Greedy doctors, hospitals, insurers, and PhRMA continue to crush single-payer

Speaker Anthony Rendon took the fall for healthcare lobbyists last year when he spiked the single-payer health plan bill making its way through the Legislature.

It’s back, but healthcare industry lobbyists are roughing it up bigtime.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the bill that would replace the existing health care system with a new one run by a single payer — specifically, the state government — and paid for with taxpayer money is floundering again.

Even an effort by activists to recall Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Los Angeles, for shelving last year’s bill has gone dormant. An initiative that would lay the financial groundwork for a future single-payer system has little funding, undercutting its chances to qualify for the ballot.

Media cheerleaders are prodding the failed effort along just the same. By their measure, single-payer is riding a wave of enthusiasm from progressive Democrats and it is now a front-and-center issue in California’s 2018 elections.

It’s been discussed in virtually every forum with the candidates running for governor, emerged as a point of contention in some legislative races, and probably will be a rallying cry at the upcoming California Democratic Party convention.

This is all well and good, but until activists figure out how to pay-off the greedy doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry, single-payer is going nowhere in California. After all, our healthcare isn’t about us…it’s about them.

California pushes transgender activism beyond its borders

As with climate change, California politicians and elite media are pushing transgender activism beyond their state’s borders….whether our fellow Americans like it or not.

According to the Los Angeles Times, in post-marriage-equality America, where same-sex couples live openly and increasingly are embraced in their communities, those on the conservative right who once pushed back against gay rights now appear to have shifted their focus to the transgender community.

So far this year, 10 states have introduced a flurry of bills that would make life tougher for transgender people, especially students who try to use campus restrooms that match their gender identity. And earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed that it will no longer investigate civil rights complaints from transgender students who say they were barred from using restrooms that align with their gender identity.

North Carolina in early 2016 passed what the Times calls a “controversial bathroom bill,” which in effect barred transgender people from using restrooms that aligned with their gender identity. Supposedly, North Carolina lost millions in revenue — new employers, conventions and sporting events — because of the decision.

The last time we checked in on North Carolina, they seemed to be doing OK.

Of the 10 states that have introduced legislation aimed at the transgender community, seven have crafted bills that are a variation of North Carolina’s bathroom bill, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. Two states, Alaska and Massachusetts, are also considering ballot initiatives that could restrict the freedoms of transgender people.

California’s elite aren’t happy that not everyone agrees with them about men and women sharing the same restrooms.

In Tennessee, four bathroom-related bills were introduced, including three that require the state to provide legal defense for schools that adopt North Carolina-like restroom bans and for employees of those schools.

In South Dakota, two conservative lawmakers proposed a bill to prohibit public school teachers from even mentioning “gender identity” or “gender expression” to students in kindergarten through seventh grade. And in New Hampshire, a proposed bill would have made providing transition-related medical care to a minor, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, a form of child abuse. The bill has since died in committee.

It looks like California has an uphill battle ahead.

How our “heroes” steal from us

A program that allows Los Angeles cops and firefighters to collect their pensions and salaries simultaneously at the end of their careers was originally hailed as a no-cost way to keep the most experienced officers on the job.

But six years into the program it was clear there were serious problems, including reports that aging officers with bad backs and aching knees were joining and then immediately going out on long injury leaves — sometimes for years — at essentially twice the pay.

So leaders of the police and fire unions, scrambling to preserve the program in 2008, proposed a seemingly simple solution: require everyone entering to be on active duty.

The reform, signed by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and passed through the City Council by then-President Eric Garcetti, contained a glaring weakness: the officers only had to be “active” on the day they signed up.

It’s another way our “heroes” steal from us.

The one-day rule did nothing to stop the flow of officers heading out the door according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the decade since the rule’s creation, nearly 300 police and firefighters who joined the Deferred Retirement Option Plan took injury leaves within six months.

Since the program’s inception in 2002, cops and firefighters have received more than $1.6 billion in extra pension payments.

 

The #elites dominate the #BayArea…if you’re young, there’s nothing for you here

They’re rich and white, and they make the rules in the Bay Area.

Need more proof that the Bay Area has become a place for the wealthy white elite?

According to the East Bay Times, Samantha Sprau rents a 450-square-foot studio north of downtown Oakland with appliances and gold-speckled laminate that could be decades older than she is.

It costs $1,575 per month.

“It’s a ton for one person to pay,” said the 27-year-old battery engineer, who finds herself relying on the same grocery-skimping survival skills she learned as a broke undergraduate at San Jose State: snacks for lunch and “lentil soup for days.”

“I feel like it shouldn’t be so insane,” she said, “that a single professional should be able to afford a studio apartment.”

The Bay Area economy is booming, but if you’re under 40 or a renter, chances are high that you don’t travel or go out to eat much, and you might be cutting back on groceries.

A five-county poll conducted for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (the wealthy white elite) and the East Bay Times (the clueless Leftist elite) also found that more than one-third of Bay Area apartment renters and one-quarter of residents in their 20s and 30s say they are struggling to afford their housing.

Overall, 19 percent of those surveyed said they were having trouble making their monthly housing payments or rent. But those renting apartments were nearly three times as likely as those living in condominiums to have that problem — 34 percent compared to 13 percent, the survey found.

Over half of the registered voters who responded reported cutting back “a great deal” or “some” on other expenses because of the cost of housing, the survey found.

Bay Area residents under 40 were more than three times as likely to report they slashed other expenses “a great deal” to cover their housing costs than those over 60, the survey found, and were twice as likely to say that they struggle to afford their current housing situation.

#GavinNewsom outed for #VoterSupression targeting #Latinos

Gavin Newsom’s desperate attempt to keep Latino votes from counting.

An increasingly desperate Gavin Newsom pushed back forcefully on Friday against a suggestion that his camp had anything to do with the surprise candidacy of Democrat Amanda Renteria for governor.

 

An advisor to Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign speculated that Newsom’s team wants Renteria in the governor’s race in an effort to split the Latino vote.

It’s just the kind of race-based tactic elite California Democrats are known best for. Unlike the old days, when Republicans were their target, now it’s Villaraigosa.

The thought of a Mexican-American leading California is too frightening to imagine for California’s white elite Bay Area Democrats. They will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Newsom, currently California’s lieutenant governor, was responding to Mike Madrid, a Villaraigosa advisor, telling KQED that “something just doesn’t smell right” with the hasty, last-minute rollout of Renteria’s campaign. Madrid said he believes “the dots are there” to connect Renteria, a former Hillary Clinton aide with Newsom’s campaign.

“Follow the money,” Madrid said. “If you start to see Gavin Newsom money, independent money start, you’re really going to know something is wrong. It’s part of the larger divide-and-suppress strategy of the Latino vote.”

Newsom feigned outrage by the assertion of voter suppression.

“It’s insulting and unfounded … a desperate and sad assertion that is ludicrous and truly bizarre,” he said.

Yeah right, we’re supposed to believe a guy who had sex with his campaign manager’s wife.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Renteria’s decision to enter the governor’s race so late in the contest, with no public statement or campaign website or apparent political team, dumbfounded even her allies.

No one believes Newsom. He’s a liar, an abuser of women, and obviously a racist.

 

Other immigrants are angry #Dreamers are getting a free pass

You can hardly blame Sam Paredes. The Los Angeles Times reports that ever since he crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico nearly 30 years ago, he followed a simple philosophy of keeping his head down and trying to stay out of trouble.

The 39-year-old put in long hours for little pay as an office manager at a clothing wholesaler. He paid his taxes and hoped that after many years of waiting, there would come an immigration reform that would grant him a pathway to becoming an American citizen.

But one glimmer of hope afforded many young immigrants escaped him: Because the New York resident came too long ago, he did not qualify for immigration relief under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA.

Now he watches as the White House and Congress continue to grapple and negotiate and argue — but at least talk about — the future of the so-called Dreamers.

