(cross-posted from Working Californians now also at Daily Kos)

It’s been just about two weeks since the Senate collapsed.  Sad to say, that we might even be further away from a solution.  Let’s look at this mess in a bullet format and try and make sense of it all.

• 14 Senators are holding up the budget until a majority of their far right cohort agrees to the deal, even though we only need one more vote.  Essentially they are requiring that 74% of the legislature approves of the final budget.  The two-thirds budget requirement is arcane as it is, but to require near unanimous consent is just absurd.
• It is now clear that the Republican calls to change CEQA (see yesterday’s post) are central to their demands.  That is absolutely a non-starter for the Democrats and the Governor.  In the wake of the dustup over the CARB, Arnold is not exactly in a position to start weakening environmental laws without a huge backlash.  I am not sure where the Republicans think they are going to get a lot of support for their pro-business, anti-green argument in both the Capitol and the public.  California has a lot of Republicans, but a large percentage of them are environmentally friendly.  The same cannot be said for the Republican Senators who are holding out.  They are very much out of the mainstream, arguably even within their own party.

• Senate Pro Tem Don Perata has declared that he will not take up any more legislation until the budget is passed, something Speaker Fabian Nunez quite rightly disagrees with.  The Republicans would love it if the progressive legislation that the Democrats have on tap, like AB8 (health care reform) get scuttled.  It would allow the Republicans to further undermine our system of government.
• Arnold really looks impotent here.  Nothing he has done has worked.  His strategy of disengagement on the budget until the last minute has proven to be a bad one.  He seriously miscalculated the intentions of his fellow Republicans.  This stalemate has the ability to seriously undermine a lot of the work he has done in the last year to try and prove that he can unite both parties and pass landmark legislation.  If this keeps up, it will damage his chances at the 2010 Senate race, if he was even thinking of running in the first place.
• Nunez and Perata are now looking for any possible leverage points they can find on the hold-out Republicans.  Nunez is declaring Republican legislative priorities DOA.  Perata is stripping folks from committee assignments.  Unfortunately, there is not much power they hold over them.  Each day that passes is a victory for the ultra right-wing conservative Senators.
• This week momentum has emerged to repeal the 2/3rds vote requirement for the budget’s passage.  Speaker Nunez has declared that it will be a major priority for him.  Doing that in conjunction with a re-examination of our tax system would make sense, however that tact did not work in 2004.  Logically, it does make sense to address our revenue problems, as part of a larger budget discussion.  Today Mark Leno has an op-ed in the Chronicle worth reading about reforming the budget process and historical look at the 2/3rds requirement.
  

  The idea that a single legislator of the minority party can cause such suffering to millions of Californians is appalling. Maybe if the deadlock continues for another month or two, recognizing the risk that would present thousands of social-service providers, voters will more quickly understand that it is time to change the way we do business and enter the 21st century.

  Obviously, the attempt in 2004 to address this very rule did not go well.  The Republicans managed to scare the public about the potential for increased taxes.  Nunez and Leno seem to be arguing for a ballot initiative to change it to a simple majority vote for the budget.  That would fix the short term problems of the mechanisms for passing the budget, but looking at the tax vote requirement and Prop. 13 would address the supply problem.  These are very thorny issues to say the least.

Right now there is not a clear or heck even a murky path to a resolution on the budget.  Who knows when that will change or what will cause it to happen.

Newly elected California Secretary of State Debra Bowen GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS!

Read Bowen’s CA Voter Bill of Rights

Much to the “Elephants” fury, Debra Bowen is doing the job California voters elected her for. They’re attacking her for proving (beyond any shadow of a doubt) that several of the electronic voting systems installed in various California counties are not only vulnerable to EASY hacking, but they simply don’t work. Not only that, cheapskate county clerks and registrars across the state are whining  because they’ll probably have to replace the defective, risky systems they all bought from Diebold, Sequoia, Hart, etc. during the HAVA stampede..

Do you know what kind of voting machines your county uses Ms/Mr California voter? If not, you can find out right HERE (thanks to Bowen’s office for posting this essential information on the Secretary of State’s website – DUH!)

Does your county use these machines?

or these?

or perhaps these?

unethical types could be fiddling with this part of the very machine you vote on:

So here’s what you need to do fellow Californians:

1) Once you’ve figured out which kind of machine your county uses HERE check to see if it’s on Bowen’s report  HERE.

2) If it is, you need to immediately call your County Clerk or Registrar of Voters who you can find HERE! or on this interactive state map. Tell them to support Debra Bowen’s statewide sweep of hackable voting machines and that you want secure, accurate, verifiable voting systems in your county. These public officials, unlike Congresspersons, rarely hear from constituents so your call can have huge impact on this crucial issue.

