With Democrats in power in Sacramento and in the White House, you might think there wouldn't be much disagreement between California and Washington.
But you'd think wrong.
Yes, there's a constant desire on the state's part for more money from the federal government. But California also battles Washington on a host of smaller matters. In one recent week, four losses made news, all within about 48 hours of each other.
The Supreme Court vs. safe California meat
The state passed a law trying to keep sick animals out of the food supply. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that a federal law, backed strongy by the meat industry, governs and that the state law is invalid.
Our attorney general vs. the rest of the country on mortgages
Other attorneys general are trying to settle with mortgage servicers. But California's Kamala Harris doesn't like the terms of the deal and is pursuing her own investigation of shoddy mortgage practices. To be fair, the Obama administration tried to sweeten the terms of the deal by earmarking $8 billion just for California homeowners--but the other states rebelled at the terms.
U.S. & World
Google's driverless cars against the feds
Google has been experimenting with driverless cars in California, and has shown such vehicles are workable and safe. But federal regulators are expressing skepticism and has yet to regulate this driverless technology.
Obama vs. California higher education
The president is promising to cut back on federal dollars to institutions that raise tuition. Institutions such as California's university systems. Of course, California's universities are raising tuition in large part because of cutbacks in public support. So talk about a Catch 22: universities are having to raise tuition because they are losing public support. And if they raise tuition, they may lose federal support.
