California Politics / Accountability | ~500 words Thirty-seven billion dollars. That’s what California has directed toward homelessness since Gavin Newsom took office. The number gets cited so often it’s starting […]
CALIFORNIA COUNTS SLOW. THAT’S NOT A SCANDAL. BUT SOMEONE WILL MAKE IT ONE.
It’s been five days since California’s June 2 primary, and the governor’s race still doesn’t have a final second slot for November. Xavier Becerra is heading to the general. Who […]
BECERRA VS. HILTON IS THE CALIFORNIA ELECTION THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING
Five days after California’s June 2 primary, the state still doesn’t know for certain who will face Xavier Becerra in November. That’s not a malfunction. That’s California doing what California […]
NEWSOM’S FINAL BUDGET IS A LEGACY DOCUMENT, NOT A GOVERNING PLAN
Governor Gavin Newsom is not running for governor next year. He’s running for something else — history, probably, or the Democratic presidential bench he’s been cultivating for years. His final […]
MEDI-CAL IS BURNING AND SACRAMENTO IS ARGUING ABOUT THE HOSE
California’s healthcare safety net is coming apart at the edges, and the state’s response so far amounts to fighting a five-alarm fire with a garden hose and a press release. […]
Medi-Cal Is Losing 3.4 Million Californians. The Clock Is Already Running.
Nobody rang an alarm in Sacramento when H.R. 1 was signed into law last July. There were press releases. There were statements. Governor Newsom called it devastating. Legislative leaders vowed […]
California Owes $22 Billion in Unemployment Debt. The Next Governor Inherits Every Penny.
The governor’s race is still being counted. Whoever wins in November will inherit the largest unresolved fiscal liability in California state government — and it has nothing to do with […]
Proposition 50 Worked. Now California Has to Win With It.
The votes are still coming in from Tuesday’s primary, and California’s congressional map is already doing what Proposition 50 promised — reshaping races, scrambling incumbents, and forcing Republicans to fight […]
When the President Fires the People Who Write the Checks to California’s Disabled
The civil service has been many things in American political debate — bloated, untouchable, ideologically resistant, a bureaucratic firewall against executive authority. What it hasn’t been, until today, is fully […]
Spencer Pratt Is Going to the Runoff. Karen Bass Has Five Months to Explain Herself.
Let’s be honest about what happened in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, with endorsements from Governor Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, running in […]