Posts Tagged: washington

News

Xavier Becerra: The Golden State Warrior?

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks to the Sacramento Press Club. (Photo: Michael Warren Mott)

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading California’s increasingly tense challenge to the policies of Donald Trump’s administration. It’s a role that gives him high visibility — and headaches. Becerra, in office just five months, is backed by the person who appointed him attorney general: Gov. Jerry Brown. That support is likely to translate into financial resources, too.

News

Devin Nunes in the eye of the storm

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

California’s Odd Couple find themselves on a wild ride in Washington, replete with cloak-and-dagger meetings, reports of Russian sneakiness and confusion all ‘round. But while Schiff and Nunes are both Californians and veteran politicians, that’s pretty much where the resemblance ends.

News

A first: Schiff flies above the radar

Rep. Adam Schiff, right, vice chair of the House Intelligence Committee, ponders testimony. (Photo: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In an overheated political environment where it’s dangerous to stand between some politicians and a television camera, the national spotlight has suddenly fallen on a low-key Californian who implores Donald Trump to be truthful. He is Adam Bennett Schiff, 56, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

News

Xavier Becerra tapped for state A.G.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, Gov. Brown's pick for state attorney general. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP)

Congressman Xavier Becerra, the Democrats’ highest-ranking Latino in the House and a 24-year veteran of Congress, was appointed Thursday by Gov. Brown to replace state Attorney General Kamala Harris, who was elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 8. Becerra, 58, who will be the first Latino to serve as California’s top law enforcement officer, will formally take over the attorney general’s office next month, when Harris leaves for Washington, D.C.

News

Drug industry clout, Medicare costs

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.

News

Death toll up for bicyclists, walkers

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.

News

Kevin McCarthy’s fast track

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, right, rushes past reporters Friday moments after House Speaker John Boehner's resignation announcement. (Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke)

California’s Kevin McCarthy is on track to become the next speaker of the House. If it happens, the affable Republican will achieve one of the fastest ascents in House history — or California political history, for that matter. He would be the second House speaker from California. The other is San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

News

Lawyers’ view: Comparing Sacramento and D.C.

State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikipedia)

California state government does not operate in a vacuum. Federal laws, programs and funding decisions are implemented by the state and have a huge effect on the state and its local communities. In addition, the state does not have exclusive control of the policy-making agenda. The federal government and California’s local governments are constantly considering and adopting policies that are of concern to those working with—or in connection with—state government.

News

Tribal ad slams NFL’s ‘Redskins’

An image captured from the minute-long ad "Proud to Be," critical of the Washington Redskins name. (AP Photo: Courtesy, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.)

An impassioned, 60-second ad financed by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation urges a change in the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, which offends many in the tribal communities.

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