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A U.S Census Bureau report released last week showed that the number of Californians living in poverty rose to 15.3 percent – totaling 5.6 million people – in 2009, up from 14.6 percent in 2008 and 12.7 percent in 2007. Nearly 2 million of those living in poverty are children. The report also showed that 20 percent of Californians lacked health insurance, up from 18.6 percent in 2008. As compared to the nation as a whole, California is suffering more from the severe economic downturn. While the

On July 1, the federal government and dozens of states set up temporary “high-risk” health insurance pools for people denied health insurance due to so-called pre-existing conditions. These pools were one of the major provisions included in federal health care reform signed into law early this year. However, this is only a temporary fix intended to provide health insurance to individuals without coverage until the law goes fully into effect in 2014, when insurance companies will no longer be ab

Watching the awe-inspiring television images from the recent U.S. Open golf tournament at Pebble Beach, I began to envision the Monterey Peninsula marred with splotches of oil, and the famed golf course closed as the result of a drilling accident.  Then, I began to imagine the outrage that such an incident would trigger here in California and across the country, and wondered how it would compare with the response to the BP disaster in the Gulf Coast. Here’s the difference: The images of Pebble

With less than three weeks until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils his revised budget plan for the fiscal year starting July 1, he and the Democratic majority Legislature have done little to reduce the state’s projected $18.8 billion budget shortfall. Almost the only thing they have accomplished is agree that increasing taxes won’t be part of whatever solution they stitch together over the next 10 weeks.  “In this budget I refuse to raise taxes because there are so many other areas where Sacr

A significant – and often overlooked -- result of what’s been dubbed the Great Recession is that in just over half of the 50 states, the programs that pay unemployment insurance to workers who’ve lost their jobs are insolvent, leading states to borrow more than $39 billion from the federal government to keep writing checks. California, which has the largest unemployment program in the country, has the dubious distinction of leading 34 other states and the Virgin Islands in borrowing:  $8.5 bil

As Americans, we are privileged to inherit the legacy of leaders who fought for equality and delivered on our forefathers’ promise of being a more perfect union. Foremost amongst these great leaders is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who came to embody the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for people of all colors to achieve the American Dream. Living in a time where gross discrimination prevailed and African Americans were excluded from enjoying the basic rights of citizenship, Dr. Ki

In 1995, Congress addressed this issue with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, sponsored by Republican Senator Kempthorne of Indiana and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton.  The purpose of the bill was “to curb the practice of imposing unfunded Federal mandates on States and local governments..." and "to end the imposition, in the absence of full consideration by Congress, of Federal mandates on State, local, and tribal governments…”  The problem: the Act so narrowly defined wha

California'sAfrican-American, white, Latino and low-income students all have improved significantlyon national tests in fourth-grade reading and eight-grade math over the pastdecade, and at a slightly better pace than the nation as a whole, accordingto a new report. California leadsthe nation in financial aid offered to low-income college students. It's in themiddle of the pack - 25th - nationally when it comes to college affordability. That'sabout the end of the good news for the Golden State