A New Era of Introspection

I suppose it is not a widely held view, but suddenly I feel better about the America my twenty-something children are inheriting. As a parent I never did get comfortable with the giant rushing snowball culture that has characterized turn-of-the century America. I could never shake the nagging feeling that the fierce momentum of the economy left them chasing a train they could never catch and worse, denied them the validation they deserved for simply being good, caring people.

Proposition 5 (NORA) and California: A Framework for Discussion

As noted in this report, implementation of Proposition 5 will be carried out by a governmental framework and discretionary judicial system that is outside of the normal oversight and regulatory controls of the State of California such as the Administrative Procedures Act. Therefore, in addition to meeting unfunded mandates, the state and its municipalities may have difficulty controlling costs associated with Proposition 5 once it comes into effect.

Mail-in voting gains popularity in California

Remember the old days when the only way to make a phone call in public was to cocoon yourself in a tiny glass case, shut the door, drop a few dimes and dial a number? What were those ancient relics of yesteryear called again? Ah, that's right, phone booths. Try to find one of those on a street corner today, and you'll probably be out of luck. It appears that the same fate might befall another similar space: The voting booth.

Follow the Money: Who is Funding Prop 1A?

Researches at the San Francisco Chronicle reported that proponents of Prop 1A, the bill that would allow bonds to be sold to finance a multi-billion dollar high speed rail link, have raised about $2 million for their cause.

No Taxation without Speculation

In the Disney Corporation produced film version of “Robin Hood”, the villainous Prince John instructs his sheriff to “double the taxes, triple the taxes” and “squeeze every last drop out of those insolent, musical peasants!” He may as well have been describing California's taxation policy, a policy made all the more unpleasant and suspect due to its byzantine, obfuscatory language and seemingly endless loopholes. The tax code is so non-transparent that it’s doubtful even the tax collectors understand it, and no one would blame them.

What's in a Name?

If ever the partisans of original intent needed a better argument to use against their activist brethren, it is the existence of Proposition 8. Just so no one has any illusions, it seems fairly obvious that this proposed constitutional amendment would not exist if the California Supreme Court had not made the gross overstep of overturning Proposition 22 against all legal precedent, traditional conceptions of marriage, and Democratic theory.