Free Republic

**SNIP** After all, a Senate seat is a plum job anywhere, but especially for Democrats in California, where it’s been decades since any of them lost a reelection bid for statewide office. Whoever takes Boxer’s place can expect to become the state’s senior senator after 2018, when the then-85-year-old Dianne Feinstein is also widely expected to retire. But ambitious Democrats should beware: Their eagerness, even greed, could do in their party’s hold on Boxer’s spot. It has happened before in California, and very recently. The field of potential Democratic candidates for Boxer’s slot is large, possibly going beyond obvious prospects...

by Wayne Lusvardi California syndicated columnist Thomas Elias is out with a state-wide column in local newspapers which sounds a lot like boosterism for a revision of California Prop 13 for what is called a "split property tax roll." This "change" would tax commercial properties at full current market value but leave residences exempt from any tax increases until they re-sold as presently provided under Prop 13. According to Elias: "This would be a change to the actual Proposition 13, but it would not affect residences, either. Rather, it would see higher taxes coming from large, money-making properties than from...