission does or SB 375 from 2008, raise prices, making it difficult, even impossible for poor people to find housing. I wrote several columns on that […]
More Tax Hikes in 2017 or 2018?
For taxpayers, the most important issue for California this year isn’t the presidential election, which again will be won in this state by the Democrat, this time Hillary Clinton, by more than 3 million votes. Nor is it the U.S. Senate race, which Attorney General Kamala Harris is expected to win handily. Nor even the […]
Death Penalty on the Initiative Plan
One reviewer found Celine’s “Death on the Installment Plan” the story of “a gloomy, disillusioned doctor who views medicine cynically and is irritated by his patients. That’s about how voters are going to look at yet another decision tossed to them about the death penalty in California. Although there are two related initiatives on the […]