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The Trump administration unveiled its budget proposal, which significantly reduces spending on climate change, earlier this week. Mulvaney declared that the Trump Administration is not spending money on that anymore. We consider that to be a waste of your money.

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Climate activist groups seek to divide the Trump administration by using Secretary of Defense James Mattis past statements against the Trump administrations budget proposal. Secretary Mattis said:

Climate change can be a driver of instability and the Department of Defense must pay attention to potential adverse impacts generated by this phenomenon. As I noted above, climate change is a challenge that requires a broader, whole-of government response. If confirmed, I will ensure that the Department of Defense plays its appropriate role within such a response by addressing national security aspects. I agree that the effects of a changing climate such as increased maritime access to the Arctic, rising sea levels, desertification, among others impact our security situation. I will ensure that the department continues to be prepared to conduct operations today and in the future, and that we are prepared to address the effects of a changing climate on our threat assessments, resources, and readiness.

Sierra Club legislative director Melinda Pierce said that Secretary of Defense James Mattis has made it clear that to protect our national security, we have to tackle the climate crisis. Its disgraceful and dangerous that Trump and Mulvaney refuse to give our government the resources to tackle the critical mission at hand.

Trumps budget proposal removes funding for the EPAs Clean Power Plan, and scraps funding for climate change research programs. Under Trumps proposal, the EPA would be cut by $2.6 billion, and as many as 3,200 EPA jobs could be cut.

Mulvaney told reporters yesterday to expect changes in energy policy in the budget. He said, You can expect reductions in the EPA that dont line up with the presidents view on things like global warming and alternative energies. You will see a reduction in subsidies, a reduction in participation in those types of programs.

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Progressives Attempt to Divide Trump Administration on Climate Policy Funding - Breitbart News

In his first appearance in Tampa since officially declaring his candidacy for Governor, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum said the Democratic Party can win back the Governors Mansion next year if itconvinces the voters of Florida thatitcan make an impact in changing their lives for the better.

What we have to do is convince them that voting for us will make a difference in our lives, he told the member of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Floridain Tampa on Saturday. That we have an agenda that can actually impact that and impact that for the better, and I believe we can do that. As a matter of fact, I believe I can do that, if you all allow me to be the Democratic nominee for governor for the state of Florida, as the crowd cheered.

Elected as mayor in August of 2014 at the age of 35, Gillum has been making decisions in office of late that would undoubtedly appeal to theprogressive wing of the party. He successfully defended Tallahassees gun laws in court after two gun rights group sued the city to try to expand firearms in public parks, and has declared Tallahassee a sanctuary city, a move not many other Florida communities are embracing under the current administration in Washington.

Gillum used the first part of his half-hourspeech to give a quick biography to the progressives who are gathering this weekend at theHillsborough Classroom Teachers Association building in West Tampa. In referring to his public school upbringing (including the fact that he was the first in his family not only to graduate from college, but also high school), he gave a major shoutout to public school teachers, saying that what they do is themost difficult work that happens on Planet Earth.

He ultimately warmed up to tossed some choice red meat for the liberal audience. Rick Scott? Trump before Trump was Trump.

Gillum savaged the Governor for his stance on climate change, declining Medicaid expansion and stimulus money for high-speed rail, and for his reluctance to accept Syrian refugees into the state.

Never mind that the Governor has no right to say whos welcome and who isnt in the state of Florida, but since he took liberties, I took liberties, he said to titters of laughter. I said, come to the Capitol City, where youre welcome, adding,Remember, these are people being forced out of their homes. Their lives are being threatened. Persecuted.

On making Tallahassee a sanctuary city, he chided the use of the term illegal aliens, saying, Illegal is not a noun. You dont call people illegals, he said, saying the term was a way of stripping away someones humanity.

He said Florida should be the capital of solar energy production, adding that if the private sector was too reluctant to be a leader in solar, municipal electric authorities should take the lead, and made sure to mention that his cityis currently building a 200-acre solar farm.

Gillum isalso againstthe construction of the $3 billion, 515-mile Sabal Trail Pipeline planned to run from Alabama through Georgia to Osceola County.

I had to make a public statement against it. I thought it was a no-brainer, I didnt know that you had to do that, but apparently you do, he said, as the audience gave him a hearty round of applause. And he promised to putthe teeth back into the states Department of Environmental Protection.

Regarding the governors race, he spoke to the progressive caucus language by saying that the Democrats wouldnt win in 2018 by being Republican lite.

When our issues on the ballot, absent the candidates name, people agree with us! They stand with us! So what is the disconnect? he asked. I believe we can win by leaning into our values and not running away from them.

