- SHNS
- Scripps Newspapers
- Abilene Reporter-News
- Anderson Independent-Mail
- Boulder Daily Camera
- Corpus Christi Caller-Times
- Evansville Courier
- Henderson Gleaner
- Kitsap Sun
- Knoxville News Sentinel
- Memphis Commercial Appeal
- Naples Daily News
- Redding Record Searchlight
- Rocky Mountain News
- San Angelo Standard-Times
- Treasure Coast Newspapers
- Ventura County Star
- Wichita Falls Times Record News
- SHNS Partners
- Scripps Broadcast
- Scripps Networks
- Scripps Blogs
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
Two strong unions keep California legislature in hand
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
One of the more significant developments in California Capitol politics over the past two decades has been the evolution -- from virtual obscurity -- of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and casino-owning Indian tribes into two very powerful interests.
California businesses may score in legislative duel
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
As important and visible as it may be, the political stalemate over the California budget -- whether to close a whopping deficit with new taxes, spending cuts and loans -- is not truly uppermost in the minds of most legislators.
California borrowing orgy unlikely to end soon
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
A well-established economic principle, called the "wealth effect," holds that consumers' spending is influenced more by their sense of well being than by their incomes.
Budget and water issues dominate ballot concerns
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
This is shaping up as a make-or-break week not only on the long-stalled California budget but also on other major issues, such as water bonds, that are tied to the Nov. 4 ballot.
California has more than one financial mess
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
If you've been paying attention to California's chronic budget problems, you know that they fundamentally stem from a disastrous decision in 2000 by then-Gov. Gray Davis and legislators of both parties to squander a one-time windfall of revenue on permanent spending increases and tax cuts that could not be sustained over the long haul.
Reassessing the 'Bradley Effect' in elections
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
Barack Obama's historic bid for the presidency has spawned many political theories, one of which is that he could fall victim to the "Bradley Effect."
Jerry Brown's cynical ploy on gay rights
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
The California Supreme Court's declaration that same-sex couples can marry was morally and legally sound, but Attorney General Jerry Brown is sullying that historic act by skewing the wording of a November ballot measure that would reverse the court's ruling.
Simple slogans highlight California budget fight
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
Politically, California's great debate over how to close a whopping state budget deficit boils down to an exchange of simple -- and probably simplistic -- slogans.
Villaraigosa's promise on L.A. police crumble
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
Two years ago, newly elected Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to put 1,000 more cops on the city's dangerous streets and proposed to raise trash collection fees to provide the money.
"Every new dollar residents pay for trash pickup," the mayor promised in a city news release, "will be used to put more officers on the streets."
Canal central to solving Delta water problems
By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee
A team of researchers with impeccable credentials and unquestionable independence is uttering an inconvenient truth that California and its politicians have ignored for much too long -- a peripheral canal is the least expensive, most environmentally positive way to repair the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while maintaining vital water supplies.


