Golden State

Welcome to election deception season California voters will be inundated with calls, texts and mailers from political campaigns that aren't always straightforward about their intent. Golden State is here to help.

The billionaire-backed "Transparency Act" tries to pull a fast one on voters. Golden State is here to help Californians handle this and other deceptive campaign ploys.
www.golden-state.org/welcome-to-e...

Trolling is not winning. It is capitulation As Michelle Obama reminded us in 2020, even in difficult times, swagger and vulgarity doesn’t have to be “who we are.”

In a world filled with Trumps and Newsoms, be a Zohran Mamdani.

California's bullet train is over budget and overdue — but still very necessary High-speed rail from the Bay Area to Southern California will help mitigate the climate-wrecking infrastructure we've already built. It's worth the wait and cost.

High-speed rail from the Bay Area to Southern California will help mitigate the climate-wrecking infrastructure we've already built. It's worth the wait and cost.

www.golden-state.org/californias-...

Of course Californians are pissed off. The largest and richest state has been kicked to the political curb But they don't have to take it. Here's how Golden Staters can use their collective influence to push for transformational reforms, some once unthinkable, before another would-be king crowns himself.

Californians don't have to take political marginalization lying down. Here's how they can use their collective influence to push for transformational reforms, some once unthinkable, before another would-be king crowns himself.

One Adelanto detainee's decision to leave everything behind California will be the lesser for my friend's coerced decision to depart the United States, where he built a business, a family and a life.

This is a powerful and infuriating piec by David Freed. open.substack.com/pub/goldenst... h/t @marielgarza.bsky.social @paulthornton.bsky.social @goldenstateorg.bsky.social

One Adelanto detainee's decision to leave everything behind California will be the lesser for my friend's coerced decision to depart the United States, where he built a business, a family and a life.

How one Adelanto detainee went from fighting deportation to making the coerced decision to leave the United States, where he has lived since he was 6, has a business and started a family.

Until LAX adopts a true traffic solution like congestion pricing, you might want to bookmark this video, which recommends a personal hack to avoid the "horseshoe" entirely.

California's English-language law turns 40 soon. What it robbed from young Latinas like me My parents didn't speak Spanish with me, making me neither "Mexican enough" nor "American enough." Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show helped me reclaim my voice and identity.

California's English-language law turns 40 this year. Here's what it robbed from a generation of Latinos taught to be ashamed of speaking Spanish.

Casey Wasserman and the Epstein moral panic Resign over cringey emails sent to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003? Those demanding the LA28 chairman's head over this should get a grip.

Casey Wasserman should resign over cringey emails sent to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003? Those demanding the LA28 chairman's head over this should get a grip.

Come back, Kamala Harris. California needs you Yes, she declined the option to run for governor. But that was seven months ago — and before the field of Democrats got so crowded it means two Republicans might advance to the general election.

The California governor's race is a mess. Kamala Harris can fix it by reversing her decision last July not to run.

Is it indoctrination to teach my granddaughter to have empathy? If so, I’m fine with it. As a lifelong Californian, I’m acutely aware that my common-sense and compassionate life lessons could be viewed as wacko left-wing brainwashing by many.

Jane Ganahl's granddaughter doesn't eat animals and is fine with gay marriage. To some, this looks like indoctrination -- and Ganahl is fine with that.

Immigration reform? Yes, it can be done in the Trump era Congress’ failure to provide an orderly pathway for immigrants to live and work in the U.S. set the stage for the chaos that is threatening communities and the economy. Here’s how California’s congres...

Now might seem like the worst time to call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. A leader of the L.A. County Business Federation explains why the opposite is true.

By me, I mean @marielgarza.bsky.social, co-founder of @goldenstateorg.bsky.social

Talking trash "You want to present this city to the world? I'm going to film the trash and show the world how dirty we are"

Me, every day:
"When he arrived here, he found himself wading through the plastic waste that accumulates on LA sidewalks like snowdrifts, questioning his life choices. This is the fourth-largest economy in the world? he remembers thinking. Are you fucking kidding me?"

www.torched.la/talking-trash/

Howard Lutnick’s Epstein Story Doesn’t Make Any Sense The commerce secretary has no answer for his misleading statements about his dealings with the sex offender.

“I did have lunch with him, as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation,” Lutnick said. “My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. "

"Nannies" plural? How many are we talking about here? Do they each get one?

