The 2006 election is less than a week away. Based on the polls, Democrats seem to be popping Champagne, believing they will be taking control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. Conversely, Republicans claim the Democrats are sipping their bubbly prematurely and will have to drown their sorrows after Nov. 7. And so the spin goes, as pundits from both sides of the political aisle analyze their crystal balls and the polls.
Read More
See if you agree with this proposition: The 19 acres along piers 27-31, long since idled on the Embarcadero, should be revitalized in some manner that benefits The City. A pretty simple "yes," wouldn’t you say?We thought so. And yet,the vision gets complicated, as so many urban plans do, when you start asking about desirable uses and just what sort of funding will flow into it. The preferable means of settling such questions is through the free market, where highest use is best determined along with who should take the financial risks.
Read More
The armchair anthropologists among us love at this time of the year to speak of the thematic universality of those macabre thoughts we allow out of the dark recesses to play. Such celebrations cut across the continents, even creating consternation in the Castro.
Read More
With the collapse of the Doha round of trade negotiations, economic liberalization may depend more on bilateral and regional free trade agreements. In America’s case, FTAs also provide geopolitical benefits, giving Washington a means to strengthen bilateral ties with other states at a time of increasing international challenge.Employing creative tactics to enhance American influence is particularly important in Asia, where China’s rise is transforming the region. The rapid growth of the People’s Republic of China has spawned growing Chinese investment and trade throughout Asia.
Read More
Peruse news analyses, and you learn that few have been talking seriously about the single most important domestic issue facing the federal government — the fact that baby boomers are lining up to begin retiring in a few years and what that will mean to entitlement programs and consequently to the federal budget, the economy and intergenerational peace.
Read More
Now, that was good. Very good. We don’t know if the big thinkers were pleased, but Mayor Newsom’s small-is-beautiful theme, articulated last week in his "State of The City" speech, gets us down to constructive business.Let’s hope the winners of next week’s municipal elections will reflect such thinking.
Read More
As Election Day draws near, voters find themselves focusing on various ballot measures, both state and local. San Francisco asks approval of 11 measures, most of them substantive and some dangerously frivolous. Tuesday, we offered our recommendations on five of those measures. Today we assess the remaining six:
Read More
I have to admit I like Chris Daly. The District 6 supervisor has always struck me as a truly innocent young man, with no sense of complication or convention, political or otherwise. In many ways this has been refreshing. Daly is, above all, entertaining.But on the other hand, Daly is bellicose, or tends to be at any rate, raising concerns about his effectiveness as the elected representative of his district.
Read More
Ever since the surgeon general told us so in 1964, most of us have known that smoking tobacco endangers our health. In fact, it kills — so much so that a decades-longpublic policy debate has raged over whether government should protect us from ourselves or shield nonsmokers from those dwindling few who light up in our midst.One thing’s for sure: The anti-smoking Proposition 86 — and we’re not even sure we can call it well-intentioned — does not serve the public as advertised. Perhaps a warning should be printed on the ballot next to it.
Read More
In less than two weeks California voters will choose the next state controller and insurance commissioner. Both offices can have enormous impact on citizens’ financial health, which is why the candidates must be extraordinarily disciplined and honest.Strictly partisan considerations shouldn’t factor into the qualifications for these positions. The Examiner insists on a nonpartisan evaluation of candidates, which explains — no surprise — how it happens that we picked one Republican and one Democrat to endorse.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/19/19?page=449%2C0%2C0%2C0&quicktabs_1=0&quicktabs_6=1
