As if we didn’t have enough going on to make these times feel like the 1930s, the Salinas Californian reports on widespread abandonment of fields by farmers in the Central and Salinas Valleys. A devastating combination of drought and recession are leading to a crisis in California farming, endangering our food security:
Consumers may pay more for spring lettuce and summer melons in grocery stores across the country now that California farmers have started abandoning their fields in response to a crippling drought.
California’s sweeping Central Valley grows most of the country’s fruits and vegetables in normal years, but this winter thousands of acres are turning to dust as the state hurtles into the worst drought in nearly two decades.
Federal officials’ recent announcement that the water supply they pump through the nation’s largest farm state would drop further was enough to move John “Dusty” Giacone to forego growing vegetables so he can save his share to drip-irrigate 1,000 acres of almond trees.
The drought is exacerbated by the problems facing the Delta and endangered fish stocks, as overpumping of the Delta has led to an environmental crisis necessitating reduction in water deliveries to farmers and cities alike.
The situation is just as bad in parts of the state not dependent on the Delta. Monterey County and the Salinas Valley get their water from reservoirs in the Big Sur watershed. A third dry winter in a row means they are very low, and will likely necessitate further cuts to urban users and to farmers. Cattle ranchers, a significant industry around Monterey County, have had to move their stocks elsewhere in the state in recent summers and are going to have a difficult time remaining in business this summer.
As stories of peanut butter recalls and tainted Chinese food products dominate the news, locally-grown food becomes that much more important.
California agriculture and water systems need reform, and clearly the answer isn’t to just send water we don’t have into the fields. But this is a reminder of the crisis we all face as a state, and that we need a sustainable water solution.
Yesterday the California Majority Report reported that Assembly Democrats unfurled a scroll of all their budget cuts that they have adopted over just the past 5 years.
Assemblymember Noreen Evans, Chair of the Budget Committee, along with
Assemblymembers Saldana, De Leon, and Hayashi, unrolled a 150 foot long scroll listing all the budget cuts the Legislature has adopted since the 2003-2004 budget. The scroll stretched from the Capitol Rotunda to the Governor’s Office and displayed over 180 cuts totaling over $19 billion.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t do this because they were proud of the cuts. They impact the least of society, and make it harder for those who are struggling at precisely the time they need to access basic services.
No, the Assembly Democrats did this in the hopes that bipartisan fetishists like George Skelton and Warren Olney and the Sacramento Bee editorial board and California Forward could maybe tell the truth for once about what is holding up the budget. As the CBP noted yesterday, California is the only state in the entire nation with a 2/3 requirement for both the budget and tax increases. The “solutions” they have therefore had to provide for past budget gaps are often gimmicky and simply delay problems into the future. But the other consequence is that Democrats have OVER AND OVER AGAIN authorized often painful cuts to state services. This is not a problem of “the legislature” – it’s a problem of one side willing (sometimes too willing) to compromise and the other unwilling to do so, protected by the dysfunctional laws of the state.
With the proposed federal stimulus bringing as much as $21 billion to the state over the next two years, there’s a lot of talk about a budget deal, and given the Feb. 1 deadline for action, that’s positive. But the only specifics we’ve heard is another set of debilitating cuts, offered by Democrats as well as Republicans. This is asymmetrical warfare, where Democrats act in the interests of the state and magical thinking Republicans whine and cry. And nobody helps Californians sort it out. This budget crisis is a media failure. The blood is on their hands.
(I added the report FOX 11 (LA) ran on the event to Unite the Fight’s crossposted piece. Note: I work for the Courage Campaign; “Unite the Fight” does not. – promoted by Robert in Monterey)
Of the countless meetings I’ve attended after the election, focusing either on the postmortem of the No on 8 Campaign (including Saturday’s Equality Summit), brainstorming strategy, figuring out how to build coalitions, planning events and actions, and trying to determine next steps for the movement, I have not been to one meeting that was as effective, inclusive, practical and educational as the Courage Campaign’sCamp Courage.
Held in West Hollywood and knowing that it was going to last from 8:30am-5:30pm, I thought spending my whole Sunday at the event made the whole thing seem daunting. And I was skeptical. After feeling let down after so many attempts to do what the Courage Campaign was attempting, I was prepared to get bored, lose interest in the speakers and eventually tune out altogether. But amazingly, they held my attention the whole time, and I learned a lot. Borrowing the mantra, “Respect – Empower – Include” from the Obama campaign, Camp Courage succeeded in doing just that.
(Due to my having to write the Equality Summit report, I missed the kick off reception the night before, where many told me Cleve Jones gave a riveting speech. Unfortunately, I can’t report the details, but if any of you were able to make it, please write me and tell me about it, and I’ll post it. Also, I hear there is video of this – please let me know when it is up!)
