Daily Archives: March 6, 2008

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California Republicans’ Illegal Immigration Scandal — The Jobs Americans Won’t Do

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This is beyond funny:

The Canadian political operative hired by the California Republican Party on a coveted H1B visa to do campaign consulting has been fired after it was revealed he was apparently working in violation of immigration law.

The dismissal, announced this week, came after The Chronicle reported last month that Christopher Matthews apparently violated federal immigration law when he also earned money from a second employer.

So was he using the GOP to get into the country to really work for somebody else? Nope, he was double-dipping with the San Diego GOP to apparently break the law. Talk about heads exploding…

Sources said that some officials in the state GOP discussed hiring an immigration attorney to defend Matthews after the news stories revealed the apparent violation.

But that idea was scrapped after other party leaders argued that spending money to defend Matthews could subject state GOP officials – who have often been outspoken in their criticism of illegal immigration – to charges of hypocrisy.

“Would they have done that if his name was Mario Lopez?” asked one GOP official who was in on the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Of course, this story has to remind readers of the context:

This was the second time in recent months the state GOP has faced questions about hiring foreign workers who have been targeted by immigration officials.

Matthews was hired for his job by Michael Kamburowski, an Australian citizen who in 2007 was named the state GOP’s chief operations officer. Kamburowski resigned the $130,000-a-year post after The Chronicle reported last year that he had sued federal officials who jailed him in 2004 for alleged visa violations and attempted to deport him.

The Chronicle reported this week that federal court records also show that Kamburowski had no valid visa or work permit – and no legal right to stay in the United States – during the five years he worked as a high-profile lobbyist for conservative icon Grover Norquist, a longtime adviser to President Bush and other GOP leaders.

Californian’s Republican Party!

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An unlikely Obama supporter with a stunning story

Barack Obama is running on a platform of unification. As a reporter I’ve talked to people of all backgrounds, religions, ethnicities and political parties who believe in the Illinois senator.

However what I encountered last Saturday when covering a GLBT-for-Obama canvassing event in Houston was one of a kind.

In the Houston neighborhood of Montrose, a gay and lesbian-friendly place that locals call “the gayborhood,” I met Rebekah Lee. She walked up to me, put her hand on my shoulder, and asked if I was there to cover the canvassing event. What I didn’t know is that she was also slapping a “GLBT-for-Obama” sticker on my back – which came as a surprise to me later.

But that was nothing compared to what came next.  

Lee told me she wasn’t always an Obama supporter; in fact, she didn’t always identify with the Democratic Party. From 1989 to 1993, Lee served as the 49th District of Montana’s representative to the state legislature.

Back then her name was Tom, and he was a Republican.  Not just any Republican, Lee told me, but one who was “a raging homophobe”.

Talk about story of a life time.

“It’s really hard for me to imagine that I was ever that way,” Lee said, her voice breaking and tears swelling in her eyes, “God it’s really hard, it was so wrong and so hurtful.”

While in office, Tom Lee was approached by human rights activist and lobbyist Christine Kaufmann. Kaufmann, now a state senator in Montana, asked Lee to support a bill that would extend equal rights to include sexual orientation.

“She said I’d really like to have your support,” remembered Lee, “but I said I’m sorry Christine I just can’t do it.”

But wait, there’s more: “Not only did I turn her down,” Lee added, “but I sponsored the amendment that would outlaw anything gay and lesbian in the state of Montana.”

A year ago, after her transformation to Rebekah, Lee met with Kaufmann and apologized for not supporting the legislation at the time.

“She emailed me using the name Tom,” said Kaufmann when I called her at her Montana home. “We arranged to meet at a local restaurant. She appeared and I think kind of enjoyed the surprise.”

“I met with Christine and the first thing that she lies down on the table is the copy of the Helena Independent Record,” remembered Lee. “And it was there, Rep. Tom Lee sponsors amendment…I apologized to her for ever doing that.”

Kaufmann offered her thoughts on the conversation with Lee.

“It’s disheartening to me that people who are struggling with any issue around identity wouldn’t be open and free to explore these issues, that they wouldn’t be open to supporting equality,” she said. “It’s just a crime to society.”

For Lee it was a difficult personal journey.

“I had to cross all of these bridges within myself,” she said, “because these were all part of who I had grown to be, the way I was raised and the cultural values put into me.”

Kaufmann said that the Tom Lee she petitioned to back in 1991 was extremely conservative. “He was just so locked in,” she said.

