Oct 2, 2014
I have a case of the somedays. Someday, public education will be funded at the level that our students and teachers deserve, and not at a level less than 95% of the rest of the nation. Until then, we must walk. We must tell people our stories and ask for their support. Someday, in this country, we will be respected…
I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), so says political consultant to Mayor Chuck Reed and professional victim Victor Ajlouny. Ajlouny was initially charged with being a member of the PLO in a missive from the Paul Fong campaign. Fong is currently the target of political attacks by the aforementioned…
Sep 22, 2014
Sam Liccardo must be kicking himself for sticking with an unconstitutional approach to public pensions that he knew, as a lawyer, could not withstand legal scrutiny. It was a political miscalculation based on the views of the electorate during a recession. When the economy is suffering, the public has a tendency to look critically at public employee compensation and benefits…
Sep 12, 2014
This week we have a Galactic Whopper from George Will in the Washington Post. His column is titled “Senate Democrats Extremism on Display.” It contends that the effort by Senate Democrats to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision by a proposed constitutional amendment constitutes true extremism – an effort to radically shrink First Amendment protection of political speech. In…
Aug 27, 2014
Pop quiz: What demographic trait do millions of unmarried women, adults under 30 and people of color have in common? You might guess it’s their relative lack of power and influence. In fact it’s exactly the opposite – potentially. This group, known as the Rising American Electorate (RAE), could prove to be the most powerful voting bloc in the country…
Aug 20, 2014
The New Yorker featured perennial Congressional candidate Ro Khanna in an article titled “The Disruption Candidate. Right. Disruption – aka moving fast and breaking sh*t – is how we got the Patriot Act. Also this last line: The last page of ‘The Great Gatsby’—I forget the line, about looking at the dock and moving toward the future and all that. The Valley is…
Aug 15, 2014
This has been a terrible summer from the violence in the Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, to Ferguson, Missouri and murders here in San Jose. Oh I understand each one is different and perhaps the gravity and complexity of the issues involved with each should not allow them to be lumped together. But with the onslaught of violence in…
Aug 13, 2014
UPDATE: AB 1522 passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee with unanimous approval. The bill is now on the floor of the Senate. Assemblymember Gonzalez anticipates a Senate floor vote on the bill next week or the following and if it is passed out, then it needs to come back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote, in which the amendments (none…
Aug 4, 2014
Santa Clara County Unaccompanied Minor Immigrants Now that we’re out of July vacations, we have a lot more to talk about on Policy Watch. Let’s start with the most dramatic, controversial and needed: Santa Clara County Supervisors developing a “host family” program to provide temporary housing for unaccompanied immigrant children. Thousands of children have been streaming across the southern U.S.…
Jul 29, 2014
Right about now, dozens of children and their families who made a risky and frightening journey across the Southern U.S. border are getting a small bit of comfort from people like you. Your donations of clothes, blankets, diapers, women’s feminine care products and other necessities collected by San Jose’s Working Partnerships USA were sent to the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice…