Why This Column Ought To Be a Picture

Californian Voters Won’t Read Thousands of Pages About Public Policy. But They Might Look at a Drawing.

To be an engaged, informed citizen in California is to be hopelessly behind in your reading.

We’re told that we need to follow the big issues in California, that we need to be informed about policy debates, and that policymakers want our feedback on major proposals. It all sounds reasonable enough, until you see the homework. The governor says his budget is crucial to turning around California government, but the summary of that budget is 271 pages long. High-speed rail is a hot-button issue, but the business plan that gives a …

Cancel the State of the State Speech

Replace a Pointless Sacramento Ritual With Public Gatherings All Over California

This month, I’m hoping we’ll see the last of a tedious California tradition: the annual state of the state speech. Every January, California governors deliver this address to the California …

How to Be a Better Californian

Forget Losing Weight. The Best New Year’s Resolutions Involve Doing More for the Golden State.

It’s a new year, Californians, and roughly half of you will make resolutions, most of them about your health and family, few of which you will still remember by summer. …

Obamacare’s 19 New Californias

Don’t Try To Understand the National Legislation. Just Try to Understand Your Own Insurance Market.

If you try to understand Obamacare, you’re guaranteed to get a nation-sized headache. (I tried, and I did.) Federal and state government officials have a mess on their hands, and …

I’m a Strong Supporter of L.A. Mayor What’s-His-Face

What Should We Make of the Political Apathy of Angelenos?

So few Angelenos voted this year that Eric Garcetti was elected mayor with just 222,300 votes—the same number it took to get elected mayor in the 1930s, when L.A. was …