“I’m very bitter. These DACA kids definitely have this sense of entitlement,” Paredes said. “People fought for them and they got DACA and they got their work permit and then they went to sleep, instead of working to fight for the rest of us.”

Who can blame him.  He’s done everything America’s corporate masters have demanded: work for low pay, stay out of trouble, and pay taxes with no chance of ever getting social security.

For all of this, he gets kicked to the curb.

 

A blue tsunami in districts like #DougLaMalfa’s? Wishful thinking Democrats

A gleeful San Francisco Chronicle reports that if campaign cash is a signal of political enthusiasm, California’s beleaguered congressional Republicans are a dour-looking bunch these days.

Already outnumbered 39-14 in the state delegation, GOP House incumbents are finding it harder than ever to raise re-election money in a strong Democratic state that’s trending even bluer.

Of the 10 Republicans targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in this year’s midterm elections, five of the GOP incumbents raised less money than their Democratic opponents in the final quarter of 2017 and two others abruptly announced their retirements rather than face an uncertain re-election.

In a sign of the breadth of the Republican cash crunch — and the extent of Democratic optimism — incumbents in two of the GOP’s safest seats, Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale (Butte County) and Rep. Paul Cook of Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), found themselves out-raised by little-known opponents with only a long-shot chance of winning in November.

 

No doubt some Republican seats will flip this year in California. But a blue tsunami in districts like Doug LaMalfa’s…wishful thinking Democrats.

#NBA commissioner likes players bashing President #Trump

The San Francisco Chronicle tells us we shouldn’t expect NBA commissioner Adam Silver to enact any kind of gag order on league players when it comes to political statements.

Silver, addressing the media before the Saturday night All-Star festivities, was asked his reaction to recent political statements by LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

“Let me begin by saying I’m incredibly proud of our players for using the platform they have as players in the NBA and on social media, to speak out on issues that are important to them,” Silver said.

What Silver is really saying to his players is go ahead, hate America’s president, your jobs will be safe.

Enjoy the game sports fans.

Can #StevePoizner shake the #racist #CaGOP from his past? Probably not

It’s old news now that Former California GOP gubernatorial candidate, Steve Poizner is running for insurance commissioner again. This time as an independent.

The San Francisco Chronicle is right in reporting that the Republican brand has been so severely damaged and diminished in California that, barring a dramatic reversal of fortune in the polls, the party will not have a candidate on the ballot for governor or U.S. senator in the November election.

That’s what happens to racist jerks in a state dominated by people of color.

Poizner is back, trying to regain his old job, but no longer as a Republican. He is running as an independent in a field that includes five Democrats, one Republican and a Peace and Freedom candidate.

As if no one will remember he was a Republican. That’s funny.

 

Sports fans lash out at #Trump hating Olympian for losing

Maybe Vonn should stick to sports and stay out of politics.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Lindsey Vonn has been assailed on Twitter after failing to medal in super-G at Pyeongchang Olympics.

The backlash started minutes after Lindsey Vonn skidded to a stop past the finish line at the Jeongseon Alpine Center on Saturday and mouthed “I tried.”

The most successful women’s Alpine skier in history tied for sixth in the super-G at the Pyeongchang Olympics after a mistake during a turn late in her run.

Posts assailing Vonn and celebrating the unexpected result quickly flooded Twitter, most of them tied to comments she made about President Trump last year.

“Losers gonna lose.”

“Did God just give her a little nudge off course?”

“Hope you break a leg or two.”

“Happy to see a traitor of the USA defeated.”

Many of the tweets were profane, threatening or both. They cited karma; hoped she suffered an injury; wished she would lose again; used the #MAGA hashtag, short for Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again.”

What prompted such a vicious, gleeful response? During an interview with CNN in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December, Vonn was asked how she would feel competing in the Olympics for a country led by Trump.

“I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” Vonn answered. “I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony. You know, I want to represent our country well, and I don’t think there are a lot of people currently in our government who do that.”

Would she accept an invitation to the White House if she won a gold medal?

“Absolutely not,” Vonn told CNN.

No worries Ms. Vonn, it doesn’t appear an invite is forthcoming.

How the California #PoliceState brutalizes women

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the Lynwood jail has held women inmates since 1997. The building, however, can barely hold up itself. The plumbing is rotted. Toilets back up inside cells with frequency. Elevators stall and break down regularly.

It’s also unequipped to accommodate the growing list of drug treatment, rehabilitation, re-entry, and “gender specific” programs county officials and criminal justice reformers want to see funded and expanded.

The inmate population has also changed over the last two decades, a result of many factors: more inmates with mental health needs, older women — some in their 80s- in need of health care, and California’s prison realignment policies shifting women with criminal records to the jails, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

It’s a gulag for women, and it’s how the California Police State brutalizes women.

#ICE continues to do the work California law enforcement refuses to do

The Los Angeles Daily News reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 212 people and served notices to businesses in the Los Angeles area.

Of those arrested, a shocking number, 195 in all, have criminal convictions.

The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department were letting these criminals roam freely on the streets.

Sarah Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for ICE, said that the remaining 17 people in custody were “collateral arrests,” meaning they were not direct targets in the sweeps, but “were found to be illegally present in the United States when our officers encountered them during the operation.”

The agency said “88 percent of those arrested during this operation were convicted criminals.”

Some of those now in custody will face federal criminal prosecution or begin deportation proceedings, and others may be deported. Others who already have outstanding deportation orders, or returned after previously being deported, could be immediately deported, officials said.

“The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future,” the agency said in a statement.

Sanctuary jurisdictions like Los Angeles protect criminals who enter the country illegally and work aggressively to prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens.

Toothless indictment exonerates #Trump campaign

Loser.

In what the elite media calls “an extraordinary indictment”, the U.S. special counsel accused 13 Russians Friday of an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, charging them with running a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

That’s the best they can do?

The Russian organization was funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the indictment says. He is a wealthy St. Petersburg businessman with ties to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the office of special counsel Robert Mueller has charged thirteen Russians and three Russian entities with an elaborate plot to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Struggling to keep their false narrative alive, the Chronicle claims the indictment does not resolve the collusion question at the heart of the continuing Mueller probe, which has so far produced similarly lame charges against four Trump associates.

U.S. intelligence agencies, in collusion with the Clinton campaign, have previously said the Russian government interfered to benefit Trump, including by orchestrating the hacking of Democratic emails, and Mueller has been assessing whether the campaign coordinated with the Kremlin.

The latest indictment does not focus on the hacking but instead centers on a social media propaganda effort that began in 2014 and continued past the election, with the goal of producing distrust in the American political process.

Buried deep in the indictment is the fact that it does not allege that any American knowingly participated in Russian meddling, or suggest that Trump campaign associates had more than “unwitting” contact with some of the defendants who posed as Americans during election season.

The 13 Russians are not in custody and not likely to ever face trial. The Justice Department has for years supported indicting foreign defendants in absentia as a way of publicly shaming them and effectively barring them from foreign travel.

The indictment is nothing more than another piece of an elaborate elite media scam.

#White #elite California rallies around #GavinNewsom

California’s white elite Democrats really hope this guy becomes our next Governor.

Citing their long friendship and shared experiences in white elite San Francisco and Sacramento, Sen. Kamala Harris has endorsed Gavin Newsom in the governor’s race.

“Gavin and I have been friends for a very long time. We were friends before either of us held elected office,” Harris told Newsom supporters at the University of Southern California. “All of those experiences together lead me to today endorse him to be the next governor.”

Harris cited Newsom’s work as an early advocate of same-sex marriage and universal healthcare as reasons for her decision.

“At this moment in time particularly, California leadership is about national leadership,” she said. “What we do here is a role model of what can be done around the country to reject false choices, to stand on principle and to have the courage to do the right thing always.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that Harris is the most prominent elected official to weigh in on the governor’s race, and her announcement comes a week before California Democrats gather at their annual convention and decide whether to make an official endorsement in the contest.

