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Speaker Carl Heastie, who leads the New York State Assembly, seems to have a definite view concerning bail reform that appears to differ from that of the governor, Kathy Hochul.

A little background: the Democrats got their behinds kicked in the last election over the issue.

You will recall that the liberal contingent in the Democratic-led New York State legislature quite correctly passed legislation in an effort to equalize the way in which the bail system in the state treated suspects after arrest. Those who had resources could fork out the big bucks needed to get released from custody, while those without deep pockets had to languish in the pokey because they didnt have the money necessary to get out.

This became an issue in the last election when the Democrats who sponsored the so-called bail reform bill found out that they had lost some middle-class voters who thought that people released on bail were likely to go on and commit more crimes.

That led to some problems for the liberal Democrats and alienated some of the middle-class voters. In other words, the concept of bail reform was certainly correct in that it was philosophically right, but it led to political problems for the Democrats.

It shouldnt surprise anyone that the message was received by the battered Democrats who are now showing some signs of division. On one side are the liberals in the state legislature. They are correct in their assertions that the poor are more likely to have to stay in jail due to their inability to post bail. Meanwhile, the rich and middle-class voters want to be protected and have reacted strongly against idea of bail reform.

Never mind the statistical analysis that suggests that those released are not committing crimes at the level the critics of bail reform are suggesting. But hey, political reality is what people believe, correctly, or not.

This is where it gets interesting.

Governor Hochul, who is no fool, gets the message and starts to suggest that the baby should get split. If I am reading her words correctly, she thinks that dangerous folks should be kept in jail while the powerful Speaker, Carl Heastie, takes the politically and factually correct position that it isnt right for poor people to stay in custody just because they cant afford bail.

Obviously, Heastie has to listen to what the liberal Democrats in his conference are telling him while, like it or not, Governor Hochul knows which way they more conservative wind is blowing. It is clear that she sees the political danger here. If the Democrats continue to lose seats, their huge majority in both houses may be threatened and her own election prospects will be diminished by her endorsing this bail reform.

Since there is honor among politicians, I am sure that both Heastie and Hochul understand and honor each others positions. Let there be no mistake: the Heastie position is correct, so-called bail reform is a worthy idea. It is just one more piece of proof that the political game is loaded in favor of those with money. As a person of color, Heastie knows that and understands what injustice is all about.

So what will happen?

Obviously, the governor has no cards to play since she cant make the legislature do what they dont want to do. The Republicans and conservatives have found a powerful card to play here. They are winning elections based on this split and are unlikely to change positions now. They think that have discovered political gold and will play the bail reform card to the hilt. There may be an agreement between the Speaker and the Governor to allow for the difference of opinion.

The Speaker is right, and the governor knows what to do to win an upcoming election.

Alan Chartock is professor emeritus at the State University of New York, publisher of the Legislative Gazette and president and CEO of the WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network. Readers can email him at alan@wamc.org.

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Alan Chartocks The Capitol Connection: Democrats must find bail reform compromise - The Saratogian

For the first time ever, nonaffiliated voters in Oregon outnumber Democrats, having long ago outdistanced Republicans.

That data comes from March voter registration figures posted by the Oregon Secretary of States Office.

March Voter Registration

Nonaffiliated voters have exploded in number since the Oregons Motor Voter law went into effect in January 2016. In the month prior, December 2015, there were 825,282 registered Democrats, 642,552 Republicans, 527,302 nonaffiliated voters, and just 2,169,258 voters total.

So in the past six years, Oregon has added nearly 800,000 new voters, almost 500,000 of whom are not registered with any party.

Ed Doyle, president of a group called Oregon Open Primaries, says the takeaway is that the May partisan primaries, which are taxpayer funded, should be open to all voters, not just Democrats and Republicans, and to all candidates. (Non-affiliated and smaller party voters can still vote in non-partisan races in May.)

It is unconscionable that over 34% of the electorate is barred from voting in publicly funded primary elections, Doyle said in a statement. It is high time Oregon modernizes its primary system to allow all registered voters to vote and all qualified candidates to compete.

