(It’s good to see the DCCC investing. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), today announced the DCCC is launching a “Putting Families First” ad and grassroots campaign in 28 targeted Republican districts throughout the country.  Our district (the 44th) is one of those included.

These ads will remind voters that members of Congress in these 28 districts (including Representative Calvert) voted to bail out big banks last year, but opposed tax breaks for 95 percent of American workers.  And while Mr. Calvert gets his health care at taxpayers' expense, this past week he also voted against health care for 11 million uninsured children.

The Putting Families First ads begin airing on Tuesday morning (February 3, 2009) during drive time and will run for a week.

In addition to the strategic radio ads in these 28 Republican districts, the DCCC will also begin a grassroots initiative which includes targeted e-mails to 3 million voters and nearly 100,000 person-to-person telephone calls.

 To read more about this new series of ads, visit the DCCC site at:  http://dccc.org/blog/archives/dccc_announces_families_first_ad_campaign/

Democratic legislative leaders are in Washington today arguing for increased stimulus money for California.  I’ve been arguing that this is required for some time, and hopefully it will be done in such a way that a) it can be applied to the General Fund deficit (so far Arnold has not asked for budget relief in that way) and b) it can be used without up-front money that will be matched, because the cash crisis limits our ability to do that.

However, there is something else that the Obama Administration can do right away to help the bottom line of the state and its citizens, and that is deal with the crisis in the housing market here.  It’s no secret that California is one of the hardest-hit states by foreclosures; in Stanislaus County, for example, 9 percent of all houses and condos in the county have been foreclosed upon, a staggering figure.  That’s almost $4 billion dollars worth of foreclosures in Stanislaus alone.  In larger counties like San Bernardino and Riverside, you can see how this foreclosure crisis affects new housing starts (there are a glut of cheaper foreclosed homes on the market) and thusly unemployment figures.

Only four years ago, Riverside and nearby San Bernardino, often called the Inland Empire, were California’s economic powerhouse, accounting for more than a fifth of the state’s new jobs. Today, unemployment reigns in the sprawling region east of Los Angeles. The 9.5 percent jobless rate in the two counties matches Detroit’s as the highest of any major metropolitan area in the U.S.

Although there was a surge in construction employment in the U.S., and about a 50% increase in California (as a percent of total employment), construction employment doubled (as a percent of total employment) in the Inland Empire […]

With the housing bust, the percent construction employment has declined sharply and the unemployment rate has risen to almost 10%. Is it any surprise that jobless rate in the Inland Empire matches Detroit’s as the highest of any major metropolitan area in the U.S.?

Nobody is calling on the federal government to prop up a sick housing market that will not see a broad recovery for a while.  But foreclosures have a disruptive effect on the greater economy.  They hurt property values, they hurt banks, and they hurt employment.  The crisis is only slated to grow if nothing is done, with homeowners of every income class affected.  And so foreclosure aid would be a major boost to California, and it can be done both quickly and effectively.  By pledging that $100 billion from the TARP program will go to limit foreclosures, Obama has already begun this effort.  Ted Lieu thinks that the Obama Administration understands the nature of the problem. (over)

Time is of the essence. I commend the incoming Obama Administration for pledging up to $100 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to help distressed homeowners stay in their homes. In California, which has the highest number of foreclosures in the nation, we experience one foreclosure filing every 30 seconds to 1 minute. The TARP funds, which the U.S. Senate recently released, should be immediately put to use to rescue homeowners from foreclosure. Our economic recovery will not begin until we slow down the astronomical rate of foreclosures and stabilize the housing market.

Strategic direction is of the essence. The haphazard strategy of the Bush Administration’s use of the initial $350 billion in TARP funds resulted in the following: more foreclosures, less market confidence, and zero benefits for the ordinary citizen. How does giving yet another $20 billion to Bank of America so it can complete its purchase of Merrill Lynch’s brokerage arm help anyone on Main Street? Answer: it doesn’t. The only people this TARP money under the Bush Administration has been helping have been Wall Street firms. It is time for change and January 20th cannot come soon enough.

State efforts are of the essence. Helping our economy recover will require the combined efforts of both state and federal resources. In California, I introduced the California Foreclosure Prevention Act to provide immediate foreclosure relief. This Act imposes a foreclosure moratorium, but allows lenders to avoid the moratorium if they have a comprehensive loan modification program designed to keep people in their homes. Swift passage of this Act will complement and enhance proposed federal efforts. We need action and we need it now.”

