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.
Governor’s Race: Thin Field for Reps in 2014, Full Field for Dems … in 2018
A post on Capitol Public Radio’s website asking What GOP’s Governor’s Race? reflects the attitude of a number of political observers that the Republican effort to prevent a fourth term for Governor Jerry Brown is not building much momentum.
Brown has effectively implemented his philosophy of rowing his political canoe a little on the left and a little on the right to keep potential opponents at bay. Republicans seeking the office have to build a sizeable war chest. Yet, donors for the most part are keeping their hands away from their wallets.
Meanwhile, the governor will have little problem raising money to compete… if he needs it. All the while he has his name in the paper every day. The new Field Poll strengthens the notion that Brown is in good position to get re-elected. (more…)
I Know Who Can Save San Diego
Stay classy? That may be too much to ask of San Diego these days.
“America’s Finest City” is in the middle of another one of its routine, self-destructive crises of local government. This one is an ugly fight over the fate of Mayor Bob Filner. He either has a nasty habit of intimidating women and needs help (that’s what the mayor and his supporters say, so you know things are bad) or he is a sexual harasser with a predatory move called the Filner Headlock (don’t ask) and should resign.
Either way, America’s Finest City, which has been facing off-and-on scandal, gridlock, and mismanagement for 20 years, remains desperately in need of better management. And, since this is California, such management could come from outside the city. This is a state with an enduring taste for outside interventions, from federal consent decrees to state takeovers. For Southern Californians especially, federal supervision is as much a part of life as the freeways. (more…)
Where Did All the Voters Go in the Los Angeles City Council Special Election?
The hullabaloo around this week’s birth of Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge started me thinking about another British royal of the same name, King George III. Remember him? His abuse of power and tyrannical rule combined with colonists’ rejection of virtual representation sparked the American Revolution, giving birth to our representative democracy.
After observing this new form of government, French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville warned of its potential to give rise to a “tyranny of the majority,” threatening its legitimacy. Could it thus be argued that chronic low voter among Californians might result in the tyranny of the minority? (more…)
If Lead Holds, Vidak Win would be a Big Deal
For the wounded California Republican Party a win by farmer Andy Vidak in the 16th Senate District would be a shot of adrenaline. As of this writing, Vidak holds a 54% to 46% lead over Democrat Leticia Perez, or a little less than 6000 votes. However, there are many absentee and provisional votes that have not been counted. In the primary election, Perez’s strength with the late ballots prevented Vidak from winning outright by attaining 50% of the vote.
A win by Vidak would threaten the Democrats supermajority in the state senate and give Republicans hope that recruiting a good candidate with a strong identification in their district can bring victory. (more…)
Should We Treat Ballot Initiatives Like Criminals?
Every person accused of a crime is entitled to a defense. And, according to California elites across the political spectrum, so does every ballot initiative.
That’s the logic behind a veritable chorus of cries for some kind of law or initiative to fix what is widely seen in California as a problematic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Prop 8 case. The court reaffirmed the status quo that one has to have an injury to bring a challenge in the federal courts, and the official proponents of Prop 8 had no injury.
But that restatement of the status quo is broadly seen as some new attack on the initiative process. The latest installment of this argument comes in a breathtaking editorial in the LA Times. (more…)
An Explosion in Part-Time Employment
Earlier this month, our former California finance director, Mike Genest, drew my attention to a striking feature of the national job numbers, largely ignored by the media. This feature is the sharp spike over the past month in part-time employment.
When the national job numbers for June 2013 were released earlier this month, the focus was on the gain of 195,000 payroll jobs—above expectations. However, closer look at the employment numbers from the Census household survey shows voluntary part-time employment increased by 110,000 workers and involuntary part-time employment increased by a whopping 322,000 workers. (more…)