Fox and Hounds Daily Says Goodbye
With this article, we end publication of Fox and Hounds Daily. It has been a satisfying 12½ year run. When we opened in May 2008, our site was designed to offer an opportunity to those who wished to engage in public debate on many issues, especially in politics and business, but found it difficult to get placed in newspaper op-ed pages.
Co-publishers Tom Ross, Bryan Merica and I have kept F&H going over this time investing our own time, funding, and staff help. Last year at this time we considered closing the site, however with an election on the horizon we decided to keep F&H going through the election year. With the election come and gone, and with no sense of additional resources, we have decided to close the site down.
Fox and Hounds will live on, at least, with my articles collected in the California State Library.
On a personal note, I have spent over 40 years in California policy and politics. There have been some incredible high moments and some difficult low points. It pains me that politics too often is a blood sport, frequently demonizing the motives of opponents and using the legal system as a weapon in public discourse. At Fox & Hounds, we tried to adhere to the practice of giving all a voice in the debate, yet keep the commentaries civil and avoided personal attacks.
F&H offered the opportunity to publish different perspectives (even ones that criticized my writings!). We had success as indicated by the Washington Post twice citing Fox and Hounds Daily one of the best California political websites and many other positive affirmations and comments received over the years.
Tom, Bryan and I want to thank our many readers and writers for being part of our journey. The publishers of Fox and Hounds Daily believe that we added value to California and its people. We hope you agree.
The Very Quiet Governor
I keep reading that Gov. Jerry Brown is on a roll, but I don’t see him in a sandwich shop. Or anywhere else for that matter. For Southern Californians, he has become almost invisible.
And we kind of like it.
This makes all the political sense in the world. The more people see and hear about the state government and how it works, the less they’re going to like it. Better to tell them the budget is balanced, and not dwell on the details (the broken tax system, the massive underinvestment in infrastructure, the damaging budget crisis cuts that aren’t being restored). (more…)
“Progressives” Advancing California Monopolies
California politics was forged from the Progressive Movement’s “purification” of the political machines and bosses to bring about the reform of monopolistic railroad, insurance and banking trusts that dominated the state. The Progressives reached their apogee a century ago with Gov. Hiram Johnson’s reforms of 1911, especially his initiative, recall and referendum reforms.
Fast-forward to 2013 and “Progressive” has a new meaning in California. “Progressives” are desperately trying to re-monopolize energy, workplace, consumer, healthcare and poultry farming industries to advance the state’s environmental laws.
The U.S. states and Congress are beginning to push back against California’s new “landmark” laws that mainly use environmentalism to trump the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and anti-trust and consumer protection laws. The Interstate Commerce Clause gives Congress the complete power to regulate trade among the states, giving America a vast free-trade zone that has been essential to our prosperity. (more…)
Legislature Must Encourage Housing Recovery
The Legislature may not be able to agree on much (including their summer break) but it seems they can agree we must do everything possible to encourage California’s housing recovery. That is why during the break Governor Jerry Brown signed a California Building Industry Association-sponsored measure authored by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra that will fuel California’s housing recovery.
The measure, which received only “yes” votes through every step of the legislative process, builds on previous bills and will allow local governments to extend the life of approximately 3,500 subdivision maps representing 400,000 housing units for 24 months. This ensures projects that create thousands of construction related jobs and billions of dollars in economic output, which goes straight into local and state coffers, will move forward and actually get built. (more…)
The Tourism Industry is an Economic Powerhouse for CA and OC
Last week, I moderated a panel discussion on tourism in Orange County, hosted by the California Women’s Leadership Association, and was reminded of the importance that travel and tourism has on this region’s economic engine, broadening the state’s economic base, and driving recovery.
Unemployment in Orange County recently dropped to its lowest level in several years, highlighting the continued recovery from the recession. Leisure and hospitality businesses have helped drive that recovery in Orange County as more discretionary dollars became evident, more people visited local restaurants and hotels, and tourism flourished. (more…)
Unemployment Insurance Fix Requires More than Taxes
The Brown Administration is looking for a solution to the $10-billion owed to the federal government for loans to cover Unemployment Insurance payments. Much talk revolves around tax increases on business to cover the debt. But, any fix should include reforms to the system.
Paying higher taxes means less money for business to hire the unemployed workers – the best answer for the worker and the best way to heal the California economy. Steep tax increases are a deterrent for businesses to hire.
Yet, the unemployment insurance debt must be dealt with. (more…)
Shopping for Health Insurance? California’s Small Business Health Options Program Set to Announce Plans and Rates
There likely will be a lot of talk this week about how we make health insurance more affordable for small businesses. If the timing stays on track, the state’s Small Business Health Options Program, a new small group health insurance marketplace that is part of Covered California, will soon announce the plans and rates it will offer to employers with one-to-50 employees.
Whatever the rates, the small business owners I work with hope the SHOP announcement marks a serious effort to bend the cost curve and bring some sanity to ever-rising health insurance premiums. According to a 2009 MIT report, without reforms, over the next decade small businesses with 100 or fewer employees would pay nearly $2.4 trillion in health care costs for their workers. That, clearly, is unsustainable. (more…)