(Ed’s Note: This installment of Experts Expound made it into our special print edition last month but, because of an editing error, it didn’t get posted online. So, belatedly, here it is.) —
“Who wins the presidential race, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, and why?”
Hillary Clinton, because getting venereal disease is better than getting
(Photo illustration: RedDaxLuma, via Shutterstock)CA120: This month has seen the release of dozens of new public polls, ranging from the presidential contest to statewide and local races. We have seen many of these publicly available surveys, but the vast majority of polling is still private – done by candidates and political action committees. It is rarely shared with those outside a very small circle of candidates and consultants.
An attorney gives advice to a client via a cell phone. Photo: PhuShutter)A special master has been named to ride herd on the State Bar’s request for money – a move that follows the Legislature’s unprecedented refusal to allow the bar to collect dues from thousands of attorneys. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Wednesday appointed appellate court Justice Elwood Lui of Los Angeles to examine the Bar’s funding request.
Prescription drugs displayed across a counter top. (Photo: Motorolka, via Shutterstock)FairWarning: When the Republican-controlled Congress approved a landmark program in 2003 to help seniors buy prescription drugs, it slapped on an unusual restriction: The federal government was barred from negotiating cheaper prices for those medicines. Instead, the job of holding down costs was outsourced to the insurance companies delivering the subsidized new coverage, known as Medicare Part D.
A voters hows his badge of independence. (Photo: Joe Belanger, via Shutterstock)Donald Trump is not just the Republican presidential nominee in California. If you got your ballot in the mail, you might have noticed one little oddity: Under Donald Trump’s name you’ll find not only his Republican Party, but also the little known American Independent Party (AIP).
Image by Tim Foster, Capitol WeeklyOne of the state’s most respected polls has begun incorporating online surveys for the first time, underscoring the increasing difficulty of relying on telephone questioning. The Field Poll, which was founded in 1947, started using online surveys to gather voter opinion on nine of the 17 statewide ballot propositions that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Hollywood Boulevard at dusk. (Photo: Sean Pavone, via Shutterstock)Hollywood and Sacramento are not cities that normally leap into our thoughts at the same time. Sacramento is leafy streets and politics and scorching heat. Hollywood is, well, Hollywood.
A California ballot box. (Photo illustration, Hafakot, via Shutterstock)It’s like a poker game: If you want to play, you have to ante up. And this year, the ante for Nov. 8 was nearly $48 million. That’s how much the rival interests for an array of initiatives paid to get on the ballot. That’s not money spent on the merits of the initiatives. It’s the money spent simply to get the propositions before the public.
Bicyclists navigating the streets of San Francisco. (Photo: Can Balcioglu)FairWarning: More Americans are bicycling or walking to work these days, but with little government investment in safety measures, such as protected bike lanes and sidewalks, more cyclists and pedestrians are getting killed. In San Francisco, the hit-and-run deaths of two female bicyclists in a single day in late June spurred community outrage and a plan to add 15 miles of protected bikeways, more than doubling the city’s current total.
A reusable green shopping bag with disposable plastic bags.(Photo: John Nightingale)A ‘Yes’ vote on California’s Proposition 67 would ban thin plastic carryout bags at grocery and convenience stores statewide. The ban is supported by environmental groups that argue the bags choke wildlife and cause problems for recycling centers when they wrap around machinery.