Whether you are a working class white voter or a working class black voter or a working class Latino voter, if this economy isnt working for you, youre pissed off! We have to lean into that. This debate about whether we double down on our base or talk to working class white people is ridiculous. You have to go everywhere. We have to go everywhere and we have to talk to everybody.

As proof that hes not just all talk, Gillum mentioned his visit to The Villages last weekend, where he said he spoke to a crowd of 500 people (the Villages Democratic website reported it overflowed the 350-seat recreation center)

Referring to the fact that Democrats suffer tremendously from a lack of participation in off-year elections which happen to coincide for when the state votes for governor and other cabinet positions, Gillum said one reason might be that the party hasnt given voters sufficient motivation to turn out, before quickly emphasizing that he wasnt attacking any recent Democratic statewide candidates.

Gillum is the first major party candidate to enter the race, and has since been joined by Central Florida businessmanChris King. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine seems likely to announce his candidacy soon, as does former Tallahassee based Congresswoman Gwen Graham. The jury is still out on what Orlando attorney and fundraiser JohnMorgan will end up doing.

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At gathering of progressives in Tampa, Andrew Gillum says ... - Florida Politics (blog)

A Donald Trump supporter and a young protestor get into a heated debate outside the U.S. Cellular Center before a Trump rally on Sept. 12, 2016. Ever since the election, the left has been tarred in the United States as being hopelessly out of touch.(Photo: Angeli Wright/awright@citizen-times.com)Buy Photo

So, ever since the election of the groper-in-chief, the man who mocks the handicapped, routinely lies about the most mundane facts, and can't seem to come clean about his Russian connection, the left has been tarred in this country as being hopelessly out of touch.

Or worse. Apparently, if you're a progressive, liberal, Democrat or even lean left, you're just an idiot. This came home hard for me last week when I got into a heated argument with a relative, who wondered why the press is being so mean to President Trump for lying and suggesting former President Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped while lingering on these strange Russian doings.

So, I went off. To lay the groundwork, I consider myself a pretty moderate personpolitically. I have voted for some Republicans in the past and in some Republican primaries, but I'll be honest: I usually vote Democratic, or more accurately for people I feel want real progress.

And here's why: Progressives have usually been right in this country on the big issues, the ones that really affect our daily lives.

Now let's not confuse being progressive with one party or the other, as the progressives of the mid-late 1800s and early-mid 1900s were Republicans, including Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. They wanted progress for society, whether it was freedom for slaves or the preservation of pristine lands as national parks.

Democrats, the conservatives of the day, wanted what conservatives have always wanted: to keep things exactly the same, and that means no progress. So yes, Southern conservatives wanted to preserve slavery, because that was the way of life, the pillar of their economy.

So this is a conservative-progressive argument. The parties change, but the philosophies do not.

I'll also say I don't think either side has all the answers or is right all the time.

Generally speaking, progressives tend to spend others' money a little too freely, boost taxes too much, and probably don't demand as much personal responsibility as I would like. Republicans often have a keener business sense on controlling waste, believe government should stay out of the people's way as much as possible, and they want people to be more independent and less reliant on the government.

But looking at the big picture, the historical flow, conservatives have proven themselves to be wrong on the big issues over and over. Allow me to go scattershot: They've opposed freedom for slaves, opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, opposed women's voting rights, opposed the 40-hour work week and restrictions on child labor (really, they oppose anything that can cut into profits, including nearly all regulation), opposed integration of schools, opposed the establishment of Social Security and Medicare (both demonized as socialism, if not downright communism), opposed national parks because pretty much all land should be privately owned and developed as the owners want), opposed environmental controls to the point that the Cuyahoga River caught on fire and bald eagles nearly died out (couldn't curtail DDT profits, you know), opposed equal rights for gays and gay marriage, opposed women serving in the military and equal pay for women, opposed the right to unionize, which has brought us all higher wages and benefits such as paid vacation, although I'll acknowledge that some unions have become corrupt and overly greedy, and yes, opposed health coverage for everyone.

Sure, some more moderate conservatives had a hand in some of these programs and issues, but today, moderation has melted away from the Republican Party like a, ahem,snowflake in the sun.

Modern conservatives are more keen on war and military spending than progressives, often relying on baseless fear-mongering think Trump's "Travel Ban," which banned travelers from Muslim countries, although the vast majority of terror attacks in our country have been from radicalized U.S. citizens and notfrom members of these countries. They do this while turning a blind eye to the less privileged, the poor and the elderly. One example: Trump wants to curtail federal funding for Meals on Wheels, for god's sake, which apparently hasn't shown good enough results, other than feeding poor, elderly shut-ins.

Also, I give you modern Republicans current struggle to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. They had eight years to formulate a plan, and they voted more than 60 times to repeal it, knowing Obama would veto it.

