Mediaboss Marketing

(Image: Sean Ang/Unsplash.com)

Vatican II was unique in the history of councils insofar as the crisis it was called to address was not a specific and well-defined theological heresy. Rather, it was called to address the crisis presented by modernity to the credibility of the entire Christian narrative tout court. The secular world looked at the Christ of the Church like an ancient palimpsest, in which an original manuscript had been written over with the layering of something new. In this case the claim was made that the historical Jesus had been glossed over and hidden away as the Church painted something new, which was a distorted image of Jesus as the divine guarantor of the Churchs power over even mundane terrestrial affairs.

Therefore, the challenge of modernity to the Churchs faith went far beyond this or that specific doctrine. It was instead a radical rejection of the very core of the Churchs narrative of who Jesus of Nazareth was and is and, therefore, of the very core of who God isif He even isand of what the Church is.

Therefore, and considering this totalizing challenge, Pope John XXIII, in calling the Council, did not task it with updating any particular doctrine in the light of specific theological challenges. Instead, he called on the Council to re-interrogate the entirety of the deposit of the faith and to propose that deposit in a new form, stripped of turgid baroque ecclesiastical language, and in a manner more Christological and evangelical.

To my knowledge, such a project had never before been attempted by the Church. And it does not take a great deal of perspicacity to see that the risks and potential rewards in such an endeavor were huge. Succeed and the Church might just yet reinvigorate her credibility as an authentic interpreter of who Jesus was; fail and the entire ecclesial edifice might collapse into a ragtag flotilla of lost refugees in uncharted waters. In many ways, therefore, Pope Johns mandate was the equivalent of a high-stakes gambler going all in with a poker hand that was not a slam dunk.

Pursuing this agenda, the dominant conciliar theology, in my view, was the Christocentric, theological anthropology of the ressourcement school, exemplified in Henri de Lubacs masterful book The Drama of Atheist Humanism, which found expression in the famous line in Gaudium et Spes 22: In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear.

The reinterpretive goal of the Council (and the linchpin as well of the entire pontificate of Pope John Paul II) was the trumping of modern secularisms co-optation of the mantle of true freedom and of a true humanism, by presenting to the world a deeper concept of freedom, grounded in a far more expansive and dignified Christocentric anthropology. It was no accident that Pope John Pauls first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, was precisely an articulation of this expansive theological anthropology. And this more expansive view included a deeper and more authentic existentialism that emphasizes the natural human thirst for Godeven as modernity seeks to explain this thirst away as the epiphenomenal flotsam and jetsam of our neurochemistry.

Like all great and truly consequential ecumenical councils, it is taking time for this essentially ressourcement theological project of Vatican II to take root. One huge reason for this is that the very essence of the Council was an attempt at an interpretive theological retrieval of Jesus Christ as the Revelation of God. But this exercise in theological retrieval opened the door to a flood of alternative theological proposalse.g. transcendentalist, liberationist, feminist, and political theologies, et alwhich were far less traditional and far more accommodating to modernity than the ressourcement theology of the Council and its Christocentric project.

This brings us to where we are now as a Church. Ever since 1962, and in light of the Councils interpretive theological project, the dominating and overriding issue has been, Who is in control of the narrative of modern Catholicism? Who is in control of this project of theological reinterpretation?

Sadly, Vatican II failed to truly energize the Church. It led instead, and despite what it actually said, to all kinds of gnarled secular vines choking everything holy within the Church, mainly because, in the immediate aftermath of the Council, it was the progressive wing of the Church that succeeded in controlling the narrative of what the Council was all about. They had the advantage of a compliant and enthusiastic secular media world, the support of a Catholic theological guild seeking secular praise and approval as real members of the academic elite (thanks for nothing, Father Hesburgh!), and average Catholics of the post-war era eager to embrace and enter the new economic and political order of the liberal West as fully mainstreamed moderns.

It seemed, for a time, that the ressourcement camp had regained the upper hand in the pontificates of John Paul and Benedict. But their efforts were undermined and their success only partial, since the theological guild remained mostly in the hands of the progressives (with some noteworthy exceptions). Furthermore, many priests and prelates continued to drift with the current mood of our cultural social contract. The strategy of the progressives was to lay low, say the right things, and bide their time until the reins of Roman power were in the hands of a different pope.

