Sacramento Bee

A constitutional convention has been proposed by some California business leaders as a vehicle to fix the Golden State's deeply entrenched political and economic woes. While a convention offers the hope of a new beginning, it also inspires understandable fear that hard won rights may get trampled in the horse-trading.

The state's leadership in recent years has hardly inspired confidence.

Why should we imagine that it could match the brilliance of James Madison, George Washington and the other Founders, and chart a new course for our state?

Newspapers won't die. They'll survive, along with local TV and radio news broadcasts, by publishing and showing content produced by others. Those old media brands still have value in a fragmented world. I live within walking distance of Hollywood, so forgive the metaphor: The publications and broadcasts will be like movie studios - marketers and distributors.

Journalists, the folks who make the movies ... er ... news, will work for content-production companies.

With the state government lurching from budget crisis to budget crisis, many frustrated Californians are thinking about what political reforms might make the state Legislature more functional.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger billed this year's State of the State speech as "untraditional." To be sure, evoking Conan's sword, as he did in his most memorable line, is quite original.

Evoking Reagan and Obama to start a political speech, however, is par for the political course. And there is no more conventional way to conclude an address than by praising state heroes who have fallen in the line of duty. The speech was also similar to other State of the State… more

Such groups as the New America Foundation's California branch and the Bay Area Council, a consortium of corporate executives, are more aggressive than ...

Nearly 100 years ago, California Progressives, in their search for a way to beat political machines, seized upon Switzerland's system of direct democracy and added the initiative, the referendum and the recall to the state constitution.

Today the Swiss, despite having three major national languages and the highest percentage of foreign-born citizens in Europe, still see direct democracy as a pillar of their consensus-based politics and remarkably stable government. But many Californians have come to view direct democracy as a major culprit in turning the most diverse state… more

All reform proposals for making California government more representative and responsive face the same obstacle: Entrenched interests, including lawmakers, who benefit from the status quo.

The best means for overcoming those interests is a citizens assembly, a body of approximately 160 average citizens -- randomly selected like a jury pool to ensure diversity and impartiality -- empowered to formally propose electoral reforms via a statewide referendum to their fellow voters.

The citizens assembly members study political reform recommendations for nine months, listening to experts and holding public hearings.… more

...Steven Hill of the nonpartisan New America Foundation said democracy is not well served by a status quo in which 7 million Californians are eligible to vote but don't bother to register.

Among the youngest adults, ages 18 to 24, slightly more than half have filed voter applications, the PPIC survey found.

"To get people to vote, the first thing is to get them on the rolls," Hill said. "If they're not on the rolls, they can't vote – end of story..."… more

Sacramento Bee | Plan to Open Up CalPERS Reflects Worry About Inadequate Saving for Retirement 

Investing for retirement is the financial equivalent of eating your vegetables: It's good for you, but sometimes downright distasteful.

Now a proposal making its way through the California Legislature has people talking about whether the state can make putting aside retirement money more palatable.

The plan would let private businesses and workers funnel direct payroll deposits into a retirement investment account. The California Public Employees' Retirement… more