White elites in California love Newsom. However they’re worried because Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, and a Mexican, are in a virtual tie in the polls.

Pathetic #EliteMedia downplays #HarveyWeinstein rape charges

Maybe the Los Angeles Times editors just can’t help themselves.  Maybe their elitism and love of the Hollywood Left is just too overpowering.

What else can explain why they would downplay an Italian model’s rape allegations against sex criminal Harvey Weinstein?

In the months since a long list of famous women across the globe began accusing producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, one Los Angeles case is emerging as the most likely to result in criminal charges.

It involves an Italian model-actress who alleges Weinstein raped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room five years ago. According to law enforcement sources, detectives believe the case is promising because the woman told her story to three people, including her priest, relatively soon after the alleged attack. LAPD detectives also have obtained bills showing she was at the hotel at the time, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

All that, yet the Los Angeles Times thinks the case is far from overwhelming. (They still love the rapist Weinstein.)

The fact is, under a 1995 law, California allows alleged sex crime victims to testify as witnesses in order to establish a pattern of behavior or propensity to commit a crime.

“You don’t need physical evidence to prosecute Harvey Weinstein. You need admissible evidence that proves your case beyond reasonable doubt,” said former L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. “You could see a parade of famous actresses testifying.”

Cooley and other legal experts said prosecutors can use the testimony of other Weinstein accusers to make the case that the Italian model’s allegations are part of a much larger pattern of misconduct by Weinstein.

So far, some 85 actresses, assistants and models have accused Weinstein of various acts of sexual misconduct. Actresses Annabella Sciorra, Rose McGowan, Lysette Anthony and Paz de la Huerta all have publicly accused him of rape.

 

That’s apparently not enough for the Times.

Voter continue to flee from the #CaGOP

Voters in California continue to flee from the Republican Party.

Voters in California continue to flee from the California Republican Party.

Registered independents may soon outnumber pathetic Republicans on California’s voter rolls according to the Los Angeles Times.

This should come as not surprise, as the party clings to a platform of white elitism and animus towards the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, and people of color.

As the June 5 primary election approaches, Democrats still dominate California’s voting rolls and the percentage of independent voters continues to rise, according to new figures provided by the secretary of state’s office.

Just shy of a quarter of the state’s voters now forgo any party label, registering as “no party preference,” a slight increase from last year. If the trend continues, as expected, California’s pool of independent voters could soon surpass the number of Republicans in the state.

Democrats account for 45% of California’s registered voters, giving the party a 19 percentage point advantage over the GOP, the state registration figures show.

The Democratic Party’s slice of the electorate in non-presidential election cycles has remained relatively stagnant for two decades, while the Republican Party’s registration slipped by 10 percentage points.

The percentage of independents, meanwhile, has more than doubled since 1997.

 

#FBI blew their chance to stop Florida shooter

Agency was too busy doing political work for the Clinton campaign to actually be bothered with law enforcement issues

Law enforcement knew Cruz was a psycho and did nothing.

The FBI admitted to properly investigate a tip it received last month about the teenager accused of killing 17 people at a South Florida high school this week, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The admission that drew outrage from the families of the dead and calls from lawmakers for its director to resign.

On Jan. 5, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI to report that he had posted disturbing messages on social media and that he had a desire to kill, according to the FBI statement.

The agency said proper “protocols were not followed” in investigating Cruz, who has been charged as the gunman in the massacre Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland.

The revelation deepened the sense that the attack could have been prevented if authorities had heeded various warnings about Cruz.

The Broward County Sheriff’s office shares in the responsibliity and the shame.

The 19-year-old suspect was no stranger to local law enforcement.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference Friday that his office had responded to “approximately 20 calls for service over the last few years regarding the killer.” He did not provide details about those calls.

The tip to the FBI came through its call center, a facility in West Virginia that handles roughly 2,100 calls a day, according to a law enforcement official who spoke about the shooting investigation on the condition that he not be named.

The caller said Cruz had recently purchased firearms, threatened a family member and displayed erratic behavior, the official said.

“Clearly the person was afraid [he] was going to harm somebody,” the official said.

There was a conversation between the tipster and the FBI employee who took the call, the official said, noting that enough information was provided — including Cruz’s address — that the call center employee should have written a report and sent it to the Miami field office for investigation. That didn’t happen.

It was at least the second time the FBI had been warned about Cruz.

In September, an Alabama resident named Ben Bennight called the FBI to report a comment left beneath a video he had posted on YouTube.

“Im going to be a professional school shooter,” it said. The commenter identified himself as Nikolas Cruz.

Law enforcement has said Cruz was able to blend in with other students as he fled the school following the shooting. No motive for the attack has been released.

President Trump, who has called the gunman “mentally disturbed” and has offered condolences on Twitter and at a news conference, visited Broward Health North Hospital late Friday to meet with doctors and first responders who treated victims of the rampage.

The elite media continues to blame the President, and the National Rifle Association for the shooting.

Racist mortgage companies continue to deny loans to Latinos

Racist mortgage companies continue to deny loans to Latinos.

Despite the fact that Latinos are the largest ethnic group in California, the Mercury News reports that a new analysis reveals they were more likely to be denied loans in two rural Northern California metro areas.

A national analysis by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting found Latinos accounted for nearly half of the population in the Los Angeles area in 2015-2016, yet applied for just 18 percent of conventional loan applications.

Why would they apply for loans from companies that are biased against them?

In the Central Valley city of Fresno, Latinos made up more than half of the population but only accounted for a quarter of traditional mortgage applications.

The data also showed disparities in two rural Northern California communities: in Chico, when Latinos did apply for such loans, they were nearly 2.5 times more likely than whites to be denied. In Salinas, they were 1.7 times more likely to be denied. The analysis compared applicants with similar incomes, loan amounts and purchasing neighborhood, among other factors.

The review of millions of federal records found evidence of redlining — the practice of charging more or denying services based on factors such as race or religion — in dozens of metro hubs across the country 50 years after the federal Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in lending.

Advocates also say the skewed numbers are not surprising given historical hostility toward Latino borrowers.

Immigration activist in L.A. attack #ICE officers

Make no mistake, and disregard what the elite media may say to the contrary.

In a frightening display of violence directed against law enforcement, the Los Angeles Daily News reports that a group of immigrant rights activists attempted to block a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement van night from leaving the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The activists gathered around 7 p.m. in the area of Aliso and Alameda streets, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The crowd eventually dispersed and no arrests were made, according to LAPD Officer Tony Im.

The coalition, which is comprised of Los Angeles County organizations supportive of immigrant rights, says it aims to “create an open source campaign where people push for ICE out of (Los Angeles) through diverse and innovative tactics,” according to the group’s Facebook page.

The group also says it aims to end ICE holds.

Expect more violence to follow.

Romney launches Senate bid by embracing illegal immigration

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Mitt Romney has launched his Senate bid with feel-good video.

The video attacks President Trump and embraces illegal immigration.

The Republican Party’s 2012 presidential standard-bearer, launched his anticipated political comeback in a 2 1/2-minute feel-good video, Romney held up his adopted home state as a model for the country and example that Washington could learn from. “Utah has balanced its budget,” he said. “Washington is buried in debt.”

“Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world,” he went on, contrasting that stance with Trump’s hard-line stance. “Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion.”

Romney’s use of the term “legal” is simply a code-word to give a nod to his wealthy business supporters and friends around the country whose companies prosper as a by exploiting illegal workers. It’s been a mainstay of the GOP’s platform for decades.

It’s clear Romney supports illegal immigration into the United States.

Romney, 70, enters the contest a prohibitive favorite, notwithstanding the fact he was born in Michigan, where his father served six years as governor, and built his business and political careers in Massachusetts.