If you were in the Catholic academy during this time, as I was, you heard this sentiment expressed in a thousand different ways but always with the same inflection: The conciliar project of modernization has been interrupted by reactionary popes stuck in the past, but the curve of history is on our side and our day will come.

In other words, the burning question of who controls the modern narrative of Catholicismwhich is the ecclesial issue of the past sixty yearsnever went away, despite popes John Paul and Benedict. What we are witnessing in the current torments within the Church is a struggle over irreducible, and therefore intractable, debates rooted in irreconcilable theological first principles. What we are witnessing is nothing short of a wholesale recrudescence of old guard, post-Vatican II progressivism, now linked to ever more transgressive attempts at revision, with a special focus on moral theology in particular. In 1968 it was Humanae Vitae and contraception; today it is LGBTQ everything, but the overall project is the same: The Church must change her moral theology, with an eye toward baptizing the sexual revolution, or it will perish.

And that brings me to the current pontificate. It is, in my view, best read as an attempt to revive a version of the controlling narrative of the Council as an aggiornamento of openness to modern Liberalism and not the aggiornamento of a prophetic engagement and critique. Seen in this light, Pope Francis is a useful tool for the progressives in that bigger project, regardless of his stated faithfulness to the Tradition. He is useful so long as papal authority is required in order to undermine or even destroy episcopal authority. This explains why, in the midst of all of this hoopla over a more synodal and less Roman Church, we see the contradiction of an increasing centralization of power in Rome as the progressives gradually gain control of the various Vatican dicasteries.

For example, we see the authority of the local bishop taken away when it comes to allowing for the Old Mass in Traditionis Custodes and its follow-up-up dubia, where Rome asserts authority even over the minutiae of what can and cannot be published about the Old Mass in parish bulletins. There is now a new Roman office for adjudicating the validity of various alleged supernatural phenomena such as Marian apparitions, which has been traditionally the provenance of the local bishop. And to cite one more example, among many possible candidates, there is the paradoxical spectacle of Rome micromanaging the machinations of the synodal process in order to insure, via the use of Roman authority, that all of our listening is properly curated.

Dont get me wrong. I am not saying that this is the agenda of Pope Francis. His words and official teachings show no evidence of this kind of institutional self-immolation where centralized authority is invoked in order to destroy centralized authorityor even, as in the extreme case of the German synodal way, the destruction of episcopal authority as such. What is puzzling in the extreme is that Pope Francis, despite the sound theology in his words, has empowered the progressive wing of the Church in very significant ways through his various episcopal appointments.

The prelates, priests, and theologians that Pope Francis apparently prefers and thus promotes, are cut out of the cloth of modern, performative transgression. The subjective categories of human experience, described in terms of a deeply psychologistic and sociologistic register, are now the privileged loci for where Gods Revelation takes place. They are often even viewed as standing in tension with, if not in outright contradiction to, the traditional loci of Incarnation, Scripture, and Tradition. It is not the traditional concept of the third person of the Holy Trinity that is being developed here, but rather a witchs brew of Feuerbach, Freud, Kinsey, and pop psychology of the angel pin/dream catcher boutique shop variety. And this new Church on the move theology is the apotheosis of the modern, rootless, therapeutic self so ably described by Carl R. Trueman in The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, and as such has the double distinction of being both false and boring.

But it is also propagandistic, since this Church on the move theology is almost always tendentious in its census-taking of opinions, the selectivity of which leaves the distinct impression that apparently only highly secularized people whose lives are a train wreck of constant anxiety, uncertainty, and undifferentiated anger, speak for the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, this propaganda is emerging as an attempt at total narrative control via the redeployment of the slogans of the original failed Great Revolution back in the Sixties and Seventies. It also requires the airbrushing out of the enemies of the Great RevolutionPopes John Paul and Benedict, for instancebut in a manner that at least temporarily makes it seem that the Dear Leader, though surpassing them in his understanding of Vatican II, loved them very much.

An example of this airbrushing revisionism can be seen in some recent remarks from Cardinal Robert McElroy:

Pope Francis has made the pope and the papacy more immediate to people. It is not formal in the same way it had been before. Now, certainly Pope John Paul II had a wonderful way with people and engagement, but this is a different thing. This is speaking with groups, people, journalists, individuals, immediately, about the problems that exist in their lives and in the world and in the life of the Church. That sense of immediacy is a different kind of papacy. It is one of more direct encounter, person to person encounter, than it has been before.

