Doesn’t offer as much introduction to Warner as I’d like, but it is a good attack on Dreier, imho.
Daily Archives: May 22, 2008
Jerry McNerney votes to de-fund Iraq War
I and others in the blogosphere (including Calitics) have given Jerry McNerney (CA-11) plenty of well deserved flack for his past statements and votes on the Iraq War.
Last week, he voted to deny $163 Billion for the purpose of continuing the war. I was glad to see McNerney squarely on the correct side of this vote.
Roll call here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/200…
Cross posted at: http://ca-11.blogspot.com
Serve with the General – Vote Now!
Today, the WesPAC and Democrats Work communities launched a contest to determine which Congressional District General Wes Clark is going to visit this summer.
This won’t be an ordinary visit. General Clark will travel to one Congressional District where a Democratic challenger is fighting to change the direction of our country to work side-by-side with area Democrats to make a positive impact through community service. We want you to tell us where we should put our values into action.
You can cast your vote here: www.DemocratsWork.org.
For 34 years, General Clark served our country in the United States Army. Service is a cornerstone upon which our country was built. It is central to what makes America great. That’s why we’re excited to have General Clark join us. We’re ready to bring a service project to a community near you. But it can only be successful if we hear from you.
Vote to bring General Clark to your district. Or vote to send him to a district where you want Democrats to roll up their sleeves at a community service project. We’ll invite the Democratic challenger for Congress and his or her supporters – and all of you who vote for the winning district – to join me at the service event. And we will show everyone how Democrats gets things done.
Vote here: www.DemocratsWork.org
Democrats Work has helped spread a new politics of service across the country, mobilizing thousands of Democrats at more than 80 service events cleaning up neighborhoods and parks, supporting our troops, caring for veterans, working at food banks, planting trees. Many of you helped make that happen.
Cast your vote today to bring that same spirit of service to a great part of our country. It is our job to spread the word far and wide. It is your job to make sure your favorite district wins!
The first round of voting will only last until Friday, May 30th, so get your vote in today. Only the top five vote-getters will move on to the final round!
Thank You
(An editorial note: It is Calitics policy to promote any diary by an elected official or a Democratic candidate to the front page – but their words remain their own. – promoted by Robert in Monterey)
I want to thank Calitics for endorsing my candidacy for the Assembly in the 27th District. I am truly humbled by your support.
When I first started posting on Calitics, it was hard to imagine that we would have the opportunity to participate in a back and forth on so many topics – from the Governor’s misguided budget to coastal protection to solving our transportation challenges – but we have, and my candidacy is better for it.
I am running for the Assembly because as a small business owner and city councilmember, I understand first-hand that California’s future depends on our ability today to address critical issues and create new opportunities. Through my experience serving two terms as Mayor and as a member of Monterey Bay area regional boards, I’ve developed a record of accomplishment – and I’ve done it by bringing people together to get things done.
I’m proud to have received the Ruth Vreeland Award for my efforts to safeguard the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, such as banning marine debris and protecting the Monterey Bay from urban runoff. I’ve also spearheaded the local fight against global warming. During my nearly eight years on the city council, we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 40%.
That’s why I’ve been endorsed by Vote the Coast and the California League of Conservation Voters. Those who have occupied 27th Assembly seat in the past, Fred Keeley and John Laird, have been on the forefront of environmental protection in the past. I am committed to pursuing creative solutions to environmental challenges when I am elected.
I thank you again for your support and respectfully ask for your vote one June 3rd.
Who Speaks for Calitics
A quick bit of meta for you this Thursday morning. Occasionally people want to use the name Calitics for promotional purposes. As in “Calitics said X about Candidate Y.” That’s ok, but only if Calitics did actually say that. “Calitics says” can only be attributed to our editorial board speaking as a whole. The following 6 people, who make up our editorial board, are also allowed to speak for Calitics, and should be attributed to “Editor Name of Calitics”:
| Robert (in Monterey) Cruickshank | David Dayen |
| Brian Leubitz | Lucas O’Connor |
| Julia Rosen | Jeremy Woodburn (jsw) |
If one of those 6 people did not write it, then please make it specifically clear that no one speaking for Calitics said whichever statement you are intending to credit, rather say “a diarist JohnDoe wrote at Calitics” or something equivalent.
Private Greed vs. Public Good
By Dave Johnson, Speak Out California
As I wrote the other day, the California Chamber of Commerce has come out with their annual list of “job-killer” bills. The list only targets bills by Democrats, and the bills are all acts that would help the people of California by improving the environment, worker wage and safety, public health, etc.
