California politics

Should L.A. be California’s Capital?

It Would Be a Tough Move, But Placing the Seat Of Government In Small, Remote Cities Often Fosters Public Corruption

One thing that unites Americans, pretty much wherever they are from, is the conviction that their own state is singularly corrupt. Most states, if not all, have their harrowing stories of arrested governors or legislators, and local political folklore is filled with hair-raising corruption scandals. Just in the past few weeks, in California, State Senator Ron Calderon got stripped of all his legislative assignments following reports that he may have taken $88,000 in bribes from an undercover federal agent. And in New York, the leader of an anti-corruption commission set …

by Filipe Campante |

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Here’s How Janet Napolitano Rescues the University of California

First, Debunk the Nonsense. Second, Unleash the Pol.

by John Aubrey Douglass |

Janet Napolitano, who officially takes over as president of the University of California this week, has experience as Arizona attorney general, as Arizona governor, and most recently as U.S. Department …

The Angeleno Behind Proposition 13

Thirty-Five Years Ago, Howard Jarvis Changed the Golden State Forever

by James Lacy |

In the mid-1970s, when I was a law student at Pepperdine and California state chairman of a conservative volunteer group, the Young Americans for Freedom, we began to get visits …

My 2013 High School Commencement Speech

Dear Graduating Class, You’ve Already Survived California’s Gutted Schools. Here’s How You Can Thrive In California’s Post-Dream Economy.

by Joe Mathews |

To the distinguished California Public High School Class of 2013.

I’m sorry James Franco canceled at the last minute. I’m even sorrier that you wound up getting me as your substitute …

Face It, People: Kamala Harris Is Hot

In California, Where We Dislike and Emasculate Politicians, Being Good-Looking Is Most of the Job

by Joe Mathews |

I don’t care what our elites say.

No one is going to stop me from speaking the truth to power. And here’s a truth about power that a lot of people …

Do We Need 150 More Years of Getting California Wrong?

If We Could Start Seeing This State as a Reality, Not Just a Symbol, We'd Solve a Lot More Problems

by Joe Mathews |

California is a famously volatile place—lurching from boom to bust and from sunshine to natural disaster—but it’s nowhere near as volatile as the perceptions of California.

Only last year, the state …


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