Public policy commentator Eric Green argues for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond’s resignation after recent donations (totaling $1.2 million) from three teachers unions. Why aren’t Democrats opposing Big Money’s stain on a fair election system?
Read MoreThe Mountain View Voice may be Sally Lieber's hometown newspaper (she's currently a Mtn View City Councilmember and is running for Board of Equalization), but home-cookin' can go a little too far, as we discovered from their election night coverage.
Read MoreScott Beyer, editor of the influential Market Urbanism Report, continues his close, metrics-based investigation of the local housing market, and comes up with another disappointing conclusion: Silicon Valley continues to underbuild residential construction, worsening its affordability crisis. An Opportunity Now exclusive.
Read MoreBorn and raised in San Jose, California, Lauren Oliver has a B.A. in English and will graduate this August with an M.A. in Communication from Baylor University. Lauren has enjoyed teaching language arts to 4th–9th grade students and public speaking to undergraduate San Jose State University students; and in her free time, you can find her taking walks at the park, shopping for clothes she doesn’t need, or watching one of her guilty pleasures (Twilight is best appreciated by an exhausted brain!). Lauren has been a researcher and writer for Opp Now and will now expand her responsibilities to include all editorial management. We are jazzed to welcome her sharp wit and acute editorial skills to our growing community.
Read MoreCalifornians already pay the highest gas prices in the nation, and low-income residents (who often have longer commutes) are disproportionately shortchanged. What’s more, our state’s stringent “green” energy policies will effect more electricity importation. This will further drive up gas costs, says energy consultant Ronald Stein. Why aren’t social justice supporters fighting rampant socioeconomic discrimination at the pump?
Read MoreSouth Bay Labor's recent hit piece on Supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis has been roundly denounced as inaccurate and trafficking in ugly racial and ethnic tropes. Cruz Medina, associate professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Santa Clara University, connects the piece to the long legacy of anti-immigrant politics in California and Silicon Valley, which continue today.
Read MoreWacky claims. Disinformation. Bigoted mailers. What's up with our local Labor movement? Jackson Reese, vice president of the influential statewide think tank California Policy Center, explores how and why Labor goes over the top--creating a false sense of existential terror--in their bizarre and dangerous efforts to influence local elections. An Opp Now exclusive.
Read MoreTwo years ago, local nonprofits stood in unison opposing racially tinged ads distributed by the SVO (Chamber of Commerce). This year, when local Labor groups distributed mailers that were even more explicitly bigoted in nature (in this case, anti-Arab, anti-immigrant), those groups sat on their hands. Only one local nonprofit, the Silicon Valley Public Accountability Foundation spoke up to decry Labor's ugly politicking. Jonathan Fleming is the founder and director of SVPAF and explores what's going on with local nonprofits in a conversation with Opp Now co-founder Christopher Escher.
Read MoreLocal Labor lefties last week continued their exploration of how many false and discriminatory hit pieces a group can distribute in one primary season. The latest howler was a mailer suggesting lifelong Democrat and mayoral candidate Matt Mahan is a closet Trumpy Republican. Huh? The Merc editorial board awakened to renounce the mailer's accuracy. But more importantly, D3 council candidate Irene Smith demolished the rhetorical foundations of Labor's looney attacks on their competitors, and argued for an inclusive, nonpartisan approach to local politics. Smith's letter to supporters is excerpted below.
Read MoreAccording to political writer Joel Kotkin, Gov. Newsom distracts Californians from our state’s economic downfall by pretending to care about climate change, race, and gender issues, while only hearing resounding applause from wealthy and woke-affirming citizens.
Read MoreLeaders of the local Arab American community are condemning Labor's ongoing, racially-tinged attacks on county supervisor candidate and Arab American Johnny Khamis--and politicians outside of San Jose are joining the chorus of denunciation. Local labor-backed mayoral and council candidates, as well as local "equity" non profits remain--predictably--mum.
Read MoreLocal leaders from across the political spectrum have called Labor's recent hit piece on Arab-American and immigrant County Supervisor candidate Johnny Khamis a hypocritical, shameful, and dirty ploy. The mailer has been criticized by Arab-American leaders as discriminatory and harshly criticized by the Merc's editorial board and this website as full of disinformation. Political leaders' comments below.
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