U.S. State Politics

Nevada Sends S.F. Trove of Public Records Related to "Patient Dumping"

To many Californians, perhaps the only thing more outrageous than the idea of Nevada dumping hundreds of mentally ill patients into the Golden State is the idea that Nevada's Governor would have the audacity to deny it. But last week, Gov. Brian Sandoval did just that, acknowledging no more than o ... More >>

Gavin Newsom Urged to Take it Easy, Stop Talking So Much

On Gavin Newsom's recent book tour, Stephen Colbert noted that our lieutenant governor's tome ought to come with a "bullshit detector" and added that all of Newsom's trite Newsomisms should be carved onto a rock and tossed onto someone's front lawn. Put that one on your back cover. Writing a book wa ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown's Pardon Rate Keeps Pace With Fellow Forgiving Governors

On the day before Easter, Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned 65 convicted criminals. All of them had already served prison time, been free for at least 10 years, and, according to the Governor's office, had maintained clean records ever since. Most were drug offenders, though one man had been locked up for m ... More >>

Ryan Andresen, Gay Boy Scout Denied Eagle Award, To Be Honored by California Pols

Ryan Andresen, the incredibly badass 18-year-old who was booted from boy scouts because he's gay, is getting the recognition he so deserves. After scoring a spot on the Ellen Show and Anderson Cooper 360, the East Bay teen's next stop is the state capitol where he'll be honored by the California As ... More >>

Prop. 34: California Keeps Death Penalty, Once Again Shows It's Not as Liberal as Some Think

California: that big blue state that handed President Obama 54 free electoral college points and gave his campaign more money than any other state. The state that is on the brink of Democratic supermajorities in both the state House and state Senate and contains a voting population in which register ... More >>

Gov. Brown Won't Let Reporters Have Easy Access to Prison Inmates

Assembly Bill 1270, passed by both chambers of the state legislature, would have allowed journalists to set up interviews with specific inmates in state prisons. Eight times over the past two decades a similar bill had passed through to the governor's desk, and all eight times it was vetoed.The stre ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown Has a Chance to Usher in Major Prison Reforms in California

With a couple strokes of his pen, Gov. Jerry Brown can significantly alter the way California's prison system works. Yesterday, the state Senate passed a bill that would give parole opportunities to juvenile offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. This week, that body will ... More >>

California Appeals Court Strikes Down Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bans

Medical marijuana dispensaries are protected under California state law, and cities and counties have no right to ban cannabis collectives outright, according to a state Court of Appeals ruling released Monday.The decision invalidates a ban on dispensaries in Los Angeles County, which was enacted in ... More >>

Ammiano Bill to Allow Marijuana Businesses and Sales That Are Already Legal

Mr Fix-It​Call it an industry, call it a movement, call it a gigantic scam. Law enforcement and politicians can't agree what to call California's medical marijuana scene, except to say it exists in a legal gray area.And how. A dispensary operator in Vallejo was arrested last week -- twice -- becau ... More >>

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Slew of Illegal Immigrant-Friendly Bills

​While the federal government stagnates on any immigration reform, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bevy of illegal immigrant-friendly bills that will make their under-the-radar way of life less of a headache starting January 1, 2012. Opponents have already started filing in. Perhaps th ... More >>

Miracle Faker: Rick Perry's Texas Teaches America the Wrong Lessons

Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill That Heads Off Local Ban on Circumcisions

​The controversy over male circumcisions has officially been nipped in the bud. Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday signed off on a new law that puts the kibosh on local cities and counties looking to criminalize circumcision for males younger than 18.Lawmakers passed the bill last month, claiming a ci ... More >>

Senator Lou Correa, Author of Vetoed Medical Marijuana Restrictions Bill, Just Wanted to Help

The LiberalOCHere to help​Medical marijuana advocates celebrated Wednesday with Governor Jerry Brown's veto of SB 847. The brainchild of State Senator Lou Correa (D-Orange County), the bill would have made a 600-foot barrier between medical cannabis dispensaries and homes state law (except in citi ... More >>

