Inland Empire Progressive

As the Epstein scandal grows Trump is increasingly acting like wild-eyed strongman. Father Michael Pfleger recently blamed the White House of violence coming from within the White House and not merely in rhetoric, but via real policy that blocks food access, medical care and basic social supports.  When the Trump administration weaponizes the tools of government and mobilizes violence against his own people, democracy teeters on the brink of authoritarianism. The pattern is clear federal troops deployed in U.S. cities, executive orders that ignore or override courts, selective punishments for political opponents and the rigorous use of “emergency” powers. The Trump administration has followed the textbook authoritarian playbook by purging institutions, attacking civil society and bypassing constitutional norms .  Father Pfleger’s didn’t just say look at Chicago. He said America is in a state of emergency. Cuts to SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid amount to state-sponsored violence, for...

Rep. Jay Obernolte's performative stunts are failing the Inland Empire. Inlanders, this is not a clean continuing resolution (CR) as Obernolte keeps trying to tell us. This CR is a continuation of the March CR which funded the American Gestapo to conduct immigration raids of Victorville, Adelanto, and Hesperia with the blessing of the activist judges on the Supreme Court.   The very fabric of our region is fraying, thanks to the kind of nihilistic, self-righteous brinksmanship that seems to delight the modern Republican playbook. Meanwhile, Obernolte acts as though the Inland Empire is glad to act as the president's doormat. Grow a spine Congressman! Thousands of federal workers and contractors across the Inland Empire are seeing their income vanish into thin air, furloughed or forced to work with zero guarantee of pay. That means teachers, social workers, forest rangers, park staff, grant administrators all watching their utility bills, mortgages, and grocery needs pile up wh...

FBI Director Kash Patel's actions regarding the January 6th insurrection must be called out. While the public has been told that the release of phone records and metadata was a step toward transparency, what’s really happening looks like a desperate attempt to whitewash the events of January 6th and as a means to enrich those allegedly involved. Behind the curtain of these carefully timed disclosures lies a pattern: Patel’s maneuvering appears to shield Republican lawmakers from any meaningful investigation into coordination or complicity in the insurrection itself. The FBI examined the phone metadata of at least eight Republican senators and one House member for the period of January 4–7, 2021 in the lead-up to the storming of the Capitol . Now here’s where Patel’s role becomes toxic: by releasing selective phone records he is trying to absolve Republican lawmakers. The metadata reveals nothing of call content, leaving gaping holes whether coordination, directives, or conspiratori...

If the Trump administration invokes the  Insurrection Act , it will not happen in a vacuum. It will be enabled, normalized, and quietly tolerated by members of Congress who choose party loyalty over constitutional duty.  That enabling figure is Congressman Jay Obernolte. By refusing to draw a hard line against the use of domestic military force for political ends, Obernolte would effectively allow the Insurrection Act to be enforced in our own district. We already have ICE gestapo in Victorville and Hesperia. Now imagine the Marines from 29 Palms in Redlands and Loma Linda. The Insurrection Act gives the president extraordinary power to deploy federal troops inside the United States, overriding governors and local officials. Trump’s repeated threats to invoke it are not about restoring order but about asserting dominance over political opponents and bypassing local resistance. When a president frames protests, court rulings, or uncooperative local leaders as “obstructions,” th...

Democrats were staring down a moment of rare leverage, and they didn't hold the line. Moderates as usual caved. After November's strong electoral performance, the momentum is clearly with the Democratic Party. Yet here we are, with a government reopen with little to show for it. For weeks, Democrats of stripes have made it clear: they won’t fund the government without guarantees that the health-insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act will be extended. Republicans and the Trump White House flatly  rejected  that, refusing to negotiate while the government remains shuttered. Democrat could have kept the government shut forcing the Trump Administration to the table. Now that the moderates have caved, what are Democrats getting for reopening? A promise for a meaningless vote. That’s laughable. Recent elections delivered a message: voters believe Democrats must fight for something real. After wins in places like Virginia and New Jersey, the idea that the party s...

Rep. Jay Obernolte let Inland Empire’s public radio sputter into static by supporting cuts that defunded KVCR by $550,000. KVCR (91.9 FM) in San Bernardino Valley College is a valuable source of local news, local arts, and local accountability. For decades, it has served listeners across Riverside and San Bernardino counties information about events throughout the Inland Empire.  When public radio loses support, it undermines the journalistic independence, kneecaps local reporting, and silences the communities whose stories deserve amplification. But apparently, for Obernolte, silence is cheaper. With these cuts in support Obernolte proudly declares, “I am defunding KVCR!”  Obernolte shouldn’t pretend that this is neutral. It’s a sellout to let listeners go unheard. Radio is more than static and talk shows. It’s accountability: local governments, school boards, environmental hazards, health disparities — these are the stories KVCR covers because too often no one else will. To ...

Conservatives are making this nation weaker. And if you needed proof, look no further than the recent spectacle over Qatar building an air-force facility at a U.S. base in  Idaho . If the conservative idea of patriotism includes rolling out the red carpet for foreign militaries on our sovereign soil, you might want to reassess your “America First” bumper sticker. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed off on allowing the Qatari Emiri Air Force to build a facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, so their pilots can train alongside U.S. soldiers.  Hegseth assured everyone that Qatar will not have their own base in the United States and that the US will control the existing base. let’s surrender the optics of sovereignty while claiming we’re still in charge. It’s like letting somebody crash on your couch, telling them they can’t redecorate, and then being surprised when your home loses all character. What’s the rationale?  Combined training? Increased lethal...

The gloves are off, and Democrats have a fighting opportunity to go on offense in all 52 California congressional districts, not just the competitive races that the consultant class like to obsess over. Conservatives have made their brand so toxic, so extreme, and so wildly detached from California values that even Republicans should be looking for the exit ramp that leads them straight into the Democratic Party.  For too long, Democrats have treated deeply red districts as write-offs with Democrats in those districts left to be sacrificial lambs. That mentality is outdated. California’s demographics have shifted, younger and more progressive voters are turning 18 every day, and even moderate Republicans are exhausted by the extremism dominating their party. Democrats in state leadership should fund organizers to canvass, register voters, and develop strong candidates everywhere from Modoc to the Inland Empire where affordability and opportunity are on the ballot. MAGA is incompati...

Donald Trump doesn’t just neglect rural communities he actively undermines them. Let’s take three concrete examples where his actions have betrayed the people he claims to champion. First, the program known as Essential Air Service ( EAS ), which subsidizes flights into remote and rural airports across the country, is being allowed to collapse on his watch. The U.S. Department of Transportation warns that funding could expire imminently, cutting off vital links to medical care, commerce and connectivity for hundreds of rural communities. If you live in a rural town, losing affordable air links is a lifeline that is being pulled away. Next comes the shocking billion-dollar bailout of Argentina. Trump’s decision to throw billions at Argentina’s economy while U.S. soybean and cattle farmers suffer is a rebuke his promised “America First” posture. U.S. farmers and ranchers are the backbone of rural communities and are watching as their markets are undercut by U.S. policy that benefits ...