Editorials

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson got a basic math lesson at Tuesday's City Council meeting: It takes five votes to get anything done.

As the birthplace of the modern anti-tax movement, California will always have groups watchdogging the spending of public dollars.

If you've been reading our letters columns lately, you know that the question of whether to teach children to write in cursive inspires strong feelings in many people. We here on The Bee's editorial board now enter the fray, squarely on the side of continuing to teach cursive handwriting, outmoded as that may be.

As the largest dues-paying organization of public employees in the state, the California Teachers Association arguably is the most powerful of interests at the state Capitol. And it has become more powerful since the advent of legislative term limits.

As regular state workers braced for unpaid two-day-a-month furloughs, top staffers in the state Assembly walked away from their jobs last month with richer pensions that are likely to cost taxpayers a bundle.

At the last Sacramento City Council meeting, Council member Rob Fong followed through on a recent comment he made about the need for a refresher course on ethics for the entire City Council.

Founded nearly 120 years ago, the California Chamber of Commerce is one of the state's most important political players.

It's easy to blame politicians for the gridlock that has enveloped the Capitol and brought California to the edge of insolvency. As elected officers, they undoubtedly deserve the brunt of the public's scorn.

In the world of California water, the glass is both half full and half empty at the moment.

Veteran Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan is frustrated, and understandably so. He complains that his county and others in the region are "victims of intense competition between three massive casinos each vying to become the largest and most profitable."

Alarmed by the likely depths of this recession, President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to quickly pass an economic stimulus package � one that is likely to include tens of billions of dollars for energy and transportation projects.

Lose a job and you have to worry about how to pay for food, housing, health care and utilities. And on top of that, Californians who have lost their jobs have another big worry.

Kevin Johnson is not the mayor of a city with a strong mayor system � yet. And even if voters approve his initiative to change Sacramento's city charter, he will need five votes on the Sacramento City Council to get anything approved.

Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's stated No. 1 priority for getting education reform began: "We need better data."

Following Tuesday's meltdown at the Capitol, the deterioration of California's finances appears to be matched only by the deterioration of its leadership.

In these times, any number of small businesses are struggling. For owners barely eking out a living, the rent for an office or store can be the difference between making a profit or going under.

Californians are passionate about the term "organic," which is why many of them pay a premium price for foods grown with no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

As the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service approaches in 2016, visitors increasingly find crumbling roads and historic buildings, outdated displays and poorly maintained campgrounds and trails.

Getting a handle on real-estate investments has to be one the first orders of business for Anne Stausboll, the new chief executive officer at California Public Employees' Retirement System. CalPERS has sustained steep declines in the value of its real estate holdings on top of even larger stock market losses.