Inland Empire Progressive

Our congressman, Representative Jay Obernolte is a co-conspirator with a front-row seat. While thousands of federal employees are not getting paid, furloughed, threatened with layoffs, or left in limbo, Obernolte’s inaction is deafening. The Trump administration has already begun issuing “ reduction-in-force ” notices to federal employees in agencies such as Treasury, Homeland Security, HHS all during a shutdown when legally the workers should be furloughed, not fired. This is not a mere “oops, budget mistake” it looks like a deliberate attempt to weaponize the shutdown to force Democrats to continue Trump's illegality. That's not going to happen. Obernolte is not some powerless freshman. Yet what has he done? Spoken politely? Issued vague statements? Counted on talking points? None of that suffices when federal workers are losing paychecks, and taxpayer are losing services. By refusing to break ranks, demand accountability, or force a way forward, Obernolte is effectively givi...

What we’re witnessing now is a full-blown conservative assault on the institutions meant to restrain raw power. The conservative strategy is simple: prosecution of political enemies, stack the courts with activist judges, intimidate rivals, and then begin the imperial rule. The recent case of  James Comey  offers a grim blueprint. Lindsey Halligan, a Trump loyalist who has no trail court experience was handpicked for the U.S. Attorney’s post to push the indictment forward despite justice department alarm bells.  That is how you subvert the rule of law. In a functioning legal system, you don’t indict someone unless the evidence can survive the harshest judicial tests. In this case, the evidence looks so flimsy even prosecutors privately felt the case would unravel. Yet Trump overrides them. That’s not justice; it's a sham trial. You don’t have to fight over whether Halligan is competent or not the real point is that she was chosen for loyalty, not objectivity. This is the ...

The notion that the current government  shutdown  is driven by fiscal wrangling or partisanship is erroneous on its face. The real reason for this government shutdown is that our congressional representative, Jay Obernolte, and his fellow Republicans is so that the Epstein files stay buried. Furloughing government workers, stalling services, and sowing chaos is all cover to keep the Epstein files from seeing the light of day. Democracy be damned, so they can protect powerful pedophiles.  The official narrative is that the shutdown is dragging on because Republican can't work on a bi-partisan deal with the Democrats. But the unofficial narrative is because House leaders continue blocking a discharge petition that would force a vote to release the Epstein files.  So, are we, the voters of the 23rd District naïve for noticing that a conveniently timed congressional absence happens to stall that vote? The timing is too perfect to be coincidence. Let’s call it what it is:...

This shutdown theater is not a football match where Democrats get to sit back and wait for the opposing team to throw a pick six. It’s a grueling slugfest of raw power, public perception, and who blinks first. And as the standoff drags on, the option to sit this one out or play it safe is fast turning into a coward’s compromise. The  hallway  showdown between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and GOP Rep. Mike Lawler demonstrates why resolve is needed in this shutdown. Lawler ambles up and tries to casually ask why Democrats won’t just sign onto ending the government shutdown. Jeffries scoffs at the notion and retorts: “Did you get permission from your boss?” This is the fight that was sorely missing from the first shutdown debacle back in March. Republicans only understand the language of power, and it isn’t begging or wagging a finger—it’s cutthroat persuasion. Democratic messaging needs to highlight what’s at stake, call out Republican obstruction when it happens, and o...

  I don’t know how Rep. Gary Miller will handle poverty in the 31st Congressional District, but the outlook doesn’t bode well for folks in my city of San Bernardino. The standard approach is to cut taxes and loosen regulations to generate economic growth. But, San Bernardino has some of the lowest income folks in the Inland Empire.  I don’t see how cutting taxes and slashing social programs will do anything but create more violence for an already violent city. In addition, most of San Bernardino residents lack the job skills necessary to attract job creators. Cutting taxes and loosening regulations sounds good for well to do folks in Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands, but it is a disastrous policy for San Bernardino. My sense is that government needs to play a more active role in balancing the scales of equity when it comes to tax policy. Folks aren’t looking for a handout, they are looking for a hand up. Conservatives are looking to cut the hand off. Rep. Gary Miller’s stand...

