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San Diego’s City Council District 2 | Republican Zapf vs Democrat Dr. Jen: Is a Change Gonna Come?

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My coverage of the 2018 general election will focus on the City of San Diego over the next few days, starting with the City Council and moving on to ballot measures. Today’s topic is the District 2 contest between Lorie Zapf and Dr. Jen Campbell.

Let’s face it. For a city with a seemingly bright future and a terrific climate, if you had to pick a color to represent San Diego’s mood, it would be dark gray. When progressive things happen, they get tripped up by a petulant group of land speculators and scam artists entrepreneurs.

From an economic and political point of view, the “May Gray” is a year-round state of mind for all-too-many of us. All the promises of prosperity made over the past half-century compared to the ever increasing number of people who are economically challenged amount to a solid argument for why “trickle down” is a myth.   [Read more…]

San Diego Women Running for Office as Democrats

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I’ve been searching for ways to highlight many of the local down-ballot candidates who readers might not be aware of. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by internet and tv ads touting big-name candidates for major offices, and when the time to fill in the ballot arrives, a bunch of unfamiliar names makes filling in many bubbles a crap shoot.

Today, I’m going to list women running for local offices as Democrats in San Diego County, along with basic contact information when available, going you the opportunity to learn more. While I intend to provide additional coverage on these candidates, there is simply no way I’ll get to all of them.

While there is nothing guaranteeing a woman running for office will be a better choice (every group has its outliers), I can say with certainty we certainly can’t do worse than we are these days.
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Are You Willing to Look Past Gavin Newsom’s Smile and Carl DeMaio’s Frown in the General Election?

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Sometimes the most influential contests on your ballot are the ones you haven’t heard much about. Let’s fix that.

Are you psyched to vote for Sunday Gover or Paloma Aquirre in the upcoming general election? How about Cory Schumacher or Akilah Weber? James Elias or Jeff Griffith? (I’ll say more about them below.)

What? You’ve never heard of them? Chances are good they won’t be on your ballot unless you live in a small city or less urbanized part of the county. But there will be a host of names, regardless of where you reside, worth learning about in the coming weeks.   [Read more…]

People Worldwide Will #RiseforClimate This Weekend | Progressive Activist Calendar September 7 -17, 2018

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People worldwide will mobilize this weekend under the banner of Rise for Climate, a grassroots movement seeking a fossil fuel free world.

More than 600 events are planned in at least 80 countries, with one of the key aims to challenge the decision-makers attending the Global Climate Summit in California on September 12 to escalate decarbonization efforts and targets.

The flagship event in San Fransisco will be the largest climate march the US west coast has ever seen, according to organizers. Nationwide, community groups are finding innovative ways to urge a future in which all energy sources are 100% renewable, including an initiative asking participants to share artworks related to the movement.

There are events in both Downtown and Oceanside on Saturday, September 8 listed in this week’s calendar.
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As Immigrant Children Contemplate Suicide, Trump Administration Moves to Extend Detentions

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Having been stymied in attempts to circumvent the 1997 Flores ruling which set standards for children in immigration detention centers, the Trump administration is proposing new federal regulations with sweeping implications.

The more than 200-page proposed regulation would give the administration much broader authority over how undocumented immigrant children are treated in its care. Publication of the proposal in the Federal Register on Friday will kick off a 60-day window for the public to comment, after which the administration can move to certify the regulations as final.

Meanwhile, Pro-Publica Illinois and Mother Jones have jointly published a story based on confidential documents providing an overview of the inner workings and life inside one of the country’s largest shelter networks for unaccompanied minors,     [Read more…]

49th District Candidate Mike Levin’s Candidacy Getting a Boost from ex-President Obama   

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Two years ago who would have thought that then President Obama’s number one tormenter –Rep. Darrell Issa– would be on the sidelines as a Democratic Blue Wave threatened to flip his district? It’s 2018, and here we are. All that’s needed is an energized electorate.

The former President, who’s enjoying a post-term surge in popularity, is coming to California to appear with key House candidates for a rally in Irvine on Saturday.