“I was like a raging homophobe at that time in my life. When I started to transition, everything changed. It’s just like walking out of a dark closet with light and I was just like ‘Wow, okay yeah I get it’,” she said.

Lee traveled from Bellingham, WA, to Texas as a volunteer for the Obama campaign in advance of the March 4 primary.

“I wasn’t sure this was the right place for me to come help out, with Texas being Texas,” she told me. However after a phone call from a friend, Lee decided to fly down and join the effort.

As a volunteer, Lee helped get out the vote through phone banking and putting canvas packets together.

She recently returned to the Pacific Northwest from the Virgin Islands, and in the Washington caucuses on February 9 was elected a delegate to the county convention.

“I’m going to try to be a GLBT delegate as far as I can go up in the state of Washington,” she said.

Lee has donated a lot of volunteer time to the Democratic Party both up in Washington and in Texas. She said she’ll be returning to Bellingham on Thursday, but added with a grin “that is unless Barack gets me a cabinet position of course.”

I’ve met many Republicans who support Obama. I’ve met many members of the GLBT who support him as well. But Rebekah blows them all out of the water. Changing gender, changing party and voting Obama. Now that’s one hell of story.

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DiFi says “Me Too!” to reworking Media Consolidation Rules

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Senator Dianne Feinstein doesn’t get a whole lot of props around here, but I will make note of her appearance on a Senatorial Bandwagon today.  She announced that she will now be cosponsoring Byron Dorgan’s (D-ND) a response to the FCC’s ignoring a Senate Resolution (not law), Media Ownership Act of 2007.  

This bill would”void the FCC’s December 2007 rule change and reinstate the previous rule that prohibits cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market.” However, there’s one big stumbling block: this bill is going to require a veto-proof majority as the President is sure to side with his media buddies, like Murdoch, on this one.

Let’s see what Senator Feinstein’s radical centrism can get for us this time. Let’s see if she can help Dorgan whip up the 67 votes in the Senate, and perhaps lay the foundation for 2/3 over in the House as well.  It seems a tall task given the Republicans repeated love-affairs with the Murdoch’s of the world.

Press release over the flip.

Senator Feinstein Cosponsors Dorgan Measure to

Block FCC’s Revision of Media Ownership Rules

         Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has cosponsored a measure offered by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) to block the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s new rules on cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market.

         “Concentration in media ownership threatens to undermine the independence and diversity of our nation’s news outlets. And yet the FCC pushed through a rule that would allow more cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market – without giving the American public the opportunity to voice its opinion,” Senator Feinstein said. “So, I stand with my colleagues in trying to block these changes.”

         In December 2007, the FCC made a controversial decision to allow a single company to own both newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market. Under the previous FCC rule, a company that owns a newspaper could not also own a TV station or radio station in the same market.

         The rule change announced by the FCC in December would allow newspapers in the 20 largest markets to own one radio or TV station in the same market.  This would allow further concentration of media ownership, which in turn leads to less diversity of views on the airwaves. In a June 2007 study, the Center for American Progress and Free Press concluded that “[o]wnership diversity is perhaps the single most important” reason for the structural imbalance of talk radio programming.

         To encourage greater localism in media ownership and programming the Senate Commerce Committee in December 2007 unanimously reported out the Media Ownership Act of 2007. That legislation said the FCC should delay its vote on cross-ownership of print and broadcast outlets until it fully examined the issues of localism and diversity of station ownership. Senator Feinstein cosponsored that bill with Senators Dorgan, Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Despite this action by the Senate Commerce Committee, the FCC went ahead with the vote to change cross-ownership rules.

         Specifically, the new measure introduced by Senators Dorgan and Feinstein is a “resolution of disapproval.” It would void the FCC’s December 2007 rule change and reinstate the previous rule that prohibits cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market.

         The measure is also cosponsored by Senators Snowe, Kerry, Susan Collins (R-Maine), Christopher Dodd (D-Mass.), Obama, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Cantwell, Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), and Jon Tester (D-Mt.).

California

A Lesson From California

Perhaps the rest of the country should take a lesson from the California political arena.  While the national Democratic primaries continue to fight over the presidential nomination going to a woman or an African-American, we have solved that issue.  Last week our State Assembly elected District 47 Assemblywoman Karen Bass as Speaker of the Assembly, by a unanimous decision that crossed all racial, cultural and partisan lines.  Now that’s multiculturalism!

As the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST, an organization dedicated to electing women to California state government, we know all too well that this is exactly the kind of diversity that is so vital to a living Democracy.

