Despite the rising number and growing influence of California’s Decline to State voters, the major political parties can still shut out them out of the primaries if they choose. 

Operating on what is known as a modified closed party system, the state's six official political parties - American Independent Party, Democratic Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party, Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party  - determine 135 days prior to the date of the primary for each election cycle whether or not Decline to State voters can participate in their primary. 

With the California Senate race getting closer and closer to Election Day, and with the candidates still stuck in a philosophical back-and-forth, different candidates are beginning to place their trump cards on the table.

The Fiorina Campaign especially, having been dogged by charges of unseriousness in the face of its unconventional campaign ads, and shaky debate performances by its candidate, and now facing an increasingly well-funded opponent in Tom Campbell, has begun taking more and more serious steps.

The California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) passed in 2002 and was accelerated in 2006. It mandates that electricity providers get at least 20% of their retail sales from renewable sources by the end of this year and 33% by 2020.

A significant – and often overlooked -- result of what’s been dubbed the Great Recession is that in just over half of the 50 states, the programs that pay unemployment insurance to workers who’ve lost their jobs are insolvent, leading states to borrow more than $39 billion from the federal government to keep writing checks.

In just a little over two months, the Coffee Party movement has evolved into a media powerhouse.  Viewed as a less emotional, more left-leaning competitor to the Tea Party, the Coffee Party continues to draw the attention of concerned citizens seeking a new vision for American politics.

As of March 31, the Coffee Party had racked up the following impressive stats:

1.  192,850 fans on Facebook

2.  1,486,586 unique pageviews on their website

Obama's proposed 2011 budget has California conservationists fretting. Several agricultural conservation programs initiated in the 2002 Farm Bill (whose funding has declined each year since then) are now facing drastic cutbacks. The concerned groups argue that the proposed cuts could result in further damage to California’s rural economy and halt the steady progress being made to make the state's farms more sustainable and ecologically sound.

Key issues remain to be hammered out with the comprehensive immigration reform blueprint proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).  This is the conclusion from a recent Yahoo News article covering potential fallout from the new legislation.

Caltrain is a commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley. It is operated by Amtrak, funded by local and regional governmental entities, and runs from Gilroy north to downtown San Francisco. It is heavily used by commuters to get to work, and connects to BART and other major transportation lines, as well as San Francisco Airport and sporting events.

In January 2002, detentions at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan began.  With a reputation worse than Guantanamo Bay, President Obama continues to oversee its operations.  Today, the number of detainees at Bagram has climbed to 800, a number greater than its better known Cuba counterpart at its height.  The fact is, while the number at Guantanamo diminishes slowly, the numbe

California's new early release program, authorized by Senate Bill 18, will result in the early release of over 6,000 prison inmates classified as "low-risk" offenders. Proponents argue that the new program will save the state hundreds of millions, but it still raises the perennial question when it comes to the state's prison policy: how safe is safe enough for Californians?