Commentary

A group of five people, dressed in professional attire, sit on chairs on a stage in front of a crowd, with a banner behind them reading “Governor Candidate Forum.” Four of the five people sitting on stage have their hands up to answer the question while a crowd of people watches in the dark.

No clear frontrunner for governor, but new poll names five with the best shot

A poll shows three Democrats and two Republicans have voter support percentages in the teens. The top two vote-getters in June will face off in November.

Dan Walters

A person in medical protective clothing, wearing a face mask and a hair net, pushes a hospital gurney through a hallway inside a hospital, viewed from an open door.

She spent six of her last years in arbitration with her HMO. Her husband’s still fighting the system

Arbitrators in medical disputes are supposed to be unbiased, but this couple suspected there is an incentive to favor HMO’s in arbitration.

By Stephen Martinez

Two people face each other as they speak: the person on the left has a happy expression and her arm to her chest, while the person on the right wears a grey suit jacket and glasses. Both people are standing in a park area on a sunny day. In the background is a fence to a baseball field.

A former political ally tests LA liberals’ allegiance to Mayor Karen Bass

Mayor Karen Bass isn't vulnerable on her right, but she may be on her left, as City Councilmember Nithya Raman, a Democratic Socialist and ex-supporter, runs against her.

Jim Newton

A close-up view of a person's hand holding a sign that reads "We wants answers! No more deaths!" and they stand at the front steps of a building surrounded by other people holding signs.

California promised accountability for inmate deaths in jails. A year later, no results.

Lawmakers passed a law creating a state department to review inmate deaths, but it hasn’t completed a single death review in its first year.

By David Myers

Commentary

Commentary: Sexual harassment cases put heat on legislative leaders

Some may have believed – or hoped – that the furor over sexual harassment in and around the state Capitol would soon fade away. Nope. The initial letter complaining about harassment, signed by 140 women, has exploded with many more names and a spate of personal accounts. The Los Angeles Times, which broke the initial […]

Dan Walters

• November 5, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: As gas taxes jump, motorists may wonder where they’re going

California's new gas taxes will do little, if anything, to relieve traffic jams. Most of the proposed improvements won’t be obvious.

Dan Walters

• November 2, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Garcetti’s opt-out for governor may have saved Villaraigosa

That sigh you hear is Antonio Villaraigosa’s relief that Eric Garcetti won’t be running for governor next year. Garcetti, the current mayor of Los Angeles, would have been a strong contender vis-à-vis Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner in all polls. But the most immediate beneficiary of Garcetti’s weekend announcement of non-candicacy is Villaraigosa, his […]

Dan Walters

• November 1, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Cohesion thrives in Bay Area while Sacramento region bickers

The dramatic rise of the San Francisco Bay Area into a globally important cultural and economic powerhouse, and why it zoomed past its much larger rival in Southern California, is, among other things, a case study in regional cohesion.

Dan Walters

• October 30, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: California economy humming, but high poverty persists

Gov. Jerry Brown persistently cautions Californians that their pulsating economy cannot last forever. When, for example, he unveiled a revised state budget last May, he included what has become boilerplate, warning that “by the time the budget is enacted in June, the economy will have finished its eighth year of expansion – only two years […]

Dan Walters

• October 29, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Health access too important for mere sloganeering

Sunday’s initial quasi-debate among the four declared Democratic candidates for governor strongly indicated that access to medical care may be a dominant campaign issue. However, it also strongly indicated that voters will likely see more sloganeering on the issue than reality-based prescriptions. That would be unfortunate, because it’s an issue that potentially affects not only […]

Dan Walters

• October 26, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Four Democratic candidates want more spending, but not more taxes?

The four Democratic candidates for California governor mostly believe that dealing with the state's big issues will mean spending a lot more money. But they're murky on where that money should come from.

Dan Walters

• October 25, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Jerry Brown 2.0 wins higher marks in crisis management

Not always fairly, history tends to judge political executives – presidents and governors, especially – by how they handle crises. Abraham Lincoln is rightly revered for his willingness to wage civil war rather than see the country disintegrate. Franklin Roosevelt is equally venerated for dealing with two immense crises, the Great Depression and World War […]

Dan Walters

• October 23, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Weinstein sex scandal reverberates in California’s Capitol

The Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal that has roiled Southern California’s smugly cloistered entertainment industry reverberated last week in the equally smug and cloistered state Capitol. More than 140 women – legislators, Capitol staffers, lobbyists and political consultants – signed an open letter denouncing “pervasive” sexual harassment and other forms of misconduct in state politics. […]

Dan Walters

• October 22, 2017

Commentary

Commentary: Just a few new gun laws this year, but one’s a puzzler

Puzzling: While Gov. Jerry Brown and California's Legislature made it harder for a teacher to protect children against gun-wielding criminals, they also reduced potential penalties for gun-wielding criminals.

Dan Walters

• October 19, 2017

California Voices

Viewpoints from across California