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Election of Birther to the Bench Proves Voters Unworthy of the Responsibility of Selecting Jurists

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Asking voters who know nothing about judicial candidates, and usually fail to do any research of their own is a recipe for disaster.

Well, looks like we’ve done it, San Diego. The electorate has spoken, and the electorate has chosen a completely unqualified individual to serve as a Superior Court judge in San Diego County.

Gary Kreep is a lawyer who decided he wanted to be a judge. Relatively harmless in and of itself, until you find out a little more about him. First, he is the founder of the United States Justice Foundation, an innocuous sounding name (aren’t they always?) for an organization that is dedicated to TEA Party causes and the advancement of right wing religious causes. They are anti-abortion, anti-gay, all conspiracy theory all the time whack jobs.   [Read more…]

Et Tu, Democrats: Pondering a Post-Labor Party

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Last week I commented on the larger economic significance of the Wisconsin recall for the average American, but it is also worth noting what it may very well mean for American politics and the soul of the Democratic Party. One thing is quite clear: Obama threw labor under the bus in Wisconsin. As a candidate in 2007, the President famously said, “If American workers are being denied their right to organize, I’ll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I’ll walk that picket line with you as President of the United States.”

But when the rubber hit the road in Wisconsin, he sent a twitter message, had Bill Clinton sub for him, and walked the other way. Indeed, back at the height of the drama in the Badger state, all the President could muster was a feeble statement about how union workers were “friends and neighbors.”   [Read more…]

President Obama Signs Law Halting Deportation of Some Immigrants

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On Friday, June 15, President Barack Obama signed a memorandum intended to change the course of immigration.

Illegal immigrants who arrived in the US as children and have come to know it as their only home will now be categorized as a “low priority case” because they have generally lacked any unlawful intent. As such, they will likely not be deported if they meet the certain criteria.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – SDG&E’s Trojan Horse; Koch Bros Confab Set for San Diego

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June 18,2012—SDG&E’s trojan horse…Michael Hiltzer in the LA Times reported Sunday on a scheme proposed by SDG&E that would give its 1.2 million customers the option of prepaying their electric bills. While the plan may sound appealing to those mostly working class consumers who favor prepaid cell phones and the like, there are significant disadvantages for consumers built into the proposal. Sign up for the prepaid program and you’re signing away virtually all the consumer protections governing disconnections. Run out of money on the prepaid deal and your power will be cut off, no notice required. Regular customers get a two week notice prior to disconnection and the option of extending any back bills over a three month period when they run into financial difficulty.   [Read more…]

An Open Letter to My Daughter, Carrie

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Four years ago, “my daughter Carrie,” was arrested for being in this country illegally. Along with her older brother and younger sister, Carrie had been brought here as a young child by her biological parents who entered the United States legally. The family had fled Guatemala because of civil unrest in their native land and her father with his family had been welcomed in the United States for that reason.

Over the years, the family grew by two additional children who, born in the United States, were automatically citizens.

Carrie’s mother tried repeatedly to get her three oldest children their own paperwork showing that they were legally independent of their parents. Her last effort included paying $1,500 to an immigration attorney to help her children get their documentation. Unfortunately, her attorney died before informing her of his progress or sharing his files with anyone else. Repeated attempts to find out what he accomplished, if anything, were unsuccessful.   [Read more…]

Send a Vagina-gram! If the Government is in it, we’re going to keep saying it.

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If it feels like open game season has been declared on women, your feelings are absolutely correct. Our putatively job creation obsessed Congress has been singularly incapable of delivering the goods. They seem instead to have settled for the deeply gratifying right wing pursuit of scuttling Obama’s and the Dem’s attempts to actually do something about jobs, wage equity, tuition relief for students and infrastructure investments.

But don’t call the right wing obstructionists in not only Congress but also in the State legislatures slackers. Doing nothing about the economy has given them ample time to turn their attention to the national pastime of legislating away the protections of Roe v Wade and launching a full on onslaught against contraception coverage, Planned Parenthood women’s health clinics, violence against women legislation and guarantees of wage parity.   [Read more…]

Trans-Pacific Partnership – Leaked Trade Document Reveals Corporations Favored Over Public Interest

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A leak today of one of the most controversial chapters of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) reveals that extreme provisions have been agreed to by U.S. officials, providing a stark warning about the dangers of “trade” negotiations occurring under conditions of extreme secrecy without press, public or policymaker oversight, Public Citizen said.