I am so glad that a Cardinal of the Church finally had the nerve to point out that John Paul was still too formal in his dealing with people, and that he did not as a rule speak with personal immediacy to journalists and people about the problems in the world or in their personal lives. These words are so flamboyantly fallacious that they could only have been written by either an Apparatchik devoted to the methodology of the Big Lie (my vote) or someone who was in a coma during the 25 years of John Pauls pontificate. But it is necessary for the Great Revolution that the Dear Leader be shown in all respects superior, even to the point of not just a revision of history but a total rewriting of it altogether. That is not a tweaking of history. This is its destruction in the furtherance of the Revolution.

It is truly sad that the case of Vatican II and its narrative is being relitigated in this manner. The pontificates of John Paul and Benedict have given us a magisterially authoritative adjudication of the case. And if ecclesial sanity were in play then double jeopardy would apply and the case would be thrown out of court on those grounds. But there is a new chief justice on the bench, and he too wields the same judicial papal authority. So, here we are in court again.

But this is not good for the Church. Because a Church in a constant state of flux and suspension, a Church that is an endlessly open debating society, will eventually define itself into irrelevance.

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Excerpt from:
The progressive revolution's continued control of the ecclesial ... - Catholic World Report

Pennsylvania state House Representative Sara Innamorato, February 22, 2019, in Pittsburgh, Pa.(Photo by Salwan Georges / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders started his career in elected office as the mayor of the largest city in Vermont. Though he eventually became a member of the US House, a US senator and, finally, a presidential contender whose 2016 and 2020 campaigns transformed debates about economic inequality in America, Sanders has always recognized that, while big policy decisions are made at the federal level and in the nations statehouses, the implementation of those policies takes place primarily at the local level. Thats one of the reasons Sanders has gone out of his way to make endorsements of progressives running in mayoral races and contests for county executive posts across the country.

In late March, Sanders flew to Chicago to rally thousands of activists in support of progressive Brandon Johnsons uphill bid for mayor of that city. Johnson won, and was sworn in on Monday during a boisterous inaugural celebration that heard him declare, We can lead Chicago to a new era together. We can build a better, stronger, safer Chicago. We just have to look deep into the soul of Chicago. Can I get a witness?

But Sanders was already focused on a pair of contests in Pennsylvania. A good deal of attention was paid to the senators appearance with US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in Philadelphia Sunday at a major rally for Helen Gym, a labor-backed candidate who is a top contender in Tuesdays Democratic primary for mayor of Americas sixth-largest city. But Sanders has made an equally important endorsement in a hotly contested Democratic primary for the top post in a densely populated county on the other side of Pennsylvania.

Announcing his support for Pennsylvania state Representative Sara Innamorato in the race for Allegheny County executive, Sanders noted, Sara has been a consistent advocate for affordable housing, clean air and water, and to raise wages.

If she is elected as the top official in a county with a population of more than 1.2 million and 130 municipalities, including Pittsburgh, Innamorato argues that she can address all those issues. Indeed, she says, With the power of the County Executives Office, we can ensure that the moneys and programs in our County get to the people who have been left behind and neglected by decades of government disinvestment.

Thats been a theme of Innamoratos campaign from the start. Elected to the Pennsylvania state House in 2018, along with another candidate backed by Democratic Socialists of America, now-US Representative. Summer Lee, Innamorato has emerged as one of the most outspoken and effective progressives in the legislature. But, she says, she wants to have a bigger impact. Weve worked really hard at the state House to advance racial, economic, and environmental justice initiatives, the legislator explains. But when it comes down to deploying them and making sure that the moneys and the programs get to the people who have been left behind, that really comes down to having control of the county execs office and the departments that are associated with itbecause its a $3 billion budget. So its a lot of potential to make a lot of good in our community.

If Innamorato wins the top joband the latest polling puts her in the leadshe will be able to have a direct impact on fights that have been central to her public service: making housing affordable, improving air quality, reforming policing, and strengthening protections for working people and the unions that represent them. Thats one of the reasons she has earned endorsements not just from Sanders but also from Lee and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, as well as dozens of local elected officials. Shes also backed by key labor groups in the region, including locals affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. The Pennsylvania Working Families Party is also a big backer of his campaign.

Those endorsements count for a lot in a county that has historically seen as a center of the labor movement, and that has a long tradition of voting Democratic in November elections.

