Brown struggles to hit education stride

With education becoming a major state issue just in time for the election, Gov. Jerry Brown has found himself in an uncharacteristic position. The often unflappable governor, who has prided himself on following the beat of his own drum, has

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Gov. Brown signs gun-control bills

California’s reputation as a state with a shockingly large number of regulations has been embellished by the 930 new bills it passed this year. Gov. Jerry Brown must suffer carpal tunnel syndrome from signing so many of the bills the

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Could underdog upset Assembly GOP Caucus?

Twenty years ago, Jim Brulte was all set to be elected speaker of the Assembly. “I am absolutely confident that I’ll be elected speaker,” Brulte told the San Jose Mercury News in Dec. 1994, shortly after the GOP claimed a majority

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Post-Stockton, Democrat job-retention myth certain to be exposed

Both parties have bogus canards that they trot out when convenient. The worst example of this among Republicans is the idea that tax cuts always pay for themselves — that they lead to higher revenue. It could well be true

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CA GOP labors to read Latino tea leaves

Though the political ground has been shifting in California, new research is giving Republicans only hints about how to woo Latino voters. Much like their nationwide counterparts, for moderate-to-liberal Republicans in the Golden State, Latinos have come to represent an essential outreach opportunity. Unlike

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Stockton ruling, like Vergara ruling, shakes CA status quo

Californians who think the state status quo is nuts and that public employees amount to a protected class of citizens have gotten unexpected help this year from the state and federal courts. First came Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf

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Los Angeles books higher hotel minimum wage

If critics are right, room service in Los Angeles hotels could descend to that of the Bates Motel. Yesterday the City Council passed a $15.37 minimum wage for non-unionized employees of large hotels in Los Angeles. Breitbart News reported city observers generally recognized the

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Hearings dissect Prop. 46 on medical malpractice

  California’s state and local governments could be hit with an increase of tens of millions to several hundred million dollars in annual health care costs if Proposition 46 passes on Nov. 4. That was the warning from California legislative

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Water subsidies are ‘ancient history’

This is Part 4 of a series.  Prior articles in this series showed there are no real water subsidies. But if there are no real water subsidies to farmers from taxpayers, what about all those crop subsidies? According to Mark Borba, owner of

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Torlakson continues lying about teacher-discipline law AB 215

Tom Torlakson supports a status quo in which an average of 2.2 of the state’s 275,000 public school teachers are fired each year for incompetence — a figure so ridiculous you barely need to add context. It shows the public

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