Knives already out for CA’s emerging House star

The flurry of reports that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, is a lock to replace Eric Cantor of Virginia as House majority leader has led the mainstream media to do the usual profiles and think pieces about D.C.’s newest political star.

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In CA, Smarter Balanced testing shapes fate of Common Core

It’s crunch time for California supporters of the new Common Core educational standards. On several fronts, key business, education and political interests have heightened their push for the changes. Although opposition remains strong, pro-Common Core groups sense that a tipping point may be

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State budget: Governor, lawmakers expected to finalize deal

State lawmakers reached a tentative agreement on the state budget Thursday, after Gov. Jerry Brown caved to Democratic lawmakers’ demands over more funding for in-home support services for elderly and disabled Californians. “We are at this point prepared to bring

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Cap-and-trade share not close to $ bullet train needs

Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to secure a steady source of funding — cap-and-trade fees related to AB 32 — for his $68 billion bullet-train project. It appears that he did so by winning teacher unions’ support with a simply

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How Obama energy rules hurt, help CA

  On June 2, President Barack Obama announced his new rules to mothball “dirty” coal power plants so as to reduce carbon-dioxide power plant emissions by 30 percent from their 2005 level. He also set voluntary targets for the percentage of

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UTLA boss goes Orwell: Teachers=students

Tuesday’s historic Vergara vs. California ruling was likened to Brown vs. Board of Education by none other than Rolf Treu, the judge who issued the decision. But has anyone noticed how quiet Latino Democrats are about the ruling, outside of

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UC Berkeley prof behind invest/spend semantic ploy

AP reporter Judy Lin had a fun story Wednesday about how Democrats are playing the semantic spin game: “SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As billions of dollars in unexpected tax revenue pour into California, Democratic lawmakers have proposed all kinds of ways

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CA oil industry celebrates defeat of fracking moratorium

  California’s oil industry is celebrating the defeat of a bill that would have placed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing — but warned that the fracking war is far from over. Senate Bill 1132 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles,

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The left-wing theory driving Vergara ruling

A point that hasn’t been made nearly enough by the MSM is that the Vergara vs. California ruling rejecting the state’s lax teacher tenure practices depends on a legal doctrine associated with lefty causes. That doctrine deals with “disparate impact” and

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Sweeping new legal challenge to bullet train

A massive California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit was filed June 4 in Sacramento Superior Court over the newly certified environmental impact report (EIR) for the bullet-train project segment linking Fresno to Bakersfield. This EIR is supposed to have far more

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