Rose Penelope Yee, House Challenger

This is the Zero Allen with Richard R.J. Eskow, produced by the WEAC Radio Network and broadcasting from the banks of the Anacostia directly into the halls of power. And now your host, Richard R.J. Eskow. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the program. Welcome back to another week of life in the police states of America. Should we say, the United States of America? Some people are meeting this moment. Some people are putting their bodies and their lives on the line, even after the murder. of Renee Good, where people know exactly what's in store for them. If they go out and protest ICE, people are still doing it. The violence continues. The brutality continues. We had, in case you didn't hear, a protester blinded in one eye. I, after having been shot, I looked at the video from what looked like about three feet away directly in the eye with what people think was a pepperball or some kind of, as they say, non-lethal weapon. But of course, any non-lethal weapon can become lethal or maiming if it's used in an abusive way as it was in this case. We also had an incident, but there are things like ICE agents. taunting protesters saying, haven't you been paying attention the last couple days? Don't you know what we'll do to you? That kind of thing. So any ambiguity about whether we can use the F word now, fascism is gone. And I very much doubt that there are a lot of people out there thinking. The Democratic Party, for example, is meeting the challenges of the moment. Certain Democrats who are speaking out, but to me, there's only one way to meet the challenges of this moment, and that's by confronting this growing, I'll use the effort, fascism, directly, whether it's, you know, invading a reporter's home on what. seems to be something of a pretense, whether it's condoning and defending and justifying the brutality and murder that ICE agents are carrying out, whatever it may be, it's not enough to use the political channels of objections or bills or proposals. All these are important and valid, but I'm reluctant to say this to all of us because this has to be a personal decision, but I think this is a time for getting out there and being willing to get out there and face risks if you're in a position to do so, if other people are not, for example, dependent on you. And the only people I can point to today and say, yes, that is a leader, is someone who is taking risks.

to stop this runaway rush to totalitarianism, which includes the ongoing support for the now slower motion genocide in Gaza, the illegal invasion of Venezuela, and all the other atrocities. So courage, people, now's the time. We'll be right back. This is The Zero Hour with Richard R.J.S. Gal. Check out our free video archives at YouTube.com slash the Zero Hour. And we are back on the zero hour. I'm your host, Richard R.J. Eskow. Joining me now is a candidate for Congress in California's shifting second slash first district. Rose Penelope is challenging the incumbent Democrat, Jared Huffman, and the primary for that seat coming up in 20. 26. And let me tell you a bit about Rose Penelopee. She is the chair of the Shasta County Democratic Central Committee. I love that part of the country, the world, by the way, Northern California. She's a long time advocate for health care, housing, climate justice, peace, all the things we believe in. She was also the endorsed candidate of the California Democratic Party in District 1 when it was District 1 in 2024 with a platform to call for Medicare for All, stronger worker power, climate resilient policies and their appeal of Citizens United. She's also the co-founder and CEO of Green Retirement, which is a socially and environmentally responsible 401k advisory firm. And she says she's running a people, peace and planet. campaign. We'll ask her what that means. But first of all, Rhodes, Penelope Ye, welcome to this Euro Hour. Thank you so much, Richard. I really appreciate you for inviting me here. And hello to all the listeners out there. I'm sure they say hello back. Now, let's start with this. You are challenging a sitting Democrat, Jared Huffman. Why? So maybe I can give a little bit of a background on California and why you talked about a District 1 and a District 2 since some of your some of our viewers and listeners might not be familiar with it. So in November 2025 last year, California passed a proposition and that's Proposition 50 and that proposition redrew the district lines, congressional district lines for California in the 2026, 28, and 2030 elections. And it essentially was an answer to the gerrymandering that was being done in Texas. Right. And so...

