The U.S. senate's version of pending healthcare legislation has met a significant foe in the least likely state to voice such opposition: California.

Known for its liberal politics, these dissenting views come not from the state's two senators. Senator Barbara Boxer, currently pursuing a 2010 reelection bid, has already declared her support for the bill. Senator Diane Feinstein, on the other hand, has yet to take a stance on the measure.

In the infamously bad Sylvester Stallone film Judge Dredd, the eponymous character, played by Stallone himself, confronts his antagonist with the accusation that "You betrayed the law!" In response, the antagonist screams "LAW!" in a mocking, drawn-out imitation of Stallone's voice, clearly making his contempt for the concept.

While its reputation primarily rests in providing money-saving deals to online bargain hunters, "Cyber Monday" provides California's legislature an opporunity to seize additional taxes from the state's resident online shoppers.

This year, as California faces a worsening financial crisis, state officials are looking to squeeze every penny they can get and are finding out that online shoppers owe them a whole lot of money.

With all the news of UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz student protests, it’s easy to forget that UC students aren’t the only ones suffering as a result of the budget failure. One may recall the break-out of protests on a number of University of California campuses around Thursday, November 19, when it was officially announced that UC students would be forced to pay an additional 32% fee hike, on top of current fees.

Last night, President Obama's war speech was especially relevant for independent-minded voters, both in California and across the nation. For the second time in less than a year, our Nobel Peace Prize winning President ordered a massive troop surge into a raging, eight-year war zone.  In a year's time, Obama will have boosted troop levels in Afghanistan by a staggering 100%.  

In 2007, the modern tea party movement took shape, in a vastly different form than it now presents itself.  Spurred by an impending recession, a government overrun by deception and corruption, and an unprecedented expansion of government under eight years of “conservative” leadership, the first modern day tea partiers had positive causes of action: honesty, respect for the rule of law, and protection of the rights of the smallest minority; the individual.

On November 27, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/us/28brfs-GOVERNOROWES_BRF.html">reported</a> that Governor Schwarzenegger may owe nearly $80,000 in taxes to the state. If true, this is not a good position to be in for the chief executive of a state that is assuredly bankrupt.

Many thoughtful assessments of the Top Two Open Primary proposal raise many of the issues considered by the California Independent Voter Project when researching election reform options over the past three years.

However, critics who rely upon a statistical analysis of Washington’s first year under their system (which is similar to the California proposal) reveal an honestly held bias that we believe results in missing the point.

Governor Schwarzenegger applauded the passage of a statewide cap and trade tax Tuesday, lauding the state’s Air Resources Board for drafting “the nation’s first cap and trade program,” according to a statement from the Governor’s Office. This is nothing that the governor should be proud of.

California has never been afraid to recall its political leaders.  The latest effort to recall GOP assemblyman, Anthony Adams, failed, but disgruntled citizens are targeting state senator, Bob Huff, next.  In an editorial, the LA Times scolds California Republicans for pursuing a counterproductive strategy that will hurt both the party and the state in upcoming budget talks.