The Take: Bernie hangs in, Philly goes Berkeley
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Bernie Sanders is nothing if not stubborn. Many expected the Vermont senator, who has zero shot at being president, to drop out of the race during on online address to his supporters Thursday evening. Not so much. Apparently, his fruitless “political revolution” “must continue into the future.” Or, as Slate put it: “Bernie Sanders Officially Announces He Will Run for President Forever.”
The #NeverTrump crew is growing. Republican heavy-hitter Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush, says he’ll vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. He chastised the presumptive GOP nominee to Politico: “He doesn’t appear to be a Republican. He doesn’t appear to want to learn about issues.”
Take that, Big Soda
Cheers! Philadelphia on Thursday followed Berkeley’s example and became the first big U.S. city to pass a soda tax. Philly’s levy doesn’t emphasize public health as much. And it includes diet soda. But the beverage industry is justifiably nervous. Similar measures seem to be popping up all over, including in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany.
Taking it hard in Orlando
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando to pay their respects to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. It’s “one of America’s happiest cities battered by a week of unspeakable tragedies.”
And as if things couldn’t get more horrific, we now know the shooter, Omar Mateen, texted his wife and ranted about the Islamic State on Facebook during the massacre.
Can’t take it anymore
California lawmakers are applauding themselves this week for passing a solid budget. But Controller Betty Yee has other ideas, particularly about California’s antiquated tax system.
“California’s tax structure encourages cities to use their land for commercial uses rather than housing,” Yee’s report says. So, while the state’s per capita income ranks 11th highest in the nation, our jobless rate and housing costs are above average.
Yee says overhauling the California Environmental Quality Act is “as important as reforming our tax system.” We agree. No one should want to eviscerate environmental laws. But something has to give.
Take a number: $28 million
That’s how much the California Department of Veterans Affairs has wasted on yet another botched state computer system.
The idea was to ensure “consistent and integrated care” for veterans, whatever facility they visited in California. But on Thursday, state Auditor Elaine Howle released a report saying that the system was so unreliable that data entry took twice as long and one veterans home in Ventura got so fed up it reverted to paper records.
Why is the cradle of Silicon Valley such an epic fail when it comes to tech?
Our take
Editorial: Respect the Park Service’s 100th birthday.
Editorial: Let Sheriff Scott Jones pay for his gun priority.
Dan Walters: Jerry Brown backtracks on debt, OKs bonds for jail construction.
Joe Mathews: Hollywood embraces California’s grittier edge.
Soapbox: Voters stand up to oil industry.
Another View: California’s LGBT students need legal protection.
Their take
The Fresno Bee: Westlands Water District’s commitment to secrecy.
The Modesto Bee: Yosemite could be good for president.
Los Angeles Times: Homelessness isn’t a partisan issue. Find the funds to house L.A.’s most vulnerable.
The Kansas City Star: Unity needed to end child labor, a blot on humanity, around the world.
Lexington Herald-Leader: Bad ruling on reproductive rights in Kentucky.
Syndicates take
Charles Krauthammer: Donald Trump is running as Trump.
Eugene Robinson: Trump’s relentless assault on the truth.
Michael Gerson: GOP needs to learn that character matters.
Nicholas Kristof: Some extremists fire guns, others promote them.
Gail Collins: A pistol for every bar stool.
Take it back
The tweet of the day comes from John McCain, who softened comments about President Obama being “directly responsible” for the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub. Maybe the idea of sounding as irrational as Donald Trump was too much for the senator from Arizona.
“I misspoke. I did not mean to imply that the President was personally responsible.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 5:30 AM with the headline "The Take: Bernie hangs in, Philly goes Berkeley."