New America in California: All Articles and Books

Cold War Nostalgia

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:39:00 -0500

The global celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall aren't entirely about commemorating the rebirth of freedom or reliving those thrilling moments when a perverse and repressive system collapsed. Listen closely to the exalted commentary recounting the events of those historic days and you're also likely to hear the subtle intonations of regret and nostalgia.

A $1-Billion Bad Idea for Jordan Downs

Erin Drankoski — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:19:00 -0500

Bad ideas, if they were ever widely accepted, have a curious way of sticking around. That's because they give rise to institutions that have a momentum of their own. We've long known there are better ways to fix blighted neighborhoods than simply pressing "reset" -- that is, letting the government tear down old buildings and put up new ones. But we remain saddled with a system of public housing that keeps looking for ways of, well, pressing reset.

Why Does Oklahoma Want To Drown New York?

Erin Drankoski — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:09:00 -0500

The Little Unions That Couldn't

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:35:00 -0500

Better and Cheaper Elections for Vancouver

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:32:00 -0500

The most expensive mayoral race in Vancouver's history is over. The bad news: It took two elections, hundreds of thousands of dollars and a fair amount of mud-slinging to produce a winner. The good news: Vancouver has the ability to cut election costs and campaign spending as well as restore civility to the electoral process in one fell swoop.

The Perfect Lieutenant Governor: Me

Erin Drankoski — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:07:00 -0500

Dear Gov. Schwarzenegger,

I hear you're searching for a new lieutenant governor. If I may be so bold, I can think of one Californian who is the right fit for the job.

Me.

Now that Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is vacating the office to take a seat in Congress, I know you're considering smart politicians of both parties. But selecting a proven leader would be a terrible mistake. Someone with real experience in government would be frustrated by the utter powerlessness and insignificance of the lieutenant governor's office.

Replenished Ethnicity

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:14:00 -0500

Unlike the wave of immigration that came through Ellis Island and then subsided, immigration to the United States from Mexico has been virtually uninterrupted for one hundred years. In this vividly detailed book, Tomás R. Jiménez takes us into the lives of later-generation descendents of Mexican immigrants, asking for the first time how this constant influx of immigrants from their ethnic homeland has shaped their assimilation. His nuanced investigation of this complex and little-studied phenomenon finds that continuous immigration has

Don't Count Illegal Immigrants? That Doesn't Add Up

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:50:00 -0500

Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has introduced legislation that, if passed, would instruct the U.S. Census Bureau not to take into account illegal immigrants and other noncitizens in the 2010 census. I'm all for it. Furthermore, I propose that the government no longer recognize deficits in budgets, record violent crimes in police reports, acknowledge casualties of war or count -- let alone give proper names! -- to hurricanes in weather reports.

Why Newsom Dropped Out

Erin Drankoski — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:56:00 -0400

Don't mess with Moonbeam.

The most striking thing about San Francisco Gavin Newsom's decision to withdraw from the race for California governor is that no one else is in the race. Newsom's only opponent-Jerry Brown, the former governor and attorney general-may be the frontrunner in the polls, but he isn't a declared candidate. Brown only recently set up an exploratory committee.

The Conversation: Cut Health Costs? Here's A Prescription

Erin Drankoski — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:58:00 -0400

There is widespread agreement that if federal health care reform passes, making it work will depend in great part on getting a handle on spiraling medical costs that already consume nearly one of every five dollars spent in the United States.

Romania's Amnesia-induced Ambivalence

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:35:00 -0400

Three weeks ago, when the Nobel committee awarded its literature prize to Romanian writer Herta Muller, it lauded her courageous and unflinching fictional portraits of "daily life in a stagnated dictatorship" in communist Romania. What they did not mention, however, was Muller's ongoing nonfictional critique of the leadership of post-communist Romania.

Amending California's Direct Democracy

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:32:00 -0400

In a recent speech to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, California Chief Justice Ronald M. George became the latest sharp critic of the state's system of direct democracy. "Frequent amendments -- coupled with the implicit threat of more in the future -- have rendered our state government dysfunctional," he said.

The chief justice isn't the first state leader to take aim at the way ballot measures are enacted in California, and he won't be the last.

Getting at the Roots of California’s Deep Political Schizophrenia

Erin Drankoski — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:24:00 -0400

Maybe we Californians have such a hard time figuring out how to fix the state because we are too close to the problem. How might an analyst sent here from another world--think of him as an extraterrestrial Alexis de Tocqueville, well read in California history and deeply versed on political practices elsewhere on this globe--diagnose California's ailments?

We Need to Fix How We Measure Poverty

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:19:00 -0400

From climate change to redistricting, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have teamed up on a number of issues. It's time to add another to the list -- updating the antiquated and misleading way we measure poverty.

It may seem like an odd concern for the Republican duo. But Bloomberg took the lead on the issue last year when conditions in New York City were similar to those California faces today: The economy was down; need was rising; and public resources were constrained.

The Problem Is Minority Rule

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:21:00 -0400

The health care drama in the U.S. Senate is cresting. After months of hearings--and decades of dithering--it is time to see if the United States is going to remain the only advanced industrial nation in the world that does not provide universal health care.

Dudamel's Great, but He's Not the Whole Show

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:36:00 -0400

It's not unusual for a global city to recruit an international talent like Gustavo Dudamel to conduct its symphony orchestra. (Alan Gilbert, the new conductor of the New York Philharmonic, is the first native New Yorker to hold the post since the institution was founded in 1842.) What is unusual is how the Los Angeles orchestra is using the high-culture, Venezuelan-born wunderkind to build a rapport with this city's native-born Latino masses. Gauging from the widespread, deliriously upbeat hoopla -- and taking into account Dudamel's

Health-Care Cooperatives Can Work

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:52:00 -0400

Health-care cooperatives have gotten a bad rap. But if properly designed, they could offer quite a lot to both the left and the right, as well as to anyone interested in expanding health-care coverage and reducing costs.

California’s Food Banks Go Locavore

Erin Drankoski — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:37:00 -0400

Once a month a tractor-trailer rolls up to the Family Early Learning Center, a one-room preschool in East San Jose, Calif., that doubles as a food pantry for poor families with young kids. On a bright Friday in August, a dozen or so women from the neighborhood gathered for the truck's arrival. Volunteers as well as customers, they had come to help unload the monthly delivery of groceries from the local food bank.

The Polanski Tax

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:03:00 -0400

Want to understand why California is such a political and budgetary mess? Consider the case of Roman Polanski.

In a strange way, the attempt by Los Angeles County prosecutors to arrest, extradite, and presumably send the French-Polish film director to prison for a 30-year-old crime-having sex with an unwilling 13 year old-offers a clear example of this state's governing myopia.

Mexican-Americans Have Deep U.S. Ties

Erin Drankoski — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:09:00 -0400

Just about any celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15) will highlight the diversity among Hispanics.

They come from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world, have settled in various areas of the United States, have distinctive customs and come in all shapes and colors.

But an often overlooked difference among Hispanics relates to how many generations back they trace their roots in U.S. history.