3) Then write a letter to your local paper/s using the Courage Campaign’s easy interface.

Remember everyone, the Republican governor has moved our primary to February (2/5/08 to be exact) so that California will have a big impact on the selection of the two major party candidates running for president. By coincidence (irony) CA GOP is busy trying to change our winner-take-all primary system (hmmm why would they want to do that?) Do we want the GOP deciding who our nominee is by fiddling with our voting machines as they continue their decades-long subversion of American democracy?

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Make sure your County Clerk isn’t giving Secretary of State Bowen any resistance as she works to fix the rigged voting machines in our Golden State. Feel free to also send Bowen a message of support!

And remember YOU DO HAVE THE POWER to change this government and this country. Here’s proof!

As usual, it would be better to quote this Digby post verbatim, but let me just give you the relevant section from the article in question:

(Loretta) Sanchez, Orange County’s only Democratic member of Congress, voted in 2002 against giving President Bush authorization to invade Iraq. More recently she voted to begin pulling troops out within 90 days.

Tuesday night Sanchez said she could not support the protesters (who want to cut funding for the war) because the $145 billion in Iraq war funding was in the same bill that would provide money to build the C-17 aircraft in California.

“I never voted for this war,” she said. But “I’m not going to vote against $2.1 billion for C-17 production, which is in California. That is just not going to happen.”

Sanchez has been consistently against the war, and she cannot be fully blamed for protecting her constituents.  But she’s constrained by the fact that a major military contractor in her district has a gun to her head.  Particularly in California, but all over the country really, the massing of the war machine has a definite impact on policy.  They put their factories in all these different districts, so that shuttering an obsolete weapons system will be met with enormous resistance.  This ensures that you can never decrease military spending or even keep it the same.  And eventually, all these systems have to be justified.  Through war.

This is approximately why the nightly news has all of these ads for Lockheed Martin and Boeing on them.  I can’t buy a 757, but Boeing can keep that news network in line by threatening to drop their ads if they stray from the party line.

Here’s Digby:

It’s just another way that big money distorts our politics. Sanchez’s statement makes it quite clear that the “power of the purse” is not about stopping anything. It’s about funding all kinds of things that have been set up over many years to keep politicians like Sanchez in line. She really does have to answer to her constituents — many of whom make their living off the military industrial complex dime. You can’t blame her.

I don’t even think public financing will stop this.  You’re talking about thousands of constituents’ jobs.  And California embodies this problem as much as any state in the union.  It’s something we really have to think about.  How do we, after 60 years of massive military buildup, put this genie back in the bottle?

(This isn’t limited to defense, by the way, John Dingell’s attempt to upend CAFE standard legislation preferred by the Speaker comes from him protecting his constituents, just as resistance to gas taxes comes from legislators protecting theirs.)

(Crossposted at http://www.blogforamerica.com)

Last Friday, Secretary of State Debra Bowen took a major step forward in restoring election integrity by decertifying electronic voting machines with the “potential for serious security breaches”. Our DFA-List endorsed candidate followed through on her campaign promise to require a top-to-bottom review of election procedures and take action on the results.

Now Sacramento lobbyists and media pundits are trying to stop reform and influence the county officials charged with implementing the changes. Yesterday and today, DFA members in California placed hundreds of calls in support of Debra Brown and verifiable elections and delivered this message:

“I support Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s decision to restore election integrity and ban unsafe voting machines. I’m counting on you to support the ban and protect our votes.”

Here is a some of the feedback we received:

Deanna in Los Angeles County:

Phone was very busy. Aide who finally answered said they were swamped with calls, all in favor of Debra Bowen's decision. Told her I served on the Election Board and was very concerned. She took my phone number and thanked me.

Gerry in Ventura County:

He was very polite and cordial and appreciated my call and comments. He said he supported Debra Bowen's work and efforts and mentioned that Ventura Co uses paper ballots in almost all instances. He also gave me his phone number and email address. Very pleased with his response!

More feedback below the fold:

Kayleen in Yolo County:

One of Oakley's office people answered. When I said that I wanted to urge the Clerk to support Debra Bowen in banning unsafe voting machines, she put me on the phone with the Clerk. Freddie Oakley the clerk said that she whole heartedly supported Bowen in this action. She also relayed that she thought she was the only clerk that did so…

Response to Leslie in El Dorado County:

"I support Ms. Bowen's decision, our county uses paper ballot optical scan as the primary method of voting at polling places already, we will comply with her additional security procedures. Thank you for your interest……Bill" William E. Schultz Recorder-Clerk-Registrar of Voters El Dorado

Sarah in Santa Cruz County:

I reached a staffer named Crystal, who said enthusiastically that "We are implementing the changes"–and took advantage of my call to sign me up to be a poll worker. I asked whether they were getting a lot of calls about the voting machine ban; she said yes.

