Is the Governor from the future stuck in the past?

The California League of Young Voters was heavily involved in the lead-up to the CA Special Election that went down on Tuesday, and in the end, the people have spoken.

Back to the drawing board; most of the state think it’s headed in the wrong direction, but the esoteric Californian constitution prevents decisive change when the state is hemorrhaging money and at a loss for how to get back on track.

“The state’s legislative districts are highly gerrymandered, leaving the Legislature influenced by the political fringe of both parties and unable to agree on practical budget matters or much else. State senators represent roughly a million people each, larger than most Congressional districts, leaving them out of touch with local needs. Further, the state is one of only three requiring a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature on taxes and budgets, which leads to partisan fighting and long delays.”

We’ll Be BACK… after the jump! Click here to read on!

Posted by:

Sam Patton

Bill Gates knows ya gotta spend green to go green

Bill Gates and some other big funders are stepping into the Green movement with some major strategies for overhauling the biggest American cities.

“Living Cities will be leading an effort to invest directly in several local efforts, particularly in large-scale energy retrofitting–insulating homes, plugging the energy leaks–and designing transportation projects in pilot city markets (SF Bay Area, Minnepaolis-St. Paul). Look for new partnerships among financial institutions, philanthropy and business as a result.”

“One focus of the study was on how to make improvements in the “un” sectors of cities: the unemployed, and underskilled paying large portions of their capital on energy for their uninsulated homes.”

That’s a good sign, but we’ve yet to see open lines of communication among these big funders and the ‘un’ communities that are also dealing with the highest levels of pollution and lowest levels of existing support.

The clout these foundations have can’t be ignored, and I’d say it’s an important step for Green businessmen to start wielding their authority.  But it’ll be up to us to make sure it goes down in the way that works for us, the residents of these cities, and make it less of a PR move, more of a sea change.

Posted by:

Sam Patton

The X Fact(her): Five Political Topics That Don’t Go Over Well

“There are three things I never talk about in public: politics, religion and money.”

My experience as a journalist has shown me that a lot of people think this way. It’s normally the people who have money that don’t want to talk about it. People who don’t really care too much about religion are the ones that don’t want to talk about it. And folks who are staunchly conservative try not to talk about their views in the street for fear of being publicly stoned to death.

Obama’s historic race had everyone discussing politics, so much that for the year and a half that he ran his campaign it became as normal a conversation starter as “How’s the weather?” Now that he is in office, the culture he created for using one’s voice is allowing folks to speak their minds on American policy, the economy and such. But don’t think that everything is fair game.

“Five Political Topics That Don’t Go Over Well”

1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Talk about a mood killer. Try uttering the words, “Well I think Israel/Palestine should…” and watch people’s smiles disappear and ears perk up. The war between the two nations has been going long before Israeli was made into an independent Jewish state in 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is like the abusive couple that lives upstairs. Sure, you hear them fighting every night. You wonder why they still live together. Time to time you call the cops, who only get turned away because the couple is determined to work it out themselves. At some point, you become numb to it.

… Continue Reading

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Chloe

Rep. Bobby Scott wants the Youth PROMISE Act

We have to expect our government to take on the real problems in our neighborhoods. We’re not used to counting on them for change, but we should be able work with them and make something important happen.

There are over 80 cosponsors of the Youth PROMISE Act right now; we’re trying to get up to 150, but that’ll take all of us working together, contacting our representatives and telling them personally that we want their support for this pivotal piece of legislation.

Go to 99problems.org/youth-promise to send a message to your representative. It only takes a few minutes but will mean a world of change.

Posted by:

Sam Patton

We Must See the Greater Need

When Isaac started his voter registration campaign, he quickly came to realize there were many more issues to tackle in Colorado. Like the struggle of single mothers to hold jobs and raise their kids. Or ex cons who can’t find a job, anywhere.

What is it that sometimes turns us against the needs of our neighbors? We must look past the superficial, past our varied histories or roads taken, and see that we need each other to get where we want to go: a healthier community, with equal rights, and neighbors who help you get what you need.

Posted by:

Sam Patton