The California Chamber of commerce is a lobbying association. They represent their members: businesses, many of which are large corporations. This is about private greed vs. the public good. The Chamber’s job is to convince the legislature to pass laws that enrich the owners of the corporations that fund them. Nothing more, nothing less.
If that involves convincing the public of something, then they do that. Hence the label “job killer.”
But the companies represented by the Chamber are the real job killers. They outsource jobs to other countries. They lay people off when they calculate it will maximize their profits. They employ as many people as needed to maximize the income to and wealth of their owners. Nothing more, nothing less.
The very idea that the Chamber of Commerce would care if something is a “job killer” is ludicrous when you understand their function. They are a lobbying association that represents the interests of companies that eliminate as many jobs as they want to, at their discretion, and then use some of the money that would have been paid in salaries to pay the Chamber to convince us to support their interests — and the rest of it to enrich themselves, which is their primary interest.
That is how corporations work in the modern, “free-market” world that we find ourselves in since the Reagan era. Not for the public benefit, not necessarily even for the company’s benefit, but for the financial benefit of the executives and (some of) the owners of the company.
Private greed vs. public good. Nothing more, nothing less.
So there isn’t really an argument about whether the “job-killer” bills on this year’s list really do or do not “kill jobs.” That is not the point of the label. Instead it is up to us to understand who we are hearing from. If we get caught up in arguing about whether these bills create more jobs than they might cost, we’re missing the point. Their arguments are propaganda with no basis in reality, designed to do nothing more than sway opinion. The point of the “job-killer” label is to make people afraid for their jobs, not to actually argue that these bills will or will not actually “kill” any jobs.
For example, a bill to require energy efficiency in new housing construction obviously creates many new jobs in the new, innovative “green” industries. But such a bill might lower the profits that go into the pockets of the executives and owners of some of the companies that the California Chamber of Commerce represents. (The LA Times on Wednesday said the Chamber’s agenda “seems dominated by development and energy interests”.) And, again, it is irrelevant whether the bill might or might not really cost jobs in some of those companies. The Chamber doesn’t care. That is not their function.
The use of the label “job killers” is about scaring the public. Nothing more, nothing less. It is about fear. It is about creating a climate in which people who are afraid for their jobs will go along with measures designed to enrich the owners of the companies that the Chamber — a lobbying association — represents.
So please don’t be fooled. Don’t be swayed by propaganda designed to make you afraid. As I wrote above, it is up to us to understand who we are hearing from.
Click through to Speak Out California
Endorsement Wrap-up
The Calitics Editorial Board has now concluded our June 2008 Endorsements. Here are all the links:
Propositions: No on 98, Yes on 99
Assembly Endorsements
State Senate Endorsements
Congressional Endorsements
What suggestions do you have for us on the Endorsements?
Mid-Morning Musings
• Do read Robert in Monterey’s report about Abel Maldonado, Don Perata’s best buddy, running as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary to stall an attempt to get an opponent on the November ballot. First of all, this is an example of why crossfiling should be banned once and for all. Second, Abel Maldonado is a snake and I can now see why Don Perata would knock on doors for him. Apparently, neither of them have much interest in the democratic process.
• Arnold thinks the legalization of gender-neutral marriage will be a boost to the sluggish economy, but I hope he’s not basing his entire budget on a sharp uptick in gay weddings. I mean, there are only so many Mr. Sulus rich enough to have that surge register more than a blip. By the way, good for Mr. Sulu. And good for Ellen DeGeneres for telling Straight Talk Express where to shove it.
• Speaking of John W. McCain, he’s in California today. Nobody show him the PPIC numbers!
• Lucas mentioned this, but Darrell Issa got in the middle of a heated exchange between Henry Waxman and EPA Adminstrator Stephen Johnson over the EPA’s breaking the Clean Air Act. Emptywheel has video:
• Why Fabian Nuñez is claiming racial bias at this late date over questions about his travel practices is completely beyond me. And he’s taken to Spanish-language television for these accusations to stoke divisiveness in the Latino community, too. It’s so counterproductive, as well as misleading.
• Speaking of Spanish-speaking media, this is an older story, but it’s fascinating to me that the Spanish-language channels in LA are so much more substantive than the English-language ones, featuring longer, “more deeply reported” pieces.
• We could see a settlement very shortly on prison overcrowding in the state which would not require early release. There are some decent components to this deal, but it basically gives everyone three more years to clean up their act, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it just puts us in the same siutation come 2011. The policies needed are well-known; the political will remains elusive.