I live in Chesa County, and as you mentioned, I'm the chair of the Democratic Central Committee of Chesa County. Our county is one of those that got affected. So District 1 before, and I run in that race in 2024, is a very, very strong MAGA Republican district. And with the redrawing of the district lines, Some of the areas that were democratic that's along the coast of California have now been redistricted to include my county, Shasta County, to kind of change the number of Democratic representatives from California. And so Chesa County is now part of it. It's a huge, huge geographic area. It's kind of like looks like an elephant head with a trunk running down the coast. And then we have Marin, which is like in the San Francisco Bay area. And then we have rural areas where I live, Chesa County. So that kind of is how the district is right now. And my understanding, sorry to interrupt, Rose, but my understanding is that the newly drawn district where you now reside is very, is heavily democratic. So strongly leans democratic. And so and is also the district now of Jared Huffman, who so you are now in the same district as Jared Huffman, which you weren't in 2024. So I'm going to make two statements and you can tell me if they're true. One is that this is a pretty safe Democratic district now. And two is that you're challenging the incumbent. Democrat in what seems like a pretty safe Democratic district. Are those statements true? That's correct. That's correct. And that was the intention of the redistricting so that this district stay safely democratic. So this gets us to the question of why, you know, I have some opinions about Jared Hoffman, but why you now represent a, or you're now part of a. solidly democratic district. So again, you know, this is not a frontline district, as they say. Why do you feel that Jared Hoffman is not the right person to represent this district and you are? So when the maps were proposed in Chesa County was going to be part of District 2.

I was, I gave the sigh of relief, Richard, because I figured now I don't have to fight a Republican congressional incumbent. Now I can step back. I don't have to run for Congress because we have a Democrat in Congress who's going to represent me who is aligned with my values and who I know is going to do a good job in Congress. And then... I attended a meeting last year by the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, which I'm a part of. And somebody said that Huffman should be primary. And that kind of like made me a question why. Why is a fellow progressive? saying this and so I looked under the hood which is yeah my background Richard is I'm a I graduated with a civil engineering degree I also have a masters in business but I have like that kind of like the engineering mindset where I we like to look at what is going on what what is below the surface so to speak And so I did a little bit of research and then I was really, really disturbed when I saw that Representative Hoffman voted for the $26 billion dollar Israel supplemental appropriations bill.

and Kamala Harris won it by 31.51 percent. So they both won by an enormous margin. I would argue that she was probably lifted by his voters. So in other words, while that he seems to be one of these Democrats, this is one incident, but he seems to be one of these Democrats who, as they say, punches left. That, I think, is not only wrong morally or analytically, but I also think it hurts the Democratic Party. I think if the Democratic Party attacks and when it attacks its own left, it hurts its own electoral prospects. But what do you think? Well, Richard. I'm a little bit biased because I'm one of those volunteers for Bernie and a donor for Bernie in his both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. I strongly believe in Bernie's policies, one of his policies which you know counteracts immediately what Hoffman is saying about Bernie abandoning the working class is I'm not sure if people know this but one of his economic policies was for large corporations to set aside 20% of shares effectively in offering it to the workers and the staff of the corporations that they work for so it's a democratization of decision-making in terms of large corporations so it's it's essentially recognizing that workers and laborers and staff in whatever capacity are stakeholders in the company that they work for. And to me, that's not abandoning the working class. That's empowering the working class. And I would say Medicare for All is hardly abandoning the working class either. It's making life affordable and saving lives, working people's lives in the process. But while we're talking about... Policy, Rose, you have a policy announcement, and we want to hear what it is. So my campaign is rooted in people, peace, and planet. Those three are interchangeable. We cannot say that we are for the people if we are pro-war. And so peace is essential. We cannot say that we are working for the sustainability of our planet and making sure that seven generations down, we can hand it to the children and our grandchildren who will go after us.

we want them to have the sustainable planet and we cannot have a sustainable planet if we are engaged in a war economy and so peace is key to to taking care not only of people of human beings not only of americans but people everywhere and also our planet. We only have one of those. There is no plan B unless we can go so many ways into that. But I just want to say that that is the core. Those are the core pillars of my campaign. People, peace, and planet, they're all interchange. And because peace is the centerpiece of my campaign, One of the policies, and this is also the core policy that I will fight for in Congress, is to reallocate the resources that we already put into the military into projects that benefit people and planet. And one of those is what I call the peace dividend. And the peace dividend is a $1,000 annual...