A millionaire many times over, Romney keeps two homes in Utah — in the resort town of Park City and in Holladay, an upscale Salt Lake City suburb — and, far from being viewed as an opportunist, is regarded as something of a native son.

He was the consensus pick of Republican leaders to replace Sen. Orrin Hatch the instant the seven-term incumbent announced he would retire in January 2019.

Like Hatch, Romney is a wealthy white elitist who has spent his entire political career enriching himself at your expense.

Prosecutor breaks the law to try and frame President #Trump

This should frighten every American.

When FBI agents raided the northern Virginia home of President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul J. Manafort Jr. on July 26, they came with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

They arrived before dawn, forced the front door lock and burst in with a no-knock warrant, tactics typically used in a major drug bust. The agents seized Manafort’s tax, banking and real estate records, photographed his expensive antiques and tailored suits, and hauled away a trove of material.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Manafort, once a high-flying Washington lobbyist, now is awaiting trial on a dozen federal charges, including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering of more than $18 million in an elaborate scheme that prosecutors allege extended through the period he led Trump’s campaign. He has pleaded not guilty.

The dramatic case is being helmed, in part, by Andrew Weissmann, a senior deputy to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, in the wide-ranging investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and whether Trump or his aides committed crimes before, during or since the campaign.

At 59, Weissmann casts a broad shadow in the Mueller probe, a veteran federal prosecutor who has built a reputation for aggressive tactics and a no-nonsense demeanor. Both his supporters and his detractors agree he is hard-charging and to be feared.

Weissmann is a brutal Democrat partisan. Federal Election Commission records show he donated thousands to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The contributions by Weissmann and eight other lawyers on Mueller’s team led critics to accuse the group of obvious partisan bias.

Weissmann’s also sent supportive emails to Sally Yates, then the acting U.S. attorney general, on Jan. 30, 2017. Trump had just fired Yates for refusing to enforce his order to ban residents from seven Middle East countries from entering the United States.

Weissmann has no business practicing law or being involved in law enforcement. Clearly his behavior is criminal.

Alert citizen ID’s #NikolasCruz as a psycho, the #FBI did nothing

The stranger’s message on YouTube couldn’t have been clearer.

“Im going to be a professional school shooter,” a person identifying himself as Nikolas Cruz wrote in a comment beneath another user’s video in September.

The declaration was so alarming — so disturbing — that the video’s poster, Ben Bennight, who lives in Alabama, did what Americans are supposed to do. He called the Federal Bureau of Investigation to warn them.

Following a brief investigation, officials later said, the FBI closed the case, after apparently failing to identify the person who’d made the comment. It would prove to be a missed opportunity of heartbreaking proportions.

On Wednesday afternoon, a South Florida 19-year-old named Nikolas Cruz walked into a high school where he had been expelled for disciplinary problems. He then opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and killed 17 people, officials said.

Nice work FBI.

The reality was that Cruz tormented his neighbors. The Los Angeles Times reports that he posed with guns on Instagram. He was so troublesome at school that he got kicked out, and when he returned Wednesday, a school monitor recognized him and radioed a warning.

Now, yet another grieving community — and a nation roiled by yet another emotional debate over how to prevent mass shootings — must reckon with how a young man who had become a dark joke among fellow students had been intercepted only after an act of mass murder.

Unfortunately none of this fits in with the elite media’s narrative blaming the NRA and the millions of Americans who own firearms and don’t do crimes. No doubt there are more psychopath adolescents trolling the internet waiting for their opportunity to attack. Thanks to the hapless FBI we won’t know until the next tragedy happens.

 

California’s tax revenues exceeds expectations for the second straight month

Bad news for Right-wing California haters. The vanguard of the blue states has a booming economy that’s raking in a huge tax windfall.

California’s tax revenues far exceeded expectations in January for the second consecutive month. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it remains to be seen how much of the excess reflects underlying strength in the economy, versus people speeding up their 2017 state income tax payments while they were still fully deductible on federal tax returns.

State income tax revenues for January totaled $16.3billion, which was $2.5 billion higher than was expected in its current forecast released in January.

Most of that came from personal income tax payments of $13.1 billion, which was $2.4 billion more than expected. The rest came from corporate income tax and sales and use taxes.

In December, total state income taxes came in a whopping $4 billion ahead of expectations, with $3.2 billion of that surprise coming from personal income taxes.

Sex criminal #TonyMendoza sues, claims other legislators are sexual predators too

Suspended Sen. Tony Mendoza filed a lawsuit against the state Senate, saying it and his ex-roommate Sen. President Pro Tem Kevin de León violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection by ousting him from his position pending an investigation into sexual harassment allegations.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Mendoza claims in his suit that 14 other elected officials — including six senators — are also under investigation and have not been suspended or ostracized by Senate leadership the way he has. He claims it’s because de León is running for U.S. Senate and distancing himself from an embarrassing connection to someone he was close to.

The Senate and Assembly have not said how many of their active investigations involve lawmakers or staffers. Leaders in both houses are trying to tamp down the incidents in the hopes this gigantic sex crime scandal just goes away.

In the lawsuit, Mendoza is demanding that he be reinstated immediately.

At least two harassment complaints have been filed against Mendoza. In one case, Mendoza’s staff complained last year that the senator repeatedly invited a young Sacramento State University fellow to his home and hotel during events. In another case, an Assembly investigation substantiated allegations that he behaved inappropriately with a subordinate when he was an Assemblyman in 2009 by hugging her and inviting her to one-on-one lunches and dinners. He has denied wrongdoing in each case.

 

Newspaper uses dead children to help Democrats in California congressional races

Not a bunch to miss a good opportunity to exploit dead children for political purposes, the Sacramento Bee‘s editorial page used this week’s high school shooting in Florida to attack Republican members of Congress running for re-election in California.

“To that end, here’s a closer look at the hearts and prayers of all the member$ of the California congre$$ional delegation, via the campaign money they’ve accepted from gun right$ organization$, led by the National Rifle A$$ociation. The Center for Responsive Politics compiled the data, as of the end of 2017:

Ken Calvert, R-Corona: $147,166

Ed Royce, R-Fullerton: $109,120

Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, $95,156

Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield: $86,850

Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, $62,900

Darrell Issa, R-Vista, $54,270

David Valadao, R-Hanford, $49,200

Dana Rohrabachr, R-Costa Mesa, $42,150

Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, $41,087

Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, $37,450

Mimi Walters, R-Dana Point, $19,650

Paul Cook, R-Apple Valley, $16,100

Steve Knight, R-Lancaster, $15,054

Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, $13,500

The Bee excused Democrats. It also has produced no evidence to date that the NRA or law-abiding gun owners had anything to do with the tragedy.

You have to wonder if the elite media is really rooting for more school shootings.

 

Legislators move to ban tackle football until high school

According to the Sacramento Bee, hours after two California legislators unveiled a plan to outlaw tackle football until high school, angry coaches, parents and former players began mobilizing to protect America’s favorite sport from a notoriously “nanny” state government.

They created a Twitter account, SaveCaliforniaFootball, and a matching hashtag. One coach set up a meeting with a Sacramento lobbyist to learn how to engage lawmakers on bills. An online petition opposing the bill collected more than 30,000 signatures in a little over three days.

Mike Wagner, a Pop Warner official in Los Angeles and an organizer of the growing opposition campaign, described the legislation another way: “It’s completely un-American.”

Sacramento Assemblyman Kevin McCarty hasn’t even formally introduced the bill yet.

McCarty and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, both Democrats, announced their intent last week to craft legislation to establish a minimum age to play contact football, comparing their proposed government intervention in the sport to previous public health measures that mandated car seats and vaccines for children.