Doyles group hopes to put an open primary measure on the November general election ballot. Two previous attempts to open Oregons primaries failed in past decades. Most recently, Measure 90 got trounced 68% to 32% in 2014.

Proponents say that in addition to allowing greater voter participation, open primaries should moderate the extremism for which partisan primaries are known. More than 20 states have at least some open primaries.

Two of Oregons neighbors, California and Washington, hold top-two primaries in which all candidates for an office appear on the ballot and the two top vote getters, regardless of party, move to the general election.

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Nonaffiliated Oregon Voters Now Outnumber Democrats and Republicans for the First Time - Willamette Week

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Author and Fox News contributor Douglas Murray joined "Jesse Watters Primetime" Friday to explain the Democrats' energy agenda and why they have "mapped out the future" to be electric.

DOUGLAS MURRAY: What's happening in California could be all of our future. It's just amazing, isn't it, the way the Democrats do this? Remember, at the beginning of the coronavirus, the Democrats and the World Economic Forum and all these bodies said, "This is a great opportunity. This is a great opportunity to increase our reliance on green energy. Now Russia invades Ukraine. This is a great opportunity. Guys, we could increase our reliance on green energy."

How do they manage this? You can do the same thing with a virus. You can do the same thing with Russia invading Ukraine, strangely. It's all a vindication of Democrat policies of the kind that's rolled out in California.

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Have Democrats mapped out the future of energy? - Fox News

When Senator Joe Manchin announced in December that he would not support the Build Back Better Act, House progressives immediately got to work. As the Congressional Progressive Caucus continued to lobby for passing a social spending package, its members also started crafting a list of potential executive orders that Biden could sign to advance Democrats policy agenda.

That list was released in mid-March after months of deliberations, and it outlines a specific strategy for Biden to combat the climate crisis and lower costs for American families with the flick of his pen.

The suggestions from the CPC demonstrate the increasing pressure that Biden faces from progressive Democrats to take more decisive action before the midterm elections in November, where many in his party fear they could get badly beaten.

Progressives warn that, if Biden does not start signing more executive orders, Democrats failure to follow through on many of their campaign promises will result in severely depressed voter turnout among their supporters in November, probably allowing Republicans to regain control of the House and the Senate.

If such a thing were to happen, it would represent a perhaps crippling blow to Bidens first term and cement an unlikely recovery for a Republican party still beholden to its Trumpist base and where Donald Trump himself is considering a 2024 White House campaign.

The CPCs list of possible orders addresses everything from the climate crisis to immigration reform and healthcare costs, covering a broad array of issues that affect a large swath of the Democratic coalition.

The suggestions include expanding Affordable Care Act insurance coverage for 5.1 million families and lowering the costs of essential drugs like insulin. To help families budgets, the CPC is also calling for canceling federal student loan debt and expanding eligibility for overtime pay. On the issue of the climate crisis, the list includes an order to declare a national climate emergency and reinstate a ban on US crude oil exports.

We have made important and significant progress as Democrats in the first year of the Biden presidency, the CPC chair, Pramila Jayapal, said. But our work is far from done. We have an ambitious agenda, and we want to make sure we continue building on this progress.

The CPC is not alone in turning its attention to the power of the executive pen, as other progressive elements of the Democratic party urge decisive action from Biden.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have held meetings recently to discuss executive orders Biden could sign to advance voting rights and criminal justice reform. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also expects to soon release its own suggestions for executive orders aimed at reforming the US immigration system, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus is similarly working on a letter to the White House about advancing its policy priorities.

Progressive groups have been vocal advocates for Biden expanding his use of executive orders. Dozens of grassroots organizations consulted with the CPC as it crafted its list, and those groups have underscored the urgency of Biden signing the suggested orders, particularly as Democrats look ahead to the midterms.

I think young people came out in record numbers in 2020 because they felt that Democrats promised an alternative to what weve lived through our entire lives. Were burdened by a planet in a state of emergency; we are burdened by crushing student loan debt, said John Paul Mejia, chief spokesperson for the climate group Sunrise Movement, which worked with the CPC.

