(Welcome Sen. DeSaulnier – promoted by Brian Leubitz)
At the Contra Costa County United Democratic Campaign CD 10 candidates’ forum last week, the candidates were asked to list examples of when they had defied Democratic party leadership in order to stand up for progressive values and make real change. I told the audience of Contra Costa Democratic activists that I had a history of doing so, and in fact might have to do so if the leadership put an all-cuts budget up for a vote this week in the Senate. Yesterday, I kept my promise and did not vote for the all-cuts budget that was brought to the floor.
Progressive values and commonsense dictate that we have a budget that combines cuts with increases in revenue. A cuts-only budget is a recipe for disaster in California and severely hurts the most vulnerable of our fellow Californians. In an era of “yes we can,” the Governor and Republican legislators are telling Californians “no they can’t” have sensible solutions to California’s budget crisis. They have pushed Democrats into a “through the looking glass” scenario where Democrats are on the record voting for $11 billion in cuts and Republicans are on the record voting against them, but there is no record that in fact the Republicans want even deeper cuts and refuse to support any tax increases whatsoever. Only in Sacramento could such an Alice in Wonderland scenario unfold.
The truth is that standing up for progressive values sometimes dictates that we go against the decisions of our leadership. I cannot in good conscience vote for a budget that does not include significant revenue increases. In the next few days, we will have votes on raising revenue through an oil severance tax and an increase in the tobacco tax. I will vote for those because proposals to increase revenue to the state must be part of any solution to California’s deficit.
In addition, I joined with Senator Lois Wolk in writing the Legislative Analyst’s Office seeking advice on the most efficient way to close corporate tax loopholes in California. There are approximately $50 billion – $50 billion! – in tax loopholes that exist right now.
It’s time to push back hard against the ideological inflexibility of the Governor and the Republicans in the legislature and make them take responsibility in front of the voters for their efforts to drive California over a fiscal cliff. There is no proposal that will create a budget that is pain free. But an all-cuts budget is the most painful for the people who are the most vulnerable.
We can do better for California. Yes, as progressives, we can stand up to make a bad budget better. That was my promise to the Contra Costa Democrats last Friday and it’s my promise to you today.
Mark DeSaulnier
So it was actually a general audience that was invited to the Jewish Community Center of Walnut Creek last week, if that’s the candidate forum that you’re referring to.
First off, the overwhelming majority of the attendees (while they might well have been registered Democrats or even Decline-To-State voters that have become alienated from the dead-end ideologies of the California GOP), were anything but activists. It was a packed house to be sure, but it was also a crowd of everyday folk and your typical neighbors.
What’s more, those voters told you clearly on May 19 (as the first commenter here has also), that the legislature should do their job and solve this crisis. Pass the revenue shifting budget of last year, and see if he can really veto it again under the present scrutiny. Make him choose between his avowed principles and his legacy, between a bankrupt ideology and the vanity of a moviestar governor.
In any event, you seem to have a problem remembering who your hosts were. It had nothing to do with the Contra Costa UDC. The Lamorinda, Rossmoor, Diablo Valley, and San Ramon Valley Democratic Clubs sponsored the forum. East County was not at all represented, but they will be at next Thursday’s forum in Antioch….
I agree with the last commenter, this all reads as so much fluff. It’s now long past time to “push back hard against the ideological inflexibility of the Governor and the Republicans.” This all smacks of consultant-written faux-progresssive boilerplate language, or pandering on the eve of an election.
Oh yeah, and whoever wrote this yawn-inspiring piece: you misspelled the Senator’s name in the signature. Just saying…
I’m delighted to have a Senator who stands up for what he believes in. The Republicans have failed to offer any sort of solution for the budget crisis. Yes, we need to work to have a simple majority vote. In the meantime, we need legislators like Mark DeSaulnier who aren’t intimidated by Republican threats. California has a ton of problems, but the solution isn’t to place all of our burdens on students, the elderly and the disadvantaged.
Mark has stood up for progressive values in the Senate and I’m sure he’ll do the same in Congress.
That the rightfully angry posters direct their ire appropriately. Republican no-taxers are blocking every solution that would save state services that taxpayers want. Write the governor. Picket his office. Go to http://www.cadem.org and use their calling tool to talk to Democrats who live in Republican districts. Get them to pressure their legislators. Look for events near you and show up.
We should be angry about what is happening to our state. But, honestly, we all have some responsibility for creating it. I didn’t realize when prop. 13 passed that it included the 2/3 rule that has made the state budget an exercise in extortion by the minority party. Few people realize that when they vote for high-speed rail or children’s hospitals, there may be no funding mechanism attached. And that the bond debt the state has accumulated to pay for these voter-mandated spending propositions is sinking the state–accounting for some 40% of the state budget.
Yes, the May 19 propositions were a deal with the devil that voters rejected. Just as a point of information, delegates to the California Democrat Party convention in April rejected all but 1B and 1F as well.
But, personally, I am happy to add Senator DeSaulnier to the list of legislators who are standing up to this tax-cutting mania that we all know will damage our state. We need his voice and his vote in the Assembly. And he needs our support.
For those of you who think citizenship is a passive exercise that you can hand over to elected officials, I beg to disagree. If you don’t like what’s happening–and I agree you shouldn’t–may I suggest YOU do something about it. The tools are available. Please use them.