UEPI News and Commentary

Arnold's School Budget Cuts Spark Protests - Huffington Post

Friends and Colleagues:

Like many parents, I'm tired of going to silent auctions and bake sales to raise money for my children's public schools. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed $4 billion in cuts to California's public schools has sparked grassroots protests across the state, including one tomorrow (Friday afternoon) in my own Pasadena Unified School District, which is faced with making $14 million in cuts.  My latest article for the Huffington Post looks at this burgeoning movement, its potential, and some of the obstacles it has to overcome (and mentions my daughters Amelia and Sarah so they can see their names in print).

Edwards Poverty Campaign Met With Media Blackout

Friends and Colleagues:

John Edwards' endorsement of Obama yesterday made all the news.  But Edwards' plan to battle soaring levels of poverty in this country, Half in Ten, has made almost no news at all.

On Tuesday, the day before he announced his support for Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards launched a campaign to cut the nation's poverty rate in half in the next ten years. You can be excused if you hadn't heard about it. Only one major daily newspaper -- the Philadelphia Inquirer -- covered the event, which took place at a Baptist church in North Philadelphia, surrounding by members of ACORN, the community organizing group and the Campaign for American Progress, a leading policy think tank.

My article in today's Huffington Post examines Edwards' anti-poverty campaign and the media establishment's failure to cover America's outrageous levels of poverty and inequality.

Peter Dreier

Democrats Challenge GOP on Mortgage Mess

The mortgage meltdown has become a hot political issue. The number of foreclosures is spiraling.  Last week the Congress passed a bill, sponsored by Cong. Barney Frank, to help troubled homeowners. Every Dem voted for it, and most Republicans voted against it (although 39 Republicans bucked President Bush and the party leadership to vote "yes". Quite a few of the Republicans who opposed the Frank bill represent districts with many foreclosures. In the Senate, many Republicans, including Minnesota's Norm Coleman -- who faces a tough challenge from Democrat Al Franken --  voted against another bill to help troubled homeowners.  They should be vulnerable to grassroots and media campaigns revealing how out-of-touch they are with their constituents.  (By the way, a different version of my article appeared in RoofLines, a new blogsite focusing on housing and community development issues, sponsored by the National Housing Institute, publisher of Shelterforce magazine. Those of you interested in these issues should take a look at RoofLines).

McCain Can't Close the Deal

If the media were doing their job, this is a headline we'd see. (We've seen plenty of stories claiming that Obama can't "close the deal" in his party). As I indicate in my article, posted this morning, since he became the presumptive nominee on March 4 -- after Huckabee, Guiliani, Romney, and Thompson had all dropped out -- McCain still hasn't been able to rally Republican votes behind him. In the primaries since March 4, between 21% and 27% of voters in the GOP primaries have delivered protest votes for Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and even Alan Keyes. There are obviously lots of rank-and-file evangelicals and libertarians within the GOP who don't like McCain, even though he's been doing everything possible to pander to the party's right wing. Now that Bob Barr, the extremely right-wing former Republican Congressman from Georgia, has announced his intention of seeking the Libertarian Party nomination, McCain could lose lots of votes in some key swing states. Barr could be a real spoiler and help Obama win the White House. Let's hope so.