Politics

Some Dems Echo GOP’s ‘No Compromise’ Demand in Primaries

Published

10 years ago

March 24, 2015

In this March 9, 2015, file photo, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., talks at a news conference in Rockville, Md., after announcing endorsements for his candidacy for U.S. Senate. Republicans from sharply conservative House districts have won recent elections by promising to “never compromise.” Now some Democrats are eyeing the same motto for their primaries and the Maryland target is Van Hollen. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans from sharply conservative House districts have won recent elections by promising to “never compromise,” and now some Democrats are eyeing the same motto for their primaries.

Liberal activists, frustrated by the absence of a potent challenger from the left to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential hopes, are turning some of their energies to congressional and mayoral races.

In Maryland, key liberal groups are assailing a well-regarded Senate candidate for his earlier refusal to rule out bipartisan deals that could combine tax increases with cuts in the projected growth of Medicare and Social Security. These liberals demand no nicks in such social programs, even if conservatives bend on tax hikes and other matters.

Most congressional Republicans have promised not to raise taxes.

Democratic insiders question how far the anti-compromise strategy might spread in a party that generally wants government to work. But if it does expand, it could make life harder for legislative leaders in a Congress whose political middle already has largely vanished.

The Maryland target is seven-term . Now the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Van Hollen has held other party leadership posts, incling the one overseeing congressional campaigns in 2008 and 2010, and won the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

By most measures, Van Hollen’s record is mainstream liberal or progressive. Americans for Democratic Action gives him an 80 percent rating. That ranks him fourth among the seven House Democrats from Maryland, one of the nation’s most liberal states.

But Van Hollen isn’t ideologically pure enough for liberal groups that prefer Rep. Donna Edwards for the seat being vacated by five-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski. ADA gives Edwards a 95 percent approval rating, and her political persona is more unabashedly liberal than is Van Hollen’s.

Van Hollen’s liberal critics include Daily Kos columnists and the group Moveon.org. The group began in response to President Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment and strongly backed Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.

Moveon.org calls Van Hollen “accomplished and capable.” But the group says “it was deeply disappointing” when Van Hollen praised the basic framework of the 2010 Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan.

Obama commissioned the report but never embraced it, and it eventually fell victim to attacks from all sides. The report called for tax increases and spending cuts, saying both parties must yield hallowed political ground to make significant progress against future deficits. Neither party did.

The Bowles-Simpson plan would have slowed the projected growth of Medicare and Social Security, something many nonpartisan analysts advocate.

Over time, however, key liberal groups hardened their stand against any trims to these large and growing programs. They now question whether Democrats such as Van Hollen are sufficiently liberal.

Government projections suggest Social Security benefits will start falling after 2033. Van Hollen says both parties should prevent that, in part by dedicating some of the estate tax’s revenues to Social Security.

Some lawmakers blamed the collapse of Bowles-Simpson and similar bipartisan “grand bargains” on congressional Republicans who promised voters they would never compromise their conservative principles, even if Democrats gave up a lot in return. Such “don’t compromise” rhetoric is now animating at least a few Democratic primaries.

In Chicago, some liberal groups say Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a former congressman and Obama’s onetime chief of staff — is too centrist and pro-establishment. They are backing his challenger, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, in the April 7 primary runoff.

Political analysts say the Democrats’ remarkably uncrowded presidential field — so far, anyway — is pushing liberal activism elsewhere.

“The absence of a prominent progressive in the ranks of Democratic presidential hopefuls has accelerated the quest for congressional candidates who could hold Hillary Clinton’s feet to the fire,” said Rutgers University political scientist Ross K. Baker. The Clintons’ “centrist legacy,” he said, “causes considerable anxiety in the ranks of Occupy Wall Street groups, unions, liberal media,” and candidates like Van Hollen can become collateral damage.

Polls find Democratic voters more inclined to see government as a force for good, and therefore more accepting of compromises to make divided government work. That’s why some analysts think a “no compromise” mandate won’t go far in Democratic primaries.

“Nothing like the ‘no new taxes’ pledge has been duplicated on the Democratic side,” said Brookings Institution scholar Thomas E. Mann. “The center-left position on most issues espoused by Obama remains relatively safe ground in Democratic primaries.”

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Congresswoman Barbara Lee Reflects on Historic Moment Less Than One Week from Election Day

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.

Published

12 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm:

“As Election Day approaches, I’m reflecting on a few dates and numbers that mean something to me.

Zero: the number of Black members in Congress 56 years ago. Next Congress, we hope to swear in over 60 members in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Three: The number of Black women to ever serve in the United States Senate since the first Congress in 1789.

Two: The number of Black women that will be elected to the Senate this year alone if we do our job.

1972: The first time a Black woman, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, ran for president in one of the major political parties of the United States.

Zero: the number of Black women to ever serve as president of the United States.

IF we do the work, we can change that with President Kamala Harris.

As I reflect on what would be Congresswoman Chisholm’s 100th birthday next month, I could not help but remember that my first official involvement in U.S. politics was working for her presidential campaign in 1972.

Over 50 years later, I have been involved in every single campaign since. Shirley was my mentor — she was a bold visionary, a progressive woman who understood that working together in coalitions was the only way to make life better for everyone, to build an equitable society and democracy that lived up to the creed of “liberty and justice for all.”

The historic moment we are in today is not lost on me. I have had the privilege to have known Vice President Kamala Harris for over three decades. She, after all, is a daughter of the East Bay. She, like Shirley, truly is a fighter for the people.

