L.A. Progressive: July 12 to July 18, 2009

Plugging Pasadena’s School-to-Prison Pipeline. The policy was then to educate the middle class kids, but to not educate poor White, Latino and African-American kids. These policies continue, wrapped up in words of sweet kindness and deeds of destruction. –Dick Price

Forget “Greenest City in America,” LA’s the “Meanest.” For all the talk and political pandering about the homeless problem no matter what it costs, LA is officially the “meanest city in America,” the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). –Ron Kaye

It’s Time to Spay and Neuter the Blue Dogs on Health Care. In the 1990s, once the Blue Dogs and their champion Bill Clinton was in power the Democratic Party experienced a precipitous decline in power and influence nationally, which paved the way for the Tom DeLay/George W. Bush years. –Joseph Palermo

Including Immigrants in Health Care Reform Makes Economic Sense. While most in Washington have completely written off the possibility of including undocumented immigrants in any kind of coverage plan, Congress continues to be perplexed over legal permanent residents—our citizens-in-waiting. –Michele Waslin

To Mitigate Economic Armageddon. To really put a dent in the $1.2 trillion dollar deficit, the U.S. must end the counterproductive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and, instead of bringing the forces home, simply dismantle them. –Ivan Eland

Hey, Who Turned Off the Music? Popular music, but specifically Black music, which dominates America’s and the world’s music scene, used to reflect the complexity of the human life experience, our emotions, our troubled times and our hopes and joys. –David A. Love

Congress Objects to CIA Lies But Not Torture and Murder? The crimes of our presidents and the CIA today represent everything America’s Founders despised when they looked aghast at the excesses of the French Revolution. –Sherwood Ross

Goldman and JPMorgan — The Two Winners When The Rest of America Is Losing. Antitrust law was designed to prevent just this sort of market power and political heft. The Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission should investigate the new-found dominance of Goldman and JP — and, if warranted, break them up. –Robert Reich

Celebrity Sweepstakes: Sarah Versus Brüno. Each is a polarizing figure in this head-to-head Celeb smackdown. And, while one of them bewilders with shocking statements, the other shocks with bewildering statements. –Carl Matthes

Condoleezza Rice Breaks With Right Wing And Says We Should Be For ‘Welcoming’ Immigrants. Last Sunday, on a trip to Sacramento, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefly praised the nation’s history of welcoming immigrants, saying that it’s a tradition that should be preserved. –Andrea Christina Nill

The House: Tax the Wealthy to Keep Everyone Healthy. A surtax is easy to administer. And the whole idea is easy to understand. Tax the wealthy to keep everyone healthy. Not even a bad bumper sticker. –Robert Reich

Obama To The NAACP: Health Care IS A Civil Rights Fight. Quality health care is tied to wealth, work, and wellness, none of which seems to find its way into the black community on a parity basis. –Anthony Asadullah Samad

Policy or Politics? DHS Changes and Expands 287(g) Program. Nor will these changes matter if they are not properly implemented and monitored. For example, Sheriff Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona, has blatantly stated that he is not interested in being supervised by ICE. –Michele Waslin

Let the Episcopal Church Say Amen. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly to overturn a three-year moratorium on the election of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queers to the episcopate. –Rev. Irene Monroe

Michael Jackson, Robert McNamara, Whatever. Three decades after the Johnson Administration plunged into war in Southeast Asia, two decades after the last helicopter fled Saigon as the communists rushed in and a conflict that had claimed the lives of more than three million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans, McNamara has become just another celebrity passing through. –James G. Hershberg

Goldman’s Back, and Why We Should Be Worried. So the fact that Goldman has reverted to its old ways in the market suggests it has every reason to believe it can revert to its old ways in politics, should its market strategies backfire once again — leaving the rest of us once again to pick up the pieces. –Robert Reich

Texas Could Remove Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall from Public School Studies. The Texas State Board of Education is moving toward removing Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from the social studies curriculum taught to its 4.7 million public school students. –Randy Shaw

Bruno’s American Dream. If Bruno teaches us anything, it’s the imperative of finding a source of friction in something, or someone, other than ourselves — not instead of ourselves, which is another form of totalitarianism — with which to get a life that does not finally rely on the admiring attention of others. --Jim Cullen

Blending Empathy and Justice. President Obama praised Sonia Sotomayor’s “empathy” when he nominated her for the Supreme Court. Some have argued that empathy has no place in jurisprudence, but legal scholar Joel K. Goldstein finds historical precedents to the contrary. --Joel K. Goldstein

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Compassionless Conservatism. Schwarzenegger doesn’t get the human costs of his actions. He seems to enjoy the attention he’s getting as well as playing on right-wing “populist” anger. He’s satisfying his Tea Bagger constituency by beating up on Californians who happen to be poor or work in the public sector. –Joseph Palermo

California Tenants Have No Friends in Governor’s Race. But there are “pro-tenant” Democrats in California who could get elected Governor – if they bothered to run. Antonio Villaraigosa bowed out of the race, which is unfortunate – given his track. –Paul Hogarth

A Tax That Could Benefit California. Each Californian consumes roughly 60 pounds of HFCS each year. A “sin tax” on HFCS would add to the state’s coffers without adversely affecting California industry. –Kevin Lynn

Newt Gingrich Says Legalization Program Should Involve Sending 12 Million Immigrants Back. In theory, Gingrich’s proposal sounds nice. In practice, his ideas spell a national nightmare. –Andrea Christina Nill

Paula Is Home. Then we next push Congress and President Obama to fix this broken healthcare system so people stop risking bankruptcy to get the care they need for their families. –Denis Campbell

The Health Care Clock, and Why Obama Has to Act Quickly. If bills aren’t passed in the House and Senate before August 7th, the fights in both chambers over the public option and money will carry over into the Fall, where they’ll become more intense and more prolonged. –Robert Reich

Home, Home at the Home. But somewhere along the line in the past 30 years younger people have shied away from taking care of their elders as “Senior Care” facilities popped up all over. So for a fee, and a hefty one at that, you can ship your parents off to the “Comfy Care Retirement Home”. --Danny McBride

New Evidence Surfaces in Post-Katrina Crimes. Television news reports are casting new light on the violence that flourished in New Orleans in the anarchic days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. –A.C. Thompson

Maddow Exposes C Street. Whatever else Washington, D.C. stands for, it certainly stands as the center for mixing sex, religion, and politics. Whether it’s brothels, hustlers, men’s rooms, escorts, mistresses, or interns, it seems there is an unending supply of politicians willing to give the mix a vigorous stir. –Carl Matthes

Republicans Try To Derail Immigration Reform By Bringing Piecemeal Amendments To DHS Bill. There’s an undeniable steep learning curve for conservative lawmakers who are slow to realize that they can no longer rely on an enforcement-only approach to immigration when the majority of their frustrated constituents want immigration laws overhauled inside and out. –Andrea Christina Nill

U.S. Needs to Listen to Arias on Latin American Issues. Tough as it may be, Americans building war machines and munitions need to start retooling themselves for peace work. –Sherwood Ross