However, more needs to be done.  Earlier this month, Democratic Senators got Citigroup on board for what is known as “cramdown” legislation, which would allow bankruptcy judges to restructure mortgages that would give homeowners the ability to pay them.  The lenders take a haircut but it’s a better situation for them than foreclosure, and those who get to keep their homes can continue to contribute to the economy.  It’s a great idea and a major step toward reforming the hideous 2005 bankruptcy bill.  Yet despite supporting it, Obama’s team doesn’t want to include this reform in the economic recovery package, which I think is a mistake.

President-elect Obama and his advisers are resisting attempts to include a provision in the economic stimulus bill backed by congressional Democrats that would allow bankruptcy judges to shrink mortgages.

In a hastily convened Democratic Caucus meeting last week, Obama economics adviser Jason Furman made it clear to lawmakers that Obama thinks the so-called “cramdown” provision would cost GOP votes and endanger bipartisan support in the Senate.

He committed to dealing with the issue after the bill passes, as did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Lead supporters of the cramdown provision say the time to deal with the issue is now. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said it’s worth losing some Republican support to help homeowners.

“I would take that risk,” Nadler said. “I don’t think you’re going to get a lot of Republican votes anyway.”

This is absolutely correct by Nadler, and risking a few votes on the margins is no reason not to limit foreclosures now.  There is an urgency here, because each foreclosure hurts the housing market more and makes it less liable to recover quickly.  We cannot wait a few months for the sake of political expediency.  Cramdown needs to happen fast, particularly for us in California.

(Bill Hedrick is on the Calitics ActBlue Page. You can give there to all four of our candidates in tight races, Bill, Charlie Brown, Alyson Huber, and Hannah-Beth Jackson. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

The Hedrick campaign still needs help paying legal costs to make sure every vote is counted. Can you help? The ActBlue page is at www.actblue.com/page/hedrickballotfund.

The energy and determination of the Hedrick for Congress campaign remains high as the tally of the final votes in the 44th Congressional District race began last week.  Signature verification and sorting of ballots are continuing this weekend, with the actual count beginning on Monday, November 11th and resuming after the holiday on Wednesday.

The Hedrick Campaign has enlisted over 100 volunteers to observe the process, working in shifts to cover every available hour at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters in Moreno Valley.

Volunteers last week remarked repeatedly that they were impressed with the professionalism and efficiency of the Registrar’s staff.  The campaign has found the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Barbara Dunmore, to be completely forthcoming in answering all questions and clearly explaining the process ahead.  

Moreover, the Campaign shares Ms. Dunmore’s determination to make sure that every legitimate ballot is counted in this race.

The campaign, with its legion of dedicated volunteers, looks forward to participating in the procedure in the weeks ahead with absolute confidence in the transparency, security and consistency of the process.

Xposted on mydesert.com, the online edition of the Desert Sun

Rally this afternoon in Palm Springs and tomorrow afternoon in Beaumont to protest the unconstitutional removal of ‘fundamental right to marry’ for gays and lesbians:

More below the flip…

Rally today in Palm Springs:

Who: Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, Palm Springs Mayor Pro-Tempore Ginny Foat, HRC, EQCA, and the Desert Pride Center

What: Rally against Proposition 8

Where: Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA

When: 5:00 p.m.

Why: Homophobes and Bigots pass Proposition 8

Rally tomorrow afternoon in Beaumont to protest the unconstitutional removal of ‘fundamental right to marry’ for gays and lesbians and to seek the censure and removal from office of homophobe and bigot Beaumont City Councilmember Roger Berg:

Who: Donald W. Grimm, Ph.D., Charles W. Conn

What: Rally against Proposition 8 and to censure Beaumont City Councilmember Roger Berg

Where: Beaumont Civic Center, 550 E. Sixth Street, Beaumont, CA

When: 12:00 p.m.

Why: Passage of Prop 8, Berg’s assault of No on Prop 8 supporter during rally

XPosted on MyDesert.com

Beaumont City Councilmember Roger Berg was ‘arrested’ for assault on a woman during a No on Proposition 8 demonstration in Beaumont on Monday, November 3, 2008.  In an interview on Tuesday, Betty McMillion, Riverside County Democratic Central Committee chair told BluePalmSpringsBoyz, that Berg had been placed under ‘citizen’s arrest’ by the victim and that police reports had been filed against him.  Additionally, a minor filmed and audioed the aggression and has turned copies over to Beaumont police and the District Attorney’s office for further investigation.

During Election 2008, spontaneous rallies took place around Beaumont, a city in the San Gorgonio Pass region of Riverside County, midway between Palm Springs and Redlands.  A handful of young adults and older teens would gather at major intersections and crowds would gather to protest Proposition 8.  Monday was just such a demonstration.