With both houses in the state legislature at a 2/3rd majority, my hope is that state Dems can get their priorities straight to govern California effectively and over the long term. State polling giving the legisature all time low approval ratings, this hold on power is tenuous at best. If the Dems can't effectively govern, then I wouldn't be surprised that this mandate will be short lived. Most of the prioritzation comes in balancing the state budget. Californian's deserve a state budget that is both stable and prioritized effectively. A balanced approach would be to cut underperforming policies while increasing revenue for most income brackets. Hopefully, Prop. 13 reforms will be included in the policy discussion. Another issue is our school system which performs inadequately for the needs of low income and minority students. Education equality is the next civil rights movement of our time. Our poor performing schools will not be able to...

Contributor Name Amount AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION $2,500 BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION PAC $5,000 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. FEDERAL PAC $4,000 THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. PAC $5,000 An overview of Rep. Gary Miller’s financial records has shown that some of the Too Big Too Fail (TBTF) Banks have backed him to the maximum extent possible. These banks have made it known that they oppose the weak Frank-Dodd regulator framework or any legislation that will will make the financial sector more stable and secure.  While Rep. Gary Miller supports minimal transparency requirements of Wall St. He will not have the TBTF banks submit to the rule of law. Why does Rep. Gary Miller supports strict financial discipline on backs of poor in the district while letting wealthy banksters do as they please? Yet, he and other Conservatives claim there is no class warfare going on. Please... I ask the residents of the 31st Congressional District this: How many banksters went to jail for...

This Proposition has many things that I like to see in a good Progressive governmental structure: Two-Year Budget cycle. CHECK Permits Governor to cut budget unilaterally during fiscal emergencies if Legislature can't get its shit together. CHECK Requires performance reviews of all state programs. CHECK Requires performance goals in state and local budgets. CHECK Requires publication of bills 3 days prior to legislative vote. CHECK However, Prop. 31 is a poison pill. This measure will create policy uncertainty during these already uncertain times. I do like the shift to a more local control approach provides but the costs to the state budget are just to large to justify at this time. In addition, we are not sure that all the local governmental agencies can coordinate services in a way that benefits thier residents. I can foresee funding battles across all levels of local government further eroding the sacred trust between citizens and their government. Furthermore, hams...

 Source: Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy   During the candidate forum, Mr. Morrell told a Texas tale. This tale was how Texas was an economic miracle. Gov. Rick Perry sends a crafted Walnut box with the governors seal to every California CEO. Inside the box is a cell phone with one number: a direct line to the Mr. Perry himself! The CEO calls Mr. Perry up, and Mr. Perry tries to persuade the CEO to move his business to Texas: The land of no taxes and little regulation.  It's a mantra amongst conservatives to decry the business climate in California. This incessant bedwetting points to their deminished political power in the state. High taxes, excessive regulation, and an anti-business climate are to blame, they say.  However, as many economists have pointed out: California has been creating jobs at rapid clip, keeping pace or even exceeding those states ...

I’m a budget geek, but the learning process was become one was trial by fire. To make things a little easier to understand the byzantine process of budgeting, why not make learning fun by playing a game! I suggest the two websites of: The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget : crfb.org   This site has a budget simulator that games out the decisions you make to reduce the deficit to 60% by 2020. It is not easy, but very informative about how our tax dollars are spent on the federal level. Next 10: http://www.budgetchallenge.org/pages/home This site games out the budget decisions you make on the state level. It even has so budget games for certain cities. Both of these sites will elevate your knowledge on our budget on the federal, state, and local level. I will be posting my results on both budget games in subsequent posts.

