Becerra: Another Bright Spot For California And The Rest of The Country
We look at the good news and the bad. The appointment of California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra to head the Department of Health and Human Services brings an accomplished politician and health care champion to the challenging job. We dismantle the congressional stalemate on coronavirus aid. And we criticize California Gov. Gavin Newson, Los […]
Black Bart Award for California Politics 2020
For the past eleven years frequent contributors to this page Joe Mathews, John Wildermuth and I have nominated candidates for Californian of the Year in the world of politics. This year, as last, we will be joined by Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, long time journalist for NBC in Los Angeles and former professor at USC’s Sol […]
Water Wars by Other Means
Clausewitz famously said war was “politics by other means.” In California, politics is water wars by other means. Although it isn’t always above the surface, below the surface everything in the state involves water one way or another. That’s because the more populous Southern California needs most of its water to flow down from Northern […]
The Road Ahead for the California GOP
California’s AG resisted any temptation to join those of 18 sister states led by the Texas AG seeking to have the Supreme Court overturn President-Elect Joe Biden’s irreversible victory. Not that the vast majority of California voters favored the idea which turned out to be a giant waste of time as the high court delivered […]
Housing Laws that Allow the Theft of Community Wealth
You’ve heard the story about frogs who don’t leap out of a kettle of water that is slowly brought to a boil. The story illustrates how people, like frogs, will succumb to slow changes without taking action. The story is a myth, but the principle holds true for California’s single-family homeowners, neighborhoods and communities. Having […]
Looking to 2021 and Our Recovery
The holidays are here, which means 2020 is coming to an end. Under normal circumstances, a new year would represent new beginnings and new opportunities, but as we prepare to welcome the new year, the hard truth is that many of the issues and challenges we have faced throughout 2020 will remain with us in […]
Midway through plagued first term, Newsom’s career hits make-or-break point
Speaking to the camera from his home office during the final days of a family quarantine, Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed at times to be giving himself a pep talk, as much as encouraging 40 million Californians to hunker down amid a coronavirus spike threatening to overwhelm hospitals. “We will get through this,” the governor said […]
California Office Pool 2021
This is the 12th annual edition of the California Office Pool. It was inspired by the late, great New York Times columnist William Safire, who made a habit of writing an annual column he called Office Pool. In it, Safire offered, multiple-choice style, a series of possible news events that could take place in the […]
Blue State, Red Tape — California is Shedding Residents and Businesses
A Sacramento Bee headline from late October, “How liberal politics, COVID-19 and a high cost of living are fueling a new California exodus,” could have been written, without the virus reference, a year ago. Or ten years ago. The flight from California kicked off long before this year’s pandemic. Eight years ago, an Investor’s Business […]