But they had no plan of their own, and now their replacement plan, which by the laws of the Republican obstructionists must be called "Trumpcare," looks like it will boot 14 million people off insurance. Trump's promise to provide "access" to health insurance seems to mean access for those with good jobs, the same way insurance has worked for decades, leaving millions with no access.

Hey, Obamacare has huge problems and should be fixed, but conservatives aren't looking at that. Most conservatives just don't believe every American has a right to insurance coverage and regular health care. They can spin, bloviate and obfuscate, but at a fundamental level, they believe "the market" will take care of all problems, as if "the market" understands compassion or basic human decency, or that a society has a responsibility to care for all its people, and that the pursuit of happiness might just involve being healthy andnot going bankrupt and homeless because you get sick.

I encourage you to read my colleague Mark Barrett's excellent story on the Republicans' proposal in Sunday's paper, which details how the Republican plan will benefit wealthier folks at the expense of the poor. It's the conservative way.

The arc of history may bend toward justice, but it's not because of conservative philosophy.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. Contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com

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Boyle column: Progressive? Democrat? You must be a total idiot - Asheville Citizen-Times

Underground Party uses Music and Arts to mobilize Progressives in Orlando Orlando Political Observer Progressives from all over Central Florida were in Orlando on Saturday night for the Contact Music Festival, an underground party that offered multiple stages of musical acts, art exhibits, and classes on political activism aiming to activate ...

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Underground Party uses Music and Arts to mobilize Progressives in Orlando - Orlando Political Observer

Sue-Ann Levy, Toronto Sun Mar 17, 2017

, Last Updated: 8:18 PM ET

TORONTO - Is Toronto ground zero for latte-sipping elitists and the Liberal machine poised to paint itself Tory blue in the next provincial race?

A Forum poll, released exclusively to the Toronto Sun, shows that the Progressive Conservative lead in Toronto over the Kathleen Wynne-led Liberals has jumped four percentage points in the last month with 36% of those polled saying theyd vote Tory in the 2018 election, compared to 31% for the Grits.

The poll of 966 Toronto voters from March 8-10 shows the PC tide prevails despite Wynnes attempts to buy back support with her March 1 promise to lower Hydro rates by 25%.

Tory Leader Patrick Brown and his PCs are commanding huge leads in the former North York, York and Etobicoke and are running neck and neck with the Liberals in Scarborough.

The downtown chattering classes and residents of the former East York seem to be the only Liberal holdouts in this latest poll not surprising given the Lib-left grip on downtown and East York wards on Toronto city council. But the NDP is not far behind in both those areas of the city.

Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said the poll numbers show a continuing shift away from the Liberals and if they hold up until the June 2018 election, Wynne and her Liberals would be in big, big trouble in Toronto.

One would expect that Toronto is where the Liberals are the strongest, he said. These are Tory sweep kind of numbers.

To say the Liberals are strong (and have traditionally been strong) in Toronto is an understatement.

I saw it when I ran in the 2009 St. Pauls byelection as a PC candidate against Liberal Eric Hoskins and knocked on doors where residents insisted theyd voted Liberal since the dawn of time and would never change, no matter what.

Save for PC Raymond Chos September 2016 surprise byelection win in ScarboroughRouge River and two NDP ridings, Toronto is a Liberal stranglehold.

All 19 of the remaining 22 seats are held by Liberals no matter how much arrogance and disdain they show towards voters, no matter how much they mortgage our future and no matter how much they ruin health care. And lets not forget how the Liberals have sidelined doctors, kowtowed to their favourite unions and made a mess of most things they deal with most specifically hydro.

I have forever wondered when voters would have enough and perhaps the time has finally come.

Lets be practical however. The election is still more than a year out and it all depends on what Brown does to convince voters (particularly in Toronto) he can win. For far too many, hes still very much an unknown entity.

It also depends on what the Liberals plan to do with their hugely unpopular leader, although there is little strength on the benches and I cant for the life of me think of one cabinet minister whod re-energize their dying fortunes.

Bozinoff said the latest poll numbers reflect a number of things that the Wynne Liberals have not addressed (other than with the latest Band-Aid) including hydro rates and the real estate bubble that has made homes unaffordable in Toronto.

He said people are just generally tired of seeing the same politicians on TV all with the baggage of 14 years in government.

Theres also the Trump effect. Bozinoff said Wynne is just not connecting well with the average Ontarian and the daily issues they face.

The poll showed another interesting connection between party affiliation and who would vote for Toronto mayor.

Those more likely to support the PCs are 45-64 years of age, male, wealthier and would vote for Doug Ford for Toronto mayor. Liberal supporters in this poll are 65-plus, transit riders and would support John Tory.

Click here for the full poll results.

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LEVY: Ontario Liberals may be losing death grip on Toronto: Poll - Canoe