Mejia argued that the executive orders represent Democrats best opportunity to motivate young voters enough to show up in November.

If young people want to be mobilized and energized and instilled with any form of inspiration to go out to the polls, I think President Bidens going to really have to take executive action and deliver as much as he can as fast as he can, Mejia said.

The White House seems to be listening to progressives warnings. The Intercept reported on Thursday that the Biden administration is drafting an executive order to bolster manufacturing of clean energy technologies, a suggestion that was included in the CPCs list.

Despite the recent focus on executive action, progressives are careful to emphasize that they are not giving up on legislative efforts to enact Bidens agenda.

Carol Joyner, director of the labor project for working families at Family Values @ Work, said the CPC list was very strong but not a substitute for passing some version of the Build Back Better Act. After all, some crucial portions of the original $1.7tn spending package including the expanded child tax credit and a national paid leave program almost certainly cannot be enacted via executive action.

This is a fair start, and it reflects the limitations of what you can do and accomplish under executive order. However, we do know that the care infrastructure needs to be established and expanded in this country in order to support working people, Joyner said. That type of legislation is whats going to have a more profound impact on everyone.

Senate Democrats continue to hold hearings on specific portions of Bidens Build Back Better agenda, with the hope of crafting a new version of the bill that can attract Manchins support. In the past week alone, Senate committees have held hearings on lowering childcare costs, increasing homecare services to seniors and investing in clean energy. Manchin has also restarted negotiations with fellow Democrats with the climate portions of the Build Back Better Act, according to the Washington Post.

I feel cautiously optimistic, Mejia said of the possibility of getting a spending package passed. It would be stupid for Democrats not to pass climate provisions of Build Back Better at a time when they not only face the urgent timeline of a climate emergency, but also when young people are losing hope in the party.

But progressives have been burned by Manchin before, which is why they say Biden needs to pursue a two-prong strategy of signing executive orders while simultaneously trying to advance legislation.

Im proud of us for pivoting but also being able to keep both tracks moving around a legislative solution and executive action solution, said Natalia Salgado, director of federal affairs for the Working Families party. The progressive movement in general is made up of a lot of organizers. And if youre an organizer, one of the main lessons you learn at the beginning of your career is that theres a couple ways to skin a cat.

One of the downsides of relying on executive orders is that they can be easily reversed whenever Republicans regain control of the White House. In the 14 months since he took office, Biden has already signed 85 executive orders. Many of them reversed Donald Trumps policies on immigration, the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. A future Republican president could do the same.

But progressives remain convinced that executive orders are one of Bidens best options to deliver immediate relief to the young Americans, women and people of color who helped get him elected.

I dont think we should be concerned about what happens down the road. Right now, President Biden has the pen, Joyner said. And if he can pass executive orders that support working people and help create jobs and help to rebuild our economy and make it stronger and more equitable, then he should do it.

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Progressives push Biden to act with Democrats midterm hopes in balance - The Guardian

To the editor: Lets hope Democrats listen to Jackie Calmes when she points out the rights coming under attack by conservatives that may end up before the Supreme Court. They have no reason to celebrate one progressive jurist replacing another on the bench, where conservatives regressive 6-3 majority will remain intact, likely leaving progressives outnumbered well into the 2030s.

Instead, Democrats should reflect on how the high court came to be so ideologically skewed: They, unlike Republicans, havent learned to set aside petty internal differences during presidential election years.

Such discord allowed third-party candidates to siphon off enough Democratic votes to enable Donald Trumps 2016 victory. The GOP learned its lesson in 1992, when Ross Perots Reform Party diverted conservative votes from George H.W. Bush. The Democrats failed to learn from how Ralph Naders Green Party candidacy undermined Al Gores 2000 run.

With a more united Democratic Party behind Hillary Clinton in 2016, the high court could have retained a solid progressive majority. Lesson learned, Democrats?

Devra Mindell, Santa Monica

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Letters to the Editor: Democrats, think long term about Supreme Court - Los Angeles Times