Oh, my kingdom for a compromise — something is rotten in the state of American politics. Even as President Barack Obama stood before Congress in his 2013 State of the Union — practically begging the House and Senate for bipartisan reform on Medicare, the tax code, climate change, immigration and Read More…
While California may not be as broke as you think, at least in terms of dollars and cents, the same probably can’t be said for social capital. After news emerged last July that the California Department of Parks and Recreation had hidden an approximately $20 million surplus from state officials, Read More…
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is at it again. And this time he didn’t forget his lines. “Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,” was Perry’s opening salvo in a radio ad that recently premiered on airwaves across the state. Perry Read More…
More than my snug bed, more than Mom’s cooking, more even than that warm feeling of home, I miss Henry David Thoreau. Let me explain. I was more than a little disappointed academically in my first semester at Cal — not that my grades were poor, but I didn’t think Read More…
Are the signs of a great unraveling beginning to emerge? Last Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., appeared on George Stephanopoulos’ “This Week” and announced his willingness to violate conservative tycoon Grover Norquist’s infamous no-tax pledge. Alleging that he would “violate the pledge for the good of the country,” Graham took Read More…
We’ve seen sex scandals before, but this one hurt. From the disappearance of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford in 2009 to the collapse of Eliot Spitzer’s political future in 2008 and the obliteration of John Edwards’ genteel Southern morality that same year, Americans have seen it all. From those who Read More…
Here’s to second chances, I guess. Congressional approval ratings reached record lows this year, according to a September Gallup poll. Widespread ambivalence toward President Barack Obama’s first term in office dominated American political discussion from 2009 until the 2012 elections, affirmed by job approval ratings that hung around 48 to Read More…
Something about Vice President Joe Biden’s snarky smirks in his debate against Paul Ryan tells me he wouldn’t work too well with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. And something about Mitt Romney’s twist of the hokey and the debonair tells me he wouldn’t appreciate Biden’s quaint quirkiness. There’s been more Read More…
There was lots of talk during Monday night’s presidential debate about jobs. Ironically, the topic of the debate was foreign policy, but that’s not important — this is American politics we’re talking about here. Mostly, the talk about jobs was focused on China — jobs going overseas to China, China Read More…
Seriously. Can the state Legislature please just figure it out? With about 30 weeks of time for legislative action in 2012, you’d think California’s representatives in Sacramento could get a few things done. But you’d be wrong. This year’s official voter information guide is almost 150 pages long. No, it Read More…