California vs. the Supreme Court

The Time Has Come to Challenge This Dishonorable Court’s Bias Against Our State

Maybe the U.S. Supreme Court should recuse itself from cases involving the Golden State.

Because the current court, with a 6-3 conservative majority reinforced by new associate justice Amy Coney Barrett, isn’t even bothering to disguise its anti-California biases anymore.

That was the unmistakable message from recent Supreme Court oral arguments on a challenge by conservative foundations to a California rule requiring non-profits to disclose their major donors.

For the record, it’s perfectly understandable in these polarized times for Republican-appointed judges to be skeptical of a state as Democratic as ours. And it’s …

I Know Who Can Rescue California Democrats (and Maybe Gavin Newsom, Too) | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

I Know Who Can Rescue California Democrats (and Maybe Gavin Newsom, Too)

The Answer to the Democrats’ Recall Predicament Is a Man Who Couldn’t Save His Own Seat

The most head-scratching political puzzle in California has only one solution:

It is, of all people, Gray Davis.

Yes, perhaps paradoxically, Gray Davis, the former governor who voters recalled in 2003, may …

How California (Might Have) Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Big, Unbalanced Budget | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How California (Might Have) Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Big, Unbalanced Budget

COVID Is Helping the State Get Over Its Misguided Obsession With Staying in the Black at the Expense of Solving Its Costly Problems

In the midst of California’s pandemic catastrophe, we may be seeing, at long last, the demise of the dominant mode of thinking of our state’s leaders: “budgetism.”

Budgetism is the false …

Why Californians—of Both Parties—Should Embrace the Recall | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Californians—of Both Parties—Should Embrace the Recall

Even When You Don’t Want to Remove a Politician, the Vote Provides a Healthy Democratic Dose of Self-Examination

Californians should love me, even when I’m used against a politician you like.

At the very least, I hope you’ll appreciate me if Gov. Gavin Newsom, who won office overwhelmingly in …

SLO Down, You Move Too Fast, California | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

SLO Down, You Move Too Fast, California

In Praise of the Peaceful Pleasures of San Luis Obispo County

SLO down, California. Even in pandemic, you move too fast.

This new year, perhaps we should all resolve to model the spirit of SLO, the acronym that embodies San Luis Obispo, …

Give California’s Kids Barstools for Christmas | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Give California’s Kids Barstools for Christmas

It’s Clear That the Next Generation Doesn’t Matter in a State That Prioritizes Bars and Restaurants Over Schools

Santa, California children need more this Christmas than you can fit in the sleigh. But could you at least give every Californian under the age of 18 their very own …