Camp Courage kicked off strong with Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs telling the attendees that California is a “state that is tarnished” with discrimination. Indirectly referring to the Equality Summit and its panel of leaders who populated the stage throughout the whole event, he pointed to the empty stage behind him and said, “There are not a lot of people on this stage. You’re the stage!” And that’s how the rest of the day went.
Lisa Powell, lead facilitator who had worked with the Obama campaign, did a great job in leading the overbooked event, involving the crowd divided into predetermined groups with active sessions which lasted throughout the day and included:
* Story of Self: finding your voice as an activist. After hearing examples from people telling their stories as to why they’re fighting to repeal Prop 8, Lisa broke down the storytelling technique, handed out a worksheet so that each person can shape their own story, and then each participant told their tale to their own group. Learning how to tell your own story is extremely effective in getting others involved in the movement, or opening the eyes of the opponents to the harm of Prop 8. After the sessions amongst the groups, a few were picked to share their story to the whole crowd. Many heart-wrenching tales were given, the unearthing of the motivation driving these activists.
* Story of Us: the amazing Mike Bonin lead this session about building the movement, one leader at a time.
* Voter Persuasion: how to talk to the others in one-on-one encounters. Led by Liz Moore of the SEIU, this was an extremely educational and effective session. After an improvised moment between Lisa Powell and Jenny Pizer, portraying a peaceful interaction between neighbors who voted differently on Prop 8, the groups were given worksheets with various scenarios that they had to improvise amongst themselves. Given tools in how to communicate with the opposition, many learned the power of proper persuasion without making those you disagree with uncomfortable or under attack. The emphasis of persuasion was on baby steps – you can’t change someone’s mind with one conversation.
* Online Tech Tools: this session, led by Julia Rosen, Online Political Director for the Courage Campaign, debuted the organization’s online, grassroots tool, Equality Hub, which allows individuals and grassroots organizations to effectively plan events, socialize and organize. It also includes a voter phone banking tool that allows the individual to make phone calls from their own homes, similar to the Obama Campaign site. Definitely worth checking out.
* Into Action: this session broke out into groups that contained practical education on door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, tabling, organizing a political house party and online organizing (which went into further detail about the Equality Hub, but also networking and education about online tools that are effective for planning events and keeping your organization’s members or participants active and updated).
* Our Commitment to the Cause: Lisa Powell talked about the organization’s commitment, to the movement, but as well as the activists, and referred to the Courage Campaign’s project “Please don’t divorce us . . . “
Inserted throughout the sessions were touching (and amazingly concise) speeches from married couple Jenny Pizer of Lamda Legal and Doreena Wong, who, speaking on the legal and political context of marriage equality, spoke about their years in activism and told the story that after 24 years together, Doreena’s mother felt that Jenny was finally officially a part of the family after marrying her daughter; Torie Osborn spoke on organizing and movement building, focusing on respectful interaction with the opposition and learning how to actively listen; and Mike Bonin, telling his story of self, confessed that after working extremely long hours on the Obama campaign, and feeling ashamed that he didn’t do enough for the No on 8 campaign, promised he will never allow himself to put an LGBT initiative “on the back burner.”
With so much material covered in a relatively small amount of time, it’s a marvel that it was all accomplished, and miraculously, on time and on schedule! These Obama-turned-LGBT and equality campaigners know how to lead a large meeting, communicate and educate, but above all, inspire. Led by multi-generational activists, some new and some experienced, Camp Courage offers something for everyone of all ages and backgrounds. Either this is all new to you and you learn the essential basics, or it’s a refresher on old skills, you don’t leave empty handed.
The Courage Campaign plans to hold many more Camp Courage sessions around the state. They are asking us to vote on where some of them will be. I recommend you do, find one near you (Fresno is already confirmed and they intend to schedule more in San Luis Obsispo, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco) and GO. In order for this movement to propel forward and succeed, we must be educated, we must know how to work together, we must be on the same page, and we must remain inspired. Camp Courage is the step in the right direction. Do not miss out. GO.
It’s no secret that the Republicans want a spending cap, and I don’t need to remind you how devastating that would be. But there is some even more concerning news: word is coming from various corners that the Republicans are looking to further subject the state to their tyranny of the minority. From Media News:
“I’m very concerned from the conversations I’ve had that Democrats may agree to something like this,” said Lenny Goldberg, executive director at the California Tax Reform Association. “There’s no hope for the future if we do this. This would mean that if there’s a huge need that we can’t even anticipate right now, we won’t be able to meet it. If they do this, they better do it with the notion that we’ll put together a campaign and fight like hell to defeat this on the ballot.”
That could be a problem. Any change in the way the state spends money would have to go before the people in a vote on a constitutional amendment. But Republicans are insisting that a spending cap be vote-proof: if a spending cap is defeated at the polls, any agreed-upon tax increase would be rescinded, possibly with rebates for taxes collected. (CoCo Times 1/27/09)
The Republicans not only don’t respect the legislature, they don’t respect the majority of the state’s voters to let them decide their path for the future of this state. They want to leverage the 2/3 requirement
We probably should have been going to the ballot for a tax increase a long time ago. And if this speculation about a “refundable tax increase if the cap fails” deal comes to pass, it seems the ballot is the only way to get anything done anyway. So, despite any reservations about ballot box budgeting, CTA’s ideas for a tax seem well founded. It seems that perhaps their only mistake is that the plan is far too modest.