A California law signed in 2014 limits middle and high school teams from holding more than two full-contact practices per week. It also prevents teams from running full-contract drills and scrimmages for more than 90 minutes in a single day. Athletes who suffer concussions must complete a return-to-play protocol for at least a week under the supervision or a licensed health care provider.

The state also requires teams to immediately remove a player suspected of suffering a head injury from the field for the rest of the day and bars them from returning until they receive written clearance from a doctor.

The goal of the Legislature is clear. They they are moving in the direction of a total ban and the elimination of the sport in the state.

Hysterical #EliteMedia says #Russia is behind mass shootings

Russian President Putin takes a break while his troll-bot army takes over the Internet and destroys the American media.

When the heads of the different intelligence agencies appeared before the Senate last week, they warned that Russia had not just interfered in the 2016 election, but was ramping up attempts to affect American politics. That became clear on Wednesday.

A hysterical Daily Kos claims that in the wake of Wednesday’s Parkland, Florida school shooting, which resulted in 17 deaths, troll and bot-tracking sites reported an immediate uptick in related tweets from political propaganda bots and Russia-linked Twitter accounts.

What’s the position of the Russian bot army? Solidly pro-NRA and against any regulation of guns. The biggest “fact” being pushed by the Russian bots following the Valentine’s Day shooting is a story about how we’re over-counting school shootings … because the statistics are adding in just plain old murders at schools instead of being limited to instances where the shooter intended to commit mass murder.

Additional stories being pushed by the Russian bot-farms attack the same point that Russia specialized in during 2016: Fear of the other. These stories paint the shooter as a member of some foreign terrorist group and paint him as sympathetic to Muslim extremists.

Considering the ties between the NRA and Russia, there should be no surprise about which way these bots are steering the news, and apparently hapless American journalist can’t figure any of this out.

Why is Russia so intent on pushing guns in the US? Not only does it make money for Russian manufacturers, it results in increased violence, more divisive politics, and more dead Americans. They like that.

You’re more likely to be shot in countries without a #2ndAmendment

According to Time, Mexico has recorded its highest homicide rate in years, with the government’s interior ministry reporting there were 29,168 murders in 2017, more than in 2011 at the peak of Mexico’s drug cartel-stoked violence.

Mexico, which patterned its constitution after the U.S., excluded the Second Amendment.

The death toll is Mexico’s highest since the government began keeping records in 1997, and shot past 2011’s tally of 27,213 homicides, the Associated Press reports. According to the Interior Department, Mexico’s homicide rate this past year equated with 20.5 murders per 100,000 residents; in 2011, that figure was 19.4.

The homicide rate is still significantly below those of Brazil and Colombia (both 27), Venezuela (57), or El Salvador (60.8), AP reports.

You guessed it, they don’t have a Second Amendment either.

Meanwhile in America, with the Second Amendment firmly entrenched, a report released by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law indicates a reversal in that trend for 2017, with the rates for overall crime, violent crime and murder all projected to fall.

According to National Public Radio, the Brennan Center’s analysis is based on preliminary data collected from police departments and city reports in the nation’s 30 largest cities. The report says its findings undercut claims that the U.S. is experiencing a crime wave.

The biggest drop is projected in the murder rate, which the report estimates will decline by 5.6 percent.

Lawyers target lead-based paint “nuisance” in private homes

A dangerous lawsuit – funded by out-of-state trial lawyers who stand to make tens of millions of dollars – will hurt California homeowners and threaten property values, taking particular aim at low-income families who’ve achieved the American dream of homeownership according to Julian Canete, the Executive Director of the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

In his opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee, the lawsuit claims every home built before 1981 is a “public nuisance” if it has lead-based paint. A judge bought the trial attorney’s argument and now California residents are dealing with the consequences.

Let’s be clear on what that public nuisance language means. Every California homeowner who owns a pre-1981 home could be subject to criminal liability, eminent domain, foreclosure, special taxes to resolve the nuisance, orders to vacate or demolish, loss of tax deductions, and mandatory disclosure on real estate transactions. Their addresses will be entered into a public database.

Canete says that’s a scary concept that undermines state laws which have been thoughtfully studied and reviewed, and already regulate lead-based paint in homes. This ruling applies even if the paint is intact in accordance with existing public health regulations.

The court ruling requires paint companies to provide clean-up funding, but only to a select group of California residents. Only to fix homes built before 1951 and only in the 10 select communities that participated in the lawsuit, which include Santa Clara County, the city and county of San Francisco, Alameda County, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, city of Oakland, city of San Diego, San Mateo County, Solano County and Ventura County.

That leaves a large group of homeowners stranded – those who own homes built between 1951 and 1981 and all those residents in other cities throughout California. They’re branded negatively and have no opportunity to access funding for clean-up.

California’s most vulnerable will likely take the hardest hit. Low-income families who have achieved homeownership will face the harsh reality of decreased home values and added expenses to fix the problem or face the consequences. If you’re already struggling to make ends meet, this added burden could be the difference between keeping your home or simply walking away.

#TedLieu doing his best to keep Dems from being devoured by California’s “jungle primary”

Roll Call calls California’s primary system a “jungle primary” which presents unique issues for Democrats looking to flip several Republican-held seats.

The top two vote-getters in the June 5 primary, regardless of party, will advance to the general election. And Democrats are increasingly concerned their many candidates will end up splitting the vote among themselves, leaving two Republicans to move on to November.

So they’re looking to do something about it.

California Democrats at the federal, state and local levels have been engaged in conversations about the nightmare scenario in which no Democrat makes the ballot in November, especially in GOP districts they view as key to winning back the House.

Democratic lawmakers are already having discussions with candidates about stepping aside.

“I know that one of the hardest things to do is to get someone to not run for Congress. The only thing harder than that is to get someone to not run for Congress who’s been running for a year,” California Rep. Ted Lieu said.

“And so you can’t really force someone to not run for Congress if they want to,” said Lieu, a DCCC vice chairman. “We’re just trying to get information to campaigns and urging the ones who have not received traction to do the right thing.”

Lieu said Democrats specifically worry about the prospect of no Democrats advancing in the contests for two recently open GOP-held seats in Southern California: the 39th District, represented by Rep. Ed Royce, and the 49th District, held by Rep. Darrell Issa. Both Issa and Royce are retiring.

#ScottBaio outed for sex crimes against minors

This is creepy and sad.

The Hollywood Reporter says Alexander Polinsky is alleging child abuse and sexual harassment at the hands of Charles in Charge star Scott Baio, the second of Baio’s co-stars on the hit ’80s sitcom to make such claims.

“I was sexually harassed by Scott Baio and ultimately assaulted by him between the ages of 12 to 15 years old,” said Polinsky, who spoke about his allegations against Baio for the first time on Wednesday during a press conference with Hollywood attorney Lisa Bloom.

The pair were joined by Nicole Eggert, Polinsky’s Charles in Charge co-star, who has accused Baio of sexually abusing her as a minor and who was now on hand to support Polinsky’s claims.

Polinsky traced the alleged abuse from Baio back to the child actor’s first year working on the show when, at age 11, he walked in on Baio acting “sexual in nature” with 14-year-old Eggert, who was sitting on the adult star’s lap.

“I was so naive, I innocently hopped on his lap expecting to hear a story about Fonzie or Happy Days,” said Polinsky of the TV show’s megastar. “Scott Baio was a hero to me. Instead of telling us a story, Scott immediately threw me off him and began angrily calling me ‘faggot’ while Nicole laughed.”

Polinsky went on to detail “a pattern of abuse that was unrelenting” during his time on the show, which aired in syndication for four years. He said that observing his co-star behaving in such a way with Eggert, someone so close to his age, ultimately sent him into a depression. He now believes the ensuing harassment from Baio was “mental torture” in retaliation to what he had seen.