Congestion pricing can save LAX -- and the rest of L.A. too Use the notoriously traffic-choked "horseshoe" at LAX as a proving ground for congestion pricing. If Angelenos like what they see (and they very likely will), perhaps they'll warm to it for other road...

LAX's "horseshoe" of hell is the perfect place to try congestion pricing. And if it works there (which it probably would), it can work across Los Angeles.

Gavin Newsom's sweetheart deal for plastic pushers The governor pushed an exemption that would undermine California's revolutionary law to phase out single-use packaging that's not being recycled or composted. It's not too late to get it back on track...

When he signed SB 54 in 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom called it a "nation-leading" law fighting plastic pollution. Now, because of him, the law is in limbo. Here's how Californians can get it back on track.

What a cold night in Sacramento interviewing homeless people taught us We volunteered to count the unsheltered people in our community. Our conversations with those who agreed to talk touched our hearts and demonstrated why homelessness is so difficult to solve.

A man who lost his apartment after his father died. A woman going into labor in a parking lot. These are some of the stories Mary Lynne Vellinga and Dan Morain recount from their night volunteering for Sacramento's point-in-time homelessness count.

Want to protest the assault on American democracy? Boycott the World Cup I was excited to see players from my family's home country suit up on American soil. That was before Trump's latest assault on American democracy.

Yes, countries should boycott the 2026 World Cup, and they should start talking about the 2028 Olympics. Paul Thornton explains why.

Money can't buy you love — or an election in L.A. and California Just ask Rick Caruso and Meg Whitman. In many city and state elections, the candidate who had the most amount of campaign cash still lost.

Does spending a lot more money than your opponent buy an election? Not necessarily in California -- just ask Rick Caruso and Meg Whitman.

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Yosemite isn't the only California treasure trashed by visitors Bad human behavior has taken over at Yosemite. Sadly, that’s been the reality for a long time in the San Gabriel Mountains, right on L.A.’s doorstep.

If the sad state of Yosemite upsets you, then spare a thought for the San Gabriel Mountains, long a victim of trashy human behavior and government neglect.

Why Altadena renters feel left out of fire relief Many Eaton fire survivors who rented their homes want to return to Altadena. Unless they get more help, the community that's rebuilt will look vastly different from the Altadena that was lost.

Elizabeth Aguilera is a journalist who remains displaced by the Eaton fire. She writes that if the focus of rebuilding stays on homeowners and renters continue to feel ignored, the community that comes back will look vastly different than the Altadena that was lost.

Oscar nods are out. Time for the most out-of-touch awards display ever Who wants to see a parade of virtue-signaling actors and actresses decked out in glittery garb while Gaza suffers and American democracy teeters?

American democracy is on edge. Gaza is starving. Who's up for a parade of virtue-signaling by the Hollywood elite? No thanks, says Oscar Garza.

I'm a Gen-Zer trying to love a world wrecked by humans As climate change worsens, a college student says she's done with hopelessness and is trying hard to love a world that's being destroyed.

A new college grad is done with climate hopelessness. So she's trying something else: knowing and loving nature as it is.

A head-scratching move by Rick Caruso The mall developer did pretty well in his first match against L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, so why bow out when she’s vulnerable?

Um, what? Rick Caruso isn’t running for anything? That sound you heard was a huge sigh of relief from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

Tech billionaires threaten to flee California — again It’s a go-to move any time they don't like a law or policy. This time it's a proposed wealth tax that hasn't even been approved for the state ballot.

Finally, Gil Duran argues this isn't the first time billionaires have threatened to flee, but they just can't seem to quit California. Plus: "We need a French Revolution—with taxes instead of guillotines. The sooner, the better."

A wealth tax that would work Healthcare in California faces a fiscal emergency thanks to Trump's tax cuts for the most well-off Americans. Robert Reich says the wealth tax initiative would address that and help rein in the power ...

Next up is Robert Reich, who says the billionaire tax revenue would backfill cuts from Trump's tax breaks for the wealthy and help rein in the power of the obscenely rich.

California’s “billionaire tax” is not genuine – or smart – tax policy The state is overreliant on wealthy taxpayers as it is. If even if a fraction of this group is motivated to move, the consequences for the state's financial health will be enormous.

First up in a trio of articles by Robert Reich, Gil Duran and Matthew Klink on the proposed California billionaire tax: Klink says it's bad policy and will worsen the state's spending problem.