San Jose Mercury News

Border Patrol apprehensions may have dipped to the lowest rate in 35 years, but it has nothing to do with border security. Rates of illegal migration are governed by social and economic forces, not by expensive surveillance technology, walls and the Border Patrol. It thus makes no sense to continue to rely on an expensive and failed border fortification as a centerpiece of our immigration policy.

"It's all about expectations," said Gregory Rodriguez, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. "The fortunes of any given candidate really depend on our expectations of that person at any given moment and on the candidate's own rhetoric and sense of righteousness."

"I think it's the right choice for us," said Councilman Sam Liccardo at a Thursday forum sponsored by the New America Foundation and Common Cause. "The question is how we get there." Original article

Madison Nguyen shouldn't be the only one breathing a sigh a relief.

When San Jose District 7 voters rejected a recall of the city councilwoman Tuesday, they spared the entire city the cost of holding two additional special elections.

Deep in the doldrums of California's economic woes, with state government unable to pass a budget, Bay Area business leaders have proposed a constitutional convention. Since this could open Pandora's box, a crucial question remains unanswered: Who will wrestle with the demons that come out of the box and lead our state to a better tomorrow? Who are California's James Madisons and Thomas Jeffersons, our Ben Franklins and George Washingtons?

Gregory Rodriguez, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, said the controversy shows that all the talk about a "post-racial America'' is overblown. ...

Now that we've had time to let it sink in that Barack Obama will be the first African-American president, it's time to deal with the implications of this historic election for American race relations. Some observers have already hammered a marker into the road of history that designates the past as "Before Obama" and time going forward as "After Obama." As they see it, After Obama is the period when racism is no more. But they are letting the bright light of Obama's election blind them. We've… more

"We've got a black man running for president and a white woman for vice president. We'll make history either way. That's exciting," said Dan Nelson, a network specialist from Sunnyvale. But what Nelson really wants in Washington is change: "I don't like the way things are going now."

And Nelson felt that way even before the economic and political meltdowns of the past few weeks. They have created "a very dramatic shock to the electoral process," said Jacob Hacker, political science professor at the University of California-Berkeley. There's been… more

Q Where did that two-thirds rule come from anyway?

A Ironically, the idea came from Democrats in the 1930s, according to Joe Mathews, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. After a long period in the minority, Democrats came into power and wanted some protections in case they didn't remain there. Voters passed a constitutional amendment with a number of budget reforms, including the two-thirds rule for any budget that grew by 5 percent or more. Three decades later, California voters approved a follow-up measure saying that… more

California State Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu believes it is time to address our deficit and modernize our sales tax by applying it to services. Her call to modernize our sales tax would be a good start in addressing an underlying cause of our budget problems.

Taxing services is not an outlandish idea. Most states already tax more types of services than does California.

Taxing services is also not a bad idea. Lifestyle changes have led us to spend less on… more