According to Polinsky, Baio would describe gay sex acts to Polinsky and share his “sexual conquests with young girls and co-stars.” He also alleges that homophobic slurs became a “running gag” on set. “Scott pulled down my pants in front of over 100 people,” Polinsky said. “Another time, he laughed as he cut a hole in the canvas wall of my private dressing room on set and exposed his genitals to me.”

California high school bans “outdated and racially insensitive” #nationalanthem

Francis Scott Key 1779-1843, composer of the Star Spangled Banner

The student government at California High School in San Ramon has banned the national anthem.

According to the Fresno Bee, in a letter Friday to the school newspaper, Ariyana Kermanizadeh, president of the Associated Student Body, cited the anthem as “outdated and racially insensitive.”

Kermanizadeh argued that “As our culture shifts to one that is more diverse and accepting of all types of people, so must our traditions,” she wrote.

The student government understands that some people might object to the removal of the anthem but they could care less.

 

#CNN political commentator compares the #homeless to a “zombie apocalypse”

“For years California voters have been nothing but compassionate towards the state’s homeless population, repeatedly voting to tax ourselves to provide more resources for affordable housing, mental health services, public transportation and addiction treatment facilities.

In return, we’ve lost control of park space, rivers, public transit systems, downtown commercial hubs, and even residential neighborhoods. It seems today like we have somehow traded the California paradise we remember for something more akin to a zombie apocalypse movie.”

That according to John Phillips, a CNN political commentator in a recent Los Angeles Daily News opinion piece.

Phillips goes on, “Politicians, advocates for the homeless and the courts have to understand that compassion is a two-way street. Their institutional lack of empathy, care or concern for the residents who are forced to suffer the consequences, as well as pay the bills, for their failed programs is beyond appalling.”

Moreover he says, “The powers that be seem to have nothing but scorn for those people. They want you to shut up, keep paying your rising tax bill and check your privilege.”

Phillips’ dehumanization of the homeless continues throughout his screed.  In the end, it’s what bigots do.

PG&E swarmed by lawsuits over 2017 fires

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Calaveras County officials plan to sue Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the 2015 Butte Fire, which killed two people and has already sparked other lawsuits against the company.

The county’s board of supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to retain a coalition of law firms that specialize in wildfires for a suit against PG&E.

Good luck with that. PG&E’s crimes are notorious. Yet they never seem to face justice.

The Butte Fire, which burned 70,868 acres and destroyed 921 buildings, was started by a pine tree leaning into a PG&E power line, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection found. Officials estimate that the county lost “tens of millions of dollars” responding to the fire, as well as through damage to infrastructure and reduced tax revenue.

 

White elite community college faculty recoil at the idea of on-line learning

Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing for a new, online community college. It’s a great idea…more people have access to higher education, it’s less expensive, and it cuts down on overcrowded classrooms.

White elites who run California’s community college classrooms hate it.

Governor Brown’s challenge, according to the Mercury News, is to convince the Legislature and a skeptical community college faculty that online education is the key to reaching the 2.5 million Californians aged 25 to 34 who graduated from high school but lack a college degree.

With tens of thousands of Californians turning to private and out-of-state schools for distance learning, Brown and Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley say they want to provide an affordable, high-quality option for busy adults to gain skills that will help them in the labor market. They’re asking the Legislature to approve $100 million in startup funds and $20 million in ongoing annual costs for an independent college district that would start enrolling students in fall 2019.

It makes total sense.

Designed in collaboration with employers and labor unions, the new college’s curriculum would feature short courses leading to certificates or badges that carry value in high-demand industries such as health care, child care, information technology and manufacturing. Students could learn at their own pace, would be eligible for state financial aid and might even be able to pay a flat fee to access unlimited courses.

So why do the white elite faculty groups hate it? Well, in the end, it’s all about money, power, and control.

When brutal hateful #racisim dominated #MontereyCounty

Democrat President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s infamous Executive Order 9066 was responsible for more than 3,500 Japanese and Japanese Americans living in the Monterey Bay area to be stripped of their land and possessions, and detained with the help of the Monterey County Sheriff at the Salinas Armory and the Salinas Rodeo Grounds. They were later shipped like animals to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona.

A little over a year later, the county’s Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution calling for federal authorities not to release those imprisoned in the camps, arguing that they could not be trusted to be loyal Americans.

The East Bay Times reports that three-quarters of a century later, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution formally apologizing for the county’s actions, which noted the county would “forever regret its residents of Japanese ancestry were treated with the loss of their rights, property, liberty, and civic standing,” and the “humiliation and financial losses that they suffered.”

WTF took these racist jerks so long?

 

#MeToo: Sex criminals #ShaunWhite and #HarveyWeinstein use same lawyers

Olympic gold medalist Shaun White made a strategic choice in 2016 after being accused of sexual harassment by the former drummer in his band.

He hired a law firm, but not just any law firm. He turned to the law firm of Glaser Weil in Los Angeles, led by attorney Patricia Glaser.

Her clients in recent months have included Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, former Fox Sports executive Jamie Horowitz, California lawmaker Matt Dababneh and music executive Charlie Walk — all of whom have faced accusations of sexual misconduct.

The firm is known for its celebrity clientele and has attracted high-profile business recently from those who stand accused in the #MeToo movement ignited by the Weinstein scandal of last October.

Timing was a big reason the lawsuit against White barely got any other media attention when USA TODAY Sports reported how it was resolved in May 2017. The accuser, Lena Zawaideh, had reached an undisclosed settlement with White to end the case, months before the rise of #MeToo — which dramatically raised awareness about sexual harassment.

USA Today reports that the firm essentially had done what it was paid to do — fight the case and ultimately make it go away quietly. But then came the global stage of the Olympics this week in South Korea. These days, such allegations aren’t as easily swept aside.

#DeltaTunnel plan makes sense…only greed can stop it

Even a single water tunnel burrowed under the California’s Delta would be worth it for urban ratepayers and farmers who would to pay to build and maintain the project, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the Department of Water Resources commissioned David Sunding, a professor of natural resource economics at UC Berkeley, to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of Brown’s Delta tunnels project. His report concludes that benefits outweigh the costs to ratepayers in every scenario he analyzed under a one-tunnel approach.

After key San Joaquin Valley agricultural districts announced last year they couldn’t afford the project, Brown’s administration announced last week that officials were moving forward on a phased-in approach to the tunnels, starting with building a single pipe under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the coming years. The tunneling project is officially known as California WaterFix.

Every dollar spent on the project would bring $1.82 in benefits under the most favorable projections, Sunding said.

Even under less favorable projections, Sunding said the one-tunnel project still “pencils out” for farms and cities who rely on water pumped from the Delta. Urban water districts benefit the most because they can spread the costs out over millions of ratepayers, Sunding said.

There are fewer benefits for agricultural districts in the San Joaquin Valley where few hundred farmers would face a much more pronounced water-cost hike, but Sunding said San Joaquin Valley agriculture wouldn’t lose money on the investment.

“For ag it is a bit more of a close call,” Sunding said. “But under all the different combinations of assumptions that I analyzed, the benefits are greater than the costs for agriculture.”

Only personal greed stands in the way of the project now.

After winning the gold, #ShaunWhite downplays sex crime

Apparently as long as you win the gold medal, sex crimes and disrespecting the flag are OK.

CNN is reporting that snowboarder Shaun White called past sexual harassment allegations levied against him “gossip” during a news conference Wednesday after his historic gold medal win at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The so called “gossip” centers around his admission that he sent lewd text messages to Lena Zawaideh. White and Zawaideh later reached an undisclosed settlement. Sending lewd texts is a sex crime.

In general people don’t settle stuff like this unless there’s something going on.

White also apologized for letting an American flag touch the ground after his gold-medal winning performance, which angered some viewers on social media.

#SEIU makes the right move, dumps #DianeFeinstein and endorses #KevinDeLeon

California Senate leader Kevin de León received a significant boost in his insurgent bid to defeat U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday, winning the endorsement of one of the state’s most politically powerful labor unions.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Service Employees International Union announced it was endorsing California’s Senate president pro tem because of his efforts on a $15 minimum wage, immigration and environmental justice.

