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Sacramento Bee
Political columnist for the Sacramento Bee
PROFILE
Dan Walters
Guest
FROM Dan Walters
The Mixer
Are Tax Cuts the Key to Economic Growth? You can call California the conservative media’s piñata. It gets smacked over and over again about its so-called anti-business climate, high taxes and an overall liberal mantra.
Which Way, L.A.?
Work Permits and the Politics of Immigration It's the summer harvest season in California, and farmers are facing a problem that's all too familiar: undocumented workers are needed to pick the crops. Temporary "guest worker" programs were once used to bring labor from other countries… but not anymore. Now, the workers already live here.
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Which Bills Passed, Which Didn’t and What’s Still to Come The latest two-year legislative session is scheduled to end this week. Senators, Assembly members and Governor Brown are all looking ahead to the November election. One veteran observer says most of what he calls “big public policy issues have given way to conflicts among moneyed interests.”
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State Senator Yee's Inditement Latest Blow to Sacramento Dems Leland Yee , who lives in San Francisco, represents parts of the Bay Area in the State Senate. He's also a candidate in this year's statewide election to be Secretary of State. Today, Yee was arrested on charges of corruption by FBI agents, who handcuffed him and took him away.
Which Way, L.A.?
Calderon Leaves California Senate amid Corruption Charges Last week, LA Democrat Rod Wright was granted a leave of absence from the State Senate. He's been convicted on eight counts of perjury and voter fraud. Yesterday, another LA Democrat, Ron Calderon, took a paid leave. He's charged with 24 counts of bribery and other crimes.
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Elected Officials, Their 'Domiciles' and the Districts They Represent It's common knowledge among political junkies that local, state and federal officials don't live in their districts, even though they have to swear under oath that they do. Not all of them are prosecuted.
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Al Jazeera, the FBI and a Political Dynasty in California A 124-page FBI affidavit describes the details of an elaborate sting operation, with agents setting up a fake Hollywood film company and paying State Senator Ron Calderon for legislative favors in Sacramento. The document is still officially sealed, but it was uncovered by investigative reporters for Al Jazeera America.
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The Future of Renewable Energy in California Google is investing 94 million dollars in solar plants in Northern California, but will other companies follow suit? California’s leading the nation in dealing with climate change—but that’s driving up the cost of electrical power. Will higher energy cost drive new investment out of state—including the money needed to fund more alternative…
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Politics and Finance in a World-Class Economy With a majority vote in the legislature, Democrats can pass a budget, but Republicans can prevent the two-thirds required to raise taxes. The failure to come up with a balanced plan by last week's constitutional deadline means that Senators and Assembly members are not being paid.
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Redrawing Congressional Districts in California On Friday, California's Citizens Redistricting Commission , created by voters, will make public 153 maps for new Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts. Preliminary drafts will be displayed on the group's website on Friday, June 10. What kind of changes are in store for LA?
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Poll Finds Support among Californians for Tax Increases Governor Brown appears to have changed the political atmosphere in California. Just last November , 44 percent of the people polled by the LA Times and USC's Dornsife College of Letters said they wanted the state's massive deficit reduced by spending cuts alone.
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Backdoor Plan to Get Tax Extensions on the Ballot? Only a week remains to qualify a June ballot measure that would let state voters decide if tax increases should be extended to prevent doubling the $12.5 billion in budget cuts Governor Jerry Brown has already proposed.
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Pensions and Politics, from LA to Sacramento Jerry Brown did something today that Governors almost never do. He testified before a joint legislative committee hearing on the state budget, delivering stern lectures to both political parties. We hear about that and about pension reform at the state level.
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Jerry Brown: The Budget and Education Public schools, colleges and universities are already reeling after years of multi-billion dollar reductions. But the over-all budget gap will soon be $28 billion. At Jerry Brown's budget forum yesterday at UCLA, the Governor-elect discussed the dilemma with David Sanchez, President of the California Teachers' Association.
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Could Jerry Brown Get the 'Fishhook'? The latest Field Poll shows Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown tied at 41% in the closest race for Governor since 1990. To win statewide in a state where Democrats have a 13-point lead in registration, Republican’s need “the Fishhook,” and Whitman just might have it, according to Dan Walters, syndicated columnist for the Sacramento Bee .
Recommended
Zócalo's Connecting California
Throw caution to the wind Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews has some advice for incoming California Gavin Newsom: don’t follow in the footsteps of Jerry Brown.
The Mixer
The march toward a teachers strike sounds familiar Higher salaries, larger class sizes, more counselors, librarians and nurses. Those are just some of the demands that members of United Teachers, Los Angeles - the union that represents teachers' at LAUSD - are asking for.
KCRW Features
The last time L.A. teachers went on strike L.A. teachers last went on strike in May of 1989, and what L.A. Unified teachers demanded back then isn’t that different from what they’re demanding 30 years later.
KCRW Features
Could agave become Santa Barbara’s next major crop? In many ways, growing agave in Santa Barbara makes a lot of sense. Not only does it use very little water and thrive on generally inhospitable land, but it can act as a fuel break for wildfires. Now, local farmers and distillers are experimenting with the crop.