And I know she can move our country forward in a new way. As a member of her National Advisory Board, I have campaigned across our country to help take her message, her legacy of service, and her “to-do list,” as she says, to voters who were almost starting to feel hopeless, but are now feeling hopeful once again, captured by the politics joy and the bright possibilities brought upon by a possible Harris-Walz administration.

Recently, I visited churches in North Carolina with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The chair of our CBC political action committee, Chairman Gregory Meeks from New York’s fifth district, eloquently and powerfully presented a vision of what Dr. Maya Angelou wrote in her famous poem, “And Still I Rise:” “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Meeks remarked that on Jan. 20, 2025, we will observe the birthday of our drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also described that on Jan. 20, IF we do the work — if we knock on doors, if we make those phone calls, if we spread our message — standing on the podium at the U.S. Capitol will be the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.

In the wings will be over 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Holding Frederick Douglass’ Bible will be the first African American woman appointed to the highest court of the land, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She will be swearing-in the first Black woman to serve as president, Kamala Harris, in front of the shining white dome of the United States Capitol, built by enslaved Black people.

In front of her and beyond, the tens of millions of Black men and women who voted for her. The world will witness the hope and the dreams of our ancestors ushering in a new way forward.

As I sat in front of the stage this week at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Harris delivered remarks with the Oval Office behind her, I could not help but feel that our country was ready for this historic moment.

We are not only voting for a Black woman as Commander in Chief of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. We are definitively stating that we will not allow the clocks of freedom and justice to be turned back.

We are voting for our ancestors’ hopes and dreams. We are voting for the generations that will come after us, long after we are gone. We are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Let’s get this done.

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Pamela Price Appoints Deputy D.A. Jennifer Kassan as New Director of Community Support Bureau

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau. Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

Published

13 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau.

Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, low-profit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid organizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts.

Working in the DA’s new administration since 2023, Kassan was most recently assigned to the Organized Retail Theft Prosecution team.

Kassan has a master’s degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Yale Law School, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1995. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor emphasis in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley.

Kassan’s education, extensive legal background, list of notable accomplishments and impressive resume includes helping to found and lead multiple organizations to support community wealth building including:

Community Ventures, a nonprofit organization that promotes locally-based community economic development,
the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal information, training, and representation to support sustainable economies
the Force for Good Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund
Crowdfund Main Street, a licensed portal for regulation crowdfunding
Opportunity Main Street, a place-based ecosystem building organization that supports under-represented entrepreneurs and provides education about community-based investing.

In addition, Kassan served as an elected member of the City Council of Fremont, California from 2018 to 2024, and on the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.

In 2020 she was named to the list of World-Changing Women in Conscious Business by SOCAP Global.

“We are excited to see Jenny accept the role as the new leader for the Community Support Bureau,” said Price. “She brings a wealth of talent, experience, and a vision to expand our office’s engagement with community groups and residents, that will level-up our

outreach programs and partnerships with local organizations with the aim of promoting crime prevention.

“We thank Interim CSB Director Esther Lemus, who is now assigned to our office’s

Restitution Unit, for her hard work and a great job fostering positive relationships between the DAO and the community.”

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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Open Letter to Philip Dreyfuss, Recall Election’s Primary Funder

Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

Published

13 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Special to The Post

Publishers note: Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund.

According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he’s funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland.

“All we know about him is his firm has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022. Farallon Capital is a global hedge fund with $39 billion capital under management, headquartered in San Francisco, the supporters say.

The effort to recall Mayor Sheng Thao was built on top of an argument about a crime wave, pinning the blame for it on a newly elected Mayor. Now that crime has dropped massively, recall proponents are left with no compelling argument.

Oct. 30

Dear Philip Dreyfuss,

We haven’t met. As you know, I’m the Mayor of Oakland, elected in 2022 to serve and protect this city. Since stepping into office, I’ve tackled rising crime, homelessness, and budget challenges head-on, working tirelessly for Oakland’s future.

You are a hedge-fund manager and coal investor who doesn’t live in Oakland who is trying to buy our city government. But the people didn’t elect you, they elected me to protect them from people like you.

Shortly after my term began, you launched a campaign to remove me from office, pouring in nearly $500,000 of your own wealth. We’ll know the outcome of your campaign on Nov. 6, but let’s be clear about what’s at stake.

Since I took office, crime has dropped over 30%—we’re on track for less than 100 homicides for the first time since 2019, with 15,000 fewer crimes overall.

We’ve invested hundreds of millions into affordable housing, modernized our 911 system, streamlined construction permitting, and are fighting to make Oakland a safer and cleaner city.

If your recall succeeds, Oakland will see four mayors in just five years, another election for mayor the following year and a whopping $10 million cost to taxpayers. In other words, chaos. None of this will impact you because you don’t live here.

Oaklanders deserve to know who you are. I looked into your record and found that the hedge fund you help manage, Farallon Capital, has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022.

For years, Oakland has stood tall against coal money threatening the health of West Oakland, Chinatown, Jack London and downtown.

Did you know that life expectancy in West Oakland is 7.5 years lower than the County average? Or that our children suffer from asthma at a rate twice as high as the rest of the County?

Philip, instead of trying to use your wealth to hijack our democracy and create chaos in our city you could have put your money where your mouth is.

Instead of investing in coal you could have invested in our young people—created scholarships for our college-bound kids, funded apprenticeships for those who want to learn a trade or helped rid our schools of lead.

Instead, you chose to divide us while you try to buy us. But I’m here to tell you, Philip, on behalf of the 450,000 residents of my city that Oakland is not for sale. NO to coal. NO to chaos. And NO to your selfish and self-serving recall.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, City Hall, Oakland