Dan Walters

Commentary

California bullet train funds stalemated

Costs are rising for California's much-troubled bullet train project and Gov. Gavin Newsom is having trouble getting more construction money from the Legislature.

By

Dan Walters

• October 13, 2021

Commentary

Newsom, Legislature push the state leftward

Gov. Gavin Newsom has closed the book on the Legislature's 2021 session by signing 770 bills, many of which exemplify a progressive social agenda.

By

Dan Walters

• October 12, 2021

Commentary

Will new measures fix California’s colleges?

California's Master Plan for Higher Education, adopted in 1960, isn't working but a new array of bills purports to fix its shortcomings.

By

Dan Walters

• October 11, 2021

Crew members look for oil clusters along the sand in Huntington Beach on Oct. 5, 2021. An oil spill was reported on Oct. 2, which originated from a pipeline near the coastal grounds off Huntington Beach. The rupture has leaked nearly 126,000 gallons of crude, threatening ecological reserves such as, the Talbert Marsh wetlands in Huntington Beach. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

Commentary

Oil spill increases pressure on Newsom

A major oil pipeline failure in Southern California causes environmental damage and ramps up pressure on Gov. Gavin Newsom to shut down the oil industry.

By

Dan Walters

• October 10, 2021

Commentary

Will speed traps return to California?

California has laws that protect motorists from speed traps but legislation now on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk would weaken them.

By

Dan Walters

• October 6, 2021

Commentary

Newsom’s erratic vaccination orders

Gov. Gavin Newsom boasts that California is first state to require COVID-19 vaccinations of students, but there's a smarmy tinge to his declaration.

By

Dan Walters

• October 5, 2021

Packages travel down a conveyor belt before being scanned and a shipping address is attached at the Amazon fulfillment center in Tracy, Calif., on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

Commentary

California experiments with social democracy

A flurry of legislation signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom is an experiment in European-style social democracy. Will it work?

By

Dan Walters

• October 4, 2021

Commentary

Biden proposal could benefit high-income Californians

California has a big stake in whether President Joe Biden's "human infrastructure" proposal is passed because it could affect how high-income Californians are taxed.

By

Dan Walters

• September 19, 2021