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Why Free Trade Agreements Don’t Work, But Could

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Outsized influence by corporate interests continue to prevent free trade agreements from delivering on their promises of economic prosperity.

By Andy Cohen

There has been a lot of consternation and handwringing lately about free trade agreements and their benefits/detriments to our overall economy.  My San Diego Free Press colleague Anna Daniels recently penned a piece largely lamenting the 20th anniversary of the signing of the NAFTA treaty:  “Twenty Years of NAFTA:  Capital Freely Crosses Borders While People Can’t”.

Anna is entirely correct:  NAFTA did not deliver on the promises that were made upon its signing.  And it laid the foundation for an exodus of capital and good paying jobs to other low wage locales, in Mexico and around the world.  But NAFTA’s failures—and the inherent problems with the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that is currently being negotiated—are not due to the fact that free trade is inherently bad or unsustainable.  Quite to the contrary:  The concept of free trade can be potentially extremely beneficial to all parties involved, if the treaty is done right.   [Read more…]

The Freezer Bowl: Recollections From the Coldest Game in NFL History

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Like their 1981 counterparts, the Chargers head to Cincinnati and the cold weather to take on the Bengals. Will history repeat itself?

By Andy Cohen

It’s been a bizarre season for the San Diego Chargers. The 2013 iteration of this team has been a near complete enigma, at times appearing completely hapless, at other times playing like Super Bowl contenders. Yet despite their maddening inconsistency, the stars eerily aligned to send the Chargers to the playoffs.

That bizarre season could potentially become even more bizarre, as they travel to Cincinnati to take on a Bengals team they lost to on December 1, 17-10 in Qualcomm Stadium, a game where the Bolts clearly did not bring their ‘A’ game. It was their last loss before heating up for a regular season ending four game win streak that included wins over playoff bound division rivals Denver and Kansas City.

This will be only the second ever playoff meeting between the Chargers and Bengals, both times in Cincinnati, and potentially an instance of history repeating itself. Any longtime Charger fan should be able to recall the scene back in January, 1982 in old Riverfront Stadium, the AFC Championship game remembered as the “Freezer Bowl.” It’s the stuff legends are made of, and was the second coldest game in recorded NFL history at nine degrees below zero. Factor in the 25 mile per hour winds that brought the wind chill factor down to -59 degrees, and it was the coldest game ever played.   [Read more…]

The Stars Align, Send Chargers to the Playoffs

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After a series of fortuitous, near impossible events, the Bolts are on their way to the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2009.

By Andy Cohen

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And the 2013 San Diego Chargers certainly are very lucky.

Against all probability, the Chargers are headed to the playoffs after completing a 9-7 regular season. Two weeks ago I wrote a column calling the talk of the Chargers making the playoffs nonsense, even after their dominant week 15, Thursday night win over the #1 overall AFC playoff seed Denver Broncos in Denver. The Chargers, it seemed, had finally gotten their act together and were playing some of the best football in The League. The problem was that it took them 13 weeks to get there.

The best the Chargers could hope to finish was 9-7, and with both Baltimore and Miami (who the Chargers lost to in week 11) ahead of them in the playoff standings, and with both teams coming off of impressive week 15 wins—Baltimore against Detroit, and Miami against Tom Brady (is there any other player on the Patriots that really matters?)—their chances at extending their season beyond week 17 were slim to none.
  [Read more…]

San Diego’s Shadow Government Steps Into the Spotlight

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Former Mayor Jerry Sanders steps back into the spotlight to undermine San Diego’s elected government

By Andy Cohen

We often hear, particularly when a government entity is seeking to raise revenues for an important project (or, on occasion, a not-so-important project) that the associated revenues amount to a “jobs tax,” or a “job killing tax.” It’s a favorite meme of those of a particular political persuasion or economic status. Ordinance ‘A’ is a JOBS KILLER! We must not allow it to pass! Requiring health care is a JOBS KILLER! Any ordinance requiring a living wage is a JOBS KILLER! The minimum wage is a JOBS KILLER! Increasing the sales tax by one-half of one percent is a JOBS KILLER!

It’s an effective scare tactic used by those on the political right to prevent governments from being able to raise enough revenues to provide services that residents demand. That’s especially true here in San Diego, where we have a history of demanding services without providing a means to pay for them. We’re notorious for that.

As far as the Lincoln Club, or the San Diego Taxpayers Association, or the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, or, to a lesser extent, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation is concerned, any revenues raised by the city for the provision of services—or just day-to-day operations—is a JOBS KILLING tax. Any regulations placed on any local businesses are JOBS KILLERS and are a hindrance to our economy. Anything that benefits workers is a JOBS KILLER.   [Read more…]

Chargers and Aztecs: Please Stop With the Nonsense!

