COVID-19 has put the European Union under unprecedented stress, but is the future of European integration now at risk?
If immigrants are not protected from COVID-19, everyone will suffer
Even though the virus is blind to people’s citizenship or visa status, immigrants can be especially vulnerable to infection, serious illness, financial hardship, and hateful discrimination. To mitigate the dangers that immigrants face — and the repercussions for everyone in the United States — we need more public-private partnerships.
Is California a nation-state?
Of all the American states, California is best-equipped to be a country by itself with its large territory delimited by ocean, mountains, and desert, and it has a disproportionate impact on the rest of the world as the fifth largest economy.
COVID-19: If We’re Truly ‘At War’ With the Virus, How Are Our Leaders Doing?
Pundits and politicians have spent weeks saying that the nation is “at war” with COVID-19. That said, some wartime leaders are better than others. Military history teaches us to judge them by at least four crucial issues.
Bernie, Jesse and the Democratic Party
I recently had an exchange with a Bernie Sanders supporter who had read my book on Jesse Jackson’s two presidential campaigns. It forced me to think of the similarities and differences between Jackson’s efforts and those of Sanders. The similarities are fairly obvious. Both ran campaigns to force the Democratic Party to shift to the … Continue reading »
How Gov. Newsom can help ease financial burdens for Californians
Following the COVID-19 economic freeze, the governor should aggressively restructure consumer contracts for loans, rent and utilities to provide relief to consumers.
As millions of students turn to online education, the FCC must implement bold changes to close the digital divide
With confirmed cases of coronavirus on the rise in the US, over 100,000 schools have closed, disrupting the education of over 55 million students. While many schools are turning to online instruction, the millions of students who fall into the “homework gap”— those who lack broadband access at home — risk falling further behind their … Continue reading »
The Supreme Court could work remotely during coronavirus crisis – and build rapport with citizens
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court announced that it was postponing the oral arguments scheduled for the weeks of March 23 and March 30 due to the coronavirus. But there was another alternative: It could have conducted the proceedings by remote technology and allowed the public to watch. There is precedent for postponing oral arguments. On … Continue reading »
The economic consequences of social distancing
Avoidance, social distancing and panic may have enormous economic consequences
With Barr as his enabler, Trump has out-Nixoned Nixon
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sometimes rhymes,” Mark Twain is reputed to have said. My first job after law school was as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. I reported for work September 1974, just weeks after Richard Nixon resigned. In the years leading up to his resignation, Nixon turned the Justice … Continue reading »
Trump’s acquittal strips impeachment of all meaning
The impeachment process in the House and the Senate has come to a totally predictable conclusion and President Trump has not been removed from office. My great fear is that the wrong lessons will be drawn from this and will have dire consequences for the future: Trump did nothing wrong. Trump continues to claim that … Continue reading »
Didn’t vote? You’re in the majority
If I asked you to name the biggest political party in the United States, what would be your answer? You probably have two guesses that come to mind: the Democratic party or the Republican party. Well, it’s neither. It’s the party of Non-Voters. Let’s look at the last presidential election: 100 million Americans who were … Continue reading »
And the award for ‘most dangerous politician in my lifetime’ goes to …
He’s maybe the most dangerous politician of my lifetime. He’s helped transform the Republican Party into a cult, worshiping at the altar of authoritarianism. He’s damaged our country in ways that may take a generation to undo. The politician I’m talking about, of course, is Mitch McConnell. Two goals for November 3, 2020: The first … Continue reading »
The bizarre smear against impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
Now that the impeachment hearings are over, at least for the foreseeable future, I have been reflecting on the curious behaviors of the minority members of the House Intelligence Committee. Two stand out in my mind: the repeated argument that most of the witnesses were unreliable because all of their knowledge was second-hand; and the … Continue reading »
The Supreme Court is about to determine the fate of 800,000 ‘Dreamers’
On Nov. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a trio of cases involving whether President Donald Trump acted impermissibly in rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The cases—Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, McAleenan v. Vidal (previously Batalla Vidal v. Nielsen) and Trump v. NAACP—likely will determine the … Continue reading »
2020 is about oligarchy vs. democracy
And there’s only one choice here that will allow the democrats to win, Professor Robert Reich writes
How to beat Trump at his own game
To fight back against the president’s racist policies, we also have to talk about class, says Berkeley Law professor
Turning off the lights in California
The state faces enormous challenges to prevent the catastrophic wildfires of recent years.
Don’t let impeachment furor distract us from preventing 2020 election interference
Amid the impeachment furor, don’t lose sight of the renewed importance of protecting the integrity of the 2020 election. The difference between Richard Nixon’s abuse of power (trying to get dirt on political opponents to help with his 1972 reelection, and then covering it up) and Donald Trump’s abuse (trying to get Ukraine’s president to … Continue reading »
Impeaching Trump could hurt the presidency and national security
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorized the opening of an impeachment inquiry over accusations that President Trump abused his foreign-relations powers to target political rivals. Realizing the gravity of the affair, the president had announced that the White House would release an unclassified and unredacted transcript of a phone call at the center of the whistle-blower complaint. Mr. … Continue reading »