Posts From James Poulos
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Brown steers clear of Dems as election nears
State Democrats haven’t had much luck in securing the biggest show of support in California — Gov. Jerry Brown. As he gears up for the final stretch of his bid for an unprecedented fourth term in office, Brown has chosen to
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Kashkari draws a media crowd
Neel Kashkari, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Republican challenger, has been playing a long game. That hasn’t been immediately evident from the frenetic activity surrounding his final month of campaigning. Using a string of concept-driven political stunts, ranging from free prizes to a masquerade
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Judge: CalPERS not protected in Stockton bankruptcy
After a brief reprieve from a bad summer, the California Public Employees Retirement System has been handed another massive setback. In a provisional but uncompromising ruling, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein held bankrutpcy law does not permit CalPERS to protect its workers’
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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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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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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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CTA battles CA Democrats
In a surprise twist this election season, the CTA and its backers, across a number of pressing issues, have adopted positions at odds with powerful Democratic incumbents and newcomers. The catalyst was the Vergara v. California case. Education scholar Joshua
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Brown fuels incentives for alt-energy cars
Convinced carbon emissions pose an “existential threat” to the human race, Gov. Jerry Brown just signed a set of bills designed to push ahead an environmental agenda dependent on automobiles that don’t run on gas. Among other new rules, regulations and programs, the new
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Rand Paul road tests campaign themes in CA
In the early search for an edge in 2016, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has trained his sights on California. Doubling down on a strategy that saw Paul make waves with a well-received speech at the University of California, Berkeley in
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Public Utilities Commission crashes into Uber, Lyft
This week was supposed to be a Kumbaya moment for state legislators and ridesharing services. On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law compromise legislation allowing the firms to continue to flourish, while requiring them to increase their insurance coverage. But just before
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