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No, the Chargers are NOT going to the playoffs, and no, the Aztecs should NOT replace Rocky Long.

By Andy Cohen

Alright, so let’s have some fun. A little diversion from the world of San Diego politics for a moment.

Bolts Playoff Bound? Not a Chance!

First, let’s dispel any notion that the San Diego Chargers have any hope whatsoever at making the playoffs. Via Twitter yesterday, the Chargers issued a poll, asking followers whether, with two games remaining, will the team make the playoffs? They then joyfully tweeted out the results of the poll (a tweet that has oddly since been deleted….but thankfully someone else was smart enough to retweet the Chargers’ tweet) showing that 69% of respondents enthusiastically replied “Yes, the Chargers will make the playoffs!”

(I don’t really know how enthusiastic they were….I totally made that part up).   [Read more…]

How Low Will They Go?

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Where will the negative campaigning in the San Diego mayoral race take us?

By Andy Cohen

Negative campaigning works. It’s a simple fact of our political world, otherwise it wouldn’t be such a constant. Yes, we all complain about it, lament how dirty and slimy our politics have gotten. But, even the most disgusted among us has to admit that the negative campaign ads and rhetoric has an effect on our opinions of the candidates. And despite promises to wage “positive” campaigns, every single candidate eventually wades into the muck and sullies him or herself in the mud. It becomes unavoidable.

The 2013 primary race to see who would complete Bob Filner’s first term was certainly no exception. In fact, it could be argued that it was messier than most others. In an abbreviated election cycle, candidates have to scratch and claw to distinguish themselves from their opponents, particularly when there are multiple big-name candidates running. The fastest and easiest way to do that is through negative campaigning.   [Read more…]

Duncan Hunter, Nuclear War Enthusiast

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By Andy Cohen

Congratulations, San Diego! We now officially have our very own neo-con nuclear warmonger as one of our five representatives to Congress! As if having Darrell Issa entertain us by wasting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money on wild conspiracy chases in search of narratives that only exist in the insulated cocoon of right wing Fantasyland wasn’t humiliating enough, now we have our very own member of Congress that wants to start a nuclear war! Well isn’t that special!

That’s right folks! Representative Duncan Hunter (R-50th) has the answer to our country’s Iran problem: Let’s nuke ‘em! Who needs diplomacy when, after all, we’ve got the bombs! (Cue Denis Leary)

Yesterday, in an interview on C-SPAN, speaking on the deal struck recently between the West and Iran. As a part of the pact, Iran agrees to stop building new centrifuges for the refinement of nuclear material, caps the amount and type of nuclear material that Iran is allowed to produce, and it halts Iran’s work on the construction of a heavy-water reactor that would eventually allow the country to produce plutonium, which could lead to high yield nuclear weapons. Iran also agrees to increased oversight of their nuclear related activities.   [Read more…]

A Misguided Attempt at Bipartisanship

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Congressman Peters’ yea vote on H.R. 3350 an overreaching attempt to appease conservative critics.

By Andy Cohen

In the midst of the mayoral special election, there have been a number of items of local importance that have gotten, if not lost, then overshadowed. Often, in the course of our sometimes convoluted local political scene, the actions of our members of Congress get largely ignored….which is a shame, particularly in the case of our local right wing extremist/verbal bomb thrower/attention whore Darrell Issa. He, in particular, will do most anything, say most anything just to get his mug on camera.

But typically, our members of Congress will try to do what’s right for their respective districts, and do so in a respectable manner becoming of the office they hold. And despite the inbox full of press releases sent out by our Congressional brigade, the local news media doesn’t often find it sexy enough to keep tabs on what they’re up to. Which is a shame, because they’re often doing some very good work on our behalf.

But then again, sometimes our representatives will do something—vote on a bill, for example—in the name of “bipartisanship” that should be given some extra scrutiny. Such is often the case with Freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Peters.

Unfortunately, this desperation for bipartisanship has led Congressman Peters and 32 of his Democratic colleagues to cast a vote that could potentially be one of the most damaging of his brief tenure, and do serious damage to the healthcare reform law he professes to support.   [Read more…]

What’s Next in San Diego’s Mayoral Special Election Runoff?

