California Journal

Even in this era of dwindling public resources, California can take significant steps to encourage its residents to save and invest in themselves. The following are a sampling of cost-effective, asset-building policies. Most are from other states, which are ahead of California in this emerging policy area. These recommendations would bolster the economic security of the state and its 35 million residents.

California is a Garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;

But believe it or not, you won't find is so hot

If you ain't got the do re mi

--Woody Guthrie (1937)

California's leaders need to cut a new deal with struggling families: If you're willing to work and save, we'll help you own a private investment account, accumulate wealth and control your own economic future. And to California's kids, leaders should say: We'll get you started on a path of saving and investment from the day you are born, make sure your school teaches you how this economy works, but it's up to you to make smart investments in your future when you turn 18.

California's Great Disconnect:
The Governed and the Government
David Lesher, California Program Director

Slice 'N Dice:
Smaller Legislative Districts Will Yield More Lawmakers, More Accountability and Better Decision Making
Heather Barbour, Fellow

It may seem incredible, but supposedly blue-state California is hemorrhaging Democrats.

Since 1990, when a majority of voters were registered Democrats, the party's share of the electorate has dropped to just 43 percent today. In fact, even as the state has grown, the number of Democratic voters has shrunk. There are about 100,000 fewer Democrats today than there were nearly 10 years ago, even though there are nearly 2 million more voters.

California's political institutions and practices are outdated and no longer reflect the vibrancy and diversity of our state in the 21st century. Key political institutions are badly in need of an overhaul to make them better suited for the new California and its wide range of attitudes, demographics and geographic regions.

Unless California invests deeply in university research and its "knowledge-intensive" industries, its dominance as the world's high-tech powerhouse could be at risk.

Last November, many California voters went to the polls and chose a state senator for themselves and nearly 900,000 of their closest neighbors. In practical terms, this meant working-class Californians living in small, rural, mountainous towns near the Oregon border are represented by the same person advocating on behalf of voters living in wealthy Sacramento suburbs. Can this one legislator truly be accountable to the needs and interests of hundreds of thousands of people living in such disparate circumstances?

When Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor, he declared that new leadership would bring great benefits to California, including dramatic improvements to the state's public school system. After his campaign education summit, Schwarzenegger said, "Our schools are falling apart, our students don't have the textbooks they deserve, and according to the U.S. Department of Education, 75 percent of our fourth and eighth graders are not proficient in reading and writing.

When talking about the evolution of politics and technology, it helps to give a little history. Okay, a lot of history. The human body is, in most senses, the same as it was 50,000 years ago (oh, those cravings for carbs!), and the workings of the human brain haven't evolved significantly in 5,000 years. That's when we learned to better process language, and societies flourished. Seventy-five years ago, television was invented -- the first form of virtual reality.