“The outrageous stuff in this leaked text may well be why U.S. trade officials have been so extremely secretive about these past two years of TPP negotiations,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “Via closed-door negotiations, U.S. officials are rewriting swaths of U.S. law that have nothing to do with trade and in a move that will infuriate left and right alike have agreed to submit the U.S. government to the jurisdiction of foreign tribunals that can order unlimited payments of our tax dollars to foreign corporations that don’t want to comply with the same laws our domestic firms do.”   [Read more…]

Try to smell the flowers before the Filner vs DeMaio battle begins

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By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner

Take a break, friends and fellow voters. We could all use a brief respite from campaign-season frenzy. Soon enough San Diego’s two heavyweight contenders for mayor will be climbing back into the ring for what’s guaranteed to be a nationally publicized, brutal battle for the heart and destiny the 8th largest city in the USA. Our town.

So sniff the flowers while you can and begin preparing yourself for the Filner-DeMaio race for mayor. It’s no ordinary contest. The stakes are at an all-time high, not just for San Diego but for cities across the nation. If this sounds dramatic, you can bet it is.

That’s why we ought to use this short time-out to reflect on how our city got to this political point. To provide some context and fill in some of the blanks about San Diego’s quixotic and freighted mayorship history, here’s a quick and painless civics lesson.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line — It’s Off to the Races; Fall Campaigns Gear Up

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November political campaigns shifted into a higher gear yesterday in the local and national arenas. Here in San Diego, the first debate of the fall mayoral contest between Congressman Bob Filner and City Councilman Carl DeMaio took place yesterday before the San Diego Rotary Club. DeMaio promised the crowd that he would act quickly as Mayor, citing his comprehensive plans to repair roads, make the city more business-friendly and fix city finances. Filner opted to describe the differences between himself and his contender, characterizing the City Councilman’s plans as a ‘spreadsheet’ and his own proposals as a ‘vision’ for San Diego.

Meanwhile in Ohio, President Barack Obama and GOP contender Mitt Romney gave dueling economic policy speeches in different corners of the state. In Cincinnati Romney called out the President for being “long on words and short on action” when it comes to fixing the economy. In Cleveland, the President told his audience that he and Republican Mitt Romney offer “two fundamentally different views” about the economy, saying “If you want to give the policies of the last decade another try, then you should vote for Mr. Romney”. The Romney campaign sent their tour bus to where the President was scheduled to speak; emblazoned with the Romney campaign logo in giant letters, it honked at Obama supporters as it continually circled the area.   [Read more…]

Field of View: Occupy Our Arts 2012

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Intended to highlight the creative side of the Occupy Movement, the city-permitted Occupy Our Arts event included performances by professional dance groups and acrobats, as well as face painting, poetry, comedy skits, street theater and more.   [Read more…]

Mitt Romney Cheers as Public Sector Job Losses Hinder Growth

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President Obama’s “gaffe” about the private sector doing just fine has whipped Republicans up into a lather.

Last week while addressing the media in the White House briefing room, President Obama made a “gaffe,” saying that the “private sector in this country was doing fine.” Ever since, that “gaffe” has been the favorite punchline of every Republican talking head to appear on cable TV to deliver their official Fox News approved talking points.   [Read more…]

Darrel Issa’s Fixation on Attorney General Eric Holder

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Five Things To Know About The Republican Witchhunt Against Attorney General Holder

By Ian Millhiser / Think Progress /Jun 13, 2012

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, the Justice Department launched the first of a series of misguided “gunrunning” schemes that eventually led to the death of federal Agent Brian Terry. Rather than look to ways to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, however, House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) spent his tenure as a committee chair trying unsuccessfully to embarrass Attorney General Eric Holder.

This week, Issa escalated this witchhunt by holding an committee vote on a resolution to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress. Here’s what you need to know about this vote:

1. Issa Has No Case: Issa’s uncovered no evidence showing Holder bears any blame for the botched operations begun under George W. Bush, even though the Justice Department turned over thousands of pages of documents concerning the operations.   [Read more…]

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