Politics

California lawmakers just lived through a bizarre and stressful year of man-made energy shortages, blackouts and billion-dollar utility bankruptcies. Now comes budget mayhem. In an election year, no less. As legislators take down their Christmas trees and flock back to the Capitol for the start of the 2002 lawmaking session Monday, they are being greeted … Read more

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivers a keynote speech in February. (John Amis / Associated Press) The Supreme Court said Monday that police do not have a broad authority to enter a home to check on someone who may be suicidal and then search and seize evidence that may be used against the person. In … Read more

It’s time for some real talk about Real ID. That’s the perennial legislation from state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) to permit illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. The latest version, SB 60, was approved by the Senate this week and now heads to the Assembly, where it is almost certain to pass. Then Gov. … Read more

Asylum seekers from Ecuador, Guatemala and Colombia prepare to be detained by Border Patrol after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Unlawful border crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped to a four-year low, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with 46,610 people stopped between ports of entry … Read more

Democratic politics is inherently fairer than a totalitarian system, but it is not necessarily cleaner. Democratic states everywhere have had to amend their systems in response to campaign-financing scandals that threatened to undermine public confidence in the election process–and thus in government itself. Viewed from this global perspective, the City of Los Angeles was right … Read more

As President Clinton campaigned through California on a 24-hour visit in which he raised $4.5 million for the Democratic Party, White House officials scrambled to deal with questions about why they will not release the president’s full medical records. At a campaign stop in Ohio on Thursday, Bob Dole’s chief spokesman hinted darkly that president … Read more

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Westlake Village), left, and her GOP rival, Matt Jacobs are vying to represent California’s 26th Congressional District. (Associated Press/Cliff Owen) 1 The race in California’s 26th Congressional District, mostly based in Ventura County but with a sliver of Los Angeles County, features veteran Democratic lawmaker Julia Brownley facing off with former federal … Read more

Candidates running for California governor in 2026 include, clockwise from top left, state Sen. Toni Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former state Controller Betty Yee, and State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. (Associated Press; Los Angeles Times) If you’re tired of thinking about who’s going to be the next president, why not start thinking … Read more

State Controller Steve Westly released a decade of his tax returns Monday, showing the former EBay executive received nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in income during the 10 years, mostly from selling stock in the online auction house. Westly’s release of tax returns is designed in part to pressure Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and … Read more

SAG-AFTRA member John Schmitt, second from right, and others carry signs on the picket line outside Netflix in Los Angeles last month. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) The political fight over whether workers on strike should be allowed to collect unemployment benefits is reigniting in Washington. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who is … Read more