Poll Shows Support for Government Funded Economic Advancement Programs, But Not How to Pay for Them
Polling offers snapshots of voters’ thinking but is frequently frustrating because while certain information is revealed the pollsters don’t have the time to dig deeper into issues that might change the reflexive attitudes expressed in answering the initial question. Yet, polls are often used by politicians as foundations to suggest new programs and spending. This […]
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 […]
Let’s Unite to Draw Distressed Coastal Residents
Thousands of people on the coasts are pleading for help getting out of the urban enclaves from which they once looked down their noses at us, out in Flyover Country. How should we respond? By taking advantage of an economic-development opportunity for the ages. The reports by now have become too numerous to dispute: People […]
Becerra Confirmation; An Old Issue for a New AG; Elimination of Cash Bail?
Xavier Becerra’s selection as Health and Human Services Secretary could face a bumpy ride in the senate confirmation process if the Republicans capture a majority of the senate. The California Attorney General has already been challenged by some Republican senators for his position over the years in both Congress and as California’s top attorney on […]
On Lockdowns, At Least One County LA Supervisor Gets It
Two Los Angeles County Supervisors represent the San Fernando Valley area. One of them understands the challenges of business operators. The other doesn’t seem to get it. That became clear recently when the supervisors voted 3-2 to allow the shutdown of outdoor dining for at least three weeks at Los Angeles County restaurants in response […]
California Tops Nation Least Affordable Housing
Nearly all of the nation’s top 20 least affordable housing markets are in California. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Bank report that 18 of the country’s most unaffordable regions are in the Golden State, including all of the top 10. As usual, San Francisco and its peninsula communities led the […]
Look to Orange County for How to Turn California Purple
For decades, Orange County was a reliable incubator of conservative politics, and, in the era of Nixon, Goldwater and Reagan, a fairly powerful force in the state and on the national level. More recently, the area has been widely seen as tilting blue, particularly during the Trump era, with the media celebrating the end of […]
A Perspective on Police Reform
The way to achieve police reform is to have the rank-and-file officer core buy into reforms. That was the message during a panel discussion at Cal State LA’s Pat Brown Institute’s annual conference looking post-election, “Where do we go from here?” But it will take not only the police to accept reforms but for the […]
Earth to Palmdale
Hello, Palmdale. Planet Earth calling. You ever coming back here? You, a struggling working-class exurb of 160,000, may be located in the Antelope Valley, in north L.A. County’s. But your civic head lives in outer space. Is it your hot desert air, your elevation (2,657 feet), or all your psychedelically orange poppies? I don’t know, […]