Inland Empire Progressive

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...