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Original post:
Progressives once pushed eugenics - Tribune-Review

"We need those numbers," the California Democrat told David Axelrod on "The Axe Files," a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN.

Senate Democrats face a daunting challenge in next year's midterm elections when they must defend 23 seats (as well as the seats of two independents who caucus with the Democrats) compared with just eight seats the Republicans must defend, many of which are in states that Trump won in November.

"We're talking about five Democrats who are going to be running in 2018 in states where Trump won by almost double digits," Harris said. "I just don't think it's a zero-sum game, and that's my point."

Harris urged pragmatism and cautioned the party's rank-and-file against weakening the Democrats' ability to serve as a check on the Trump White House.

"It's a practical, real question that we're all going to have to answer, which is what do we want?" Harris said. "For those Democrats who are running in those states, do we want that they will be there at the end of the day? Or are we willing to let them go?"

Harris, a rising Democratic star after winning the Senate seat long held by Barbara Boxer, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for president or vice president in 2020.

"I'm absolutely not thinking about that at all," Harris said when asked about a run, adding that she didn't want to lose sight of more pressing matters. "There are a lot of very big issues that are on the table right now, and we have to be alert and present, like, right now."

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Harris: Progressives shouldn't apply purity tests to Dems - CNN

They didn't win all their Democratic primary races on Tuesday, but a movement of young progressives continued a steady creep in its quest to overtake city politics in St. Louis.

Candidates backed by liberal supporters picked up three seats, held onto one big one and scored a major upset in contests for the Board of Aldermen.

Green won a special election in 2015, but she was expected to have a serious fight when Florida returned this year to try to reclaim her old seat. Instead, she nearly doubled up her predecessor, according to unofficial results.

"I feel like in a lot of ways, I was kind of the tip of the spear," Green said Tuesday night. "I was the first kind of outsider candidate that got elected that wasnt supposed to get elected, and then did some unconventional things like standing with Black Lives Matters protesters, and then still managed to get re-elected."

Not too far way in south city, Dan Guenther became the latest newcomer to take out a longtime incumbent. He toppled Ward 9 Alderman Ken Ortmann, who had held the seat since 1999. The ward, which covers parts of seven neighborhoods across an ax-shaped swath, includes long stretches of the new progressive power center along Cherokee Street.

Guenther, who doesn't own a car and supports standard-bearer issues such as a $15 minimum wage, had the backing of the increasingly influential Ward 20 Alderwoman Cara Spencer. He was also supported by Mobilize Missouri, which endorsed a slate of progressives in St. Louis races.

Two of the organization's picks John Collins-Muhammad in Ward 21 and Sarah Wood Martin in Ward 11 claimed open seats. Martin replaces Tom Villa, who decided not to run again. Muhammad is the new Democratic choice in a ward opened up by Antonio French's unsuccessful mayoral bid.

But the old guard has not lost all its power. Longtime incumbent Alderman Joseph Roddy stomped challenger Joe Dierkemper in Ward 17, which covers parts of seven neighborhoods, including Midtown and the Central West End. Roddy had been criticized lately as the practice of granting generous tax abatements has come under fire, but it did not seem to hurt him in his own ward on Tuesday.

Tammika Hubbard also rolled to victory in Ward 5, despite a string of body blows to her politically powerful family in recent months. She emerged easily from a six-candidate race that included progressive favorite Megan Betts.

Incumbent Sharon Tyus also held onto her seat in Ward 1, and Alderwoman Marlene Davis won big in Ward 19.

Thomas Oldenburg defeated former state Representative Michele Kratky for state Representative Donna Baringer's old seat. Brandon Bosley won in Ward 3 to replace his father, Freeman Bosley Sr., who is retiring.

Aldermen Jack Coatar, Beth Murphy, Joe Vaccaro and Shane Cohn all ran unopposed.

Danny Wicentowski contributed to this story.

We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at doyle.murphy@riverfronttimes.com or follow on Twitter at @DoyleMurphy.

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St. Louis Progressives Make Gains in Board of Aldermen Races ... - Riverfront Times (blog)

The nonviolent civil war between irreconcilable ideologies, Collectivism vs. Individualism, Big Government vs. Limited Government, Democratic Socialism vs. Capitalism is no more.

Protest rallies have morphed into violent, bodily assaulting, property destructive riots; no doubt, more to come.

The progressive's histrionic jolt at Hillary's loss to the inconceivable Trump victory is understandable. The historic upset of Trump's victory is an exclamation mark to the substance of his win, a major economic, political and social revolution that will fundamentally move America in closer proximity to our founding, and progressives understand this.

The palpable anguish apparent with progressives at large has much to do with their fears of losing the dependent class they have so successfully cultivate over the past many decades.

Progressives accuse Republicans of being anti-immigrants, conveniently leaving out the modifier illegal.

Think about it. If the economy were to grow beyond the tepid rates of the last eight years to a rate aptly described as a robust economy, and American workers could now proudly claim being self-sufficient, getting off the welfare rolls, what handouts could the progressives offer then? They lost their once invincible "blue wall" of white working class Americans.

Considerably reducing the role, if not eliminating entirely, of our dysfunctional public education system in exchange for parents having the moral right to select the schools of their choice for their children will mean a stake in the heart of the teacher's unions and the money historically lavished on the Democrat reelection campaigns and the loss of their central role of indoctrinating our young.

