Bad day for California women politicos

Juzgué el podcast de Gavin Newsom antes de escucharlo. Entonces me di cuenta de que yo era parte del problema.

El nuevo podcast del gobernador de California, donde se distanciaba de los demócratas en el tema de los derechos de las personas trans, desató una polémica mediática y generó diversas opiniones entre los californianos. Cuando vi los titulares s...

It’s costing California more than expected to provide immigrant health care. Is coverage at risk?

California is spending more than it expected on Medi-Cal and Republican lawmakers are pointing to coverage expansions that benefited immigrant households. The California health care program that covers almost 15 million people is costing more m...

I judged Gavin Newsom’s podcast before listening. Then I realized I was part of the problem

The California governor’s new podcast, where he broke with Democrats on trans rights, triggered a media firestorm and evoked a variety of opinions from Californians. When I saw the headlines about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new podcast, “This is Gavi...

Dar atención médica a inmigrantes le está costando a California más de lo previsto. ¿Está en riesgo la cobertura?

California está gastando más de lo esperado en Medi-Cal y los legisladores republicanos están señalando expansiones de cobertura que beneficiaron a los hogares inmigrantes. El programa de atención médica de California, que cubre a casi 15 millo...

Perspectivas y Experiencias de los Latinos sobre el Idioma Español

Si bien la mayoría de los latinos en EE.UU. hablan español, no todos lo hacen. El 24 por ciento de todos los adultos latinos dicen que solo pueden mantener un poco o nada una conversación en español. Más de la mitad de los latinos en EE.UU. que...

Information: 28 April 2009 Mary Theroux Print Email

The U.S. Senate has been termed “The Most Exclusive Club,” and with good reason: the power and benefits are enormous. Today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is again in a spotlight for the benefits that have accrued to her husband from her access to such power: On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.This follows previous allegations that her husband had also profited tremendously from her position on the Senate’s Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee. To date, she’s easily dodged all such criticism and one will see if she continues to retain her Teflon coating.Meanwhile, an ally of Sen. Feinstein’s in her campaign to provide the government greater unchecked power in surveilling and wiretapping domestically has discovered that being a member of the club didn’t exempt her from being bitten from the beast she fed. Rep. Jane Harman of California was overheard by the NSA offering to get leniency for two former pro-Israel lobbyists on their pending charges of illegally disclosing national defense secrets:On Sunday, CQ [the Congressional Quarterly] reported that the NSA had wiretapped Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), listening in on a call in which she apparently offered a quid pro quo to a lobbyist group. Harman has vigorously denied the reports. Today, she appeared on MSNBC to express her shock and outrage that her phone calls were listened to, saying she was “disappointed” that the U.S. could have allowed such “a gross abuse of power.”Yes, Jane, there’s a reason this was supposed to be a government of severely limited powers. As P.J. O’Rourke so eloquently put it, “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” Time to go on the wagon?Mary Theroux is Senior Vice President of Independent Institute in Oakland