Gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan’s spending plan for CA does a good job of diagnosing California’s fiscal maladies, but his proposed treatment is not enough to cure the patient, according to Marc Joffe. An Opportunity Now exclusive reaction.
Read MoreCA voters already said no to racial preferences, but state legislators keep pushing for discrimination, says California Globe’s Katie Grimes. A reparations program under the new ACA 7 would give students of the same financial need different aid packages: free money for some, student debt for the rest. Why do the people’s representatives keep ignoring the will of the people?
Read MorePlan Bay Area 2050+ is a $1.5 trillion, 25-year mega-plan that entrenches failing transit and housing bureaucracies, says SHIFT Sustainability Director Gregg Dieguez. He argues MTC/ABAG’s regional blueprint ignores remote work and other transformative trends, spreading new taxes and costs across the region. To what end? To preserve an outdated status quo rather than re-imagining the Bay Area’s future in light of emerging technologies. An Opportunity Now exclusive comment.
Read More"A political party that contests only a handful of races eventually finds it represents only a handful of places." So says Peter Coe Verbica, encouraging the CA Republicans to get behind grass-roots candidates that can shape public opinion and move the Overton Window. Verbica is a candidate for CA Congressional District 19.
Read MoreDecisions and protocols should be based on real-world, lived experience--not ideology, nor bogus charts, nor claims of expertise. From The Reliable Narrator website.
Read MoreDissent magazine says that pundits fretting about a “tyranny of the majority” would do well to remember that democracy has always been a precondition of liberalism—not the other way around. And that populism and oligarchies are the flip sides of the same coin.
Read MoreRacism. Suppression of free speech. Bloody foreign misadventures. Welcome to the first progressive, Woodrow Wilson's, presidential tenure. From Libertarianism.
Read MoreUnder pressure to address San Jose’s massive budget shortfall, CA gubernatorial candidate Mayor Matt Mahan talked up “charitable or commercial ventures” as if they were “core municipal functions.” They’re not, says Mark Moses, author of The Municipal Financial Crisis: instead of chasing the glamour of being a sports destination, leaders should first make sure you can park your car downtown without it getting stolen. An Opportunity Now exclusive Q&A response.
Read MoreGlobal housing expert Scott Beyer explores in Eurasia Review why CA cities can’t seem to get it right, while places like Houston, Greenville, SC, and Bergen County, NJ do.
Read MoreA corrosive teaching fad that made children bad at reading has long since been debunked, says Gus Mattammal in his education policy book A is for Average. But California has been slow to replace it with a proven method that would help the state’s most disadvantaged students. The candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction argues that cynical and ideological forces are to blame.
Read MoreWith this week's South San Jose shooting and murder, SJ's murder rate is up 75% compared to last year at this time, according to the Merc. Heritage Foundation unearths key factors behind crime increases: Refusing to prosecute and punish violent offenders, releasing violent offenders under ill-conceived bail-reform policies, and hamstringing police departments.
Read MoreThere’s a flaw in how California allocates money to education: funding for students who need extra help is meted out to districts far too slowly. So says candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Gus Mattammal. In his book A is for Average, he proposes ramping up this funding earlier. He says it can be done without increasing taxes.
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