Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lou
This post was written before police cleared the city hall protest site early Wednesday morning. The image of Los Angeles as a city of airheads, movie stars and assorted narcissists has evolved considerably over the past several decades; these days, most Americans recognize this region for its extraordinary racial, ethnic and international diversity and even [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 26, 2011 by Lou
Even after the tents are gone, Occupy L.A protesters should understand their remarkable contribution to our region’s labor and community movements. And recognize how much they’re appreciated. * Creating a communal learning space on the city hall lawn and gaining enormous experience in the process * Connecting us to the nation-wide and world-wide campaigns for [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 25, 2011 by Lou
Republicans are about to shut down the National Labor Relations Board. Congressional conservatives are furious that the NLRB wants to speed up union certification elections and require companies to display information on representation rights. So they’ve hatched a plan to deprive the board of a quorum and prevent any additional presidential appointments. Their hysterical rhetoric [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 23, 2011 by Lou
Occupy L.A. protesters have more bargaining leverage than any other OWS group in the nation. We have a progressive mayor, a patient and communicative police chief and a supportive and instructive labor movement. And despite some howling from radio jocks about cracking down on the riff raff on the city hall lawn, L.A. residents remain [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 18, 2011 by Lou
LAPD brass and officers have shown enormous respect and restraint in handling city hall occupiers and downtown protest marches. Sure there have been some minor street battles and arrests. But Occupy L.A. has none of the rancor and brutality that has marked OWS in New York and Oakland. Occupiers seem more comfortable and trusting of [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 17, 2011 by Lou
Rachel Maddow had it wrong a few day’s ago in her snarky segment on the rise of Newt Gingrich. Though the former house speaker is loaded with personal contradictions and character flaws, he is an intellectually serious conservative thinker and has been on the front lines of many intense political battles. Unlike Perry and Cain, [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Lou
I was 17 when Richard Nixon was elected in 1968. Though many on the “new left” were insisting at the time that it didn’t matter who became president, I pinned a Hubert Humphrey button on my coat. Even as a young radical I rejected the idea that there was no difference between the two. Nixon, [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 12, 2011 by Lou
1) Growing public doubt that republicans offer a serious alternative The Perry / Cain spectacle is a turnoff 2) The economy has bottomed out Hiring may inch up 3) Occupy Wall Street has changed the national conversation Economic inequality is on the table 4) Progressives are less obsessed with [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 9, 2011 by Lou
Remember the Coffee Party? That was the feeble attempt by a few progressives more than a year ago to answer the growing prominence and power of the tea party. It didn’t get much traction. Now opponents of Occupy Wall Street, eager to find an antidote to what they fear may become a mass movement, have [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 7, 2011 by Lou
If you favor high speed rail you’re probably against hydrofracking. And vice-versa. The price of California’s LA to SF bullet train – funded by voter-approved rail bonds and the federal government – keeps going up. Continuous planning delays and opposition by central valley communities – among other factors – have pushed the cost to $100 [...]
Continue Reading
Posted on November 4, 2011 by Lou
Southern California’s progressive jewish democrats have a problem. Two popular U.S. house members have been forced by redistricting to run against each other in the west valley. Brad Sherman has been in congress since 1997 which means that the former member of the state board of equalization has spent only four of those years (2006 [...]
Continue Reading
