Head to Head

The Issue: Last week's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., elicited an outpouring of political responses, notably calls for stronger gun control. On Sunday, President Barack Obama said any solution would be hard. "We're not doing enough, and we will have to change," he told victims' families. "We can't tolerate this anymore."

The Issue: With just 12 days left before Christmas, you could give that friend or family member a garish tie or a basket of cheese. But as gifts go, it's hard to beat a great book. For the third year, Ben Boychuk and Pia Lopez offer their suggestions.

Lobbyist Grover Norquist pioneered the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," which since 1986 has asked candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases. The state pledge reads, "I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."

The Issue: California held its first cap-and-trade auction Nov. 14 as part of the state's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

President Barack Obama's re-election clears the way for California to implement health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. Although California was the first state to pass legislation implementing the regulated insurance markets, challenges remain. Gov. Jerry Brown this summer said he intends to call a special legislative session on health care reform in December.

THE ISSUE: When an all-time high of 18.2 million of 23.8 million voting-age Californians registered to vote in Tuesday's election, Republicans fell below 30 percent for the first time ever – to 29.3 percent of the state's electorate.

A Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Since the attack, the White House has offered differing accounts of what happened.

THE ISSUE: Monday's presidential debate revealed that President Obama and Gov. Romney fundamentally disagree on levels of U.S. defense spending. Romney has pledged to peg the base budget (not counting war funding) "at a floor of 4 percent of GDP." Should the United States increase defense spending?

THE ISSUE: Voters approved the "top-two" primary (Proposition 14) in 2010, whereby the two highest vote-getters in the June primary face off in the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. Is it working? Both Ben and Pia say "No!"

Californians normally have higher gas prices than the national average.

Demonstrations across the Muslim world – including a deadly attack last week on a U.S. Consulate in Libya – may have been triggered by a video called "Innocence of Muslims." U.S. officials condemned the video, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff went so far as to call Terry Jones, a Florida pastor known for his anti-Islamic views, to discourage him from promoting the film.

Before 2006, no U.S. state required voters to show government-issued photo ID at the polls in order to vote. Since then many states have passed such laws. According to studies by the Brennan Center for Justice, about 10 percent of voting-age Americans today do not have a driver's license or other state-issued photo ID.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong, 82, died Saturday. His "giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969, ensures his place in history as the first of only 12 men ever to walk the surface of the moon. But Armstrong's death raises the question of whether we will ever send astronauts to Mars, or even repeat the feat of landing on the moon.

THE ISSUE: As food trucks grow in popularity and become more of a presence in cities, a fight has emerged over how they should be regulated. Should cities monitor them for food safety only? Or restrict the time and place where they can operate?

THE ISSUE: Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada-Flintridge, is sponsoring legislation to bar Californians from carrying unloaded long guns and shotguns in public. AB 1527 is a sequel to Portantino's AB 144, which outlawed "open carry" of unloaded pistols at the beginning of the year.

THE ISSUE: Development in the "wildland-urban interface" is accelerating, along with Cal Fire's costs to protect private property from blazes. The Legislative Analyst's Office has long recommended a fee on owners of private land to cover a portion of Cal Fire costs. In 2011, the Legislature established a fire prevention fee of $150 on each home in the state's responsibility area. Collection begins this month.

THE ISSUE: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, but overturned a provision that would require states to expand Medicaid coverage to childless adults or lose all of their existing federal Medicaid funds. That opened the door for states to opt out of the expansion. So far six Republican governors have chosen not to expand their states' programs, including Texas and Florida.

THE ISSUE: A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2010 allowed corporations, unions and other groups to spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns. The DISCLOSE Act (S. 3369) would require organizations to report donations of $10,000 or more to the Federal Election Commission within 24 hours starting in 2013.

THE ISSUE: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles convicted of murder violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Since California voters approved Proposition 115 in 1990, 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of murder with a special circumstance are sentenced to life without parole unless the judge finds 'good reason' to impose 25 years to life.

THE ISSUE: President Barack Obama announced his administration would halt deportation on a case-by-case basis of young people brought to the country illegally. Obama said that the plan is a "temporary, stop-gap measure" to better allocate law enforcement resources.

THE ISSUE: California residents seeking to vote must register 15 days before election day. In states with the highest voter turnout, however, potential voters may register and vote on election day, with face-to-face scrutiny of photo ID, documentation of current address, signing of an affadavit and heavy penalties for voter fraud.

THE ISSUE: Summer's nearly here, and the time is right for a good book. Or several. Ben and Pia offer their suggestions for good reads. (Those with back problems might want to download a few of these doorstops on their e-readers.)

California's tax on cigarettes, last raised in 1998, is 87 cents per pack, ranking 33rd among the states. The average tax in all 50 states is $1.46. Voters on June 5 will decide whether to raise California's tax to $1.87, ranking 16th among the states. The additional money would go to cancer research, smoking cessation, prevention of tobacco-related diseases and law enforcement.

THE ISSUE: Gov. Jerry Brown says the state's budget deficit has risen to $15.7 billion. Last month, he called on legislators to "man up" and make significant cuts, while continuing to make his case for a tax-increase initiative on November's ballot.

THE ISSUE: Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger penned an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, titled "Take down that small tent," in response to the Republican Party's recent loss of two up-and-coming Republicans who became independents. He denounced the party for rigidity, urging "a welcoming, open and diverse Republican Party."

THE ISSUE: The Assembly Appropriations Committee will soon consider a bill by Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, that would require parents to obtain a signed waiver from a doctor before seeking personal-belief exemptions from required immunizations.

THE ISSUE: Democrats and Republicans are offering very different versions of the DREAM Act, involving the legal status of young people raised in this country, but whose parents came to the country illegally. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is proposing "DREAM ACT 2.0" which would offer them temporary non-immigrant visas.

THE ISSUE: A special task force led by former California State Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso last week condemned UC Davis campus leaders and police for their response to student protesters. The task force blamed the university administration for poor leadership and communication, and a "dysfunctional" police force for disobeying orders and needlessly escalating force.

THE ISSUE: Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has offered a budget plan with two separate pieces – spending cuts and tax overhaul – that passed the House 228-191 on March 29. Most attention has focused on the spending cuts to Medicare and other federal programs.