News Media

For 2nd straight election, inattention leads to huge Assembly upset

In 2012, Republican officials were appalled at the incompetence of Lancaster City Councilman Ron Smith, a Republican who somehow managed to lose a safe Assembly seat to a Democrat with so much baggage he looked like a muni airport where

CA tech geniuses: Global warming strategy a flop

Chris Reed November 23, 2014

The smartest climate scientists at Google’s Silicon Valley research labs have now joined one of the most brilliant Microsoft techies in concluding that the conventional wisdom about how to fight global warming can’t succeed. John Seiler and George Will, among

Upbeat LAO report lacks key focus: CalSTRS bailout cost

Chris Reed November 21, 2014

The Legislative Analyst’s Office released an analysis of state revenue this week that suggests the state won’t suffer when temporary tax hikes expire. This is from AP: SACRAMENTO — A steadily improving economy will buffer California’s budget from a drop

Jerry Brown about to annihilate UC president on tuition hikes

Chris Reed November 20, 2014

Aficionados of California politics are going to be in for a fun exercise over the next month or two. Gov. Jerry Brown is absolutely going to annihilate UC President Janet Napolitano in their fight over her proposal to get UC

Fracking safety: NYT vs. LAT, yet again

Chris Reed November 16, 2014

The fracking revolution continues to unfold in a half-dozen states around the nation, with enormous benefits to all Americans. A New York Times analysis Friday laid out the particulars: The steepening drop in gasoline prices in recent weeks — spurred by

Modest-seeming CalSTRS pension estimate lacks key context

Chris Reed November 11, 2014

The California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers do a good job of promoting the narrative that state teacher pensions are very modest at best. It’s true that there aren’t the same type of outrageous stories that we see in

Think tank explained CA’s affordable housing debacles long ago

Chris Reed November 10, 2014

A weekend story about the gross failure of affordable housing policies in San Francisco contained plenty of public frustration and official consternation. But it also is one more example of the very shallow way this issue is almost always covered

Teachers win Torlakson battle, but does Brown want them to win war?

Chris Reed November 7, 2014

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s defeat of reformer and fellow Democrat Marshall Tuck on Tuesday prompted analysis pieces that outlined how California’s union-dominated education establishment had rang up another win. While Tuesday night was grim for liberals, embattled teachers

Mercury-News report on mass CA poverty may change coverage

Chris Reed November 2, 2014

The pack mentality of the Sacramento beat reporters is striking. No one wants to point out that the Obama administration says fracking is safe. No one wants to point out that the Local Control Funding Formula turned out to be

Part of bullet-train legal mystery may be answered

Chris Reed October 31, 2014

For close followers of the bullet-train saga, one of the most basic mysteries of recent years has been what happened after Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny’s tentative ruling in August 2013 that blocked the state from starting construction on