More below the flip…

The Record Gazette reporters, Traci Kratzer and Cindy Watson, write today:

A Beaumont woman has told police that Beaumont Councilman Roger Berg pushed her during a Proposition 8 demonstration Monday night, an incident witnessed by dozens of people and filmed with a cellphone by one of them.

The pictures of the incident that took place at the intersection of Beaumont Avenue and Oak Valley Parkway about 6 p.m. have been turned over to Beaumont police, the victim said.

Jennifer Avakian, 31, said she and other demonstrators for “No on Prop. 8” were standing in front of Walgreens while demonstrators for “Yes on Prop. 8” were on the other side of the street.  In an interview with the Record Gazette, Avakian said the demonstration was going along peacefully until a man, who she later identified as Berg, began yelling at the “No on Prop. 8” supporters.

“He was screaming and saying that we were going to go to hell and that we were an abomination.” Avakian said.  “He looked crazy, like he was going to hurt someone.”

Berg, 53, allegedly began yelling at another one of the woman (sic) who was holding up a sign, and Avakian said, she went over to intervene.  That is when Avakian said Berg made a fist and pushed it into the sign she was holding, pushing her backwards.

“I was in complete shock,” Avakian said.  “I didn’t even know he was a council member until someone told me who he was.  That just made the whole thing ten times worse.”

Attempts to reach the homophobic, bigoted Berg were unsuccessful, according to the Record Gazette.  BluePalmSpringsBoyz knows from personal experience re Berg’s erratic, temperamental behavior as when I spoke to Beaumont City Council in October in support of No on 8, Berg flailed his arms, turned beet red, and said that if Council did not support Yes on 8, then the next thing that would happen would be that men would be marrying horses.  Horses?  Horses.  Scary to think of what Berg’s and the religious extremists fantasies consist.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday, Berg became upset when resident Heather Gardner spoke and referred to the incident.  As Gardner began her comments, Berg cut her off and asked if it was appropriate to talk about any ballot item with a polling place across the hallway.

City Attorney Joe Akulfi said it was up to the council but that it was a public meeting.

Gardner said she was appalled by Berg’s behavior on Monday night and asked that he apologize…

…Sixty-fifth Assembly District candidate Carl Wood, a Democrat, said he was present during the Monday pushing incident.  He said he noticed Berg as soon as he walked up to the crowd because he looked “extremely angry and was red in the face.”

“He was getting in their face and yelling at them,” Wood said.  “Then he pushed a young woman and it was just surreal because you don’t expect to see something like that.”…

…Another witness, Amanda Pombar, said she didn’t see Avakian get pushed but did see Berg yelling at people.  “He was yelling in people’s faces and he pulled out a Bible and started waving it at the,” Pombar said.  “It was almost like he wasn’t aware anyone was there.”

Wondering here if Berg whacked Avakian with his Bible.  Hideous little creature that Berg is.

Following the incident, Beaumont police were called and a report was taken.  Avakian told police officers that she wanted to place Berg under “citizen’s arrest” for the alleged assault.  “You just don’t do that to someone,” Avakian said about the incident.

According to a city spokeswoman, Darci Carranza, the police department is working on completing the report and once it is completed it will be sent to the district attorney’s office for review.  From there, it will be up to prosecutors on whether to pursue charges against Berg.

Rumors are that the next council meeting on November 18 should be interesting with calls for suspension of Berg from council pending the investigation, for censure, and with a possible recall in the works.

It isn’t the first issue involving Berg and Prop. 8.  Last month, he expressed support for “Yes on Prop. 8,” during a council meeting.  Berg had asked city staff to put a resolution supporting Prop. 8 on the agenda for council consideration and a vote.  At the time, he said he sought council support for the measure because “this is about tradition and family values.  Marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

Course, Berg’s fantasies consist of marriage being between a man and a horse.  Berg neglects to consider the fact that gays and lesbians have family values that are just as consistent and just as strong as their heterosexual brothers and sisters.

The council declined to take a position on Prop. 8, rejecting his proposal of having the city support it.

The final vote was 4-1 in favor of tabling the homophobe’s motion.

Berg has served on the council since 1993.  His current term ends in 2010.

(great ground report from the campaign of my favorite soon-to-be Assemblyman. – promoted by David Dayen)

Large majorities of Perez’s ID’d voters have already voted.  The majority of  VBM and PAV are Democrats this time around.  We’ve expanded the universe to make full use of our powerhouse squad of union brothers and sisters on the job today.

Jeandron dropped some particularly sleazy attack mailers yesterday, but California Medical Association mailed a fold out poster IE for Manuel that’s just beautiful, as you can see above.  As the man says, it’s a movimiento, a social justice movement, not just a campaign.