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By Andy Cohen

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on the mayoral special election, hosted by the Pt. Loma Democratic Club. The panelists included La Prensa’s Daniel Muñoz, San Diego Voice and Viewpoint’s Dr. John Warren, NBC San Diego’s Wendy Fry (a veritable rock star in San Diego reporting circles), and myself from the ‘lil ‘ol San Diego Free Press.

The discussion centered not only on the primary race itself, but on where we go from here? What kind of campaign are we likely to see in the coming months leading up to the February runoff to determine who will fill out the remainder of Bob Filner’s term?

Some things to consider about this race: Unlike the June 2012 primary, which featured two Republicans, a converted Independent, and only one Democrat, the 2013 primary featured three rather prominent Democrats and only one Republican. But, like 2012, the Republican frontrunner carried the day, winning a plurality of the vote.

However, in the November 2012 general election, San Diegans did something almost unprecedented: They voted for the Progressive Democrat over the neo-conservative Republican. With two extremes represented, the voters swung left. Will voters do the same in February?   [Read more…]

Want Your Voice Heard? GET OUT AND VOTE!

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By Andy Cohen

Today is the first—but not likely the last—in the special election to determine who will fill out the vacated first term of former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. This is an absolutely crucial election. Voters last fall chose a candidate who represented a decidedly progressive agenda over his opponent, who represented an extremely conservative agenda.

Bob Filner was a flawed candidate when he ran for mayor in 2012. Everyone knew it—we just didn’t know how flawed. But Carl DeMaio was an equally flawed candidate. So the choice in the 2012 mayoral election came down to which candidate best represented the values of San Diego voters; after decades of conservative, Republican structured leadership, San Diego voters decided that it was high time for a change. They chose a new way of doing business at City Hall. They chose an emphasis on communities over an emphasis on Downtown. They chose fairness over favoritism. They chose people over corporations (and no, corporations are not people).

As voters head to the polls today, they face a similar choice: Do they vote for a return to the ways of previous administrations, where the wealthy business interests based Downtown will once again drive the policy agenda in whatever direction they wish it to go, or do they stick with their choice from last November and choose a mayor who is going to put his constituents first, who will stand up for the “little guy?” Will the city vote where its voter registration numbers say it will? Or will the election swing in the Republican direction, despite the fact that Republicans have 90,000 fewer registered voters in the City of San Diego, and more than 12,000 fewer than Decline-to-State? Speaking of the DTS voters, what will they do? Who do they break for?   [Read more…]

Nathan Fletcher: The Minimum Wage Must Be Raised

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Mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher lays out a surprisingly progressive policy agenda.

By Andy Cohen

Part 2 of the SDFP interview with mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher.  See Part 1 here.

Listen to Nathan Fletcher talk about his policy ideas and positions and it’s hard to believe that he ever considered himself a conservative, a Republican.  These are not the thoughts of the anti-tax, business-is-always-right crowd.  This is a guy who has given this stuff a lot of thought and understands the historical significance of the issues.  He understands that history can tell us a lot about what works and what doesn’t.

And, he says, it’s time we started focusing more on workers and wages than on protecting and promoting business interests at all cost.  He understands that protecting the American worker is protecting business interests.  The two are inextricably tied together, a concept that evades his former colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

For example, the minimum wage.  “We should have a real conversation about minimum wage, because what you see is a real erosion of the middle class.  It’s real.  It. Is. Real.  When you look at the average hourly wage of American workers, they’re going down.  The stock market continues to go up, and the average hourly wage of American workers is going down.”   [Read more…]

Democrat in Republican Clothes

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Nathan Fletcher was always a member of the Republican Party, but he wasn’t really one of them.

By Andy Cohen

It’s the subject of much consternation and speculation. It was a move made out of pure political expediency, insist some in the local political sphere. An act of blatant opportunism, plain and simple. A cold, calculated move to set up for his next run for office. The GOP hates him, the ubiquitous “They” say about the former Republican State Assemblyman-turned-independent-turned Democrat. So now he’s trying to pull a con job on everyone else to convince them he’s “changed” and now he really is one of “you.”

That’s the narrative Nathan Fletcher’s political opponents would like you to believe. Fletcher’s switch to the Democratic Party was made simply because he could find no home elsewhere, but he doesn’t really mean it. He’s still a Republican in a blue suit, whether or not the GOP will lay claim to him.

The truth, as Fletcher tells it, is nowhere near as sinister, far more complicated, and was almost as surprising to him as it was to his critics, on both the left and the right. It was a move he was prodded, even courted into by prominent Democratic elected officials and Party representatives. It wasn’t something he sought to do, but rather something that was sought of him.

You’re a Democrat, Nathan. Might as well make it official.   [Read more…]

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