Keep the calls coming today!

Find your county official and phone number:

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_d.htm

After you make the call, please report how it went here:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/reportcall

Debra Bowen has come through for California. Now it is up to you to stand by her and make sure every vote counts. Keep up the pressure by calling today!

Two Indian tribes, the United Auburn and Pala tribes, are each donating $500K to the union backed initiative to put the compacts on the ballot.  The money is just about as sure an indicator as possible that we will see the tribal compacts on the ballot next year.  From the Bee:

Attorney Howard Dickstein said the United Auburn Indian Community and the Pala Band of Mission Indians will contribute $500,000 each to a campaign committee — California Indian Tribes for Fair Play — that will support the signature gathering.

United Auburn operates the Thunder Valley casino near Sacramento — one of the state’s most successful gambling facilities. Pala runs the Pala Casino Spa & Resort in northern San Diego County, a competitor to the tribes seeking casino expansions.
***
Representatives for a hotel and casino workers union — UNITE HERE — and the Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows horse racing tracks announced a petition drive July 27 to force a statewide vote on gambling compacts for the tribes. The agreements would allow the wealthy tribes to add up to 3,000 to 5,500 new slot machines each — potentially dwarfing the largest casinos in Las Vegas.(SacBee 8/10/07)

You see, I understand that the labor movement has been the key catalyst to the development of a strong middle class in the 20th century, and I know they must be vibrant in the 21st if we are to retain any of those gains. And sure, I know that initiatives also make strange bedfellows, so we get this bizarre Krew. Sure, fine. Whatever. However, I would like to see one thing from UNITE-HERE, which is actually one of my favorite unions. I’d like to see them make a hard push to organize some of the tribal casinos that are out there already. Sure, I know the laws are stacked against what is right, but we need to make those efforts, even if they do not succeed.

As Andy Stern is so often saying, organizing is the key to success. That’s true of this initiative in February as well.

Written by Hannah-Beth Jackson

I still remember, as though it were yesterday, the defining moment in my early political awakening. I was no more than 12 years old, sitting in a podiatrist’s chair, gamely enduring treatment for a youthful plantars wart that had lodged itself deep in my foot. The doctor looked like a marine drill sargent, with close-cropped prematurely graying hair. In the midst of the procedure, we embarked on a discussion about politics. I’m not exactly sure what precipitated the first of many intense but respectful political debates Although clearly in the weaker position (he was digging into my foot with some pretty ugly looking instruments) the debate centered on the role of government in America. He posited that the business of government was business. I responded by insisting that the business of government is people.

What government should be doing is a fundamental issue confronting us in this post-Reagan and soon-to-be post Bush era. Our right-wing friends in Sacramento have demonstrated not only an opinion that business is the focus of government, but an ideological obstinance that extends far beyond respectful disagreement to ideological intractability. They have taken the notion that business is their motivator to a new low. Fortunately, their extremist views represents a minority position and in the nature of a democracy, it is the majority who rule. At least that is what we were taught in Civics class at school.

Unfortunately in California, there is a distorted vision of the basic principle that the majority governs. There are many protections for the minority so that the majority cannot run roughshod on less popular views. Most of those protections come in the form of laws that can be enforced by the courts if violated. When it comes to passing a budget or raising taxes, though, somehow the minority is in control because adoption of a budget requires a 2/3 vote. Hence the stalemate in Sacramento, where 14 right-wing political idealogues can overrule the will of the majority for their own narrow and self-serving purposes–protecting their political benefactors, Big Business, at the expense of the people of this state.

Certainly, my doctor (he ultimately succeeded in ridding me of my ailment without taking my foot with it), understood that we could disagree in an accommodation for my wild-eyed notion that helping and protecting people is certainly something to consider in the whole scheme of things. Unfortunately the 14 white men who play in the California Senate, monikered as Republicans, not only don’t believe it but think as the minority, they get to call the shots. Besides, who cares if people can’t see their doctors, get their meds, get out of bed if needing homecare workers to do so, work and have child care for their children while they are trying to break the bonds of poverty? After all, like my doctor, they insist that the purpose of government is to serve business. But my doctor did not have the responsibility of leading a state of 36 million people, nor did he believe that the purpose of government was to serve business alone. He still had a heart and some compassion, unlike the bulllies today masquerading as Republican Senators.

