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It’s Time for an Honest National Dialogue About Poverty

Opinion
However bad conditions are for the middle-class, they are far more acute for the poor, who are trapped in squalid circumstances far below middle-class standards of survival. The “help-the middle-class-first” option, which might accurately be termed “trickle-down lite,” will not help those at the bottom of our society.

Berkeley Tenant in Limited Equity Co-Op Faces Eviction

Opinion
Ruby is still in shock over having to suddenly pack, sort out what she might store with a friend, and try to hang on in a world where most people dismiss you for having no address. Ruby is African-American, an older woman with severe disabilities. Can they do this in Berkeley?

Instant Runoff Voting in the Berkeley Election

Opinion
In Berkeley, there is a strong movement among progressive activists to change the status quo in city politics. Progressive mayoral candidates are developing a new electoral strategy that utilizes Instant Runoff Voting, also known as Ranked Choice Voting, in an effort to influence the outcome of the mayoral race.

‘The Death Penalty: We Can Live Without It’

Opinion
Two-thirds of the planet’s nations, and 17 U.S. states have already abandoned executions, but ours would be an abolition by the voters ourselves, not a governor or legislature. On November 6, California voters may make history, as we try with Proposition 34 to repeal our state’s death penalty.

Religious Leaders Speak Out Against Berkeley’s Measure S

Opinion
Measure S is unjust and violates our spiritual call to seek justice. This harsh approach to dealing with the extreme difficulties people face during this painful economic period is ill-timed and cruel. As clergy and religious leaders, we could never condone this approach to “kicking someone when they are down.”

The Santa Cruz Eleven Are Political Scapegoats

Opinion
After protesters occupied a vacant bank building in Santa Cruz, the district attorney wildly over-reacted and began prosecuting media workers, community activists and caregivers whose work seems to be more reportorial than conspiratorial. This makes it appear that the Occupy Movement was the real target of the district attorney.

The Human Rights of the Poor Are Under Attack in Berkeley

Opinion
It would be a monumental betrayal of human rights to stand by while a few affluent business organizations attack a vulnerable minority. Can it ever be right to see a brother or sister in need — hungry, ill-clad, destitute and homeless — and then unleash the police on them, merely for existing?

The Long History of Brutal Laws That Banish the Poor

Opinion
We have gone from the days when people could be told “you can’t sit at this lunch counter” to “you can’t sit on this sidewalk.” We’ve gone from from “you’re on the wrong side of the tracks” to “it is illegal to hang out” on this street or corner.

Busting Berkeley’s Favorite Myths

Opinion
Despite the self-congratulatory myths of city officials, Berkeley is not generous toward the poor, nor is it a haven for free speech. Systematically destroying low-income housing and creating inventive ways to target the poor is mean-spirited, not generous. And it is a simple recipe for homelessness and hardship.

Raise the Minimum Wage to Raise U.S. Economy

Opinion
“Our report on executive compensation will only fuel the outrage over corporate greed,” said Forbes. Most Americans are left out of the nation’s economic growth because 93 percent of the income growth went to the richest 1 percent. The bottom 90 percent of Americans got none.

London Olympics Bring Rent Gouging and Repression

Opinion
The Olympics have intensified the effects of the poisonous cocktail of corporate power and authoritarian government that has been building in Britain and across the world. It began with landlords evicting tenants to make way for Olympic lets, prompting a wider housing crisis and rent increases, followed by evictions.