Refunding any tax increases would be such a disaster to this state that it seems the GOP really doesn’t care about the viability of this state going forward. What would that deal ultimately get us? A few months before the inevitable electoral defeat of the spending cap? It seems the Republicans are simply looking to toss the rest of the state an anvil as we go down with them.
• This Stockton Record article is very, very good, but very, very sad. It puts some faces to the budget crisis. This isn’t some hypothetical game the Republicans are playing brinksmanship with, these are people’s lives. You don’t want the wealthiest Californians to pay a little more? Well, just know you are holding a gun at the head of real Californians. It seems they are prepared to pull the not really metaphorical trigger.
Putting politics over people’s lives is just wrong. Some people are going to have a lot to account for at some point, that’s some serious bad karma. Sometimes the situation that our state is facing just seems so dire, and so bleak, that it just breaks me up. Being a blogger is usually a lot of fun, but writing this stuff is very disheartening.
• Apparently Arnold finds the California Conservation Corps (CCC) a “waste, fraud or abuse.” Alas, this is what that fabled term means to Republicans. CCC is a program begun under Gov. Jerry Brown and provides at-risk teenagers with work and service opportunities. Oh, and they also fought the fires last year, saving the state a ton of money and Californians a bunch of houses. So, yeah, that’s Arnold’s idea of waste.
• The San Diego Chargers are looking to “expand” into the LA Market. You have to wonder if San Diego can compete with LA to hold onto the Chargers, if a competition begins.
• This has got to be the coolest photo of the inauguration ever. You can pan around and find some crazy stuff. Yo Yo Ma taking an iPhone photo, Dick Cheney looking, well, evil, and what I think is a sleeping Clarence Thomas. Really, really cool. If you were there, can you find yourself?
• George Skelton occasionally gets a good column in with all the High Broderism, and in today’s, he recognizes that the Governor is all talk when it comes to “blowing up the boxes” of waste in Sacramento. Not only that, the ideas he does champion, like eliminating the California Conservation Corps, are really stupid. And that’s not me with the ad hominem attack, that’s me quoting Cal State Sacramento political science professor Barbara O’Connor.
• At the new site CalPensions, there is talk of former Republican Assemblyman Keith Richman using the Internet to gather signatures for an anti-worker “pension reform” initiative. OOOH!!! Using the Internet! Next thing you know Richman will get wise to the Facebook and the Twitter!
Thing is, Internet or no Internet, Californians like workers because by and large they ARE workers.
• There’s another powerful special interest waiting to argue their case in the halls of the legislature: say hello to Big Golf, which doesn’t want increased taxes on golf-related activities, which are currently exempt from sales tax. Don’t make me change the name of Republicans to the Golf Party!
• Arnold’s spending cuts are incredibly painful on the least of society. The LAO is offering a more sensible and less punitive alternative.
• The San Diego Chargers are looking to “expand” into the LA Market. You have to wonder if San Diego can compete with LA to hold onto the Chargers, if a competition begins.
• This has got to be the coolest photo of the inauguration ever. You can pan around and find some crazy stuff. Yo Yo Ma taking an iPhone photo, Dick Cheney looking, well, evil, and what I think is a sleeping Clarence Thomas. Really, really cool. If you were there, can you find yourself?
Dylan “Sonny” Shafer, 63, has had two heart surgeries, one leg amputated and receives in-home support help that allows him to live in his own home. The in-home help used to be free, but now he will have to chip in at least $400 per month if he wants to keep it under proposed budget cuts.
On a limited income that includes disability payments, he’s already had to skip taking his medication on occasion to save money and recently had his water shut off because he couldn’t pay the bill, he said. He heats his home with a wood-burning stove.
A proud man, it was tough to convince him to accept help in the first place, said daughter Marcie Coe, who helps when she can between 12-hour nursing shifts. He tries to keep up on the dusting, vacuuming and laundry, “and he overexerts himself, and there are medical ramifications,” she said. (Stockton Record 1/26/09)
This isn’t some hypothetical game the Republicans are playing brinksmanship with, these are people’s lives. You don’t want the wealthiest Californians to pay a little more? Well, just know you are holding a gun at the head of real Californians. It seems they are prepared to pull the (only slightly metaphorical) trigger.
Putting politics, and a few bucks, over people’s lives is just wrong. Some people are going to have a lot to account for at some point, that’s some serious bad karma. Sometimes the situation that our state is facing just seems so dire, and so bleak, that it just breaks me up. But this fight is too important to abandon, we must fight, and we must win. And we can never let this happen again.
