California's socialist and feminist political party urges you to:

Recently White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said, “We’re paying people not to work.” And now congressional Republicans want to end the extra $600 unemployment benefits that have been helping so many people manage to survive during this unprecedented time of job loss and economic collapse. They are concerned that the extra money is just encouraging people to stay unemployed.

And you know what? They may be right. Why go back to a crummy job – if you can even find one – that doesn’t pay enough to keep you out of poverty, that doesn’t provide decent job benefits, that doesn’t have good workplace protections?

Kudlow and the Republicans are looking at this issue through the wrong end of the telescope. If they, and the rest of us, want to get folks back to work, then providing jobs with decent pay, good benefits, and safe working conditions is what is really needed.

Double the minimum wage, enact universal healthcare (not universal health insurance), strengthen worker safely requirements, shift to a 30-hour work week for the same pay, create meaningful jobs that deal with critical social and environmental issues and watch workers flood back to real work.

Former members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the leading Vietnam War era peace organization in the US, recently circulated an open letter warning today’s young activists to – as the adage goes – do as I say and not as I did. Back in the 1960s and 70s, these former leaders led the way in opposing the ravages of US imperialism and exposing what they called the “death culture.” Today, they are admonishing the new generation not to follow in their footsteps, but to go all out for what they call the “capitalist democrat” Joe Biden.

The big chill
When I was first becoming politically aware, these SDS folks were my heroes and mentors. They helped me break from the illusion that the USA was fighting for democracy and freedom, rather than imposing an empire where the U.S. controls 50% of the world’s wealth for only 6.3% of its population.

They were the ones – chanting “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” – who pulled no punches, criticizing Democratic President Johnson and Republican President Nixon alike for genocidal injustices. And they especially warned about “selling out to the establishment.” That was then.

Today, they are variously tenured professors, attorneys, or working at comfortable NGOs. Who would have known that they would become fundraisers for multi-billion dollar Democratic Party PACs? While I don’t for a moment begrudge them financial or social achievement, the shift from independent direct action to boosterism within the Democratic Party is unfortunate.

The Peace and Freedom Party stands with the slogan "Tax the rich and their corporations." As socialists we want society as a whole to cooperatively own and manage industry, resources, and financial institutions. But as we point out in our article "Why Socialists Say 'Tax the Rich...'", we support efforts to increase taxes on the corporations and the wealthy to provide the services that people need now.

The California Budget and Policy Center has a new article on how the State of California has given corporations increasing tax breaks over the last few years entitled “Corporations Pay Far Less of Their California Income in State Taxes Than a Generation Ago – Even Amid COVID-19”, which is reprinted below.

Do you want to become an active member of the Peace and Freedom Party? Did you miss the chance to run for PFP Central Committee in the March 3, 2020 primary? You can still join or start an affiliated organization in your area.

We have active central committees in about 15 counties, including the major metropolitan centers and a few rural counties. In each of these counties, the local central committees welcome people who want to work to promote the issues and candidates of our party.

If you live elsewhere, we can help you organize a central committee. Wherever you live in California, if you are interested in promoting the work of the Peace and Freedom Party, please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please provide your name, your telephone number, and your residence address.

Anyone who is legally permitted to vote must be registered in the Peace and Freedom Party to become a central committee member. We can also appoint people to central committees who are unable to vote due to age, citizenship, or parole status.

Please get in touch with us. Let us know if you want to work with us to promote socialist solutions to problems at the local, state, and national level!

While America is rightly transfixed by the coronavirus death toll reaching more than 100,000 fatalities, we will probably never know the number of unjustified black deaths at the hands of the police and white vigilantes. In the long history of American racism, it’s easy to imagine that the total must be over 100,000. The suffocation death of Mr. George Floyd by police action is one of the latest.

If this incident were in a murder mystery novel ... well, it couldn’t be because there is no mystery here. The murder was captured on a cell phone camera. The murderous action of the police officer is plain for everyone to see. The victim’s pleas are clear. The only mystery is why hasn’t the police officer been charged with homicide?

Since our beginning more than 50 years ago, the Peace & Freedom Party has denounced racism, has taken action against racism, has worked with other like-minded groups and people to fight against racism in all its forms. While there have been some victories in the fight, it is depressingly clear that we still have a long struggle to bring about a society where there are no racist murders of black people by the police or racist vigilantes.

(Haga clic aquí para ver la versión en español.)

Gloria La Riva has been designated by the Peace and Freedom Party State Executive Committee as the “presumptive nominee” of the party for President of the United States.

While the formal nomination decision will not be made until the newly-elected State Central Committee convenes on August 1st, the Executive Committee acted after surveying the incoming SCC members and finding that the overwhelming majority intended to nominate La Riva, who received just over two-thirds of the votes of party members in the March presidential preference primary.

The State Executive Committee action authorizes the use of the party’s name and logo by the La Riva campaign and requires the relevant party committees to incorporate the promotion of the La Riva presidential campaign into their work.

La Riva’s vice-presidential running mate is the unjustly imprisoned Native American leader Leonard Peltier. One of the longest held political prisoners in the world, Peltier has been incarcerated for 44 years on false charges. His real “crime” in the eyes of the state was defending his people. Peltier was the 2004 presidential candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party.

In 1998, Rodney Reed was wrongly convicted of murder and since then has been on Death Row in Texas. Five days before his scheduled execution on November 20, 2019, Rodney received a 120-day commutation of execution as attempts to gain a retrial continue.

Peace and Freedom Party recently passed the following resolution regarding Rodney Reed’s sentence and incarceration; PFP encourages everyone to sign The Action Network’s online petition on the matter. Full text of the resolution runs directly below.

Whereas there is strong evidence that Rodney Reed is innocent of the crime of which he was convicted in Texas, we support Rodney Reed speedily being given a new trial where his defense lawyers will have an opportunity to present evidence on his behalf that the lawyers at his trial did not present.  The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees Americans due process, and the Sixth Amendment guarantees a speedy and fair trial.

Our election systems give a guise of democracy but bipartisan election laws, huge amounts of private money, and the corporate media deny representation for a great many of us. The President is not elected by the people of this country. Instead, the president is selected by a majority of an Electoral College which is tilted to favor states which have much smaller numbers of people where each elector represents fewer people.

Spread the word about the Peace and Freedom Party. Encourage your friends to register Peace and Freedom, join the supporting membership program, and get involved.

Here are some introductory handouts you can download and print for distribution. For a more extensive archive of our literature, click here.

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