Perhaps most amazingly, this band of renegades is acting out its fanaticsim right out in the open. Thanks to demagogues like Tom McClintock, they think the public likes this kind of unabashed bias toward big business; that there are republicans (who voted for the budget and are the bad people) and REPUBLICANS, who are willing to deprive our neediest, our children and our students of the resources they need to survive and strive for the American Dream. It is shameful, but this “gang of 14” as they have been dubbed by the media, are still holding out. So much for the fact that they continue to move the goal posts (now their gripe is that LA stands to get more for traffic mitigation than Orange County). In the course of a budget of over $100 billion, this is pure nonsense. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about posturing for their red-meat crowd and showing which one is tougher than the next.

There is, of course, a way to bring this to an end. It is simple, and done by 47 other states. Simply end the blackmail and require that the budget be approved by a simple majority of the Legislature. It will still have to be signed by the Governor (or then overridden by a 2/3 vote). Not only will this bring us into alignment with all but Arkansas and Rhode Island, it will identify which party is responsible if things go south. Under the current system, neither party has to take responsibility and neither party does. It is foolish and has come to the point we have seen so frequently over the past decade where the budget isn’t passed in a logical or timely fashion. The consequence? Serious problems for so many Californians–from vendors, to seniors, to children to the infirm. This untenable 2/3 budget requirement allows those with no sense of responsibility or accountability to trample on the rest of us.

That’s the institutional fix to the problem and one that we should implement as soon as possible. The other one: deciding whether the business of government truly is business or the people. It is a legitimate debate, upon which reasonable people can differ. But like most reasonable differences of opinion, it requires flexibility and a willingness to compromise for the better good. Holding the people of this state hostage to their egos and Neanderthal views is not the way. It’s time to bring back those who are willing to have the discussion respectfully.

I’m just grateful my podiatrist’s Republican party was a far different one than the Republicanism we see today. He was willing to meet me half-way and let me walk out of his office with my idealism and feet intact.

Cross posted from Speak Out California

Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed.

To subscribe by email, click
here and do what comes naturally.

Budgets are Moral
Documents

• Working Californians: Messaging the Environment: Budget
  Edition
  http://workingcalifornians.com/blog/julia_rosen/2007/08/09/messaging_the_environment_budget_edition
• California Progress Report: Impact of California State
  Budget Delay on the Disabled and Seniors
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/impact_of_calif.html
• California Progress Report: 14 White Men Hold California
  Budget Hostage
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/14_white_men_ho.html
• California Progress Report: Maldonado is No Moderate and
  His
  District Deserves Better: The Budget as an Example of Why We Should
  Fight for a Real Democratic Majority in California
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/maldonado_is_no.html
• California Progress Report: Representing His District: Abel
  Maldonado—The Only Republican Senator So Far to Vote for the
  California
  State Budget
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/representing_hi.html
• California Progress Report: DO
  ‘COMPETITIVE’ LEGISLATIVE
  DISTRICTS PRODUCE MODERATE AND REASONABLE LAWMAKERS? SENATOR DENHAM
  PROVES THE OPPOSITE!
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/do_competitive.html

Not Enough of Anything
Else for Separate Categories

• DownWithTyranny!: AT&T CENSORS PEARL JAM’S
  LOLLAPALOOZA SET BECAUSE A SONG MENTIONED BUSH
  http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/08/at-censors-pearl-jams-lollapalooza-set.html
• GregDewar.com: Why Chris Daly Should Run and How We Got
  Here – Campaign Analysis By Savannah Blackwell
  http://www.gregdewar.com/2007/08/post.html
• Educational Justice: Supreme Court Limits School
  District’s Ability to Desegregate: It’s Up to
  Teachers and Communities to Ensure Educational Equity
  http://edjustice.blogspot.com/2007/08/supreme-court-limits-school-districts.html
• . . . Surf Putah: A New California Dream
  http://surfputah.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-california-dream.html
• California Progress Report: AIDS/HIV, a Key California
  Issue in Today’s Democratic Presidential
  Candidates’ Debate in Los Angeles
  http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2007/08/aidshiv_a_key_c.html
• The California Majority Report // Today’s Fresh Meat
  http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=9&aid=2158
• The BRAD BLOG : CA’s E-Voting Earthquake: Kentucky AG Takes
  On Hart Intercivic and Diebold After California’s Demand for Corrective
  Action from Voting Machine Companies
  http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4933
• The California Majority Report // Senator George Runner:
  Hypocrite
  http://www.camajorityreport.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=9&aid=2160
• Dump Doolittle: August expected to yield Congressional
  retirements
  http://solongjohn.blogspot.com/2007/08/august-expected-to-yield-congressional.html
• California Policy Inbox » California Is Expensive
  — Especially When You Add on Health Care Costs
  http://inbox.berkeley.edu/?p=369
• The Ojai Post: MY PARENTS WERE ALIENS
  http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/08/my_parents_were_aliens.shtml
• SoHum Parlance: Check out the colors at Humboldt Homestead!
  http://redwoodreality.blogspot.com/2007/08/check-out-colors-at-humboldt-homestead.html
• Pam’s House Blend:: Hate Crimes on Wikipedia: “Obeying
  God’s Law”
  http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2572