As she has emerged as a front-runner, however, Innamorato has taken hits from supporters of her main rivals: Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb and Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein. A Weinstein attack ad borrows a page from the Republican playbook and claims that voters should fear Sara Innamoratowhom the ad identifies as Socialist Sarawarning, We cant allow the failed progressive agenda thats destroying our city to destroy our county. A Lamb ad attacks her for the campaign support shes received from unions.

For her part, Innamorato is staying focused on her progressive agenda and leaning into her endorsements, especially the one from Sanders. Bernies campaign was really the first presidential campaign that I got involved in, in 2016. I really admired his consistency and his boldness to talk about issues that really speak to the needs and the hearts and the minds of the majority of Americans, she says. Im just really proud to have his endorsement and to stand with him, yet again, in this pursuit of building a better world.

The rest is here:
A Bernie Sanders Progressive Could Be the Next Leader of One of Americas Largest Counties - The Nation

Brandon Johnson took office Monday, facing an influx of migrants in desperate need of shelter, pressure to build support among skeptical business leaders, and summer months that historically bring a spike in violent crime.

Progressives viewed Johnsons election as evidence thatbold stances lead to victory at the ballot box. Now, his first term leading the nations third-largest city will test the former union organizers ability to turn those proposals into solutions for stubborn problems worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, including public safety, economic growth and housing affordability.

Theres no honeymoon in mayoral politics or city governments, said Dan Gibbons, CEO of the City Club of Chicago and a former staffer for the citys longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley. Everyone has your phone number, you get the blame and you dont get the credit.

Johnson, 47 and a former organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, was little known when he entered the mayoral race in 2022 and has no experience within city government. But the two-term Cook County commissioner gradually climbed atop a crowded field with the support of the influential union he once worked for, endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and local progressive groups toknock off the incumbent mayor, Lori Lightfoot, and win a tough runoff in April.

He has since tried to appeal to those who didnt back him in the election, stocking his transition team with familiar names from Chicago corporations and philanthropies beside leaders of organized labor and progressive groups. He selected a veteran of Chicagos emergency management agency as his chief of staff and a retired police commander who is popular among rank-and-file officers as interim leader of the Chicago Police Department.

There is little doubt that public safety will remain the citys top concern and Johnsons response will shape his relationship with business leaders, other elected officials, his base of progressive activists and residents of every Chicago neighborhood.

Mayor-elect Johnsons top priority remains building a better, stronger, safer Chicago where all residents can live and work free from the threat of violence, spokesman Ronnie Reese said in a statement.

Asiaha Butler, co-founder of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood on the South Side, said she hopes Johnson stays committed to his wholesale approach to crime and that Chicagoans give it an opportunity to make a difference. Butler said improving safety on her own block took 10 or even 15 years of cooperation with neighbors and other community groups.

Knowing the despair that our city sometimes faces, it will take a while to take that cloud away, Butler said. I wouldnt put anyone up to that job in one term.

Chicago has a higher per-capita homicide rate than New York or Los Angeles, but the most recent federal data shows its lower than other Midwestern cities, such as St. Louis and Detroit. Still, the number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021 with 804, according to the Chicago Police Department.

That number decreased last year while other crimes, such as carjackings and robberies, increased.

Chicago business leadersoverwhelmingly endorsed Johnsons opponent, former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, typically swayed by his pitch to strengthen policing or Johnsons various tax proposals affecting large companies and the wealthy.

Key corporate groups or individuals have been impressed by the mayor-elects quick outreach following his victory, said Farzin Parang, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago.

The trade group represents the commercial office industry that drew 600,000 people downtown daily pre-pandemic but now reports at most 40% of that number. Efforts to draw new tenants are regularly hampered by Chicagos headline weaknesses particularly public safety and real estate taxes, Parang said.

You really just lose out on a bunch of people that dont even consider Chicago, he said. So I think even small movements towards addressing some of those weaknesses, they have big returns.

The mayoral race wasdominated by questions of how to address crime,and Johnson argued that a policing-first approach has failed.

Instead,he proposed increasedmental health treatment, hiring more detectives, expanding youth jobs programs and increasing taxes on the sale of properties over $1 million to support more affordable housing. Johnson will also have the final say on naming the citys next police superintendent, though for the first time an appointed citizen commission will select three finalists.

Andrea Senz, president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust foundation, said shes hopeful that Johnson can bring philanthropies, businesses, police and activists together to create a wide-ranging strategy to prevent violence now and chip away at the conditions that let it flourish.

