Check out this editorial from the North County Times about Dick Cheney’s visit to California 50 District the upcoming June 6th special election. Visit www.californiawomenvote.org and www.myspace.com/cawomenvote for more information.

When Dick Cheney came to town

By: JOHN VAN DOORN – Staff Writer

Imagine that: Vice President Dick Cheney came to town to (1) endorse Brian Bilbray, and (2) to say that the eyes of the nation were on the 50th Congressional District, which is where Bilbray is running.

This was news. Voters in the 50th, much of which lies in North County, cannot be expected to check the eyes of the nation, not without years of ophthalmological instruction. If the vice president can, and did, more power to him. All those eyes. We’d best stand up straight and try not to stammer.
Cheney was an especially big gun to visit San Diego for the purpose of endorsement, even if the significance of the race in the national scheme of things had been obvious for months. Cheney’s timeline was a trifle askew: More eyes of the nation will be focused on the 50th during and after a vice president’s visit than before.

More to the point: Republicans are running scared, even if very few will say it out loud. So Cheney’s visit was no surprise.

The fall of the house of Cunningham is a very serious part of the fear. While in Congress as the representative for the 50th district, Randy Cunningham took bribes in cash, cars, houses, yachts and antiques to do what he could for defense contractors.

And went to jail, said to be the worst offender in the history of Congress, noted for offenders of every stripe.

There is fear elsewhere among Republicans because corruption on their side of the aisle in Washington has tainted others and engulfed a few, such as Tom DeLay. Almost certainly there are more storms to come —- all sides agree on that, the Democrats gleefully —- and this creates a certain edginess among politicians and their handlers.

(To be fair, or at least balanced, the Democrats have a few bad apples, too, but the scale seems less imposing. The Republicans for the moment have the market cornered.)

You throw in a deceitful war, the bumbles of Katrina, the grotesqueries of immigration policy, and the fatness of Fat Oil and you’d run scared, too.

Mind you, Bilbray is no prize. As a congressman once before, and as a lobbyist after that, he had certain connections in Washington and involvements with oil companies that appear, at least to his critics, unsavory.

Thus, Cheney came to town. Once an oil man himself, he spoke to the faithful about the campaign in the 50th District, and said the nation needs Brian Bilbray. Cheney also spoke to military groups and raced about the region doing what he could for George and country.

The 50th race has been ugly, at least in terms of television advertising. The assaults by the Republican machine in Washington on the Democratic aspirant, Francine Busby, have ranged in tone from vicious to scurrilous, with several stops in between.

Busby’s people have gone negative, as well, but they say they’re only defending their candidate.

(Two in One: Support clean money AND protest Doolittle! Edited slightly for space – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Does the culture of corruption have a cure? California’s nurses think so. 

This week, nurses are in the process of turning in 600,000 signatures to registrars around the state to qualify an initiative for “Clean Money Elections,” also known as public financing of elections.  Think of it as the Jack Abramoff anti-dote, or as the comprehensive campaign finance reform that voters are desperately looking for.  You can read about it here and here. More in the extended…

Why nurses?  For years nurses have watched patients suffer while the deep-pocketed healthcare corporations convince the legislature to block reform of our broken healthcare system.  Nurses are patient advocates, from the bedside to the ballot box.

Why Clean Money Elections?  The system is working well already in Arizona, Maine, and Connecticut.  It enjoys bi-partisan support, has stood up to multiple court challenges, and has allowed everyday Americans—nurses, teachers, firefighters, women, ethnic minorities, healthcare activists—to run for office and win, instead of the parade of millionaires we’ve become used to. 

It’s a simple cure: if candidates don’t beg corporations for money, they can’t be bought.  Simple, but powerful, as we believe it has the potential to remake the political landscape in the Golden State, and reverberate across the nation.

Make no mistake, this will be a tough election.  Our Clean Money Elections initiative sharply reduces the influence of lobbyists and corporations on our political system, and they will fight back to protect what they view as theirs.

You can help two ways.  One, visit our online home and let us know what you think.  Sign up to help!

Or, if you’re in Sacramento, come to our first public protest of the campaign next Monday.  Dick Cheney will be in town to raise money for John Doolittle.  You may have heard of this Congressman?  He’s taken money from both Jack Abramoff, and from Brent Wilkes, the un-indicted co-conspirator in Duke Cunningham case.  Oh, and John’s fundraiser is his wife Julie, meaning that 15% of everything he raises goes straight into the family checking account.  Nice work if you can get it. 

Come join us at the Sacramento Hyatt (1209 L Street) at 10:30 am.  Questions, email [email protected]

Full disclosure: I am, clearly, a political organizer with the California Nurses Association…