“Political hobbyists are ruining the country” claimed the headline of New York Times opinion piece by a political science professor. Huh? Prof. Hersh’s premise is that political “involvement” that is confined to social media and dependent on cheap gotcha thrills and instant gratification replaces the slow and less flashy process of political organizing that changes elections. With […]
California’s Vulnerable 7: Members of Congress In The Crosshairs
As I write, there are fewer than 500 days til the 2018 midterm elections. Those elections are the institutional way that we the people express ourselves about our government. We can sign petitions, write scathing Twitter posts, but most of that is just sound and fury against the power of the ballot box. Every, single […]
Dismantling Consumer Protections In The Name Of “Choice”
The balance between big money institutions and the consuming public would tip in favor of business should H.R. 10 become law. Limiting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and eliminating checks on financial institutions capable of bringing down the economy are features of HR 10, up for consideration in the House of Representatives in early June. At […]
The Constitutional Amendment You Can’t Quote
25th Amendment – U.S. Constitution Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office […]
Target These Five Senators Who Urged Withdrawal From Environmental Accord
Twenty two US Senators egged Trump on to withdraw from the Paris Accord combating global warming. Five of them are up for re election in 2018. If one of these Republican senators represents you, tell him that he made the wrong call and that his constituents want to stand with the rest of the […]
When You’ve Had Enough Of Devin Nunes
When social media buzzes about some elected official who shows themselves heartless, thoughtless, or blindly partisan, my question is always: Who’s running against him? I asked when Devin Nunes (R-CA) burst back into the news, after laying low over the dark-of-night visits to the White House his committee was investigating. Nunes had said he was […]
I’m For Mob Rule
Well, sort of. As a verb, “mob” means “to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility” Little birds in groups mob much bigger birds and drive them off. That’s my vision of voters and our current leader. Bunches of us, small but persistent, provide him no rest until 2020. Image: John Dunstan via […]
What Does It Take To Vote?
One classic way of keeping citizens from voting is creating a web of identification requirements that increase the complexity of registering to vote. Meet VoteRiders.org, a non-partisan, non-profit created in 2012 to help citizens get the identification they need to vote. VoteRiders has a list of the ID requirements for each state and programs to […]
Public Comment On National Monuments: Speak For Them While We Can
The Administration proposed in Executive Order 13792 to review designation of open space as National Monuments. The subtext of the review is let’s “stop protecting wild places so business can exploit it commercially.” In a token nod to the electorate, Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke opened a laughably short 15 day public comment period on National Monuments. […]
Be Seen, Be Heard While Congress Is Back Home
Members of Congress are back home in their districts, supposedly for the purpose of listening to their constituents. Have you been heard? If your Member of Congress has scheduled a town hall meeting, be there. Here’s the game plan-goals and questions to ask- from Indivisible If your Member isn’t willing to schedule a meeting, go […]