It feels like this is a moment the moment to have those conversations, for a mayor to bring everybody to the table, Senz said.

Johnson has shown no sign of backing away from his campaign strategies. When violence broke out as teens flooded Chicagos downtown streets in mid-April, he issued a statement asking that people not demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.

Paying for his campaign promises, including the public safety response, hinges on a number of tax increases aimed at high earners and large companies likely to put up a political fight. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the states most influential Democrat, already declined to back the mayor-elects proposal to tax financial transactions, which would require sign-off from state lawmakers.

Johnson is also taking on a growing migrant crisis. Chicago is among the U.S. citiesalready struggling to provide shelter and other help to hundredsarriving from the southern border, with adults and young children sleeping in police station lobbies. The flow of new arrivals is expected to increase now that pandemic-era restrictions on migrant crossings have ended.

Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, a Chicago Democrat who also ran for mayor, said Johnson will have to use the same strategy that won him the mayors office to achieve his many priorities.

I think what Lori Lightfoot learned is that in Chicago, your defenders can very quickly become your detractors, Buckner said. We want our leaders to be authentic, have conversations with us about the future. As long as he continues to do that, I think people will give him an opportunity.

Go here to read the rest:
Chicago mayors progressive strategy to be tested amid public safety, growth concerns - NBC News

Zients has tried to develop relationships with Hill allies, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Theres a transition going on in the administration, Jayapal said in March. We were looking forward to developing a good relationship with Jeff Zients, but at this point, were not in that place yet. So were still working on it.

Jayapal later added: Were getting to know each other, and Ive been really pleased with how responsive and open they are.

Since Zients takeover, there have been different reviews of how communication between the White House and Congress has flowed. West Wing Playbook reported last month that Zients was working to improve his relationships with allies on Capitol Hill, routinely calling and texting key members, including Jayapal.

Ive spoken with Jeff several times since hes become chief of staff and believe he is sincere about his commitment to working with progressives, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in March. Ron made it a priority to engage with Congress and it made a big difference. I know Jeff plans to do the same.

Ocasio-Cortez recalled the dynamic with Klain as very open.

Right now, you know, for me personally, its hard to tell sometimes what is getting through [to the White House] and what isnt, Ocasio-Cortez said. From what Ive been hearing with some grassroots partners, they dont feel the same receptiveness or true partnership that they had experienced previously.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Listen to the full interview in Playbook Deep Dive here.

See more here:
AOC says lawmakers' relationship with Zients is still a work in progress - POLITICO

Democrats controlled the House and Senate, but they dont claim to have a super majority

The dramatic architecture of the rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol is enhanced through a fisheye lens in Denver. (David Zalubowski/Associated Press file)

The Red Room of Doom. Thats the nickname one House Democrat gave the state Senate this past session. Others joked that the chamber with its red wallpaper, carpet and ceiling was where progressive bills went to die.

While Democrats held a near super majority at the Colorado Legislature this session, closely divided committees in the state Senate frequently blocked or watered down some of the progressive priorities.

And that inspired one supporter of some of those policies to wonder why why didnt such big Democratic majorities translate into bigger margins on Senate committees in particular?

Coming down to a single vote

Alex Nelson, a public schoolteacher in Denver, is passionate about affordable housing. He visited the state Capitol this spring to back several Democratic housing bills and testify in committee.

Nelson sees the impact that the lack of affordable housing has on schools, with students and families being priced out and having to move away, and also people choosing to have fewer children.

Housing costs, costs of living are so high that we see diminishing enrollment every single year, which is leading to closure, consolidation, all sorts of things like that.

The issue also affects teachers.

Friends in the teaching profession have a hard time accessing affordable housing, Nelson said. A couple of my friends have left the state because of housing costs.

Given how many people are struggling with housing, Nelson said he was surprised when measures like a proposal to allow local communities to enact rent control narrowly died in a Senate committee. It failed on a 4-3 vote.

I was thinking just about how many bills in the Colorado Senate came down to a single vote of either passage or failure, said Nelson. The situation led him to wonder, why those committees had only a single vote majority when the members on the floor held almost two thirds (of the seats)? ... Is that a decision made by leadership?

On seven out of the state Senates 10 committees this year, Democrats only had a one-vote advantage. Those narrow margins made it possible for a single moderate member to side with Republicans to vote down a bill, or to demand significant changes in order to win passage.

