Posts Tagged: right

McCarthy: Hard right takes its toll

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, foreground, with House Speaker John Boehner. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 10.13.2015

He had texted them birthday greetings; he had gone into their districts to campaign for them and raise money; he probably would have washed the dishes. But in the end, it wasn’t enough as the affable and handsome Kevin McCarthy ended his once seemingly inevitable march toward becoming speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Right-to-die bill heads Brown’s way

Sen. Lois Wolk, center, the original author of the right-to-die bill, embraces Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, who authored the special session version sent to the governor on Friday. (Photo: Jeff Walters, Assembly Democratic Caucus.)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 09.11.2015

Legislation to allow dying people to end their lives with lethal, physician-supplied drugs was approved by the state Senate on Friday and sent to Gov. Brown, who once studied for the priesthood and who has not disclosed his position on the bill.

Some thought an appeal of a court ruling blocking a key part of a San Jose pension reform could lead to a high court review of the “California rule,” an issue in an initiative ballot summary issued last week by Attorney General Kamala Harris. But dropping an appeal of the Superior Court ruling is part of a settlement of union suits against the voter-approved pension reform that could soon be implemented by court action

Health data breaches sow confusion, frustration

An illustration depicting a person accessing data on a terminal. (Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)

by CHARLES ORNSTEIN posted 04.14.2015

ProPublica: As the privacy officer for The Advisory Board Co., Rebecca Fayed knows a thing or two about privacy and what can happen when it’s violated. But when Fayed received a letter telling her that she, like nearly 80 million others, was the victim of a hacking attack on health insurer Anthem Inc., she couldn’t figure out why. Anthem wasn’t her insurance provider.

Legislature’s image on the mend?

State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)

by CHUCK MCFADDEN posted 03.09.2015

Is the California Legislature making a comeback? The poll numbers would certainly indicate it is, but lawmakers shouldn’t start popping the champagne corks. In fact, the legislature hasn’t had this much love since October of 2004, when 40 percent of likely voters approved and 46 percent disapproved of the legislature’s performance, according to the PPIC.

OPINION: There are more than 80,000 franchised enterprises in California, employing nearly a million people. Increasingly franchise owners are seeing our rights slip away as lopsided franchise agreements protect the interests of multi-national franchisors rather than small business owners.

Partisan split on lawmakers’ performance, state outlook

The state Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: AMadScientist, via Wikimedia)

by MARK DiCAMILLO and MERVIN FIELD posted 06.27.2014

FIELD POLL: Slightly more voters believe California is generally on the wrong track (46%) than say it is moving in the right direction (41%). In addition, more voters disapprove (47%) than approve (35%) of the job performance of the state legislature. Opinions about both matters are directly related to the party registration of voters. Democrats offer a much more optimistic assessment of the direction of the state and hold more positive views of the job the state legislature is doing than Republicans.

More California voters are becoming critical of the job Barack Obama is doing as President. The latest Field Poll finds that while 51% of California voters approve of the President’s overall performance, a growing proportion (43%) disapprove. This represents an increase of 8 percentage points in the proportion disapproving since July. While the growth in the number of Californians disapproving spans most demographic subgroups, some of the greatest increases have occurred among voter segments who have been among the President’s strongest supporters.