By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Marc Levin - Ivanka and Pato, CC BY 2.0

April 5, 2017 (Washington D.C.)—Tuesday was Equal Pay Day—94 days into the year, signifying how many more days the average woman must work to earn as much as a man.

Ironically, Ivanka Trump, special assistant to her father, President Donald Trump tweeted, “#EqualPayDay is a reminder that women deserve equal pay for equal work. We must work to close the gender pay gap!”  Yet days earlier, her father signed an executive order that rolled back 14 protections for women workers –including the Fair Pay order signed by then-President Barack Obama.

By Miriam Raftery

April 3, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) - The Constitution’s First Amendment protects free speech – but not if that speech incites violence.

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump once said he’d like to punch a protester in the face.  And at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky in March last year, he pointed at African-American protesters and repeatedly told the crowd to “Get them out.”

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Republican member of House Ways and Means Committee, joins Rep. Earl Blumenauer as lead sponsor of tax reform bill

East County News Service

March 30, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives this week introduced seven measures to advance cannabis policy at the federal level. The bills covered a broad range of issues related to resolving tension between state and federal cannabis laws.

By Miriam Raftery and Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

March 31, 2017 (El Cajon )—El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells is leading efforts among local officials opposed to Senate Bill 54, which would declare California a sanctuary state.  Officials from several local cities joined  Wells in a press conference March 29th at the El Cajon Police Department, where about 25 protesters who support the sanctuary measure also turned out.

Opponents of SB 54 claim it would make communities less safe and put federal funds at risk.  They have launched their own website, www.mayorsforsafecities.org. 

Critics disagree, and one local official contends that backers of the Safe Cities website have disseminated "alternative facts"  that mislead the public on SB 54.

By Shaun Mullen, originally published at The Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Shaun Mullen was an award-winning editor and reporter who covered the Vietnam War, O.J. Simpson trials, Clinton impeachment, Osama bin Laden and more before turning to blogging and social commentary. He was a five-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, covered 12 presidential campaigns and authored several books. Much of his work is archived and accessible online in the Shaun D. Mullen Journalism Papers in Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library. ​

March 29, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Just because people with connections to Donald Trump’s Russia scandal keep dying or disappearing unexpectedly does not necessarily mean that their heart attacks, assassinations in broad daylight, mysterious exits and other premature departures are any more than an uncanny number of coincidences. (Cough, cough.) But the guy authorities claim was critically injured when his bathtub fell on him on the eve of a court appearance that would have been deeply embarrassing to the Vladimir Putin regime who also happens to be a key witness in a U.S. fraud case took my conspiracy-averse, never-leap-to-conclusions investigative self over the top.

Read the full proposed budget:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/...

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget aims to boost military spending by 10% while slashing funds for many other departments and eliminating some completely.

East County News Service

March 26, 2017 (Campo-Lake Morena) – The Campo-Lake Morena Planning Group will meet on Monday night, March 27 at 7 p.m.  The agenda includes a proposal to use 20% of new park funding for maintenance of existing parks, as well as review of applicants to fill a planning group vacancy. There will also be standing committee reports including water issues and announcements on items ranging from marijuana regulatory changes to plans for Star Ranch. Below is the full agenda and meeting location details:

By Miriam Raftery

March 24, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Supreme Court, by a unanimous 8-0 vote, has voted that public schools must provide disabled students with opportunities to achieve “appropriately ambitious” progress, not just a bare minimum education, under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

By Miriam Raftery

March 23, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe into allegations that Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) illegally used campaign finance funds for personal gain, according to a statement issued today by House Committee on Ethics Chairwoman Susan Brooks. (R-Indiana) and Ranking Member Theodore Dutch(D-Florida.)

The statement indicated that the Dept. of Justice has asked  the committee to defer its investigation into potential ethics violations.  The Committee also released  the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE)  report on its findings.  That report reveals that the bipartisan OCE members voted unanimously, 5-0, to recommend that the House Committee on Ethics further review the allegations “because there is  “substantial reason to believe that Rep. Hunter converted campaign funds to personal use to pay expenses that were not legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes.”

By Miriam Raftery

March 22, 2017 (Washington D.C.) — A bill in Congress, HR 1313, would allow your employer to order you to under genetic testing and share results with the company.  If you refuse, you could be fined up to $1,000 or made to pay 30% more for your health insurance.

By Miriam Raftery

View video:  This agenda item can be viewed from 1:06:16 through 1:57:45

March 17, 2017 (El Cajon) – El Cajon’s City Council spent a full hour Tuesday debating a proposal by Mayor Bill Wells that aims to save Council time and staff resources by limiting how many items a Council member could place on an agenda single-handedly to just one per quarter, a maximum of four a year.  To bring forth any additional item, a Council member would have to gain support of one additional member. 

But that raises potential Brown Act violations andconcerns over suppressing citizen’s representation, the American CIvil Liberties Union (ACLU) warns in a letter sent to the City's attorney, Mayor and  Council members..

Newly elected Councilman Ben Kalasho strenuously objected to the proposal, leading to a testy exchange in which he threatened to sue Wells and fellow Council members to protect what he views as his right to represent his constituents.  Several members of the public also spoke out,  all opposed to sttifling their representatives’ ability to put items of concern on the agenda.

By Miriam Raftery

March 20, 2017 (Sacramento) – Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), and Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) have announced legislation that would require the state’s pension funds to divest from companies involved in the construction of the president’s wall along the United States-Mexico border.

By Miriam Raftery

March 20, 2017 (San Diego) – President Donald Trump’s budget proposes to slash 20% of funding to the National Institute of Health.  California received $3.69 billion in NIH grants in the last fiscal year, so such deep cuts could put key research projects at risk.  Medical research leaders nationally and locally warn that the cuts will eliminate many California jobs and threaten research to find new treatments and cures for medical conditions.

Source:  Assemblyman Randy Voepel

March 19, 2017 (San Diego) - On March 2, Assemblyman Randy Voepel announced that he named Anita Bautista as the 2017 Woman of the Year for the 71st Assembly District.

"Throughout her life, Anita has touched thousands of people with her warmth, kindness, and generosity of spirit," said Voepel. "Whether it's brightening a room with her warm smile, dedicating hundreds of volunteer hours on behalf of our city, or happily cooking for our local first responders, Anita's contribution to this community is invaluable."

By Miriam Raftery

March 18, 2017 (Washington D.C.) — Consumers have long relied on information from Consumers Union regarding testing and rating of products from appliances to cars.  Now, Consumers Union has issued a report card for the new healthcare bill proposed by Congressional Republicans, which scored an “F” in every category rated.