Committee make-up more than a numbers game

Nelson was on the right track with his question about who decides the committee makeup; that power rests in the hands of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno. He appoints lawmakers to committees and decides on each panels size and political split.

The committee makeup is dictated by the political makeup of the chamber as a whole, he said. The rule says that the committee makeup has to be in rough proportion to the number of seats you occupy in the Senate chamber.

But because its only a rough proportion, Moreno still has leeway on each committee. Moreno acknowledges he could have given Democrats a bigger advantage on some committees, but said he doesnt have enough members to pad out all of them and that lawmakers individual expertise played a significant role in his choices.

The situation put a spotlight on several of the Senates more moderate members, like Democrat Dylan Roberts. Roberts, who was the key no vote on the rent control bill, was a swing vote on three different committees.

I reminded bill sponsors who were frustrated at my position that I didn't make the committee assignments, said Roberts. I didn't make the makeup of the committees. I was assigned to those committees, and I'm just doing my job. I got sent here by my district, not by a political party and not by a political philosophy.

Roberts lives in Avon and represents a mountain district where Democrats hold a less than seven point advantage, according to redistricting maps. He said he scrutinizes every piece of legislation.

The goal is collaboration and trying to make bills better. But there were several policies where I just couldn't get there.

Republican lawmakers said they were more than happy the Senate acted as a moderating force.

We haven't killed that many bills, said GOP Sen. Perry Will in the final weeks of session. But some of the bills that need to go away, it went away. I think it's great and I think it's much needed.

On the House side, where committees were much more steeply tilted in Democrats favor, Republicans said they were grateful that the Senate at times blocked policies they lacked the power to stop.

There were Democrats that destroyed bills that would not be good for Colorado. It's a teamwork effort here, said Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg who passed many bipartisan bills this session.

Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said even though the GOP is at a disadvantage he thinks they are still punching above our weight to kill bad policy ideas. We are actually trying to hold the ideals of freedom for individuals to live the lives they want to live and the way they want to live them.

Progressive frustrations

The narrow committee splits didnt just result in more moderate senators voting down progressive bills; in many cases, they were able to get concessions and amendments in exchange for their support.

For progressives, the Senate results were a source of frustration throughout the session. They argue that Democrats surprising success last November the party picked up legislative seats in a year many analysts expected them to lose some show that they have a mandate to make big moves.

Voters are wanting something bigger and bolder. And we tried and that's not what's happening, said Democratic Rep. Lorena Garcia who is in her first year at the Capitol. Garcia believes voters elected Democrats to do more this year on housing and criminal justice, in particular. But several key bills on those topics were defeated.

However, Moreno defended the committee makeup as a good reflection of the Senates general views. He notes that even when progressive bills did get to the Senate floor, they still didnt have the votes to pass.

For instance, a bill to make it harder for landlords to evict people on month to month leases lingered on the calendar and ultimately ran out of time, in part because it lacked the support to move forward. The Senate also gutted a bill that would have prevented prosecutions of 10- to 12-year-olds, except in homicide cases. And when a proposal to allow local communities to set up supervised sites for safe drug use came up in a Senate committee, three Democrats joined Republicans in voting it down.

All of the policies managed to pass the House before hitting roadblocks in the Senate.

And it wasn't always progressive policies that struggled in the Senate. The governor's Land Use bill, which was sponsored by Moreno, also died in that chamber. The Senate watered down the bill significantly, setting up a showdown with the House, which passed a more robust version. In the end, the bill was dropped in the final hours of session for lack of Senate votes.

Yes, we have a historic majority, said Moreno. It doesn't mean that we have a super majority of progressive members. It means that everyone votes their own conscience in their own district.

Senate defenders also note that some progressive bills didnt even gain traction in the House. A proposed statewide assault weapons ban failed in its first committee after three Democrats joined Republicans to defeat it. The House also handily rejected a measure to mandate more predictable schedules for restaurant and retail workers.

Progressive Democrats say they plan to try again with many of these ideas next session.

And as for Alex Nelson, the teacher who started us looking into this issue he said hes glad to learn more about how the Legislature works, and is optimistic some of the housing proposals he supports will see more success down the road.

I tried to remind myself that these things take time and that the first go isn't always gonna be the one that gets you exactly what you want, he said.

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit http://www.cpr.org.

See the original post:
'Red Room of Doom' put brakes on some progressive priorities in ... - The Durango Herald