Opinion: Voter registrations suggest recall a longshot
If Republicans are banking on the fall recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom as the key to eventually recovering their status as a major force in California’s public affairs, perhaps they had better guess again. That’s the clear implication of the latest voter registration figures released the other day by the state’s top election official, […]
Opinion: Recall fever: More than just a bear and a TV star
“All politics is loco,” the New York Times headlined during California’s 2003 recall campaign. That never looked more true than in mid-May, when gubernatorial recall replacement candidate John Cox campaigned with a Kodiak bear to demonstrate his “beastly” qualities, then complained loudly because the bear got more attention than he did. Or when reality TV […]
Opinion: Newsom doing what he must to survive
As the signatures that qualified the Gavin Newsom recall election for a statewide vote began arriving in big numbers at county recorder’s offices around California, the governor soon realized he could no longer ignore the threat. Rather, it was time for him to speak up, and also to begin seeing this as the opportunity of […]
Opinion: Time to end UC health, dignity hospital link
On some levels, it’s sensible for the University of California’s health system, including famed hospitals like UCLA, UC San Francisco and UC San Diego, to link with the Dignity Health group of hospitals and clinics often located in much more isolated and rural locations. While UC hospitals generally operate in major cities and urban counties, […]
Opinion: The myth of a great California exodus
Rarely has the “big lie” technique been used against an American state as effectively and persistently as with the myth of a great and unique California exodus over the last few years. The Economist, a London-based magazine whose reportage on California almost always contains errors, reported last fall that California lost population between 2018 and […]
Opinion: Utility customers getting day in court
The utility bailout plan known as AB 1054 has looked worse and worse for consumers since California legislators passed it in July 2019 under pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and lobbyists for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. The typical residential electric customer has paid for more […]
Opinion: Nursing home residents need high vaccine priority
Teachers’ unions, police and firefighters argued in early December they ought to get the expected new coronavirus vaccines before anyone else but health workers. They got a tough response at the federal Centers for Disease Control, now operating as it is supposed to for the first time since Donald Trump became president. Freed after the […]
Chuck Doud: My friend and ‘partner’
When the phone rang at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 6, the caller ID said “Chuck Doud Cell.” I thought Chuck and I would have another conversation like many he and I conducted every two weeks or so since 2004, talking about this newspaper and its doings. I knew Chuck had been ailing for some weeks, but […]
Opinion: Will Feinstein add to the musical chairs?
The game of musical chairs that is the upper echelon of California politics in late 2020 began with the election of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president and continued with President-elect Joe Biden naming state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra his secretary of Health and Human Services. Will Dianne Feinstein create the next empty seat? […]
Opinion: Fraught times for Gavin Newsom
For years, Gavin Newsom had a Midas touch. He legalized same-sex marriage in San Francisco, and later the U.S. Supreme Court put a stamp of approval on the controversial move. He committed a sort of sacrilege by contesting the 2010 primary election against the almost sainted (among California Democrats) Jerry Brown, then settled for lieutenant […]