In light of this, one can understand their unhinged rage. But there is a more disturbing tell in all this, progressive interest on the hold of political power at the expense of the general welfare of our country.

President Trump's temporary ban on immigrants from the seven (or, now six) designated countries is constitutionally authorized. These countries were designated by Congress and President Obama as war-torn countries with governments hostile to America, or no government at all, which makes it virtually impossible to determine the true intentions of their immigrants towards America.

ISIS has stated its intention of infiltrating this immigrant/refugee pool with terrorists intent on taking the lives of Americans. Ignoring this, progressives, blinded by their obsessive opposition to Trump, claim Establishment and Due Process rights to these immigrants on foreign soil, and place supposed damage to universities on a higher plane than the security and lives of Americans.

Progressives accuse Republicans of being anti-immigrants, conveniently leaving out the modifier "illegal." Wanting to control and get a handle on the tide of illegal immigrants is, according to progressives, "racist." Never mind the negative consequences of the illegal immigrant tide. In California alone, the costs of illegal immigration is estimated to exceed $25 billion a year. This is not an insignificant sum. Add to this the crime and drugs directly related to this class of immigrants, and it clearly makes common sense to want to get a handle on this.

But so what, the illegals are progressive sympathizers, some of whom may very well be represented in our voter registration rolls; "build bridges not walls" what in hell does this mean?

The tsunami of regulations placed on the business community over the decades is estimated to cost the economy $2 trillion a year, an amount that exceeds the government's confiscatory take in federal taxes. With Obama's considerable addition to the regulatory roster during his eight years, is it any wonder why we haven't seen economic growth even hit 3 percent? Trump's moratorium on new regulations, and scaling back existing regulations is the much-needed life preserver thrown into the tumultuous sea of regulations. This, coupled with tax reform will inexorably mean economic growth we haven't seen in quite some time.

Progressives had their chance in Obama's first term with the executive and Congress in their control, and they focused instead on further building their dependent class with their (un)Affordable Care Act; "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it," Nancy Pelosi intoned.

Progressives need victims just as the addict needs drugs. Politics and victimhood is their life blood. And they need the power of our government institutions to correct this, that, and whatever social injustice they can conjure up.

Progressives are in constant search of kindling for their progressives match to stoke the flames of social injustice, so they can represent themselves as the much needed firefighters to douse the flames.

Progressives, please, live and let live.

Manny Montes lives in Auburn.

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Manny Montes: Progressives stoking the flames - The Union of Grass Valley

March 7, 2017 4:31 PM

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) Progressives are responding to Florida Governor Rick ScottsState of the State and they appear to be ready to tangle with him.

Governor Scott promised to fight for economic-incentive money, business tax cuts and conservative education reforms but despite a lack of influence in Republican-dominated Tallahassee, progressives and Democratic lawmakers were having it.

A coalition of labor, environmental, LGBT-rights, and other left-leaning groups under the banner Awake the State organized more than a dozen rallies across Florida to coincide with the first day of the 2017 legislative session, including an event at the Capitol.

Their message: Scott and Republican leaders are not fighting for us.

The governor, and frankly the Speaker (Richard Corcoran), are living in an alternative reality, said Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, following Scotts speech.

Its like the foxes are in the henhouse when it comes to this administration, said longtime liberal activist Barbara DeVane, who lobbies for the National Organization for Women.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat running for governor in 2018, was raising money off the State of the State address even before Scott took the rostrum.

Empty claims and promises about Floridas economic future, the same kind hes been making for years while he continues to pursue policies that favor the wealthy and leave the rest of us behind, was Gillums appraisal in an email appeal.

Scott drew upon his experiences as a child growing up in poverty to bolster his arguments against cutting funding for the economic-development agency Enterprise Florida and tourism-marketer Visit Florida, funding that has been derided by critics on the left and right as corporate welfare.

I will admit that it is probably more difficult for people who have never gone hungry, or gone through foreclosure, or seen their family car repossessed to understand this. If you never lived through these experiences, it may be harder to understand the urgency here, Scott said. I will just leave it like this: I am fighting for our states job programs because I am fighting for the families just like mine growing up.

But advocates for labor, immigrants rights and other groups were clearly not buying it.

In this years legislative session, Gov. Scott and his allies are planning yet another big giveaway to corporate special interests while the priorities of everyday Floridians are sidelined, said Mark Ferrulo, executive director of Progress Florida, which helped organize the statewide rallies.

Democratic lawmakers sounded equally skeptical of Scotts economic-development plans.

From conservative think tanks to top economists, theres widespread agreement that the way to lure the top companies with the top-paying jobs isnt just dangling tax dollars in front of them, said Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, delivering a formal response to Scotts address.

Hannah Willard of the gay-rights group Equality Florida also panned Scott for discussing last summers Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre at length Scott praised the heroism of local police and SWAT team officers without making mention of the fact that most of the 49 victims were LGBT.

Thoughts and prayers are not enough, Willard said. Our leaders need to take action to defend our community.

Francesca Menes of the Florida Immigrant Coalition counted nine bills she said aimed to restrict the rights of undocumented immigrants and their children.

Weve got a lot of fights this year, said Menes, who ran for the state House last year, narrowly losing to Democrat Roy Hardemon in a seven-way primary. Were not going to let them take us and our communities apart.

(The News Service of Floridas Ryan Ray contributed to this report.)

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Progressives Push Back After Gov. Scott State Of The State Speech - CBS Miami