Remembering Don Casper, a City Official Who Saved Taxpayers Billions

Circumcision Ban Cut from the Ballot

"Intactivist" David Pinckney​The city's controversial circumcision ban was officially snipped from the November ballot after Judge Loretta Giorgi ruled this morning that the measure would violate state law that prevents cities and counties from regulating medical services -- when they are a matte ... More >>

Rolling Paper: Looking at the Current State of Safe Access

Labor Union May Be Able to Set City Manager Paychecks

Assemblymember Paul Fong Talks About the Shark's Fin Ban

Assemblymember Paul Fong​On Monday, the California State Assembly voted to pass AB-376, a proposed ban on the sale and import of shark's fin. The ban, which has been publicly condemned by state senator Leland Yee and SF mayor Ed Lee, is intended to prevent the practice of shark finning, which is d ... More >>

Antismoking Bill May Mean the End of Hookah Houses

Dianne Feinstein Tells Francisco to Go Smoke a Fat One

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, San Francisco.​Wait, not all of your tax dollars are wasted in San Francisco. Your local bureaucrats make it part of their job to send a letter every February to state and federal politicians restating the city's desire that the government legalize marijuana. No ... More >>

Jerry Brown's Legacy Examined in New York Times Magazine

Still quirky after all these years​Like clockwork, the New York Times periodically chooses to publish an in-depth profile of some prominent California politician or politicians, usually under the rubric of West Coast "quirkiness" showcased for a national audience. Our state's pols don't always fai ... More >>

Economist Writer Talks about Why California Won't Split Up

​For those who missed our blog post on it last week, we'll say it again: The Economist correspondent Andreas Kluth's special report on dysfunction in California's government is worth a read. Earlier this week, we attended Kluth's talk at the World Affairs Council on Sutter Street, where he offered ... More >>

Is Banning Shark's Fin Racist?

​Today, the San Francisco Chronicle surveyed the battle emerging over a recently introduced state assembly bill proposing to ban the sale and import of shark's fin throughout California. The pro and con camps are defining it as a fight over cultural heritage versus environmental conservation.Accor ... More >>

Examiner's Phil Anschutz Dumps Money into California Politics -- Except San Francisco

No money for you, chumps.​San Francisco Examiner owner Phil Anschutz, his companies, and his employees, donated $92,582 to 30 California politicians between 2003 and 2009, according to campaign finance filings compiled by Anschutz's competitor, Bay Area News Group.But the railroad, telecommunicati ... More >>

Gavin Newsom -- You Can Still Watch Him on Demand

Technologically active again​When former Mayor Gavin Newsom left City Hall, his staid YouTube addresses that people had grown accustomed to went right with him. But Newsom's hiatus from YouTube was short-lived. Just barely a month as the state Lieutenant Governor, Newsom sent out his first video a ... More >>

Hey Rich Assholes: Are You Shorting Your Nanny? Tell It to the Judge

Don't even think about shorting her...​The cost of living for the Meg Whitmans of the world might become much more expensive. California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D- San Francisco) announced today that he is introducing legislation to improve the lives of domestic workers in the state.The bill, whi ... More >>

Jerry Brown's Budget Solution Is To Starve Senior Citizens, Excluding Himself

Not On Our Dime​Most everyone would expect Governor Jerry Brown to take sharp measures to ensure that the state's books are balanced in the coming year.But cutting back on food for the elderly? That seems draconian. According to the Sacramento Bee, Brown wants to seriously trim grants for the low- ... More >>

Jerry Brown Should Get Rid of Schwarzenegger's Debt Deals

Gavin Newsom Goes Back On His Word To Avoid Back Room Deals

​After winning the seat for lieutenant governor in November, Mayor Gavin Newsom told reporters, point blank, that there would be no back room deals or political bargaining when selecting an interim mayor to fill the remainder of his term.He's also vowed to steer a clean-cut transition as he assume ... More >>

Mayoral Selection: What the Hell Is Gonna Happen Today?

