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It's doubtful that "birthers" are wallowing in embarassment today over the president's release of his long-form birth certificate.  They never really cared about the piece of paper.  It was the man they were after.  And the man, to their dismay, remains our president, our first black president. This controversy reminds me of the naked racism that I grew up with.  In my home state of Virginia, non-whites were regularly asked to prove themselves more competent than whites in order to gain the vot

Contrary to the perception that Republicans are the only ones desiring a return to strict workplace immigration enforcement, the Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that immigration authorities under President Obama are utilizing harsh measures with popular restaurant chains like Chipotle. According to The Wall Street Journal, the chain has been forced to let go of hundreds of workers in recent weeks after the company received many notices from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Despite continued rhetoric that Republicans blocked the Dream Act this past weekend, Democrats have only themselves to blame for failing to gather enough votes for the bill. Republicans filibustered the partial immigration reform bill that would have granted a pathway to citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, from their teenage years up into their mid 30's.  While Republicans filibustered and Democrats took the initiative to invoke cloture, the Dream Act fell five votes short of pr

New enrollment data was released last week by the University of California showing that admissions of white and California resident students declined among freshmen who plan to attend a UC school this fall.  Of the projected 37,151 freshmen who will attend a UC school, white students fell from 29.8 percent in 2009 to 26.3 in 2010, while students from out-of-state or overseas ticked up to 8 percent this year as compared to just 6 percent for 2009. Despite a number of racially-charged incidents l

On July 1, the federal government and dozens of states set up temporary “high-risk” health insurance pools for people denied health insurance due to so-called pre-existing conditions. These pools were one of the major provisions included in federal health care reform signed into law early this year. However, this is only a temporary fix intended to provide health insurance to individuals without coverage until the law goes fully into effect in 2014, when insurance companies will no longer be ab

The two-party duopoly is a threat to the free exchange of ideas.  The establishment parties, in conjunction with a complicit corporate media, often exclude third party and independent voices and perspectives.  But, opportunities to challenge this deeply entrenched political system are beginning to increase, especially this year as anti-incumbent sentiment reaches historic levels. Jake Towne, an independent candidate for Congress in Pennslyvania's CD-15, announced late last week that he has been

Voters headed to the polls this November will be confronted with the option of legalizing the cultivation and recreational use of marijuana. Before deciding, Californians might want to take a cue from the federal government, well the business arm of it anyway, and take a serious look at the dramatic health benefits of the oft stigmatized plant. Marijuana is classified as a schedule I substance by the feds. This classification designates that the drug has “no current use for medical treatment

The most heated debate in Sacramento during the past two years hasn’t been budget cuts depriving poor children of health care or awarding billion-dollar tax breaks to corporations.  It hasn’t even been California’s massive multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls. Generating far more public outcry is the mandatory spaying and neutering of cats and dogs. In 2008, unsuccessful spay/neuter legislation logged some 32,000 letters and e-mails either in support or opposition -- many thousands more th

A significant – and often overlooked -- result of what’s been dubbed the Great Recession is that in just over half of the 50 states, the programs that pay unemployment insurance to workers who’ve lost their jobs are insolvent, leading states to borrow more than $39 billion from the federal government to keep writing checks. California, which has the largest unemployment program in the country, has the dubious distinction of leading 34 other states and the Virgin Islands in borrowing:  $8.5 bil

“Reform” is in the eye of the beholder. One policymaker’s idea of improvement is another’s disaster.  Those differences in viewpoint have become apparent as California’s Legislature begins debating a package of procedural changes that would dramatically affect how the state creates its annual budget and ease the ability of local governments to raise taxes. “Things are badly broken here in California. The root cause is a flawed budget system,” former Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, a Santa