The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo: Adonis Villanueva, via Shutterstock)Lobbyists at the state Capitol have noticed a trend developing over the use of letters to the Daily Journals in the Assembly and Senate as a substitute for making bill amendments. It’s a development little noticed by the public, but it is being closely watched by those with business before the Legislature.
An aerial view of housing density in a Los Angeles suburb. (Photo: trekandshoot, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: A new presidential panel aimed at easing the affordable housing crisis is top heavy with business and developer interests, and does little to get at the roots of the problem. President Trump’s executive order created the “White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing” in June.
California Sen. Kamala Harris at a 2017 political rally in Torrance. (Photo: Vince360, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: In declaring her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president, Kamala Harris joins an increasingly crowded field that includes an array of potential California contenders. Whether she will get the nomination is questionable. They would never admit it, but in the deepest part of their minds, a group of California politicians have to be musing about the increasingly likely possibility that poll-leading Joe Biden is going to run for the presidency.
An attendee at a Democratic political demonstration in California prior to the 2018 mid-term elections. (Photo: Karl_Sonnenberg, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: The 2018 election should have been a breeze for California Republicans. But three simultaneous forces, all moving toward Democrats, blew those prospects away. While one might think things can only get better for the GOP, there are some serious short- and mid-term obstacles to their recovery.
A scientist performs cell research within a sterile environment. (Photo: Tonhom1009, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: The California stem cell agency this week is tooting a $150 million horn and heralding its efforts to assist stem cell businesses with development of therapies that could ease the travails of everything from cancer to blindness. It is all about a financial “valley of death” that can imperil biotech firms as they seek to turn research into an actual product that can be used by patients.
Casting a ballot in California. (Photo: Vepar5, via Shutterstock)Literally minutes after Donald Trump’s election in 2016, political pundits, consultants and prospective candidates started a march toward the mid-term elections. The expectations were set extremely high, with Democratic hopes of taking back the House of Representatives led, in part, by a huge gain in the limited number of remaining Republican-held congressional seats in California.
California voters on election day casting their ballots in Los Angeles. (Photo: Josephn Sohm, via Shutterstock)ANALYSIS: This, too, shall pass: There will come a day in the not-too-distant future when we’ll be able to sit down in front of our television sets or computer screens without being subject to political campaign commercials. Hallelujah!
A powerful wave on a storm-tossed ocean. (Image: Andrey Polivanov, via Shutterstock)California is at the epicenter of what could be a Democratic wave, and that’s amazing. In this election cycle, we are seeing something really astounding, yet many are treating it as if it was normal. Californians are poised to give Democrats anywhere from two to five — or even more — of the 24 Republican congressional seats across the country that Democrats need to win control of the House of Representatives.
The House membership in the 114th Congress. (Photo: Wikipedia)Nine races in November could determine which party controls the House for the next decade—and the map looks good for Democrats. This fall, Democrats face a bad map in the Senate and are in a tough battle to take back the House. But the party is on offense in nine crucial contests around the country that could determine control of Congress for the next decade.
A firefighting helicopter takes water from a golf course pond in Stevenson Ranch near Santa Clarita. (Photo: Krista Kennell, 2007)On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump made his first Twitter statement on California’s summer fire season, which started on June 1. Unlike his statement on last year’s Wine Country fires, when the president tweeted condolences to victims of the fires and support for the firefighters, Trump used these latest natural disasters to troll California with nonsense.