Politics and Elections

Lawmakers’ paid-for jaunts prompt new disclosure bill

Year in and year out, California lawmakers take advantage of one area where freebees are legal: travel. In 2013, they racked up more than half a million dollars in trips subsidized by “foreign governments, foundations fueled by corporate and labor

Sen. Yee indicted on corruption charges

John Seiler March 26, 2014

This just in, from the Mercury-News: SAN FRANCISCO — State Senator Leland Yee has been indicted for public corruption as part of a major FBI operation this morning in the Bay Area, according to ABC7 news. A San Francisco police

Covered California to register voters

John Seiler March 25, 2014

Covered California, the state’s implementation of Obamacare, now will be mailing voter registration cards to enrollees. Given that most of these folks are poor, and poor people tend to vote Democratic, this is a big boon for the Democratic Party

Legislature worries more about animal misery than human misery

Chris Reed March 25, 2014

California has the highest adjusted poverty rate in the nation — and by a significant margin. Nearly 1 in 4 state residents struggles to make ends meet. Unemployment was about the same in the nation as a whole in 2006.

SD26: Coastal Los Angeles state Senate race tests non-partisan brand

John March 24, 2014

Political analysts say it’s too soon to evaluate the impacts of California’s top-two election system. But this year a coastal Los Angeles state Senate seat will provide a vital case study on the effects of the new system. In the 26th Senate district,

Did governor file bid for quick appeal to block bullet-train revolt?

Chris Reed March 24, 2014

Why did Gov. Jerry Brown abruptly abandon his “stay-the-course” path on the $68 billion bullet-train project in late January? I’ve been poking around a bit and have come up with a theory and some evidence as to why the governor

CA taxes 150% higher than Washington state’s — to what benefit?

Chris Reed March 21, 2014

A new survey of state and local taxes finds California and New York take the biggest bite out of their residents’ pocketbooks. The average Californian forks over $9,509 a year; the average New Yorker, $9,718. Alas, the mainstream media coverage

Krauthammer pulls plug on Obamacare at PRI Thatcher dinner

John Seiler March 21, 2014

Columnist and Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer pulled the plug on Obamacare in his keynote speech March 7 for the Pacific Research Institute’s Second Annual Baroness Thatcher Dinner. It was given before 450 local and state community and business leaders

CA GOP convention reached ‘whole new level’ of inclusiveness

John March 19, 2014

At last weekend’s spring convention in Burlingame, California Republicans promised an effort to “Rebuild, Renew, Reclaim.” “We’re pushing the party outside of its comfort zone,” California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte said in advance of the convention. “And we’re already

Will failed Prop. 209 rollback help GOP with Asian voters? It depends

Chris Reed March 19, 2014

With Asian-Americans making up 14 percent of the state’s electorate, there is a small but real chance that this past month’s developments in the Legislature could prove the biggest story in California politics in years. I refer to Asian Democratic