Gavin Newsom wants an election in a hurry on his gerrymander. Here’s what has to happen
By Maya C Miller| CalMatters
Calling a statewide special election sounds simple in theory. But executing one with fewer than 75 days notice? As one California county election official put it, that’s a “herculean” effort.
California voting officials are scrambling behind the scenes to prepare for the special election Gov. Gavin Newsom wants this November on his proposal to redraw the state’s congressional districts. But to do so, Newsom needs voters to approve a ballot initiative in an off-year special election that the state has yet to officially approve and schedule.
Democrats want the proposed California maps to offset President Donald Trump and Republicans’ efforts to stack the next congressional election in the GOP’s favor by squeezing more Republican seats out of red states like Texas, Florida and Missouri.
Nice Economy – If You Can Keep It
By Jim Hinch | Voice of San Diego
San Diego’s economy is the size of some small countries. But it’s a country under threat.
On paper, San Diego County is a picture of prosperity. If the county were its own nation, its $315 billion gross domestic product would rank among the world’s 50 largest economies.
Yet, across the region, businesses are putting on the brakes and worried about the future. The reason? New federal trade and immigration policies threaten to choke off what once seemed like San Diego’s unique competitive advantage: Its intertwined economic relationship with its southern neighbor, Mexico.
I’m watching Trump unite Europe while the media pretends it’s falling apart
By Mark Penn | Fox News
The headlines were all over the news sites. Trump to push for concessions to the Russians. President Donald Trump got nothing from the Alaska Summit. Trump handing over a win to Putin. European leaders are coming to woo Trump. One headline after another dissing the president and his attempt to bring world powers together for peace in Ukraine. News analysts managed to find a negative angle to every single aspect of the attempted negotiations.
The reality is obviously different, and the headlines would have been different with just about any other president. Imagine if Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Barack Obama had pulled off meetings with all the combatants directly and in record time. The headlines would have been fawning in admiration, calling for a second Nobel Prize. But that’s not what happened. In fact, President Obama sat idly by while Russia rolled into Crimea in March 2014 – the real beginning of the problem. The Russian reset never happened. The red lines were crossed with impunity as the American deterrence withered.