It's a cash. Let me redo that. It's $1,000 that is going to be given to each adult during Thanksgiving. And it will immediately hit their pocketbooks, much like what we all got during the COVID pandemic where stimulus checks were sent out. So in the same way, we will have every Thanksgiving $1,000 that is reallocated from the war budget that goes immediately into people's pocketbooks. We'll be right back after this with more of my conversation with California congressional candidate Rose Penelopee. I'm Richard R.J. Eskow, and you're listening to The Zero Hour.

You are listening to the We Act Radio Network produced in Washington, D.C. Visit us online at weactradio.com or at YouTube.com slash weactradio, D.C. And we are back on the Zero Hour. I'm your host, Richard R.J. Eskow. We now continue our conversation with California congressional candidate Rose Penelope Ye. And we have, first of all, it's Alaska, which is considered a red state nowadays. People get a check every year from the, I believe from the oil revenue from that state. we got as you say we got the checks during COVID and peace dividend you know it's interesting you pick that that name because I certainly recall when the Cold War came to an end or supposedly came to an end when the Soviet Union broke up everybody was talking about how there was going to be a peace dividend because we wouldn't have to spend these insane amounts of money on the military anymore. And we'd have this extra revenue wealth. We could do great things with it. And of course, it never seemed to happen. We still spend a lot. Mr. Trump is talking about spending ever more. So I think, you know, First, I heard of it. This idea is from you. I guess it's your idea, but I think it's a great idea because if I may step out of the journalistic role for a second, I think people understand cash. I think people are struggling financially, and I think it underscores just how many better things we could be doing with the money that's... going to the military right now. So let's say you get into Congress and you're sworn in and you want to introduce the peace dividend bill. I guess you'd have to find some allies there, right? Well, the thing is it can be both an inside and an outside action. And so your listeners and the viewers right now who are watching us, this is the first time they've heard of the peace dividend. And Richard, if I might just go back to what you said about the end of the Cold War, yes, it was during that time that... that idea of a peace dividend did come about but it was more about reallocating it to projects there was no like immediate direct benefit to the people from the peace dividend and so my um my policy that i'm working on is

not just to have those projects, like not just put more money into healthcare, into education, into resilient, climate resilient infrastructure, but also put it directly, some of it directly, into the pockets of our hardworking families. Right now, since the end of the Cold War to present time, a lot more families are struggling. Economically, it has just been so much harder for everyone to just, like even in the last year, right? With Trump, grocery prices have come up and health care costs have gone up. And I can share a story about one of the participants in one of the retirement plans that we advise, got a notice that she had to vacate her apartment by end of the year. So that was like December 31st. She was getting kicked out because she's behind on rent payments. And so this $1,000 piece dividend. is going to help people during thanksgiving when they gather when when we have um uh you know families uh spending uh more because of the holidays or else it can be uh paying down debt or or uh paying um rent that you owe and so those are that is uh uh the rational behind having a direct payment piece dividend. In terms of working in Congress and in terms of how we can do this together is that there are other congressional candidates like me who are progressive, who are challenging Democrats in safe Democrats district so that we replace establishment corporate Democrats with progressives like me who will sign on to a piece of dividend. And so we need to elect, you know, not just me, but all the other progressive Democrats that are running in safe democratic districts who are challenging establishment Democrats so that we can have Congress people, we can have representatives who will fight who for this peace dividend, for Medicare for all, for living wage jobs, to end Citizens United. really, really start to use politics as a force for good. And let's take a, thank you for that explanation. Let's sort of do a... theme ship now, if we may. I read in your biography, Rose, that your family came from the Philippines. Is that correct? Yes. And during the time, probably of the Marcos dictatorship and subsequent dictatorships, right? Is that correct?