I’m here in Coachella with CSEA.   SEIU is also walking and poll watching, as is LIUNA, United Domestic Workers, CTA.  The enthusiasm in Imperial County is unprecedented – that’s where Manuel started his day.  He’s working his way from volunteer site to site from Calexico to Palm Springs today.  He’ll vote at Coachella City Hall at 3pm, and join Assembly Speaker Karen Bass at the Democratic HQ at 6pm for a rally, then on to Democratic Party at the Agua Caliente, then back to Coachella HQ to get the final numbers.

Two bands, and much food by then.  Updates as I can.  

Republican Gary Jeandron’s gone negative on Manuel Perez again, airing a radio/TV ad that accuses Manuel of being for higher taxes, higher fees, we can’t afford Manuel Perez – primal scream, clutch the pearls, etc.  The usual GOP disingenuous hysteria.

The Perez campaign has responded:

Now, it’s not that Perez thinks that the Grover Norquist pledge is a good thing, he just notes that Jeandron is running on the usual GOP gimmick, while failing to meet the gimmick’s standards.

UPDATE – I had this diary all wrong before, I referred to the wrong attack ad. Now it makes sense.

ActBlue here.

Our campaign manager, Ryan Sandoval, wanted to update folks on this blog as to where California’s 44th Congressional District race currently stands, what sort of support we have in the district, what our chances of winning are, what we’ve been doing to ensure victory,  and what our opponent has been up to.

We encourage you to watch the video and then make up your own mind as to whether you think our race  is winnable.  If you agree with us that this is a completely winnable race (given the right support), we ask that you help us out by donating to the campaign or signing up as a volunteer to help in spreading the word about Bill.

This  has always been a grassroots campaign so we’re doing what we’ve done all along – reaching out and asking that the grassroots activists out there step up and help the good guy win in November!

To learn more about our campaign, visit our website at www.hedrickforcongress.com

Thanks,

Lori Vandermeir

Communications Director

Hedrick for Congress

Watch the video at: www.HedrickforCongress.com/CampaignManager

(Full disclosure:  I’m an elected DSCC delegate, thanks to constructive nagging in 06 from the Calitics crew, and I’m an alternate to the RCDCC as soon as I’m properly sworn in.  I’m on the board of Democrats of the Desert, a chartered CDP club, and of the ACLU Desert Chapter.

At Netroots Nation, NYBrian and hekebolos had a terrific panel on getting involved with your local Democratic Party.  Most of us have plenty to say on that subject, and in my region the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee takes its share of criticism from the local clubs and activists.   But this year, we have plenty to applaud, and I want to share the work that the RCDCC is doing to support our current candidates, and those coming up.  The board has several new members, and the new chair is making everyone work, work, work.

Crossposted at dkos.

We’re registering voters, building a strong Democratic bench, and supporting our brilliant set of candidates this season:  Manuel Perez in the 80th Assembly District, Art Guerrero for the 37th SD, Julie Bornstein in the CA-45th, and Barack Obama for President.   This is a traditionally red county, but the local Democrats are organized across clubs and across campaigns to make the most of this cycle and every one after.

Betty McMillion, the new Chair, has fostered an ambitious voter registration drive (hat tip to Suzan Wilkinson, who spearheaded the club coordination) with 51 sites around Riverside County.  For the week of Sept 1-6, Democratic volunteers registered 375 Democrats, 48 Republicans (well, it’s the law), and 58 Other.    We are tracking the progress of each site, and readjusting resources to maximize Democratic registration.   Anyone who shows an interest in volunteering for one of the races gets sent straight to that campaign office.  

The local party, for the first time in memory, also interviewed nonpartisan candidates for local races, and endorsed 33.  We’re building a strong farm team, and giving rookie candidates preliminary support and training on GOTV, fundraising, and stump speeches.  We’re solidly behind Manuel Perez, Art Guererro,  Julie Bornstein, and Barack Obama, and looking to the future as well.

Every year we celebrate the memory of Gary Bosworth, local Democratic activist extraordinaire, by honoring an activist of the year, and a volunteer from each club.  (This year’s celebration is this Saturday, and my club is honoring Carole Sumner Krechman for her professionalism and commitment to our fundraising for three solid years.)   The money raised goes toward building the local party, and this year that means supporting candidates with media buys.  

This diary courtesy of Betty’s strong urging, as she wants the local party to get online and into the blogosphere.   I couldn’t agree more.  This is one of those pleasant episodes where the System wants us to take them on, so if you’re local to the Palm Springs area, Betty has a job for you.

I think Gary would be thrilled to see where Riverside County Democrats are this year.