“Kevin de León is a leader who speaks up for California values. His leadership on the most pressing challenges facing California stands in stark contrast with the dysfunctional political establishment in Washington, D.C.,” said David Huerta, an executive board member with the union’s California group. “… He’s stood up for us and our California values again and again, and now we are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder and endorse Kevin de León to be our next U.S. senator.”

This is a smart move by SEIU’s leaders. After decades in office, Feinstein has done nothing for workers. On the other hand, Kevin de León has been with workers since day one. He deserves, and has earned, their support.

#PoliceState continues to try and crush #Wikileaks

A judge upheld a British arrest warrant for Julian Assange on Tuesday, saying the WikiLeaks founder should have the courage to come to court and face justice after more than five years inside Ecuador’s London embassy.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected arguments by Assange’s lawyers that it no longer is in the public interest to arrest him for jumping bail in 2012 and seeking shelter in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. Prosecutors there were investigating allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women, which Assange has denied.

Arbuthnot did not mince words in her ruling at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, saying that by jumping bail, Assange had made “a determined attempt to avoid the order of the court.”

She said Assange appeared to be “a man who wants to impose his terms on the course of justice.”

“He appears to consider himself above the normal rules of law and wants justice only if it goes in his favor,” the judge said, drawing exclamations of dismay from Assange supporters in the public gallery.

Assange can seek to appeal, though his lawyers did not immediately say whether he would.

Swedish prosecutors dropped their investigation last year, saying there was no prospect of bringing Assange to Sweden in the foreseeable future. But the British warrant for violating bail conditions still stands, and Assange faces arrest if he leaves the embassy.

Assange’s lawyers had asked for the U.K. warrant to be withdrawn because Sweden no longer wanted him extradited, but the judge rejected their request last week.

 

Losers who tried to recall Speaker #AnthonyRendon fail miserably

The Los Angeles Times reports that a grassroots effort to recall Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon over his decision last year to shelve a single-payer healthcare measure has sputtered, according to organizers.

The Recall Rendon campaign posted on Facebook that their attempt to recall Rendon, a Democrat from Paramount, “will not move forward,” explaining that collecting the required 23,000 signatures was too burdensome.

Stephen Elzie, an attorney working with the recall effort, said some involved with the campaign are now turning their attention to trying to oust Rendon in the fall. He is being challenged by Maria Estrada, a progressive activist.

“For the most part, we’ve shifted gears. People working on the recall are now working on Maria’s campaign,” Elzie said.

Rendon has faced progressive ire since last summer, when he decided to shelve Senate Bill 562, a measure to establish a single-payer healthcare system in California. Rendon said the proposal was “woefully incomplete,” pointing to the lack of a funding plan and barriers to implementation from the federal government and the state’s Constitution.

The bottom line: Rendon has done a good job as speaker. He should never have been targeted by a recall and he deserves to be re-elected.

 

#Conservatives bleats about taxes…again…but do nothing

 

More electric cars on California’s roads. The thought has conservatives at the Los Angeles Daily News bleating like sheep who know they are going to get sheared again.

The staff of the South Coast Air Quality Management District is polling right now to find out if voters will pay a quarter-cent sales tax hike in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties to help bring more electric vehicles to the region.

The staff members are paid a lot of money — the SCAQMD has about 800 employees and spends over $100 million per year on salaries and benefits — to figure out how to squeeze money out of hard-pressed Californians, who have already been juiced like a lime at a margarita festival.

The agency hired a polling firm that may be ringing your phone at this very moment.

Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson raised an objection. He was irritated with the too-clever effort to bury the word “tax” so far down in the lengthy poll’s questions that only an insomniac would still be awake to hear it.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford also voted no on the motion to proceed with the poll.

In the end, lazy conservatives will continue bleating from their safe districts (which are gifts from the Democrats) and their comfy newspaper desks. They won’t lift a finger to actually change the way public policy is conducted in California.

Experts say men are becoming trained to avoid women in the workplace

Thanks to abusive men, women in the workplace face even greater challenges according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Heightened sensitivity to sexual misconduct has the potential to prevent women from reaching top positions in the workforce, according to a Las Vegas attorney.

“Of course there is a need for women on corporate boards, but I have some concern about how women are going to get there,” said Aviva Gordon, managing member and attorney at Las Vegas-based Gordon Law.

The most likely way for a woman to rise through the corporate ranks is through mentorship, Gordon said.

“But now because there is so much concern about bad actors out there in the world that I think the good men out there are more reluctant or may become more reluctant to engage in some of that mentorship for fear of allegations coming against them,” she said.

“Nobody is going to say that they’re not going to mentor women ‘because I’m afraid they will make allegations against me,’” Gordon said. “I think they will continue to try to keep subordinate women at arm’s length, and I think it will make it that much harder for women to push through to a position of power.”

Carliss Chatman, assistant professor of law at Northern Illinois University, said for a woman to get on a board she already has to be often even more credentialed than her male counterparts.

The gender parity issues on corporate boards is a self-fulfilling prophecy, she said.

“You have men who say, ‘We only have three women on these boards because they’re the only ones who qualify.’ But the reason that more women don’t qualify is because women aren’t being promoted through the ranks.”

The California #drought is back

 

In the Sierra Nevada, snowpack levels are running below even the darkest days of the drought, with cross-country ski resorts closed and mountain biking becoming the sport of choice until the snow returns according to the Los Angeles Times.

In the Bay Area, cities like San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Rosa are experiencing the hottest starts to a year on record.

And Southern California remains in the grip of unprecedented dry and hot conditions, despite a weak storm that moved in Monday.

February is historically a wet month, but not this year. And the long-term forecast offers little hope for relief.

Southern California is desperate for rain, but this week’s precipitation is expected to be so paltry experts are loathe to even call it an actual storm.

The odds are that California will have below-average precipitation through the rest of February, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. And the main culprit, an intensely persistent mass of high pressure, refuses to budge in any significant way.

UC Berkeley researcher Randall Osterhuber at the snow lab in Soda Springs has been measuring the frozen water bank on which California’s summer supplies so keenly depend on: just 13 inches Monday morning. Last year at this time, there were 128 inches, or nearly 11 feet of snow.

In the deserts of Southern California, chances of a brilliant springtime wildflower bloom are fading fast. Only a few poppies have sprouted at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, and the hills are mostly brown.

 

#SanJose looking at internment camps for the homeless

The Mercury News reports that San Jose has narrowed the list of possible homeless internment camps to house several dozen of the city’s homeless residents down to three spots.

The latest development comes amid intense reaction from some residents who don’t want the homeless to be too close to residential areas or schools, and from homeless advocates who want the city to do more to intern the city’s 4,000 or so homeless people.

Each site will now undergo an environmental review and officials will hold meetings near each spot to get feedback from local residents and business owners.

The homeless internment centers could be ready to house people by the end of the year.

In September 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that lets cities create what are officially known as “Bridge Housing Communities” for homeless residents.

Police chiefs endorse #AntonioVillaraigosa

The Los Angeles Times reports that the California Police Chiefs Association has endorsed former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for California governor.

Villaraigosa has also been endorsed by the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, the largest law enforcement organization in the state, with 70,000 members.

During Villaraigosa’s eight years as mayor, he hired hundreds of police officers and violent crime plummeted in the city. Villaraigosa has made his record one of the pillars of his campaign for governor.

#CalPERS takes advantage of President #Trump’s booming stock market

The Sacramento Bee reports that for the first time in years, CalPERS is stable enough that it no longer expects to run deficits into the middle of the century.

Unfunded liabilities still exist, however the $345 billion pension fund has a better financial outlook because it’s collecting more money from employers and making the most of recent stock market gains.

