Posts Tagged: Progressive

Opinion

Maybe it’s time for a RINO party: Republicans in Name Only

An artist's photo illustration of a RINO -- Republican in Name Only. (Image: Jim Larkin, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Maybe there should be a RINO Party. You know—Republicans in Name Only. A number of Republican individuals are taunted by hard core fellow Republicans for not living up to the perceived standards that make one a Republican nowadays. Nuanced or mixed beliefs are not allowed. If you have a different position on a controversial issue or are willing to talk compromise, you are labeled a RINO — you don’t belong in the party.

Opinion

Pro-recall forces seek to cancel California’s progress

Demonstrators in Beverly Hills advocating the recall of Gov., Newsom. (Photo: MSPhotographic, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Will an embattled Gov. Gavin Newsom be able to persuade voters that he deserves to stay? Will an ambitious Democrat break party ranks and seek to position themselves as an alternative to Newsom? Will the election devolve into the cacophonous circus that we saw during the recall of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003?

News

CW Interview: The odyssey of Tom Ammiano — and a memoir

Tom Ammiano at a gay rights rally in 2011. (Photo: Pax Ahimsa Gethen, Wikipedia Commons)

Tom Ammiano is a San Francisco icon. The first openly gay teacher in San Francisco, he served on the board of San Francisco Unified School District and in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, with future mayor, lieutenant governor and governor Gavin Newsom. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor several times and made his way to Sacramento, where he served in the Assembly from 2008 to 2014.

News

A Democratic battle in SF’s 11th Senate District

Jackie Fielder, candidate in the 11th Senate District. (Photo: Fielder campaign)

Jackie Fielder is an activist and educator with her sights set on California’s 11th Senate District, hoping in an uphill race to topple incumbent state Sen. Scott Wiener, a fellow Democrat. Fielder is young (25), educated (Stanford University), a person of color (both Native American and Latina), an environmental protester and an activist with a background in grassroots organizing. She describes herself as a Democratic Socialist.

Opinion

Backroom housing deal reflects failed policies

Housing under construction in Riverside. (Photo: Orange Grove, via Shutterstock)

OPINION:Instead of moving forward with progressive and innovative policies that would expedite new housing or encourage Californians to take the risk and buy their first rental property, legislative leaders have decided to shelve most of those proposals and support failed policies that have been rejected by voters and communities for years.

News

‘Indivisible’ makes political presence felt

Members of Indivisible at the Women's March in January 2017. (Photo: Melissa Bender)

It began with a married pair of Democratic staffers in Congress, outraged at the success of the hard-right Tea Party. That vocal GOP off-shoot showed that a disciplined minority could leverage policy, woo voters and bend the party leadership. So Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, stunned by Donald Trump’s electoral victory, founded a group called Indivisible, which 17 months later has developed into a loose-knit national movement.

Analysis

Progressives felt in deep-blue California

Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer and several fellow Democrats at the state Capitol. i>(Photo: State Assembly)

 Meet the progressives, an outgrowth of California’s Democratic political landscape. As Democrats began their dominance in California over 20 years, they saw their electoral success expand out of urban centers into wealthier suburban enclaves, such as Pasadena, Calabasas, and Walnut Creek.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Scott Lay

Scott Lay, editor and founder of The Nooner, the widely read online information source that tracks campaign cash and offers political analyses. (Photo: John Howard)

Recorded May 20, 2017: In the heat of the convention battle for the state Democratic Party leadership, The Nooner’s Scott Lay sat down with Capitol Weekly Editor John Howard to chat about the intense fight among the party delegates to pick a successor to John Burton, the party chair since 2009.

Opinion

The regulatory landscape facing ride-share drivers

A woman hails a ride-share driver. (Photo: Maridav, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: Technology has given us more freedom to choose the way we work, live, travel, and shop. But many Americans are hitting bureaucratic roadblocks on their way find full- and part-time work with peer-to-peer services like Lyft, Postmates, and Handy.

Opinion

Help elephants, ditch the ‘bullhook’

An elephant at a Botswana waterhole. (Photo: Mike Dexter, via Shutterstock)

OPINION:At a time when the news is filled with political campaigns accusing each other of exhibiting divisive behavior and tactics, there is one piece of legislation on Gov. Brown’s desk that is actually bringing organizations together. Senate Bill 1062, by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) asks California to follow the lead of the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland by banning the use of a sharp device designed to inflict pain for the purpose of training or controlling the behavior of elephants.

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