Dan Walters

Walters: GOP Congressional Wins Set Stage for 2022

December 2, 2020

It is remarkable — even amazing — that as Democrat Joe Biden rang up a nearly 2-to-1 victory over Republican President Donald Trump in California this year, Trump’s party regained four of the seven congressional seats it lost two years ago. California’s out...

Photo of Rutherford B. Gaston Middle School in Fresno, CA

Walters: Court Slaps Down No-Bid School Contracts in Fresno Case

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

December 1, 2020

An alternative view of California’s public school system is that it is a huge industry with six million customers who spend more than $100 billion a year. There’s big money to be made in supplying the goods ...

Walters: Bad Optics Can Sink Political Careers

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 30, 2020

In real life politics, as opposed to the textbook variety, hard fact is much less important than image or, as political pros put it, “optics.” We had a stark lesson in that axiom this year when Donald Trump ...

Dan Walters: Identity Politics vs. Melting Pot Vision

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 26, 2020

The jousting over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointment of a U.S. senator to succeed Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is fast becoming the epitome — or nadir — of identity politics. It’s a mindset in which the personalities, talents, character and accomplishmen...

Poll Confirms Californians’ Sour Mood on Higher Taxes

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 24, 2020

Proposition 15 would have been the largest tax increase in California history and its defeat this month was, by any definition, a huge setback for its sponsors, primarily public employee unions. They had bee...

Walters: Why Are Taxpayers Footing Dam Removal Cost?

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 23, 2020

Decades of political conflict over the fate of four obsolete dams on the Klamath River reached a turning point last week with a multi-party, two-state “memorandum of understanding” to remove them in hopes of re...

Walters: Revenue Windfall Creates Political Dilemma

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 22, 2020

As Gov. Gavin Newsom makes the final decisions on writing a 2021-22 budget, he’s receiving some good revenue news from his beancounters. During the first four months of the 2020-21 budget cycle, which began on July 1, state general fund revenues were more t...

Walters: French Laundry Flap Spotlights Capitol Insiders

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 18, 2020

Twenty-two years ago, on the day after Gray Davis was elected governor of California, I hopped aboard a Southwest Airlines plane bound for Los Angeles. I was heading south for Davis’ morning-after press conf...

Opinion: More High-Dollar Ballot Measures Coming in 2022

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 16, 2020

Much has been said and written about the hundreds of millions of dollars spent for and against the dozen statewide measures on this month’s ballot. Big money? Yes, but it was really just chicken feed, becaus...

Opinion: What Will Tax Increase Advocates Do Now?

Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary

November 15, 2020

Proposition 15, which would have boosted property taxes on commercial real estate by billions of dollars a year, finally bit the dust last week. It wasn’t a surprise. Although its advocates — unions, mostly — may cite the COVID-19 pandemic and recession as ...

We've got issues, and we're willing to share

(but only if you want them in your inbox).

Police Groups Back Requiring College Classes for Recruits

Zero Cost, Drive-Thru COVID Testing Available This Month in Clovis

Spirit Wear Shirts Buoy Spirits of Teague, Tilley Elementary Kids

Local Leaders Say No COVID Dollars Left to Help Workers Through New Shut Down

Council Policy Might Revoke Some Alcohol Licenses, Give Them To New Grocery Stores

How California Reached Historic Voter Turnout Despite Pandemic, Distrust

Doing This One Thing Helps Community College Students Transfer to a 4-Year University

Called Out for Nearly 500% Increase in COVID Cases, Madera County Pushes Back

The 'Mozart of Rock Guitar' Eddie Van Halen Dies of Cancer at 65.

Pro Wrestling Legend Pat Patterson, Noted Fresno Headliner, Dies at 79

Kingsburg Icon Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympic Decathlon Champion, Dies at 86

‘Feisty’ Bobcat Burned in San Bernardino Wildfire Recovers, Now Set for Release

After California’s ‘Blue Wave’ to Congress in 2018? A GOP Red Riptide in 2020.

Walters: GOP Congressional Wins Set Stage for 2022

Pro Wrestling Legend Pat Patterson, Noted Fresno Headliner, Dies at 79

Opinion: Agencies Should Follow CARB’s Leadership on Emissions From Gas Appliances

Eid al-Fitr Marks End of Ramadan, but COVID-19 Curtails Big Events

LIVE: Daily Briefing from Gov. Gavin Newsom

COVID-19 Brings a New Kind of Ramadan for Muslim Community

Biden to Nominate Yellen, Highlight Diversity on Econ Team

Unveiling Economic Team, Biden Pledges, ‘Help is on the Way’

To Court Latinos, Democrats Have to Expand Strategy in 2022

How California Reached Historic Voter Turnout Despite Pandemic, Distrust

Walters: GOP Congressional Wins Set Stage for 2022

Walters: Court Slaps Down No-Bid School Contracts in Fresno Case

Walters: Bad Optics Can Sink Political Careers

Dan Walters: Identity Politics vs. Melting Pot Vision

Poll Confirms Californians’ Sour Mood on Higher Taxes

Walters: Why Are Taxpayers Footing Dam Removal Cost?

Walters: Revenue Windfall Creates Political Dilemma

Walters: French Laundry Flap Spotlights Capitol Insiders

Opinion: More High-Dollar Ballot Measures Coming in 2022

Opinion: What Will Tax Increase Advocates Do Now?