Opinion: McCarthy — should proven liar become speaker?
Possibly the most common jury instruction in courtrooms across America goes basically like this (specific language may vary a little): “If you catch a witness lying about anything, you can assume they are lying about everything else they said.” But both in California and in Congress, Republicans en masse are apparently ignoring that edict, offering […]
Opinion: Is the big housing crunch mostly fiction?
In some parts of California, there is definitely a housing crunch: small supplies of homes for sale, prices that escalate even when population has apparently stabilized and high prices that exclude most Californians as buyers. But a massive, multi-million-unit shortage? Maybe not. At least, so suggests a scathing springtime report from the non-partisan acting state […]
Opinion: Another meaningless big bucks utility payout
The settlement looked big when announced in early April by the district attorneys of six Northern California counties where huge wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. did more than $700 million worth of damage last year and in 2019. It’s another example of a penalty that looks severe but has very little actual […]
Opinion: Good reason for a gas tax holiday
It was a gutsy call when Gov. Gavin Newsom in late February suggested a gas tax holiday. That kind of move has been anathema for California governors since the 2003 recall of Democrat Gray Davis in favor of movie muscleman Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger made hay on the false assertion that Davis added a new gas […]
Opinion: Life after COVID crisis won’t be just the same
Life after the Spanish flu pandemic that killed tens of millions in the late teens and early ’20s of the last century was never quite the same as before. Some public health measures, like mass vaccinations, became normalized. New health and cleanliness standards were imposed on restaurants and other businesses. So it would be grossly […]
Opinion: At last, someone slows wildland development
For decades, it’s been a truism of California life and politics: The more development pushes out into formerly wild lands, the more damaging the forest and brush fires that follow. This has played out to the tune of tens of billions of dollars in damage and more than 100 lives lost over the last five […]
Opinion: California continues as cash cow
A look at the six national ZIP codes which contributed the most to the presidential campaign fund of President Biden through the summer and fall shows four were in California. Similarly, three California ZIP codes were among the top 10 in contributions to the 2020 reelection drive of President Trump. Contrast this to the total […]
Opinion: Newsom gets an easy path
There will be hot races up and down the California ballot in the June 7 primary election and later in the November runoffs. But not in the highest-profile races for the two most powerful jobs on the line this year. Right now, mere weeks before the March 11 filing deadline, it appears Democratic Gov. Gavin […]
Opinion: Reparations — resurrection volatile historic issues
One year after California created America’s first official task force on reparations for Black slavery, every question remains open: Will there be reparations and if so, what shape should they take and who should pay them? Of course, Blacks were never the only victims of racial or religious discrimination in California, so the question of […]
Opinion: Will state regulators kill solar?
If California’s often misguided utility regulators wanted to prove they are determined to favor privately owned electric companies over almost any other interest, they could not do better than with new rules they now propose to inflict on people with rooftop solar panels. To understand this ongoing dispute, take a look at how utilities like […]