Install
The West blog
The 1964 Goldwater Campaign Lost 44 States and Won the FutureBarry Goldwater lost one of the worst landslides in history, yet the party that came out of that defeat was the one that won in 1980.The Republican Congress That Sent the Women's Suffrage Amendment to the StatesThe 19th Amendment cleared Congress in 1919 under a Republican majority. Here is the record, told in order, with the unfinished business left in.The Sagebrush Rebellion and the Westerners Who Wanted Their Land BackIn 1979 and 1980 Western states sued for their own backyards, lost in court, and still moved the Republican Party. Here is the whole story.Who Owns the Range? Grazing Permits, Allotments and the Rancher's Real RightsWestern ranchers graze cattle on land they do not own. Here is what a permit is, what it is not, and why the paper decides the value of the ranch.First in Time, First in Right, and How Western Water Law Really WorksIn the arid West water is property, and the oldest claim gets served first. Here is how that rule shapes every ranch, farm and town.How Colorado Voters Put a Leash on Their Own LegislatureIn 1992 Colorado voters wrote the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights into the constitution. The story, the formula, the 2005 vote that loosened it, and the critics.How Proposition 13 Started the Tax Revolt That Reshaped the GOPA 1978 California ballot measure capped property taxes and turned a local grievance into a national movement; here is how it worked and what it did.Governor Reagan, Sacramento and the Welfare Fight Nobody RemembersReagan's eight years as California governor taught him to bargain, sign tax bills he disliked and win welfare reform from a Democratic legislature.Proposition 13 and the Tax Revolt That Rattled Every StatehouseIn June 1978 California voters capped property taxes and every statehouse took notice. The story, what the measure did, who copied it, and the criticisms.