It’s a milestone in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s recovery since it suffered severe losses in the recession that left it badly underfunded.

CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos said the higher payroll rates and recent investment returns put the fund in a better position to handle recent stock market swings that have swayed the value of its portfolio by billions of dollars.

CalPERS now expects to earn more money than it spends over the next 20 years. Previously, its financial outlook projected deficits through 2040.

Legislators rush to pack more homeless into gulags

A San Francisco lawmaker and fellow Democrats aim to speed up approvals of affordable housing developments that include support services for the homeless by making it harder for local officials throughout California to slow or deny such projects in the face of community resistance.

Sacramento is fast-tracking homeless gulags.

According to the East Bay Times, San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu has also announced a proposal to spend $1 billion of California’s $6.1 billion budget surplus to build affordable housing for low-income families and permanent shelter for the chronically homeless.

“If you look at the streets in almost any city in California,” Chiu said Monday, “it’s clear we have an enormous homelessness crisis, and I think the Legislature should respond with an investment that matches the magnitude of the crisis.”

Roughly 25 percent of the nation’s homeless — about 134,000 people and rising — live in California.

Chiu’s Assembly Bill 2162 would make it easier to gain the necessary local approvals to build permanent housing (gulags) for the homeless.

The Assembly Budget Committee will likely take up the request during a public hearing this spring before releasing its proposal for the state budget. The Legislature must, by law, approve the state budget by June 15. It then goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has the authority to veto any of the items included in it.

#ProLife activists use #Google to outsmart abortion clinics

According to the East Bay Times, women and girls using Google to find an abortion clinic in the Bay Area may end up in the hands of a ProLife run crisis pregnancy center that doesn’t terminate pregnancies and instead pushes clients to give birth.

Abortion clinics are livid.

ProLife facilities are featured at or near the top in results for queries such as, “Where can I get an abortion near me?”

The serving up of ProLife results that are opposite to the actual goal of the search is most pronounced when a user goes to Google Maps after searching for an abortion provider.

Searching for, “Where can I get an abortion near me?” delivered slightly different results: RealOptions at the first and third spots, with Planned Parenthood in between. For that search, RealOptions also came up at No. 4 in the non-Maps results for the Google search, while it occupied spots seven through nine in non-Maps results for the “Abortion providers near me” query.

RealOptions typically advertises pregnancy services and counseling, and seek to divert girls and women away from abortion and toward adoption and parenthood.

Google said it would investigate why crisis-pregnancy centers are showing up in results for searches seeking abortion clinics.

California #GOP’s history of hate

The Mercury News reports that John Cox, one of the Republican candidates for governor, suggested gay rights could “open the floodgates to polygamy and bestiality,” bemoaned “transvestites who want to be school teachers,” and vowed to veto any hate crime legislation during a 2007 political debate.

It’s how Republicans in California roll.

Cox’s incendiary comments, made at a conservative forum during his long-shot bid for the presidency, clash with the no-nonsense, anti-politician image the San Diego County businessman has tried to portray during his campaign in California over the last year.

When asked at the Values Voter Presidential Debate in September 2007 what he would do to “counteract the homosexual agenda,” Cox said Republicans should “stand up for the proper behavior” and “talk about the fact that we can’t open the floodgates to polygamy and bestiality and all kinds of other things.” He noted, “we also have this problem with transvestites who want to be school teachers,” arguing that the Republican Party should support school choice and home-schooling so “we won’t have to deal with that.”

According to a transcript of the debate, Cox also answered several yes-or-no questions about LGBT rights, replying that he would “veto any so-called hate crimes legislation” and “support legislation ensuring that schools forfeit federal funding if they expose our children to homosexual propaganda.” He also said he would veto the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — a bill prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — as well as “any other legislation that would add the phrase ‘sexual orientation’ into federal law.”

And in a post on his campaign website at the time, he argued that courts were forcing “so-called ‘gay marriage’ or ‘civil unions’ onto the people,” and promised to support a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in order to “stand for the traditional American family.”

Suing #BigOil has become a #Leftist scam

Officials in several California cities and counties have filed suits against Big Oil, alleging that the companies knowingly emitted greenhouse gases that will damage those communities as oceans rise, and should pay for it.

According to the Mercury News, the lawsuits that pleases “progressive” local voters. However, winning in court is another matter, and by just filing the actions, California governments may be risking their ability to borrow money at low rates.

It’s pretty much a Leftist scam that’s going nowhere.

#Unilever to social media platforms: Become #PoliticallyCorrect or we pull our ads

One of the world’s largest advertisers is threatening to pull its ads from social sites such as Facebook and YouTube if the tech companies don’t do more to minimize divisive content on their platforms according to the Mercury News.

Unilever’s chief marketing officer, Keith Weed, called on Silicon Valley on Monday to better police what he describes as a toxic online environment where propaganda, hate speech and disturbing content that exploits children thrive.

“Fake news, racism, sexism, terrorists spreading messages of hate, toxic content directed at children — parts of the internet we have ended up with is a million miles from where we thought it would take us,” Weed said in a speech at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Leadership Meeting in Palm Desert. “It is in the digital media industry’s interest to listen and act on this.”

Last year, Unilever spent nearly $9.5 billion marketing its brands, including Lipton tea, Dove soap, Axe body spray and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. One quarter of that budget, or about $2.4 billion, was spent on digital advertising.

Google and Facebook dominate online advertising, and they have come under increased pressure from lawmakers, academics and industry critics to invest more heavily in filtering out misinformation and abusive content on their networks.

Last year, Google’s YouTube faced a vocal backlash from U.S. advertisers who said the company was not doing enough to prevent their ads from being played alongside derogatory and extremist content. Google — a division of Alphabet Inc. — has since adopted changes to the YouTube platform, which draws 1.6 billion monthly users. Those changes include stricter criteria for what types of videos can receive ad dollars, and more human reviews of content.

In response to Weed’s message, Google said it takes its partners’ and users’ trust and safety seriously. “We will continue to work to earn that trust every day,” it said.

Facebook said in a statement: “We fully support Unilever’s commitments and are working closely with them.”

 

Assemblyman wants to stop internet platforms from abusing your personal data

The Mercury News reports that a Bay Area-based state legislator wants to create a California regulatory agency to protect personal information.

Assemblymember Marc Levine, D-Marin County, on Monday introduced Assembly Bill 2182, which would create the California Data Protection Authority (CDPA) to regulate Californians’ personal data on the internet. All technology companies that serve Californians on the internet would be regulated by CPDA if the bill becomes law, according to Levine.

If enacted, the legislation would form the CDPA to develop regulations that ban social media websites from conducting potentially harmful psychological experiments on users, create ways for Californians to erase certain profiles and personal information, and standardize online user agreements.

The bill needs to be approved by an Assembly committee before it is put to a vote.

The bill’s provision for banning harmful psychological experiments on social media platforms stems from a widely criticized Facebook study published in 2014, in which it refuted the notion that positive posts from friends negatively affected the user’s emotions. Facebook apologized for the study, which the Guardian newspaper reported was conducted without the consent of nearly 700,000 users.

Levine introduced the bill amid growing sentiment from politicians, academics and even some tech leaders that large technology companies need to be more strictly regulated.

San Jose Police Chief: “We will not enforce federal immigration laws”

Amid rising anxiety in immigrant communities fueled by deportation fears and increasingly aggressive federal operations, San Jose police Chief Eddie Garcia did one of the things he does best.

He preached. Literally.

During the Spanish-language Sunday afternoon mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish south of downtown, Garcia took the pulpit and reassured congregants that his department is not assisting or performing the work of federal immigration agents who have become more active in the South Bay and broader region.

According to the East Bay Times, the chief echoed a call he made over a year ago in the wake of the last presidential election. “It’s been our longstanding policy that we will not enforce federal immigration laws,” Garcia said.