Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may be off to a centrist start on his second term, and nowhere is that more evident than in his call Monday for comprehensive health care reform. The plan does have its virtues, but the theological manner in which he proclaimed his newfound middle-of-the-road thinking could spell political and financial problems.
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People are again worried about high-rise buildings. A little history about the San Francisco movement for and against high-rise buildings is in order. First, there were the Fontana Towers, located between Russian Hill and the Bay. To this day they block views and generally brutalize their surroundings. The Fontana Towers got through the approval process but produced enough opposition to bring about the enactment of the 40-foot height limit that to this day continues to protect many San Francisco neighborhoods.
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It was said back in the days ofping-pong diplomacy that only President Nixon could go to Red China, thanks to his credibility borne of long years as an ardent foe of world communism. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat majority in Congress have a similar opportunity now by supporting genuine lawsuit abuse reform and bringing the trial lawyers bar back to reality.
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Appearing at his second inauguration on crutches, which no one should mistake as a metaphor for the state of his office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed eloquently Friday to the centrist sentiments of Californians. Indeed, the strenuous willpower required to recover in therapy from a broken femur the governor possesses in abundance. It will take such strength to herd fractious legislators back to the political center.
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It’s disheartening, even heartbreaking, that Mayor Gavin Newsom’s idea to offer $100,000 rewards for information leading to the solving of murder cases has come to naught. It was not a bad idea, exactly, and it may even be premature — it was announced little more than three months ago — to call it a failure.
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As the second hand sweeps around our timepieces, we’re reminded that when the week began Mayor Gavin Newsom gleefully chirped that a deal to bring free wireless Internet to The City was just "seconds away." Let’s just be grateful the mayor’s promise, after 10 months in negotiation, at least has an estimated time of arrival.
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One of America’s oldest political jokes advises us, in multiple variations, that the health of the republic was never more assured than when Congress was out of session. There may be some bedrock wisdom behind the laugh, as politicians forswear the physicians’ oath not to do inadvertent harm.
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As 2007 begins, California’s political spotlight is primarily on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s much-anticipated health care insurance expansion push, to be unveiled Tuesday at the State of the State speech. Major players on all sides of the issue are already promoting their contradictory agendas.
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The year ahead in San Francisco and the Bay Area will bring several issues to the fore, some of them challenging our faith as lovers of freedom. It may seem an oversimplification, but in general our liberties do diminish as government, however well-intentioned, steps up its activity in our lives.Barring surprises, here are the salient local issues The Examiner has identified that could test our commitment to a free society:
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1 Sen. Barack Obama: Obama-mania! He burst onto the scene with one speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. He has kept up his impact in the high-risk, high-profile arena of politics — so much so that he deserves to be the top communicator of 2006. Obama is one of the few politicians whose one name captures the experience of the person, such as Oprah, Bono and Madonna. And Obama might be the real deal. He looks his interviewers and public in the eye, holds himself tall, and yet remains informal and humble in stance in posture. He’s great on talk shows.
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