Sacramento Bee

As Schwarzenegger fashions his own plan to extend coverage to at least some of the nearly 7 million Californians who lack health insurance, he appears to be edging toward some form of mandate on employers to offer and at least partially pay for medical care for their workers...If the governor moves in that direction, his rationale may be that employers who don't cover workers are indirectly shifting their health care costs to taxpayers, those who pay for their own care and… more

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that his plan for reforming California's health care system will not include new taxes, but he did not rule out considering legislative proposals that do...

Monday, the governor laid the groundwork for a debate over why individuals should be prepared to shoulder part of the burden when he cited a new report that said people with insurance are already paying higher premiums to offset some of the costs of treating the uninsured...

The report the governor cited,… more

Last month's election provided new evidence that while politicians from the two major parties fight their shrill ideological battles -- egged on by radio and cable television talkers -- they represent ever-shrinking constituencies and thus are becoming increasingly disconnected from the larger society.

The political middle, disenchanted with the confrontational and ultimately meaningless tone of contemporary politics, has been growing. The number of voters who register as Republicans or Democrats in California has remained unchanged for a decade and a half… more

The defeat last week of Proposition 86, which would have raised the state's cigarette tax by $2.60 per pack, raises a new hurdle for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as he heads into his second term with health care at the top of his agenda.

The measure would have paid for insurance coverage for all of California's children -- a fact largely obscured during a campaign that focused on the other things the tax would have funded, such as emergency rooms and anti-smoking… more

Note: Post-election versions of this op-ed also appeared in the Nov. 24 Providence Journal and the Nov. 28 San Jose Mercury News.

Regardless which party controls Congress after Election Day, the new leaders’ agenda should highlight policies designed to improve democracy and elections in the United States.

Change is certainly needed. Our constitutional framers designed the U.S. House of Representatives -- the "people’s house" -- to be the branch of government with the most power… more

As the major political parties fall further out of vogue with new voters in California, Republican and Democratic candidates are finding it difficult to call on the party loyal for support on Election Day.

Democrats and Republicans are declining, and the number of voters belonging to third parties, including Green, Libertarian, Natural Law, and Peace and Freedom, are shrinking. But there are growing numbers of independent voters or those who "decline to state" their party when they register to vote. These… more

Americans can't save. They rank it right up there with -- oh, cleaning out the closet. Recent research confirms that the national savings rate in the United States dipped below zero percent in 2005 and stayed there for the better part of the year. The last time that happened was during the Great Depression.

For most of us to save money, someone else needs to do it for us. That's why so many of us have our employers deduct money… more

President George W. Bush recently accomplished something almost no one else could in California politics: He got Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to put politics aside to pass a new law to meet a real need in real time.

Through the ill-prepared implementation of the new Medicare drug plan, Bush gave the governor a chance to work with the Legislature on an emergency fix to the new federal drug program. The poorest of elderly California seniors, who had… more

Redistricting reform in California has become a roller coaster ride. Ever since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger launched his effort last January for a mid-decade redistricting by a panel of retired judges, the ups and downs have been dizzying as the governor and Legislature have tried to outmaneuver each other.

In the latest downward dip of the roller coaster, recently a state court threw Proposition 77, the governor's vehicle for redistricting reform, off the ballot due to a clerical mistake--the proponents sent… more

The bad news first. California now ranks last nationally in home ownership. It also has the fourth worst "asset poverty" rate in the nation, meaning that nearly a third of the state's households are on such a financial brink that they'd fall below the poverty level within three months after an unexpected hardship like a job loss or medical emergency.

California's future economy depends on more people gaining access to home ownership and higher education. But it's difficult enough to… more