We are steadfast believers in diversity, especially when it comes to issues of gender. CALIFORNIA LIST is proud to have played a crucial role in the victories of candidates like Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Board of Equalization members Betty Yee and Board Chair Judy Chu, and now Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass.

Yet, even in the triumph of these women, we recognize the number of women holding public office is in an enormous decline, falling further in this past election cycle to just 28% of all state elected offices. Women are becoming represented by women less frequently in politics and with the decline go the champions of issues women hold most dear – education, health care, environmental protection, and reproductive choice to name a few.

The CALIFORNIA LIST works to level the playing field for women because we know women affect those changes that make a difference.  We salute the success of Assemblywoman Karen Bass, a woman we helped elect, a woman who has built her political career one brick at a time on a solid foundation of initiating policies that are changing lives.  Her life has been filled with many accomplishments and now she can add one more; the first African American woman to be elected the Speaker of the California State Assembly.  Normally, one would think this an extraordinary feat for a first term assembly member, but Assemblywoman Bass is an extraordinary woman.

Working with a feminine understanding, Bass knows the importance of securing economic justice for women. Her legislative record includes supporting increased funding for child care programs, such as Head Start. Bass also supports domestic violence prevention programs, and tougher laws to protect victims.  Bass’ Select Committee on Foster Care was formed in November 2005. Since then, the committee has held public hearings with groups including foster children, relative caregivers, child welfare agencies and representatives from group homes.

In 2006, Bass along with then Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, introduced groundbreaking legislation to revamp our state’s ailing foster care system.  Bass authored perhaps the most crucial bill AB 2216: Child Welfare Leadership and Performance Accountability Act.  AB2216 creates a structure for leadership and accountability for all who provide foster-care services by calling on the state to review ways to unify counties, courts and the state.

Assemblywoman Bass has forever etched her name in the political annals of California, but fortunately she is not a feminine anomaly.  CALIFORNIA LIST is currently supporting 27 women candidates running in the 2008 election cycle for State Senate and Assembly seats who are spotlighted on our website. We congratulate Assemblywoman Bass and hope that her example will inspire future generations of women who aspire to make a difference.

Bettina Duval is the founder of the California List, a political fundraising network that helps elect Democratic women to all branches of California state government.

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CA-42: House party for Ron Shepston Saturday, 3/8

Ron Shepston, the blogger and aerospace engineer who is challenging Dirty Gary Miller, is having his first house party in Pasadena this Saturday, from 7pm to 9pm, at a supporter’s residence:

449 N Catalina Ave, #102

Pasadena, CA 91106

A $10 contribution is encouraged, but not required.  Please show up if you can to support the Democratic challenger in CA-42!

If you have a Facebook profile, here is the event page.  Go ahead and invite all your friends too.

disclosure: I am a member of the “brain trust” of Ron Shepston for Congress.

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And then there were two…in CA-44

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(cross-posted on Daily Kos)

In a dramatic and unexpected move, Louis Vandenberg, the 2006 Democratic nominee for CA-44, dropped out the race at a Democratic candidate forum hosted by the Democrats for Greater Riverside on February 21, 2008 in Riverside, CA.  Assuming no one else files papers between now and this Friday (3/7/08), Rogelio V. Morales and Bill Hedrick will face off on June 3, 2008 to determine who will challenge Congressman Ken Calvert (R) in November 2008.

During the aforementioned candidate forum between Morales and Hedrick, however, it became very clear Mr. Morales possessed a vastly superior intellect, likability and grasp of the issues facing the 44th Congressional District than any of the other candidates, namely Hedrick. Nonetheless, the 10 or so Hedrick supporters  in the org. managed to obtain the small group’s endorsement…maybe they didn’t know about Hedrick’s little secret?  See here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

You see, something special happened in CA-44 on February 5, 2008. I say special because it has never happened, as far as I know. For those of you who don’t know, CA-44 leans heavily Republican. In fact, in Riverside County, there are 256,762 Democratic Voters versus 322,900 Republican Voters. Still, on February 5, 2008, Democrats OUTVOTED Republicans by over 4,000 votes!

So what does this mean? It means Democrats have a real chance to finally defeat corrupt Congressman Ken Calvert (R). The last thing we need is to give Republicans a reason to turn out and vote. Unfortunately, if Bill Hedrick becomes the nominee, it will spell DISASTER FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN CA-44!!

