San Francisco Chronicle

Before I read Betty Fussell's "Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef," I thought I knew enough about America's quintessential meal. After all, I wolfed down quite a few myself. And I'd read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "Fast Food Nation." And there was some additional experience in 4-H. At 12 I wrestled 200-pound calves at the county fair's Calf Scramble. The next year I was back at the fair with a 1,200-pound steer I'd trained to walk on a leash and tolerate having his… more

"First thing is that we want (the conference) to be a showcase of what the states, provinces and countries are doing to limit emissions, and I think that'll surprise the world," said Terry Tamminen, former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency under Schwarzenegger. LINK

Under the new administration, political conditions for health reform will be far less divisive than they were in the early 1990s, when President Bill Clinton's health plan failed, said Jacob Hacker, political science professor at UC Berkeley who advised the Obama campaign on health issues. "Americans have a very strong moral commitment to universal coverage," said Hacker, adding surveys consistently show Americans want everyone to have health coverage but are concerned about costs. "Once in place, as was the… more

"The tenor of the Republican party's rhetoric (on immigration) was clearly a turnoff," said Gregory Rodriguez, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. "We know the electorate will become increasingly nonwhite. Presumably Republicans will go back to trying to be 'big tent' Republicans, because if they want to resurrect the party, they can't be the white party." LINK

If Sen. John McCain pulls out a stunning upset next Tuesday, he'll have the country club, not Sam's Club, to thank for it. Conversely, if Sen. Barack Obama maintains his lead and coasts to victory, it will likely be because he was able to persuade wealthier voters to take a chance on his economic vision. That's because while wealthy states remain firmly in the blue column, wealthy voters run deep red.

In 2000, the poorest voters in Mississippi (50th in nation in per capita income), Ohio (middle of… more

Terry Tamminen, former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the presidential race has improved, in that now there are two candidates who understand the issue and believe the science on global warming. "I think Obama would make climate change a first-100-days issue, and that might lead to the United States productively participating in a world agreement within the next year," said Tamminen, policy adviser for New American Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. more

The Statement: McCain said Obama will increase government spending by over $860 billion.

The Distortion: The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget called McCain's claim "a misleading figure taken out of context." By 2013, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama's policies would add $286 billion to that year's deficit, while McCain's policies would add $211 billion. LINK

The California Constitution is now more than five times as long as the U.S. Constitution. After a century of amendments and initiatives, it runs more than 150 pages.

California's government is so dysfunctional that the Bay Area Council, a business-backed public policy group, and other good-government types want to call a convention to draw up a new constitution. Good luck! Reforming such a monster is likely to spark resistance from Californians who worry they might lose some of the document's many, many protections, such as tax regulations for… more

"The cost of doing nothing just got higher if more and more people are losing their jobs," said Len Nichols, health economist with the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan policy group in Washington, D.C., that supports covering all Americans. "People really want security, and part of economic security is having your health care." LINK

Learning English is an essential skill for immigrants and their children, both for their personal success and for the good of the nation, said Tomás Jiménez, an Irvine Fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy think tank.

"To borrow a non-English phrase, English is the lingua franca of the United States," said Jiménez, who also teaches sociology at Stanford University. "There are folks on the right who want people to speak only English, and there are folks on the left who think it's unimportant.… more