When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, Democrats are nervous wrecks and Republican excitement has grown. That's according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research as Americans look ahead to a high-stakes election that is 10 months away but still very much top...
Study Links Impeachment Beliefs to Regular News Diets
NEW YORK — For many Americans, how they feel about issues raised during President Donald Trump's impeachment has much to do with where they get their news. A study released Friday by the Pew Research Center illustrated these tendencies, along with the growing Republican suspicion of media sources during the Trump administration....
Walters: Voters Face Hundreds of Local Tax Measures
California voters have seen a deluge of local government tax and bond measures in recent elections and will face even more this year. The California Taxpayers Association has counted 231 local sales and parcel tax increases and bond issues (which automatically increase property taxes if approved) on the March 3 primary ballot...
Walters: State Budget Depends on the Rich
The final pages of the 2020-21 budget that Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed this month contain arguably its most important factor — an utter dependence on taxing a relative handful of high-income Californians. Personal income taxes, the budget projects, will generate $102.8 billion during the fiscal year that will begin on July 1,...
Fresno Dem Leaders Divided on Presidential Endorsements
All the polling shows Joe Biden leading a close race to decide the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee. And, here in the Valley, a sampling of local elected Democratic leaders indicates they are just as split as the nation's voters. For example, state Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) is bundled up...
AP Fact Check: Distortion in Trump's Impeachment Defense
WASHINGTON — In his first formal response to impeachment charges, President Donald Trump misrepresented the testimony of a key witness who described an exchange of favors in the Ukraine matter. The claim marked a week of frequent exaggeration and distortion by the president heading into the opening statements of his impeachment trial. Just...
Newly Released Texts Tie Nunes Aide Closer to Ukraine Plot
WASHINGTON — New documents released by House Democrats suggest that Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, was more deeply involved than was previously known in efforts by allies of President Donald Trump to dig up dirt in Ukraine on former Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats...
Walters: The Man Who Changed the Capitol
As strange as it may seem now, California’s state Senate was once a bastion of bipartisan — almost nonpartisan — comity. Although Democrats were in the majority, they willingly shared power with Republicans. A bipartisan rules committee gently controlled the flow of legislation and committees were just as likely to...
Watchdog: White House Violated Law in Freezing Ukraine Aid
WASHINGTON — The White House violated federal law in withholding security assistance to Ukraine, an action at the center of President Donald Trump's impeachment, a federal watchdog agency said Thursday. The Government Accountability Office said in a report that the Office of Management and Budget violated the law in holding up...
AP FACT CHECK: Trump Distorts Data, Dems Cut Some Corners
WASHINGTON — Rallying in swing-state Wisconsin, President Donald Trump used misleading economic data to claim he’s created a “blue collar boom" while Democrats vying to replace him cut some corners on the facts in their latest presidential debate. Here’s a look at some statements from both stages, in Milwaukee and Des...