Posts From James Poulos
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Towns take heat from proposed taxes targeting streaming video
Tempting fate — and mobilized outrage from consumers and their Silicon Valley allies — municipalities around California have zeroed in on a new source of revenue: Online film and television streaming services, and the people who use them. “If the cities are successful
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California’s largest public employee union strikes deal with Gov. Brown
Gov. Jerry Brown came to an agreement with SEIU 1000, resolving a crisis over negotiations with the public employee union, California’s biggest. The bargain struck came relatively close to Brown’s initial offer, sharpening the ongoing debate over how best to budget for
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CA Supreme Court to review pension case with nationwide implications
Reigniting a perpetually smoldering debate with nationwide implications, the California State Supreme Court agreed to consider whether rules cracking down on pension boosting strategies could be applied to unionized government workers. “A state appeals court in San Francisco ruled in a
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California-style dominance eludes Democrats nationwide
At a moment of unprecedented dominance in California, Democrats woke up on Election Day to a painfully changed national landscape, raising sharp questions about how poorly their approach to outsized success on the west coast is translating in vast
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CA officials poised to blunt Trump on deportation
If Donald Trump aims to significantly reduce the presence of undocumented and unlawful immigrants in California, he will face staunch opposition. From the municipal to statewide level, officials have come out strongly against the prospect of stronger enforcement and
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Gov. Brown vows climate firewall against President-elect Trump
With just a few years left in his marathon return tour as California governor, Jerry Brown has promised not to back down on his climate policy in the face of what could be a powerful change in priorities from above in
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CA GOP weathers hard-fought challenges to incumbents
After weeks of fearing the worst, relief washed over vulnerable Republicans hoping to remain part of California’s congressional delegation. Despite a dogged effort by Democrats hoping to capitalize on Donald Trump’s unpopularity in the Golden State, their challengers fell short,
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New era of marijuana dawns in California, nationwide
Californians have gone down in history as leading a nationwide charge to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. “Voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 64, making California the most populous state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana,”
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Silicon Valley fractures on Trump treatment
So far, Donald Trump has divided the Republican Party, taken large numbers of voters away from the Democrats, and infused some Americans with optimism but others with despair. Now, he has also laid bare latent political fractures within Silicon Valley, often
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Bernie Sanders’ CA return revisits Democrat divides
Underscoring lingering divides in a Democratic Party facing an uncertain future, Bernie Sanders returned to California in the campaign season’s final days, but failed to mobilize enough support to pass Proposition 61. “The drug industry successfully swatted down California’s Proposition 61,
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