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The elusive American compromise

The Critic Who Counts

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…

Symptoms of sequestration

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: If Congress fails to take prompt action, the UC system and the people of California will suffer as a result of sequestration.

Here is a glimpse of the austere world California is plunging into if Congress fails to get its act together soon: The state could lose as much as $795,000 in funding for assistance to domestic violence victims, about $87.6 million for primary and secondary education will be lost, around 9,600 Read More…

Ricky Gill, right, who served on the California State Board of Education, plans to run for a congressional seat in the 11th District.

Law student plans congressional run

Ricky Gill started volunteer work at St. Mary’s Interfaith Community Services for the Homeless in Stockton, Calif., served as co-chairman of the Greater Lodi Area Youth Commission and was appointed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California State Board of Education — all before he even started college. But Read More…