Doubtful that Janet Napolitano worried when she heard that vandals scrawled swastikas and the message “Jews to the gas chamber” inside a restroom on a University of California campus. Or later when she learned “grout out the Jews” and “Hitler did nothing wrong” had been daubed on other campus walls. College hijinks, she probably thought. She likely paid little heed … Read More

The days when oil companies could credibly deny they are gouging California drivers just because they have dropped pump prices a bit appear now to be over Every measuring stick except a comparison with the price of gasoline four months ago leads to the unmistakable conclusion that this state’s three biggest gasoline refiners – Valero, Tesoro and Chevron – still are gouging … Read More

State commissions, like people and corporations, rarely change unless they are given strong motivation. Sometimes change has to be forced. The latest evidence now demonstrates that the California Public Utilities Commission is no different. Gov. Brown, who appointed all five current members of this scandal-plagued agency, just over a month ago refused to sign a package of bills passed unanimously … Read More

Just over one year from today, Californians will be focused on helping elect the next president and picking their next U.S. senator. That so-far-sedate race looks as if it will boil down to either Democrat state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris or Democratic Orange County U. S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez against a Republican, take your pick among  state Assemblyman Rocky Chavez … Read More

Gov. Brown may not have been aware of what he was doing, but a combination of his signatures and vetoes on bills passed by the Legislature will make it easier for desperately ill persons to seek death in California than to attempt to live longer. With one of his moves, Mr. Brown revealed his inner thinking. The window into his … Read More

Shades of 1994 and the “Pete Wilson effect” that very quickly turned California from a swing state that could go either way in any election to a solidly Democratic one where only a mega-movie star like Arnold Schwarzenegger could break through for Republicans. It appears Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump might be on his way to doing the same thing … Read More

List California’s biggest problems and water immediately comes up, followed by public employee pension obligations, voter distrust for government and childhood poverty, which runs higher here than almost anywhere else. The biggest problem this state faces as it looks to the future may be the fate of the children belonging to its single largest ethnic group. Latinos may have surpassed … Read More

There has been a lot of loud talk and hyperbole during the preliminaries to next year’s presidential election. With the political season on in earnest, it is clear that for the 11th consecutive presidential election, the tail will be wagging the dog. Partly because of laziness and selfishness by California legislators, this state will have little or no voice in … Read More

It was bound to happen in a presidential campaign that has provided more fodder for satirists than any in modern memory: One  candidate reviling anchor babies while demanding an end to the birthright U.S. citizenship guaranteed by our Constitution That happened the other day to Bobby Jindal, the conservative Louisiana governor fecklessly seeking the Republican nomination. His Indian-born mother had … Read More

Parallels between current presidential candidate Donald Trump and ex-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are myriad and obvious to anyone who cares to look. Both are celebrities with no need to spend money on getting-to-know-you TV commercials like ordinary candidates for high office. Both went after political offices after pursuing lucrative careers not even slightly related to running a government. Each claimed not … Read More