The Threat of Critical Race Theory
Like many of my fellow Fox and Hounds enthusiasts, I am ashamed of the history of racism and racial discrimination in California, indeed the country. I believe in what our founding fathers saw and declared as the American ideal – that “all men (and women) are created equal.” I, as do millions of U.S. citizens, […]
We Are All Unincorporated Now
We are all unincorporated now. Unincorporated communities—which don’t have their own municipal governments—live at the mercies of their counties, who may or may not provide vital services. The pandemic is giving all Californians a taste of unincorporated life, since our county governments determine whether we can shop, play in a park, or send our kids […]
What will tax increase advocates do now?
Proposition 15, which would have boosted property taxes on commercial real estate by billions of dollars a year, finally bit the dust last week. It wasn’t a surprise. Although its advocates — unions, mostly — may cite the COVID-19 pandemic and recession as causes for failure, the measure never polled strongly even before the twin […]
The Governor is Not a King
Governor Gavin Newsom has wielded unchecked power throughout the pandemic with the use of executive orders. Unchecked until now, that is. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Sarah H. Heckman issued a permanent injunction declaring that Governor Gavin Newsom’s use of executive orders when they amend or create law is unconstitutional. It seems a pattern of […]
I’m White, Male, Old, Disabled: Your Next U.S. Senator
Speculation abounds over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s likely appointment to fill the senate seat soon to be vacated by vice-president elect Kamala Harris. Among those mentioned are some prominent figures in the Democratic party… mostly politicians with an ethnic minority label. That’s wrong-headed thinking. The most ill-represented group in California is the one I’m linked to: […]
Gavin, Please Send Me to the Senate
Dear Governor Newsom, You’re overwhelmed with texts and calls, and I understand why. With the election of Kamala Harris as vice president, you must appoint someone to fill the final two years of her United States Senate term. Everyone in politics wants this gig, and that’s a lot of pressure. So let me take this […]
Sacramento Loses Its Finest Legislator
On November 13, ten days after the election, and facing final counts that made any chance of victory impossible, California State Senator John Moorlach (R-37) conceded defeat to his challenger, Democrat David Min. Reached for comment, Moorlach said “we worked hard on fundraising, the ground game, the phone calls; we worked hard, and we had […]
Picking Senator Harris’ Replacement After Proposition 16’s Defeat
The suggestions of a replacement for California Senator Kamala Harris when she resigns to assume the office of Vice-President are piling up. Most come from interest groups with rationales that one of their own deserve the prized senate seat primarily based on the candidate’s identification with a demographic group. All this sounds contradictory in a […]
If You “Take Out California”
California may not need to declare independence from the Union. Leading Republicans may just kick us out. They’re already claiming we’re not real Americans, whose voting choices don’t matter. The latest person to remove California from the U.S. is Senator Mike Braun, Republican of Indiana, which I’m told is a smaller state somewhere in the […]
California Voters Approve Billions in Local Taxes and Borrowing
in March 2020, for the first time in a generation, Californian’s did not approve the overwhelming majority of new tax and bond proposals that were put before them. Out of 125 proposed local bonds, only 31 percent passed; out of 111 proposed local tax increases, only 41 percent passed. Early returns from the November 2020 […]