Articles by Keith Nelle

The California Appeals Court wasted no time in dealing the final blow to the California School Employees Association in its effort to rewrite the Open Primary Initiative scheduled for the June Ballot as Proposition 14. The Court rejected the CSEA language, preserved the lower court’s language, and ordered the restoration of the Legislative Analyst’s prediction of cost savings associated with the measure. Yes on 14 folks rejoiced at the outcome. But, the ruling ends a strange two-week odyssey th...

Following the presidential election of 2008, the term “independent” became much more familiar in the political realm. Credited with helping to seal the victory for President Obama, media outlets and politicians began to take notice of the growing group of individuals who identified themselves as independents. But, unlike the Tea Party activists or organizations such as MoveOn.org, independents are still viewed as somewhat of a grassroots contingent, holding little political power and little gov...

California is in an economic state of emergency.  With a punishing budget deficit, spending cuts and policy reform have become a necessity.  In Governor Schwarzenegger’s amended budget plan, the governor and his administration have proposed drastic fiscal reductions to social welfare programs such as CALWORKs, Medi-Cal, and Child Care Assistance.  These proposed cuts offer immediate relief to an ailing California economy.  However, this temporary relief comes at the expense of thousands of strug...

First, it was GOP victories in the gubernatorial elections of Virginia and New Jersey.  Just last month, it was the senatorial election of Scott Brown who claimed a historic Republican victory in the bluest of blue states, Massachusetts.  Finally, it was Sarah Palin speaking before the Tea Party convention in Tennessee, claiming the time had come for a revolution and that the GOP would be ready to deliver this revolution to the people.  With these electoral victories and Palin’s efforts to conso...

In light of the current economic emergency, state and federal policy makers may soon be looking towards simple ways to reduce the deficit while garnering public support.  Immigration reform may very well be one of these issues.  If and when politicians revisit these concerns, it will be interesting to see whether the GOP’s current position on immigration reform will change as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision on campaign finance reform. With businesses' and unions' newfound ability to spe...

Last week, the United States Supreme Court rendered a historic ruling against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and all laws that seek to limit big corporate money in American politics. The Court affirmed the position argued by Citizens United, a prominent conservative advocacy and lobbying group in Washington DC. The group challenged the legality of an FEC regulation which restricted the ability of corporations and unions to fund political advertisements. This decision, which has been coine...