Trump: Wild on the Trail. Karen Bass for VP?
We dissect President Donald Trump’s erratic, inflammatory return to the campaign trail amid rising numbers of coronavirus victims and polls showing he faces a tough re-election fight. We also handicap the competition for the Democratic vice presidential nomination and take a close look at a new California contender, Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles. Inside […]
Removing School Police Could Create Liability Issues for Districts
An outgrowth of the civil rights protests that target policing is the effort to close down police presence in schools. While the resolutions ending police responsibilities at schools speak to racial concerns and alternative safety programs, ending cooperation with school police not only raises safety fears but liability issues for the school districts. School districts […]
SB 1383 is Bad Medicine for a Sick Economy
Small businesses, of all economic sectors, have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The most stricken industries – restaurants, hospitality, tourism, entertainment and personal services, and their supply chains – are disproportionately served by small businesses. According to Homebase researchers, “While large corporations have largely been able to avoid mass layoffs, the same can’t […]
Inequality in COVID-19 Has Other Dangerous Consequences
Over the past several weeks, the outcries over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, combined with recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky have grown to a dull roar, finally focusing our nation on the tremendous risk of violence and death borne on a daily basis by […]
Holiday blues: 19 counties now on watch list for more COVID-19 restrictions
With the July 4 holiday weekend only days away, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday that 19 counties home to 72% of the state’s population are now on a “watch list” for additional COVID-19 restrictions. Four new counties — Solano, Merced, Glenn and Orange — were added Monday to the list of hard-hit locales […]
Is Kamala Harris Fading In The Veep Chase
Practically every analysis of Joe Biden’s choice for vice president ranks California Sen. Kamala Harris at or near the top. She checks the most race and gender boxes in the Democratic search for Biden’s running mate, and yet there is a sense that she may be fading in the stretch. The best evidence of that […]
Medi-Cal for All
This is the age of Medi-Cal. “Medicare for All,” the dream of extending federal health coverage for the elderly to all Americans, dominates headlines. But in California, it is Medicaid—or Medi-Cal, as the federal health program for the poor is called here—that rules. Medi-Cal, and its no-or-low-cost health services, already constitute California’s most important anti-poverty […]
Flawed Berkeley Law Study Produces Flawed Conclusions
The Death Penalty Clinic at Berkley Law released a study last week that concludes that “racial discrimination is an ever-present feature of jury selection in California.” The study was authored by long-time criminal defense attorney Elisabeth Semel, who runs the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley. It is clear that many of the erroneous conclusions […]
Call it the Do-Over Ballot
Label the coming election on ballot measures the Do-Over Ballot. Many of the propositions headed for the November ballot are intended to re-do previous actions taken by voters and/or legislators. Removing some property tax limits, changing other property tax rules, undoing a ban on affirmative action, toughening criminal penalties—all these ballot measures are intended to […]