Should he stay or should he go?​To paraphrase T.S. Eliot, the ongoing showdown between the progressive supervisors and erstwhile Mayor Gavin Newsom regarding the naming of his successor will end with a bang or a whimper. Or lots of whimpering. Or lots of banging. The supes are slated today to vote ... More >>

Predictions for San Francisco 2011

Doyle Drive's Goofy Privatization Deal Stalled By Judge

Will Jerry Brown stop the fiscal insanity? ​A judge Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order halting Caltrans from signing a finance deal that would let a foreign consortium take over construction and maintenance of part of the Doyle Drive project in the Presidio.This marks the second time i ... More >>

Why Tom Ammiano really doesn't want to be mayor

Congestion Pricing Showdown: Assemblyman Jerry Hill To Address San Francisco Supes

Seriously, take Caltrain. You're allowed to drink coffee and everything. ​San Francisco's idea to charge motorists $6 a day to enter or exit the city's southern border has spurred what could only be labeled a congestion pricing pissing contest. Peninsula officials are huffing that they'll impose a ... More >>

Tom Ammiano Makes It Official: He Won't Be Next Mayor

Count me out, says Tom Ammiano​Assemblyman Tom Ammiano told SF Weekly, in no uncertain terms, he doesn't want to be the next damn mayor. He told his former board colleagues the same. He hasn't yet hired out a pilot to do skywriting -- but his drift is unmissable. Supervisor Chris Daly remains unda ... More >>

Don't worry, America. San Francisco knows what's best for you

FAIR-y Tales

Fantasy Voter Fraud

The Examiner's Hilarious Political Endorsements

​God help me, but it's true: I love America's Funniest Home Videos. Thanks to YouTube, you can find more than enough old episodes. You turn the sound off -- be gone, Bob Saget! -- and bliss. It's so predictable, yet so hilarious. Men working on roofs are gonna fall. Skateboarders will not land whe ... More >>

Attention, Guardianistas: Here are your endorsements.

Schwarzenegger Bill He Dismissed With 'I F*ck You' Veto on Gov's Desk Again

Life in the capitol...​A Tom Ammiano bill authorizing the city to issue bonds related to the development of Pier 70 has cleared the legislature and landed on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. That's hardly a call for rampant cursing -- yet, the last time this bill reached the governor, it was vet ... More >>

Workers' comp covers retired cops who get cancer

S.F. Legislators Approve $400K Gift to Insurers. Will Governor?

It's unanimous: let's screw San Francisco​In a year when San Francisco faces a $787 million budget shortfall, how do our representatives in Sacramento propose to help out? By unanimously supporting a measure transferring $400,000 annually in health care expenses from insurers to local San Francis ... More >>

Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger Say Let the Gays Marry -- Now

Jerry Brown says: Go get married!​Update: You're never going to believe this, but, at 4:59 p.m. the City and County of San Francisco also filed a motion urging the stay be lifted! Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a motion with Judge Vaughn Walker requesting that no stay be placed on the ruli ... More >>

Jerry Brown Wants You -- To Put Him on a T-Shirt

Put that man on a T-shirt. Now! ​California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown is no spring chicken. And he needs your fashion advice. Brown has enough elections under his belt to know the value of lookin' sharp. That's why the man of many hours is calling on his supporters to "help Je ... More >>

Republicans Following Porn on Twitter (NSFW)

By following @_PrettyAlison, the California GOP studied the body politic...​If you're going to get hit with a sex scandal, you should at least make sure to enjoy the sex. Yet the California Republican Party has been monitoring the online offerings of dozens of porn purveyors in a situation that ga ... More >>

List: The best democracy money can buy

Distressed Properties

The state's quick budget fix of selling off public buildings is a horrible idea.

Jackpot

How four tiny Indian tribes, with help from powerful gambling interests, are trying to transform the Bay Area into a slot machine Mecca