A Selection of editorials from California newspapers

 

Jan. 9

Los Angeles Times: “Writers strike is war”

We get the impression, in this third month of the Hollywood writers strike, that morale on the picket lines and in the coffee shops isn’t so hot. That’s odd, given how strong the writers are looking right now.

With the downfall of the Golden Globe Awards, the Writers Guild of America has drawn blood. Now is not the time to go wobbly. If the writers want to win, they need to understand the grim logic of their situation. Good public relations are fine, as are pious press releases, shows of support from the Screen Actors Guild and crocodile tears for lost awards shows. But to win, the writers need to get serious about demolishing fall schedules and annihilating Christmas release dates. Yes, the guild’s leadership is full of high sentence about getting everybody back to work and doing what’s best for all the peoples of planet Earth, but let’s be honest: Strike is war.

And frankly, we’re having a hard time understanding how it helps the guild’s position to have the troops making separate peace agreements. After deals were cut allowing writers to go back to work for David Letterman and for Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, guild leaders Patric M. Verrone and Michael Winship sent out a memo bragging that these agreements feature “all the proposals we were preparing to make when the conglomerates left the bargaining table.” That’s nice, but both deals will be superseded by whatever terms the guild and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers ultimately agree to. ...

The guild’s argument seems to be that the independent deals will be a Trojan horse to get the writers’ demands inside the producers’ camp. But the Trojan horse is a made-up story. It doesn’t work in an actual fight. The math of a strike is so simple even English majors can grasp it: If money is changing hands, that’s bad for the strikers. ...

The writers strike has had a real, and lamentable, effect on the industry and on the Los Angeles economy. It is for this reason that we’ve repeatedly urged both sides to return to the table. But an essential truth seems to be getting lost here. Pain isn’t a byproduct of the walkout; it’s the whole point of it, and it should be what compels the negotiations to resume.

 

Jan. 7

(Los Angeles) Daily News: “Britney needs help”

“Leave Britney alone!”

That was the YouTube advice of “Britney Guy,” aka Chris Crocker, the Internet sensation who back in September tearfully suggested that America take a break from its obsession with its No.1 celebrity train wreck.

He may be right.

While the Britney Spears drama has long been sordid, and, more recently, pathetic, its latest chapter brings it clear into the realm of the downright sad. When the pop star was merely getting photographed sans panties or shaving her head, her behavior was bizarre, but at least it was (mostly) harmless. Not any more.

Last weekend’s circus, during which police, firefighters and legions of photographers descended on her home, had to have been utterly traumatizing. Not so much for Britney — who left in an ambulance for mental evaluation — but for her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden, ages 2 and 1, respectively.

It’s hard enough for any child to be caught in a custody fight. But for Sean Preston and Jayden, it’s even worse, shuttled from home to home by bodyguards, with one parent headed for the mental ward, and the entire world watching.

So perhaps it really is time to “leave Britney alone” — if not for her sake, then at least for that of two small children who bear the consequences of her bad judgment.

 

Jan. 9

San Francisco Chronicle: “State of the (troubled) state”

You have to hand it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for trying — again and again.

Schwarzenegger marched into Sacramento promising to change California’s dysfunctional spending process for good. He’s suffered two wounding failures (he tried to get the Legislature to adopt a spending cap during his first year; then watched his 2005 ballot measure for a spending cap and midyear budget-slashing authority get trounced by the voters).

If he didn’t want to go down this road again, who could blame him?

But Schwarzenegger’s not giving up at all. “I am again proposing a constitutional amendment so that our spending has some relationship with our revenues,” he said in his annual State of the State address Tuesday. His vision includes giving the governor the ability to cut the budget in middle of the fiscal year and the power to bank surplus revenue in good times.

In light of a budget deficit that’s scheduled to hit $14 billion next year, Schwarzenegger’s determination is starting to look pretty savvy. Will he get his constitutional amendment? Judging on past results, we’d say probably not — and there are plenty of reasons to be wary of any attempt to authorize or constrain spending by automation. But the threat of one might be enough to get the Legislature hustling toward a workable solution for our state’s fiscal crisis. ...