Yes. So I'm an immigrant from the Philippines and I'm what's called a martial law baby. So martial law babies are children who grew up under the Marcus dictatorship. And my father was a lawyer who defended student protesters, workers, farmers when they got detained by the Marcus dictatorship. And because of that, he himself became a target of the dictatorship and he was a political, what we call a political detainee. So I can share Richard that I spent many weekends when I was a child getting bundled up by my mom together with my brother and sisters and going to the military stockade where we would visit my dad. And that is how our weekends were spent. Now, let me ask you this, then. There are those who would say, and I would be among them, I think, that... The future isn't certain, but we could be heading down a similar path in the United States. We are not, we are not, and I'm not saying this as a partisan, you know, politically, fairly into, you know, very left, but, you know, independent-minded. But it seems, you know, a lot of us are very concerned between what ICE is doing to people and the escalation of confinements and political persecutions of people who are dissidents. We haven't reached the Marcos dictatorship or the martial law stage, but... Is there anything, I'm trying to think of the right way to put this, but is there any way that you think that experience can help you, and even now might help you advise or guide the Democrats who seem to be as a party caught? flat-footed, caught really not knowing how to respond. Perhaps not even, I don't know if you agree with me about the urgency of the situation, but I think it's urgent and I don't think they all get it. And I don't think their strategy is the best way to fight these tendencies. But what are your thoughts on all that? So, Richard, definitely growing up, experiencing fascism firsthand, and personally, as a child, has really informed the way that my activism is. And that is even, as you could see, with the platform that I have, with the People, Peace and Planet platform, it is informed. My background informs that my personal background.

informs and influences my decisions in what I do. And that is clearly seen by my challenging Rep. Hoffman because of his votes for Benjamin Netanyahu right-wing government and for continued war spending. I believe that there is hope, though, Richard, because we need to differentiate the grassroots Democrats from the leadership. So the leadership is not acting in as urgent a way as we would want it to, but there are people in the grassroots that are doing something. So I'm the chair of the Chesa County Democratic Central Committee and as a central committee, we have past resolutions and shared those resolutions with other central committees. For example, one such resolution was condemning the genocide in Gaza, calling for a permanent ceasefire, and US recognition of the state of Palestine. That is a very powerful resolution coming from a central committee of a county in California. And I share that with... those county chairs and officers that I know of, and I know some of them have taken it up and also done it. And it's not just us. Santa Clara's Central Democratic Central Committee also issued a resolution condemning the genocide in Gaza. After the... kidnapping or capture of Venezuelan President Maduro early this year our County also our County Central Committee also issued a resolution condemning that action by the by the Trump military goons and and so there is movement it amongst the the base of the Democratic Party that right now is not really represented in the leadership. And that is why I'm running in a safe Democratic district to challenge the incumbent representative who is reflective of what's going on in the leadership. We had Rep. Hoffman speak at the Democratic Central Committee meeting just last Monday. And yeah, granted, he only had like five minutes to speak. So this is how, for those who don't know, central committees in California, we allocate, like, time for candidates to come and then speak at our meetings. And so... What I got essentially from his five-minute speech is that it kind of mirrors the leadership where we are not Trump and we want to get Trump out.

That is not a policy statement. It's just going to get us back to where we were before Trump. So some Democrats are saying, let's not challenge the incumbent. Because we need to, we just need to focus our efforts on getting rid of Trump. But if we do that... it will just lead us to the conditions that led to Trump, right? Because it will be the same people. And isn't that what Einstein said, that the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again? So by electing establishment Democrats, we're just doing that. We're just going to be in this forever cycle where we have the conditions that will lead to another Trump, someone who might even be more dangerous than Trump. And so I think the The solution here is for our viewers, for our listeners, for the voting public to really look into what are the alternatives, what are the options right now because we cannot just kick out Trump. We cannot just impeach him. We need to change the way that our elected leaders are elected to start with and we need to replace. those elected leaders who have been supportive of the policies that led us to where we are now with Trump as a president. So what would you say to someone who's listening to you now who says, I really like Rose. She seems great. I love everything she says. But can she really win against an establishment Democrat in this huge elephant head shape district? And he's going to have all the money, whether it's. I don't know if it's APAC money or what it is, but he's going to have all that kind of money. Can this insurgent candidate really win? What would you say to those people? Well, if we look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she didn't start with a lot of money, but she had people behind her. If we look just the most recent elections with Zohran Mamdani, I think he had like, I don't know, like a 4% possibility of 3% actually. 3%? Okay, thank you. Yeah, 3% of him winning.