Just looking at government budgets in San Bernardino here are the numbers: Department Budget San Bernardino Unified $437 Million Cal State San Bernardino $169 Million City of San Bernardino $120 Million San Bernardino Community College District $110 Million Omnitrans $89 Million San Bernardino Municipal Water District $40 Million Total $965 Million People costs (Operating and Maintenance) account for about 60-80% of the budget, which is around $579-772 Million dollars. This is not even including our share of the $4 Billion dollars of County budget! It is a staggering amount of money, but why is our city of San Bernardino still impoverished? We should have the most economic growth in the region just on government spending alone. While I will discuss these points in future posts, I want to point out that it is not crime, or business atmosphere, or housing that are explicit in our problems. They are symptoms of a larger failure: Our school system. The ranking ...

Councilmember John Valdivia concerns that the SbX Project is a government funded boondoggle are unfounded. Even a website (now defunct) was established. He sites property owners that are affected by construction that will take place and wasted tax payer money to the tune of $200 million. $8 million of  taxpayer money was San Bernardino city Capital Funds to develop those properties to handle the 60 ft. buses that will soon be rolling down the E St. Corridor.  The federal government provided about $150+ million in matching funds for acquisition of buses and Omnitrans upgrades to handle 60 ft. buses. To me, the benefits of this project outweigh the costs. If you look at a zoning map of the properties that are along the corridor, most are zoned commercial. Even on the Loma Linda side this is the case. I would argue for an extension beyond the VA hospital to circle the commercial zones on Redlands Blvd. Development, construction, and materials are cheap. Now is the perfect tim...

San Bernardino needs  a super majority (60%+) police force that actually live in the city. The current police force, like 70% or more live outside the city. The number 70% is arbitrary because I can only estimate how many live outside our city and the City Attorney Jim Penman won’t tell me. It could be more or it could be less. But you can see when a police force is made up of a bunch of outsiders because they only care about the money. The police make up 42% of the budget, which is the biggest portion of the budget. Second is the Fire Department with 24%.  The majority of our tax dollars go to folks who live outside our city. With a budget deficit of $4 Million dollars, we need to ask all of our city employees to sacrifice so that our city can balance its budget. It is harder to do this when many of San Bernardino city employees live outside the city. In addition, our allocations to police are growing (because they have the majority of the city council now) while San Ber...

Another article in a series revealing the true nature of Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar. Why did Pete Aguilar choose to run as a Democrat? Pete Aguilar has many questionable, unscrupulous, and disreputable relationships with corrupt Republicans that other Progressive Democrats and I find very unsettling. These are just a few of Pete’s Conservative Pals that I have recovered: Jerry Lewis Republican politics in the Inland Empire begins and ends with one man, Jerry Lewis. Mr. Lewis’s corruption is well known, but since he hails from a safe district that brings in the pork (earmarks), he was never seriously challenged. Pete Aguilar knew Jerry Lewis through Larry Sharp the former CEO of Arrowhead Credit Union. During the Lobbyist Copeland Lowery scandal, Redlands Councilman Mr. Aguilar defended the lobbyist by giving the rational that public officials have no relationships with other public officials.  How can they not? They sit on many boards and commissions together.  Mr. Lo...

BLAZE RESPONSIBLY! We, the Millennials, are going to do it for our generation. I can foresee the legalization of Marijuana as a industry within itself. If only the never do wells in Congress will stop being so short sighted! In the Inland Empire, this can be an Agricultural product that can be used to create much needed jobs. All options must be on the table.

It is a historic time to be a Progressive in these United States of America. The 21st Century will be the beginning of a new era. This era will mark a dramatic paradigm shift in the way we govern, the choices we make, and the struggles this shift entails. Candidly, there will be no easy choices going forward. We, as a nation and as individuals, have squandered our savings and are deeply in debt. In addition, we are in a nascent economic recovery due to Keynesian policies implemented under the Obama Administration. These policies, though necessary, require government to step in temporarily to make up for the lack of consumer and business spending adding to our deficit. Finally, we have an opposition party who obstructs to no end while whipping the country into an emotional frenzy for no other reason than they have no good alternative policy proposals to offer the country. In short, ou...