Inland Empire Progressive

In the face of an excruciating affordability crisis that plagues thousands of Inland Empire residents, Jay Obernolte has offered zero meaningful leadership. Trump’s latest gambit, telling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get Big Homebuilders going because 2 million empty lots are allegedly gathering dust, is emblematic of a disconnected, scatter‑shot approach offered by Conservatives. Representative Obernolte has offered little in the way of proactive policy to address the roots of housing unaffordability. His focus on budget deficits out of touch when people are being priced out of their homes and money is being spent on and Israeli First agenda in the Middle East. Obernolte’s public priorities list does not even prominently mention affordability, and his legislative record shows no major development in our district. By staying silent while Trump plays with empty lots talking points, Obernolte is complicit in shifting the conversation away from meaningful change. Trump’s rhetoric serves ...

From the moment one reads the disturbing reports coming out of the Adelanto ICE facility, the comparison to some of the most infamous detention and concentration camps since World War 2 begins to seem less figurative than literal. People with disabilities are held in unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the facility, detainees routinely denied basic needs like adequate food, safe water, clean clothing, medical and mental‐health care.  The report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General from 2018 found nooses in detainee cells, improper and inadequate detainee medical care at Adelanto.  KHSU has reported that ne detainee was held in solitary for 904 days in the so‑called Special Management Unit. These conditions are evidence of the Trump Administration's system of cruelty that was built to treat human beings as disposable, replaceable, invisible. It is not mere imprisonment; it is the slow grind of disenfranchisement, the factory of despair that is...

The recent sweep of wins by the Democratic Party in state and local level races is no fluke, yet these victories also expose a devastating irony: Democrats have been successful when they stop pretending it’s something it isn’t and sticks to its core values. Democrats made gains in deep-red Mississippi, flipped two state-senate seats, and scored victories in Georgia, Pennsylvania and New York in districts that voted for Donald Trump in 2024.  What the party needs now is smart marketing. When Democrats win, it begins with telling voters: “We hear your pain, we share your hopes, and we actually have solutions.” In the 2025 election cycle, messages around affordability, strength and “getting shit done” are resonating. The party’s mistake until now has been trying to be everything for everyone and forgetting that in many states what voters actually crave is strength and authenticity. Voters switched-back to Democrats when they saw these values. The lesson is to believe in the coalition ...

The cruelty of the Donald Trump administration’s handling of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is stark and unforgivable. As winter draws near, children, seniors, veterans, and working families face the real threat of going without food because Washington is playing politics with survival. According to the Food Research and Action Center, the administration is delaying or withholding full November benefits for the 42 million people who rely on SNAP. A federal judge ruled the government must provide full funding for November. Instead of compliance, the administration appealed and sought to withhold billions, even telling states to undo full payments that had already been issued.  What we’re witnessing is a deliberate campaign of cruelty. Children who depend on SNAP aren’t faceless statistics. They are real kids in real homes worrying about their next meal. People with disabilities, veterans on fixed incomes, families with little margin for error. The government sh...

Back in 2012, Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic establishment were left stunned after a surprising result from the Inland Empire when Democrat Pete Aguilar the mayor of Redlands did not make the top two race in then 31st Congressional District. Two Republicans, Congressman Gary Miller and then-state senator Bob Dutton, ran, as did four Democrats, Pete Aguilar, Justin Kim, Renea Wickman and Rita Ramirez-Dean. Only the two republicans advanced after the June primary was done. During the general election, State senator Bob Dutton attempted to moderate himself but ended up losing to the better funded Gary Miller. After the loss the term 'Aguliared' was used among the Pelosi class of Democrats as a jest to Rep. Pete Aguilar for the results of the jungle primary. However, the outcome serves as a warning for the upcoming California governor’s race with eight Democratic candidates running: There is potential that the vote will split enough so that Republicans will advance to the general ...

Welcome to the new era of academic cringe: where the paragons of independent thought once sat in Ivy Towers are now lining up to bend the knee before the Trump Administration, offering their autonomy as tribute. Meanwhile, MIT just gave the kind of middle finger that should stiffen the spine of those in tweed jackets. The Trump administration rolled out its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” effectively preferential funding in exchange for policy demands. Universities were invited to sign on to a curriculum of ideological compliance: caps on international students, rigid definitions of gender, and elimination of “belittling” conservative views (fucking conservative snowflakes).  What happens when you turn your most esteemed intellectual institutions into subordinate appendages of the Trump Administration?  Research becomes aligned with political fashion, not curiosity. Faculty dare not criticize or deviate. Student expression is squeezed into the narrow cor...

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...