To get a responsible solution, both sides are going to have to compromise. Democratic legislators are right when they say that California can’t cut its way out of a $14 billion budget deficit — but Republican legislators are right when they argue that large annual increases in spending are unsustainable.

Legislators and the governor must come up with a better spending formula now, because the state’s budgetary problems are only going to get worse. This week, the Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission released the first-ever report on California’s unfunded retiree health benefits: the total is a whopping $118 billion. The commission also noted that the state has $63.5 billion worth of unfunded public system pension benefits. In a few years, the budget bickering that’s soon to fire up for 2008 is going to like the good old days.

 

Jan. 8

San Jose Mercury News: “California’s kids deserve better”

California has 9.5 million children, and one out of every eight children in the United States lives in the Golden State. So, how well California educates and takes care of its children plays an important role in the state — and nation’s — future.

Yet California is failing its children to a frightening degree in almost every important area of their development. The state must find ways to send more kids to preschool, help them become more physically fit and graduate at a substantially higher rate from high school.

The latest report card on how the state’s children are doing was issued last week by Children Now, the respected nonprofit and nonpartisan kids’ advocacy organization. It documented that fewer than half (47 percent) of California’s three- and four-year-olds are in preschool.

A third of the state’s children are obese. And more than a third fail to graduate from high school. These are the kind of numbers one would expect from a poor, disadvantaged state with a non-caring populace. California has the resources, heart and expertise to do far better by its children. ...

Some will be quick to blame the state’s low grades on the high number of illegal immigrants in the state. But the Children Now study points out that 94 percent of California’s children are U.S. citizens. The state’s low rankings are more pronounced among low income and minority families, but the problem exists in every county in the state, regardless of income and ethnicity.

The issues cited by Children Now aren’t new. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made comprehensive health care reform the top public policy priority of 2007 and wants to make education reform the No. 1 issue of 2008. But he will face a massive challenge in completing health care and education reform because the state is confronting a $14 billion budget deficit this year.

It’s no secret that children who have health insurance, are physically fit and receive a quality education are more likely to become productive, less burdensome members of society.

Putting children first must be California’s top priority.

 

Jan. 9

The Sacramento Bee: “Up for grabs”

In a year of high interest in the race for president, the field remains wide open. The earliest small states have taken their measure of the candidates and now Californians will have their say on Feb. 5.

In Iowa four days ago, voters in both party caucuses went overwhelmingly for the youngest candidates, those least tied to the Bush era — Barack Obama for the Democrats and Mike Huckabee for the Republicans. This generational shift was led by younger voters who turned out in numbers equal to older voters.

In New Hampshire, as in Iowa, more voters turned out for the Democratic primary than the Republican primary — a strong hint that Democrats are highly motivated in 2008. But in New Hampshire yesterday, the voting electorate was older.

In the Republican primary, these voters went for John McCain, at 71 the oldest candidate in the field and the one with the most experience. McCain — a former Navy fighter pilot, Vietnam prisoner of war and U.S. senator since 1986 — represents enduring American values of courage and steadfastness.

On any number of issues he is unwavering in offering unpopular stances because they’re “what my experience and knowledge and background tells me is the right thing to do.” Refreshingly, he doesn’t pander to polls or slam opponents. He’s of the old school that believes his role is “not to play it safe” but to “serve my country.” That’s not a generational change, but a generational restoration.

In the Democratic primary, voters resurrected the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, while also showing strong support for Obama. It’s clear that Democratic voters are still mulling over a choice between Clinton and Obama — and enjoying the competition.

This should make the candidates better as they move into the next set of caucuses and primaries that will seal the race: Michigan (Jan. 15), Nevada and South Carolina (Jan. 19), Florida (Jan. 29) and then the 22 Tsunami Tuesday states on Feb 5.

Nothing is foreordained in this election for either party. That’s an exhilarating thought as Californians prepare to weigh in Feb. 5.