So it is not impossible, but we do need help. We need the people behind us, and we need them to come up, to volunteer, to donate, because I am not accepting, well, APAC will not send me any money anyways, but if ever they try to, that is just not something that I would accept. We don't accept corporate money, so it's all through donations from ordinary voters. It is indeed the people that are going to make the difference. Richard, I am optimistic by nature, and I believe that people are fed up with the way our elected officials have been governing. And I think they're ready for a change, and I'm hoping that they will support me. They will support all the other progressive candidates so that we can really make meaningful change in Congress. So where do... people who want to support you go to do exactly that, whether it's volunteer, contribute, whatever. Well, I would love for them to check out our website. It's rosefor congress.com. And for those who are watching this, there's a QR code. And the QR code will lead you to my website and you can volunteer, you can donate. I would love for you to, for our viewers and listeners, to sign up for my emails. My emails are not just, you know, regular emails that you will get from... whoever politician that you don't know and you immediately unsubscribe to my emails will give you an inside look at the campaign on how we're doing what our challenges are because richard you are totally right it is a very very big challenge it is a tough challenge but it is winnable and with people behind me we can win it Well, so, Rose, you promised me. I'm going to make you promise me that if I sign up for your emails, I'm not going to start getting these Democratic Party emails that say, Richard, this is desperate, or Richard, I'm begging you, or you know the ones I'm talking about that squeeze you for every time. You're saying that these will be informative and interesting. No, no, it's not going to be that. My last email was, so the representative of Congressional District 1 that I ran against in 2024 passed away unexpectedly at the beginning of the year. So Replyam Alpha is a, I would say, I would characterize as a Maga Republican, but still the loss of a human life. is a loss. And so my email is titled Reflections on the passing of Doug Lamalfa and why running still mattered. And so it takes you into

what my perspective is, what my values are, what my challenges are, how we're dealing with what's going on. And it's not going to be, you need to give me the deadline is, because I hate those myself. So I practice the golden rule. If I don't like somebody doing that to me, I'm not going to do that to somebody. All right. Well, so that's Rose for Congress. And my guest, Rose Penelopee, candidate for Congress in, which is it the first or second California district now? I get so confused with the change. Well, Richard, you're not the only one. Even members of the Central Committee are asking me. It really is, especially now with Rep La Malfa passing, there's going to be a special election. We're still waiting to hear the decision by the governor, but it is District 2. So California District 2, and it's very easy, rose for Congress. And I think... my logo is up there, or that's a version of my logo, and the viewers here can see kind of even from the logo, kind of who I am and what I stand for. Okay, and the ones who are listening on the radio, we'll just have to go and see the logo for themselves. So, Rose Vanelope, you, thanks for all your great political work. Good luck with your candidacy, and thanks for coming on the program. Thank you so much, Richard. And thank you to the listeners and viewers. And we'll be right back after this. I'm Richard, RJ Eskow, and you're listening to The Zero Hour. This is The Zero Hour with Richard, RJ Ascal. Check out our free video archives at YouTube.com slash The Zero Hour.

back on the Zero Hour. I'm your host, Richard R.J. Escal. Again, if you want to support the candidate I interviewed in the last segment of Rose Penelope Yee, you can do so at rosefor congress.com as far as the real fundamental transformative change we need in this country. whether we use the Democratic Party as an instrument for it, as with Zohran Mamdani, whether we use independent races, whether he's outside activism, which to me is even more important, the activism is what really creates the change. I'm for any and all of these things. I'm for trying all these things and seeing what... worse, to borrow a phrase from the cultural revolution, which I don't fully adore, so let the cultural revolution to be clear, but let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend. We'll be right back.