Primaries, despite their drawbacks, provide a valuable vetting process to make sure we can put for the strongest and most electable candidate to secure victory in the general election. That’s why it’s important Democrats know Bill Hedrick’s alleged little secret.  Now, I was present at the candidate meeting on February 21, and this issue came up. At best, Bill Hedrick’s response to these allegations was extremely weak, only suggesting that the “Rialto police department isn’t a friend of the Rialto Teacher’s Union.” Well, let me tell you, that excuse is only going to enrage conservatives. I can see the attack ads now:

“Democrats put forth child sex predator protector”

“Democrats:  Friends of NAMBLA”

“Bill Hedrick won’t protect your children.”

Personally, I don’t think Bill Hedrick has put these disappointing, dispiriting charges to rest. I know Mr. Morales has promised a “full accounting” of the facts contained in the YouTube video.

I hope Democrats in CA-44 get the message before it’s too late.

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The Flip Side Of Tom McKeyes’ Carpetbagging

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It’s interesting, to say the least, that on the same day Tom McClintock packed up the station wagon and left Ventura County, we also find out that Democrats have taken the registration advantage in that same county.

In the parlance of 21st century politics, Ventura County has turned blue.

As of Monday, registered Democrats became the majority voting group in the county, surpassing Republican registration for the first time since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

The latest numbers: 150,066 Democrats and 149,627 Republicans.

“Everybody’s on cloud nine,” said Laura Winchester of Thousand Oaks, vice chairwoman of the county Democratic Central Committee. “From the standpoint of momentum, this is a huge blow to Republicans.”

I know a lot of these Ventura County Democratic activists, and they worked their asses off to reach this point.  Ventura is the beginning of a wide-ranging red-to-blue program to recapture more than the coastal and urban regions of the state.  McClintock left Ventura County because he was termed out.  But he didn’t exactly have a safe haven anymore in Thousand Oaks, either.

This bodes very well for SD-19 and Hannah-Beth Jackson.  Now if we had a solid candidate in CA-24…

… the CDP has more.

Budget, California, education

A Line In The Sand — Stop Cutting School Budgets

Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a “fiscal emergency” and is asking the legislature to solve the problem entirely with budget cuts.  He has asked for 10% “across-the-board” cuts which at first glance seems to sound fair, but really means avoiding decisions about what budget items are the most important.  It means cutting schools 10%.  And law enforcement.  And medical care.  (Of course, they can’t cut the interest owed on Governor Schwarzenegger’s past borrowing.)

And more than that — much, much more than that — it is a trick that leaves out the fact that the state is not collecting needed tax revenue because of loopholes that let big corporations and the wealthy off the hook while the rest of us make up the difference.

It’s time to draw a line in the sand and demand that our state government not cut the  budget for our children’s education any more.

Isn’t there a lot of “fat” in the budget, just waiting to be cut?  Most people think so.  But think about this — every time the state has a shortfall they cut spending, saying they are cutting out the “fat.”  As a result, in the decades since Proposition 13 passed they have trimmed and trimmed and trimmed, and we now are long past the point where there is anything left to cut.  In fact, today California schools have the lowest number of administrators per student of any state.  Our schools have squeezed and squeezed and dropped programs and forgone pay raises and they can’t operate any more efficiently.

I was listening to a radio show the other night, someone from the San Francisco schools said this budget cut could mean they have to have 61 students per classroom.

But the Republicans in the legislature won’t let us talk about taxes — not even the yacht tax loophole.  You and I have to pay sales taxes but people who buy yachts and private jets do not.  They keep California as the only state that won’t tax the oil companies for the oil they pump out from our state.  They won’t find a way to make commercial property owners pay market-rate property taxes.  

The Governor and a Republican minority in the Assembly and Senate are still willing to block all alternatives to cutting teachers and health care and roads and parks and those things that We, the People call our government.

So it is time to draw a line in the sand.  No more cuts.  It is time to ask the corporations and wealthy to start giving back some of the incredible wealth they have made off of the physical, legal and financial infrastructure that We, the People of California put in place that enabled their gains in the first place.

Here are steps you can take to help fight back:

First, join us.  Click this link and join Speak Out California.  This way we can keep you up to date on our activities, including our activities to help keep our schools funded.

Next, start Speaking Out yourself, writing letters to the editor and contacting your legislators, demanding that the state enact alternatives to budget cuts, like closing tax loopholes and making wealthy people pay the same sales taxes that the rest of us pay.

The California Teachers Association provides a web page that helps you find the correct contact information for your state legislators.  Please write to your legislators.

