Free Republic

Looking back three years ago, it is hard to fathom how much has changed from the frenzied pace of development then going forward. Land and housing prices were still rising, ever-larger development projects were being launched, and growth debates were raging across Southern California. That’s all gone now. As key real estate players suddenly find themselves without jobs, as more developers file bankruptcy, and more projects bite the dust, the depth of this “downturn” is sinking in. Many, of course, have “been through this before.” By that they mean, they’ve weathered the cyclical postwar busts that have intermittently interrupted the...

Remember the Californian Dream that needed so much protecting just three months ago? That dream where solitary visionaries, like Disney, DeMille, Hewlett and Packard, and Jobs & Wozniak, could work through the night in a garage and create sensational things that could best be summed up by B.C. Forbes who long ago stated, "The purpose of capitalism is not to create a pile of wealth, but a pile of happiness." Remember that that dream was in such danger that the biggest gubernatorial campaign ever imagined was undertaken just to save it? After some really great pomp, humor, dancing kids, and...

CENTURY CITY - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped up the faithful Sunday at the state Republican Convention in Century City, sounding familiar campaign themes on taxes, immigration and education in a keynote speech. The governor took center stage as the music of "Life Is A Highway" blared and attendees chanted "four more years!" Outside the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza ballroom, where the convention was held, campaign reform and anti-illegal immigration activists protested the governor's appearance. Meantime, his Democratic opponent, Treasurer Phil Angelides, said Schwarzenegger was distorting his record and trying to scare the voters. Schwarzenegger told delegates that November's gubernatorial election...