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A voting lottery?
Los Angeles is considering turning voting into a lottery. Last year’s mayoral election saw a turnout of just 25 percent. The idea is to hold out the potential of winning a cash prize for showing up to do one’s civic
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CA editorial boards cool to anti-Uber power play
The editorial pages of the state’s largest newspapers largely agree about Tom Torlakson’s being undeserving of a second term as state superintendent of public instruction. Given the breadth of ideological views among these papers, that’s pretty rate. Now, rarely enough,
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Chart shows warning on economy, CA budget
Since the 9/11 attack almost 13 years ago, the Federal Reserve Board has been inflating the dollar. Everybody has noticed the increases in food, gas and other prices. That’s why the supposed “records” set by the stock market are suspect.
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Poll: CA likes insurance price controls, Covered CA
A new Field Poll shows strong support for Proposition 45, which will give the state insurance commissioner, Davy Jones, even stronger powers to regulate health insurance. The race is just heating up. And insurance companies are running ads against it.
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Is Gov. Brown disinterested in pension reform?
Later today, the governing board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is expected to pass rules giving state employees 99 ways to spike their “pensionable pay.” Gov. Jerry Brown only objected to one of the 99 bonuses. This is
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SoCal job growth slows
“California’s back!” is Gov. Jerry Brown’s re-election slogan. Certainly, in some areas, such as Silicon Valley, where the Great Recession hardly hurt. But in much of the rest of the state, stagnation still is the order of the day. That’s
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Immigration: Feinstein acts like Chicago Dem, not CA Dem
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein won’t put up with the CIA spying on lawmakers. Her repeated denunciations of the agency this year have been remarkable, considering her decades as a leading figure in the national security establishment. But Feinstein isn’t so
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Study: CA cost of doing business high
Yet another study shows that the cost of doing business in California is much higher than in other states. This one is by Andrew Chang & Company for the California Chamber of Commerce. They provide some useful graphs. 1. “California
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Geothermal: New front in CA fracking war
The war over fracking in California could soon have a second front. The Economist has become the latest publication to document how the newly refined and improved energy exploration technique using precisely aimed underground water cannons works not just to
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Dreamers leaving CA
The New York Times ran a fascinating graphic showing how California, while still a major destination of those from foreign lands, no longer is the land of opportunity for people from other U.S. states. The Times: California, shown above, has long been the
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