Politics

SAG-AFTRA member John Schmitt, second from right, and others carry signs on the picket line outside Netflix in Los Angeles last month. (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press) The political fight over whether workers on strike should be allowed to collect unemployment benefits is reigniting in Washington. U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who is … Read more

Miya Yoshitani, executive director of the Oakland-based group Asian Pacific Environmental Network, has been part of California’s growing environmental justice movement. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) When Joe Biden last month was mulling over whom to name as his Interior secretary, entrusted with hundreds of millions of acres of public land, a network of … Read more

Regardless of what the future holds for our union, regardless of what the future holds for farm workers, our accomplishment cannot be undone. The consciousness and pride that were raised by our union are alive and thriving inside millions of young Hispanics who will never work on a farm. –Cesar Chavez in a 1984 speech … Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a virtual meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sharply criticized U.S. aid to a group in his country hours before he met virtually on Friday with Vice President Kamala Harris, underscoring the difficulty … Read more

After decades on the political sidelines, liberalism is making a comeback. Polls show plunging support for Republicans and their brand of conservatism among young, independent voters and Latinos. But what kind of liberalism is emerging as the dominant voice in the Democratic Party? Well, it isn’t your father’s liberalism, the ideology that defended the interests … Read more

“Will that be turkey on rye? You want lettuce and tomato?” Patricia Ireland, head of the nation’s best-known women’s organization, laughs as she takes a visitor’s lunch order. “Can you tell I’ve waited on a lot of tables in my time?” She’s also been a flight attendant–back when they were called stewardesses and they “really … Read more

It appeared to be a classic example of indirect politics–giving to a minor party candidate to drain votes away from a major contender. A group of more than 40 contributors, many of them members of orthodox Jewish congregations in Los Angeles, gave $120,000 in the last two weeks of the campaign to an American Independent … Read more

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a leading advocate of campaign finance reform and a potential presidential contender, received $10,000 in donations through controversial Democratic backer Johnny Chien Chuen Chung last year after his Senate office helped the entrepreneur arrange a high-level meeting at the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Times has learned. Kerry campaign aides … Read more

In William Velasquez’s mind, America’s future is one in which senators and presidents cannot afford to ignore Latino voters. Instead of token appeals on the campaign trail, candidates will have to address issues of importance to one of the fastest-growing minority groups or face defeat at the polls. For now, Velasquez concedes, the Latino vote … Read more

Donald Trump addresses a rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday. (Logan Cyrus / AFP/Getty Images) As he fell further behind in polls and battled allegations of sexual misconduct in recent days, Donald Trump moved to darker corners. He sketched out conspiracies involving global bankers, casually threatened to jail his political opponent, and warned in increasingly … Read more