Harris: Progressives shouldn’t apply purity tests to Dems

The progressive left should not apply ideological purity tests to Democratic senators who face tough re-election campaigns in 2018 in states President Donald Trump won handily last year, says Sen. Kamala Harris. “We need those numbers,” the California Democrat told David Axelrod on “The Axe Files,” a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN.

California water bills are starting to trickle out on Capitol Hill

The lead author in the House of Representatives of a big and controversial California water bill that passed last year is back for more. With a Republican in the White House and the GOP controlling Congress, Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said Tuesday that he was hoping to build on last year’s legislation that was loved by farmers and loathed by environmentalists.

Schadenboner Watch

Liberals are panicking about the fact that President-elect Donald Trump will be able to fill four vacancies on the historically left-leaning Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals when he takes office later this month. Outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer called the vacancies a “judicial emergency,” according to Bay Area public radio station KQED, even though there are 29 judges on the court.

This Christmas my prayers are for the people of Aleppo

It is a Christmas accompanied by the horrors of mass executions of women and children, airstrikes and barrel bombing of civilians – and mostly world silence in response. Americans witnessed neatly edited clips of human suffering in Aleppo as its residents made heartbreaking pleas for the world to save them.

Obama signs bill for Flint water, California drought

President Barack Obama signed a bill Friday authorizing water projects across the country, including $170 million to address lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, and $558 million to provide relief to drought-stricken California. Obama said the bill advances vital projects across the country to restore watersheds, improve flood control and rebuild water infrastructure – including pipes in Flint, where residents have struggled with lead-tainted water for more than two years.

Obama signs massive water bill that could impact Delta

President Barack Obama on Friday quietly signed and bequeathed to President-elect Donald Trump a massive infrastructure bill designed to control floods, fund dams and deliver more water to farmers in California’s Central Valley. While attempting to mollify critics’ concerns over potential harm to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Obama signed the $12 billion bill in a distinctly low-key act.