Opinion columnist

Dan Walters

Dan Walters is an opinion columnist for CALmatters. CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's state Capitol works and why it matters. For more by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the federal government’s demobilization of 2,000 National Guard members, as well as the effect of immigration raids across California during a press conference in Downey on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

New California budget papers over $20 billion deficit, ignores day of reckoning

July 17, 2025 at 1:54 p.m.

Newsom and legislators implicitly assume that at some point revenues will increase enough to cover their spending and pay off their debts — just as a debt-ridden family buys lottery...

Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & GamingTrades Council headquarters in New York, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

California’s politics drifts rightward while New York’s leans left

July 7, 2025 at 11:35 p.m.

The Democratic Party’s eight months of internal debate, recriminations and soul searching that followed Donald Trump’s win and Kamala Harris’ loss in last year’s presidential duel got another jolt.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s covid misinformation bill last fall. Newsom and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announce the opening of a large-scale COVID-19 vaccine site at Cal State Los Angeles on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Five years later, the pandemic still weakens two California employee safety nets

June 30, 2025 at 2:57 p.m.

The stage would seem to be set for another of the Capitol’s periodic work comp clashes.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, applauds newly sworn-in California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday , June 30, 2023. Rivas is replacing current Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, who has held the position since 2016. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California budget deal cooks the books again to hide big ‘structural’ deficit

June 28, 2025 at 9:27 p.m.

Were a private corporation to cook its books like the state government does, its executives could wind up in jail for fraud.

Congressman Tony Cárdenas and LAUSD Sup. Alberto Carvalho visit Cárdenas Elementary School in Van Nuys with Principal Dinora Mendoza to see students using issued computers from the Emergency Connectivity Fund on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Cárdenas helped secure the $7.171 billion program during the pandemic to help with remote learning. ECF continues to help students with necessary internet access and computers they need for the classroom and homework. The school is named after Congressman Tony Cárdenas’ parents. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

California politicians agree on school money, but poor test scores need attention

June 19, 2025 at 12:15 p.m.

Historically, the annual process of writing a state budget has often stumbled over how much money California should spend on its public school system and its nearly 6 million students.

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted an emergency temporary restraining order to stop President Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the California State Supreme Court building in San Francisco. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Gavin Newsom finally admits he’s contemplating a run for president

June 18, 2025 at 10:35 a.m.

Saddle up. Win or lose, a Newsom campaign for the White House would be a bumpy ride.

Why the legislature’s budget proposal would put California in an even deeper hole

June 11, 2025 at 6:29 p.m.

Petek’s admonition is falling on deaf ears.

Several Waymo cars burn on Los Angeles Street as protests against federal anti immigration efforts have escalated with the arrival of California’s National Guard near the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los
Angeles on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Trump, Newsom clash over LA protests and federal funding feeds their political interests

June 10, 2025 at 11:17 a.m.

The symbiosis of the Trump-Newsom vaudeville act is truly remarkable, each abetting the other’s desire to enhance his image as a warrior for moral righteousness.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as California Attorney General Rob Bonta, left, listens, during a press conference on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at an almond farm in Ceres, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Gavin Newsom’s off-the-mark budget numbers undermine his credibility again

May 22, 2025 at 12:38 p.m.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised state budget assumes California will see a sharp decline in projected revenue, largely because President Donald Trump’s tariffs will slow the nation’s economy.

Former Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa speaks during a rally in support of Kamala Harris for President at the Proud Bird Event Center in Los Angeles on Friday, July 26, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Democratic candidates for California governor shy away from state’s anti-oil crusade

May 18, 2025 at 12:35 p.m.

There’s no sugarcoating the impacts of energy conversion on both oil industry workers and consumers and managing it will be the next governor’s most perilous political and economic minefield.

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