Obama is set to appear alongside Democrats Mike Levin, who is running to win CA-49, the House seat vacated by the retirement of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista); Harley Rouda, running against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) in CA-48; Katie Porter, opposing Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) in CA-45; Gil Cisneros, vying for Rep. Ed Royce’s (R-Fullerton) open seat in CA-39; Katie Hill, challenging Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) in CA-25; Josh Harder, opposing Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) in CA-10; and T.J. Cox, who is running against Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) in CA-21.
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Democratic Senators Throw a Wrench in Kavanaugh’s Sure Thing Nomination Process

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The junior United States Senator from California–Kamala Harris–is a boss. Her unrelenting questioning during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brent Kavanaugh was extraordinary. And things have gone uphill from there.

Now, the nomination that was supposed by a slam dunk, doesn’t look so easy anymore. Other United States Senators of the Democratic persuasion are no longer playing “the get along to go along” game.

I don’t care at this point who is or isn’t running to be the Democratic nominee for President. I care that elected officials are growing a spine. It’s about time. The GOP started out with enough votes to confirm Kavanaugh, who is clearly being positioned to obstruct proceedings against the President in addition to serving as the deciding vote on making this country re-live the not-so-good old days again.   [Read more…]

Lousy Labor Day News Coverage, Kavanaugh, Bail Bonds, and Kaepernick | Short Takes

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**Labor Day came and went, and our revived local daily newspaper managed to get through it without coverage about the non-management side of the workplace.

**Hearings for Donald Trump’s latest nominee for the Supreme Court begin today. It’s going to be contentious; Democrats have no actual leverage to slow the ascent of a nominee so challenged that the Senate’s Majority leader privately advised against this nomination.

**The drive to eliminate cash bail in California has spawned the latest in a series of political efforts to maintain the status quo in the criminal justice system, namely that pre-trial detention is based on the premise of some people being more equal than others.

**Not that they need any help in this area, but former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and Nike are rattling the far right’s hive.   [Read more…]

Racist Policy Realized: 497 Children Are Still Locked Up | Progressive Activist Calendar September 1 -10, 2018

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As we head into the midterm elections, the administration’s “Make America White Again” agenda is kicking into high gear.

The zero-tolerance program at the border, which had zero intention of ever showing any compassion to children separated from their families has 497 of migrant kids *still* in custody, according to a just-filed government update. Parents of 322 of those kids have already been deported; 22 of the still-separated kids are under 5 years old.
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El Cajon Deplorable: Councilman Ben Kalasho Talks Trash About His City

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Ben Kalasho was thinking about running for Mayor of El Cajon. That was before the hundreds of emails started coming in, begging him to represent the Fletcher Hills and Grossmont areas of the city. Or at least that’s what he says on a video on his city councilman campaign website.

What makes this claim odd was Kalasho’s earlier threat to sue the City of El Cajon after they rejected redistricting maps he’d submitted, all of which split his newly-drawn district in two. The people he didn’t want to represent somehow thought he was the best choice to represent them.

Now candidate Kalasho is singing a different tune   [Read more…]

California Law Makers in Action: Renewable Energy, Bye-Bye Bail, and Training for Concealed Carry

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While Washington DC sinks into a political swamp and the nation’s chief executive is melting down, California’s legislature is making history, thanks in large part to San Diego Democrats. Their accomplishments, even when they fall short of progressive expectations, are a welcome contrast to the vileness we see coming from the other coast. 

President Donald Trump warned evangelicals on Monday that his policies will be “violently” overturned if Democrats win in November’s mid-term elections. He’s gone full-blown conspiracy-theory crazy, so let’s focus today on some better news. 

The 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (SB100) was approved by a vote of 43-32 in the assembly on Tuesday.   [Read more…]

Rep. Duncan Hunter’s Support Solid As a Rock (Provided the Rock Has an ‘R’ Ballot Designation)

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East County Republican voters aren’t buying into the legitimacy of the charges against Congressman Duncan Hunter, according to polling publicized by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Hunter has an eight-point lead over Ammar Campa-Najjar,  47% to 39% with 13% undecided. 

The local daily and 10News commissioned the Survey USA poll, which contacted 539 likely voters in the days immediately following news of the 48-page indictment. Hunter and his wife Margaret have pled not guilty, and his legal team is calling the charges a politically motivated witch hunt.   [Read more…]

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