I’m blogging live here from Sonoma County, Rohnert Park to be exact. Sen Carole Migden was, as always, very excited about making her presentation. She spoke for quite awhile about her various accomplishments. The speech was a bit rambling and disjointed, but was well received over-all.  Asm. Leno spoke in a practiced, well-rehearsed tone. He spoke of his efforts on foster care. Again, it was well-received by this very well behaved crowd of all ages.

Flip it for some questions.

First, a question was asked about Sen. Gil Cedillo’s driver’s license bill. Sen Migden says she supported the bill, and encourages immigrants to learn English to get the best jobs.  Asm. Leno spoke of his co-authoring of the bill, and how we need to approach the issue of immigration.
 

The next question was about paper ballots. Asm. Leno says that SoS Bowen has done a terrific job. Sen Migden seconded the support of Ms. Bowen.

The next question was about affordable housing. Sen Migden says she wants people to live near where they work, and should be able to live near where they grew up. Asm. Leno praised Habitat for Humanity, and pointed out Asm. Noreen Evans in the crowd for her support. He further discussed the 3-legged stool of housing, beginning with developers. We also need to invest in public support of housing, through bonds. Supply must meet demand. Finally, the federal government has ignored the community.

The largest hospital and healthcare workers union in the western US will begin a massive, coordinated campaign to improve the rights of healthcare workers across the country to stand up for better patient care and higher standards.  Courage Campaign’s Elliott Petty will be at the strategy session in Oakland, covering the event LIVE on CourageCampaign.org.

The 140,000-member SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West is sending a delegation to California which will begin work on the historic bargaining campaign.

Join me after the jump for the full text of a SEIU-UHW press release.

SEIU-UHW For Immediate Release:

WORKERS PREPARE FOR LARGEST COORDINATED HEALTHCARE BARGAINING CAMPAIGN IN HISTORY.

Event Bringing Together Caregivers from Several States to be Covered by Blogger

OAKLAND – A delegation of 700 healthcare workers from six states will gather in Oakland on Saturday to plan for a coordinated bargaining campaign in 2008, when contracts at more than 200 hospitals and nursing homes will expire, creating an opportunity for caregivers to achieve unprecedented victories for working people across the United States.

The convention in California, to be hosted by SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, represents the first time that healthcare workers will coordinate their bargaining campaigns on such a massive scale. Caregivers from California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Minnesota and Connecticut will participate in the event.

“This meeting represents an unprecedented opportunity for healthcare workers from around the country to work together for improved standards such as the right to stand up for our patients and residents,” said Sal Rosselli, president of SEIU UHW. “Healthcare workers do the same work everywhere in the country, and it only makes sense that we come together to work toward our common goal.”

Healthcare workers at several SEIU local unions plan to coordinate their bargaining campaigns next year, in order to maximize their ability to improve quality care for their patients, raise industry standards and win a voice on the job. More than 150,000 caregivers will benefit from this coordination by achieving the ability to advocate for improved patient care through their union.

Adding a unique twist to the proceedings will be the presence of netroots blogger Elliott Petty of the progressive online California group Courage Campaign, who plans to post live updates to his site, http://couragecampai… as the meeting progresses through the day. He will also post at MyDD and Open Left, two major national political blogs.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to observe, participate, and interact with UHW’s members at this meeting,” Petty said. “The best way to build bridges between labor and the online communities is to engage in actions with each other. Progressives win when we are united, which this effort will help us to be.”

Petty’s participation is an outgrowth of UHW’s involvement with the YearlyKos convention earlier this month, in which UHW leaders met with numerous members of the progressive blogosphere to discuss ways that their online activism can dovetail with the grassroots worker and political organizing of labor unions. The union plans to hold a retreat for progressive bloggers in the fall.

“Our values of member democracy, openness, and dialogue and debate are mirrored by those of the netroots community,” Rosselli said. “We look forward to continuing to work with online activists who share our goals and values.”

Rosselli and several healthcare workers will be available for interview throughout the week and on Saturday.

The 140,000-member SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States and represents every type of healthcare worker, including nurses, professional, technical and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high-quality healthcare for all.