Don't boost homeowner exemption, get rid of itRepublican state legislators complain constantly that majority Democrats ignore them and their ideas in fashioning legislative policy.
Everyone feels home market pinchCalifornia may be the epicenter of the housing industry's meltdown, but very few areas of the nation are exempt from its effects.
Classic duel under way in California's foothillsIt's the classic dilemma that afflicts members of both political parties as they choose candidates for offices from the presidency down: whether to opt for the true-believing ideological purist or the more pragmatic, and perhaps more electable, alternative.
Lawmakers occasionally, accidentally, do us rightOnce in a while, almost by accident, the California Legislature sets aside pettiness and venality and does the right thing.
Everyone's guessing on size of state deficitWhen Gov. Schwarzenegger's budget office reported last week that revenues are running $1.2 billion below estimates for the current fiscal year, it added fuel to one of the Capitol's biggest guessing games: How large is the state budget deficit?
Cynicism about capital is founded once againChalk up two more pyrrhic victories for the cynics about the Capitol's ability to do the public's business in a straightforward, unhypocritical manner -- and the outgoing speaker of the state Assembly, Fabian Núñez, is at the center of both.
Governor's tax musings may actually make senseGov. Schwarzenegger has been spouting a lot of nonsense lately about the state's chronic budget travails. But he said something about taxes the other day that makes sense.
Budget talks seem even slower than usual
Bills shows lawmakers lose touch with reality
State fair to cut exhibits by students
State senate race heats into ugly feud
Bullet train may not be worth its high cost

» See more Dan Walters stories