The Education Coalition has a website with facts to help you make your points.  Give them a visit, too.

And finally, this is Speak Out California’s fundraising month.  Help us out so we can continue the work we are doing.  Help us keep the progressive voice alive.

It’s time to draw a line in the sand and demand that our state government not cut the  budget for our children’s education any more.

Isn’t there a lot of “fat” in the budget, just waiting to be cut?  Most people think so.  But think about this — every time the state has a shortfall they cut spending, saying they are cutting out the “fat.”  As a result, in the decades since Proposition 13 passed they have trimmed and trimmed and trimmed, and we now are long past the point where there is anything left to cut.  In fact, today California schools have the lowest number of administrators per student of any state.  Our schools have squeezed and squeezed and dropped programs and forgone pay raises and they can’t operate any more efficiently.

I was listening to a radio show the other night, someone from the San Francisco schools said this budget cut could mean they have to have 61 students per classroom.

But the Republicans in the legislature won’t let us talk about taxes — not even the yacht tax loophole.  You and I have to pay sales taxes but people who buy yachts and private jets do not.  They keep California as the only state that won’t tax the oil companies for the oil they pump out from our state.  They won’t find a way to make commercial property owners pay market-rate property taxes.  

The Governor and a Republican minority in the Assembly and Senate are still willing to block all alternatives to cutting teachers and health care and roads and parks and those things that We, the People call our government.

So it is time to draw a line in the sand.  No more cuts.  It is time to ask the corporations and wealthy to start giving back some of the incredible wealth they have made off of the physical, legal and financial infrastructure that We, the People of California put in place that enabled their gains in the first place.

Here are steps you can take to help fight back:

First, join us.  Click this link and join Speak Out California.  This way we can keep you up to date on our activities, including our activities to help keep our schools funded.

Next, start Speaking Out yourself, writing letters to the editor and contacting your legislators, demanding that the state enact alternatives to budget cuts, like closing tax loopholes and making wealthy people pay the same sales taxes that the rest of us pay.

The California Teachers Association provides a web page that helps you find the correct contact information for your state legislators.  Please write to your legislators.

The Education Coalition has a website with facts to help you make your points.  Give them a visit, too.

And finally, this is Speak Out California’s fundraising month.  Help us out so we can continue the work we are doing.  Help us keep the progressive voice alive.

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Ventura County Blues

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Ventura County Democrats deserve a huge shout-out from all of us. On Monday, their Registrar of Voters announced that the number of registered Democrats has surpassed the number of registered Republicans, turning Ventura County blue. Here’s the announcement from the Ventura County Democrats website:

The Republicans have held the advantage for over 20 years in the county. Just 4 years ago, that advantage was a daunting 16,000. Today Dems took the lead, with 439 more registered Democrats than Reps.

The numbers are as follows:

  • Dem: 150,066
  • Rep: 149, 627
  • DTS: 69,987

We’ve got a great team in the local Dem Party and more are joining us to get involved in this exciting Presidential election year. Congrats to all involved who made this happen!

Hmm. Do you think it’s a coincidence that the very next day after this announcement was made, Tom McClintock fled his home in Ventura County, making the 418 mile trip up to CA-04 in search of a red district?  

We’ve been writing for the last couple of weeks about the important role that Democratic County Central Committees play throughout the State of California.  The stunning gains being made in Democratic registration are just one example of their great work.  But you know what? These Central Committees are only as strong as their members.

Up in Tom McClintock’s new home, CA-04, there are nine counties (count them — Butte, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento and Sierra). Their Democratic County Central Committees are also working hard to register Democrats and support Democratic candidates like Charlie Brown — and we hope that they’re successful in chasing Tom McClintock out of CA-04, as well.

But each one of those Democratic County Central Committees needs the help of committed, hard-working Democrats in their communities. Several of these County Central Committees in CA-04 don’t even have enough candidates running for office to make it onto the ballot.

Even the mighty Ventura County Central Committee needs your help. According to their website, four out of five districts in Ventura County still have vacant slots; overall, just two days away from the end of the filing period, they are six candidates short of having a complete Central Committee.

Time is running out. The deadline for filing to become a candidate is this Friday, March 7, at 5:00 p.m. But it’s not too late to get started. Just head on over to the CDP website to get all the information on how you can file before Friday to run for your Democratic County Central Committee.

Who knows — if we all work hard enough at organizing, maybe Tom McClintock will be left with nowhere to run!

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party