• The Bay Area AQMD passed a carbon tax for businesses that emit greenhouse gases. It’s “not enough to change behavior,” one expert said, but it does presage what may be coming down the pike for polluters. Whether you get there through selling carbon permits at auction or with a tax, the bottom line is that pollution is going to cost enough money to alter business’ approach to engaging in it. This is a good step.
• Interesting that we denied the endorsement to Rep. Laura Richardson (CA-37) on the same day that she is forced to defend herself against allegations that she walked away from her foreclosed home in Sacramento. It sounds like the Congresswoman renegotiated the loan, but the conservative fever swamps are all over this one (check the comments in that LAT blog post). She did buy the half-million-dollar home with no money down, and then left Sacramento almost immediately after winning election to fill the open seat in Congress.
Save Money on Your Energy Bills
( – promoted by David Dayen)
We need to do a lot more to lower energy costs, and combat global warming. Congress just passed a bill that will lower costs in the long run by making major investments in clean energy technology, and create thousands of green jobs. But there are things we can do right now to save money.
I’ve made a list of 5 things people can do to save money on energy bills. But I know there are things people are doing to save money that I’m not aware of. What are you doing to save money on your energy bills? Tell me your best ideas, and I’ll share them with the country in a speech from the House floor.
Why Doesn’t Abel Maldonado Want Voters to Have a Choice?
(Updated with some important quotes below. – promoted by Robert in Monterey)
Earlier this week we brought you the news that Democrat Dennis Morris is running a write-in campaign to get on the November ballot in SD-15, as no other Democrat had stepped up to challenge Republican Abel Maldonado.
Today we learn that the rumors were true – in order to prevent voters from having a choice in November, and so that he doesn’t have to defend his right-wing voting record, Abel Maldonado has filed as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary in an attempt to keep Dennis Morris off the November ballot. If Maldonado gets more write-in votes than Morris, Abel Maldonado will be both the Republican AND the Democratic nominee in November – even though Maldonado is a self-identified Republican, even though local Democrats have endorsed Morris.
This is a practice known as “crossfiling” and used to be common in California from 1911 until it was outlawed in 1954. Republicans like Earl Warren used to file as a candidate in both party primaries, win both the nominations, and face no November opposition. But when the practice was outlawed in 1954, a loophole remained that allowed an incumbent from one party to file as a write-in candidate from the other. It has been rarely used, but Abel Maldonado, in a Soviet Politburo style move, has employed it to deny Central Coast voters a choice in the November election.
What is Maldonado afraid of? Why doesn’t he want to defend his record in a general election campaign? Is he worried that voters might discover he voted against AB 32? Or that his “moderate” reputation is a sham, as he rated a conservative 20 on the Capitol Weekly’s legislator scorecard?
Whatever the reason, the result is clear – Abel Maldonado is trying to deny his constituents a choice in the November election. It may be a legal loophole, but it is an undemocratic practice. Maldonado should be ashamed of himself, and his effort to block democracy on the Central Coast is an outrage.
It should also motivate Democrats across the state to stand up for Dennis Morris. If we are serious about a 58-county strategy, about making a push for 2/3, we need to help Dennis Morris fend off this undemocratic attack. Contact the Monterey County Democrats or the San Luis Obispo County Democrats to learn more about how you can help Dennis Morris defeat Maldonado’s dirty trick, and give voters a real choice in November.
[UPDATE by Robert] Shane Goldmacher picks up on this at the Capitol Alert and adds some key quotes, showing how important it is that Morris become the Democratic nominee:
Jim Battin, a Republican colleague of Maldonado’s in the state Senate, also saw a “strategic reason” to avoid having a Democrat on the ballot: saving money in the fall.
Maldonado represents the most Democratic-leaning Senate seat held by a Republican, with Democrats holding a four-point registration advantage (40 percent to 36 percent).
That means Morris’ simple presence on the November ballot with the label “Democrat” next to his name would likely force Maldonado to actively campaign in a district that includes all or parts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
Maldonado is sitting on nearly a million dollars in his campaign account, and the more of that we force him to spend here on the Central Coast, the better off other Democratic challengers will be. If there is anyone in California who thought this was just a fight on the Central Coast, they’re now quite mistaken. It’s now part of the statewide battle for control of the legislature – and hopefully Dems in other parts of the state will be willing to step up to help.
Also, Goldmacher notes that this write-in crossfiling tactic has been employed before, including by Democrats such as Jack O’Connell. Speaking only for myself, I do not support the practice, and believe the law should be changed to prevent it from happening in the future. Unless, that is, Republicans now support open primaries…