Tag Archives: Courage Campaign

Prisons

Total Recall: The Courage Campaign Governor Watch UPDATE – Prison Reform

(the latest in my Courage Campaign compatriot’s ongoing series – promoted by Todd Beeton)

From The Courage Campaign

Just before the holidays, Governor Schwarzenegger outlined his plan to fix California's broken correctional system.  Prior to the Governor's announcement, and as part of our continuing series on the Governor's promises and actions, The Courage Campaign noted Schwarzenegger's stated commitment to reforming our prisons.  The Governor's early proposal shows that this issue remains near the top of the agenda for the state as we start the new year.

Follow me over the flip for details and analysis of Schwarzenegger's new proposal. 

 

The first question political analysts and pundits will ask relates to the timing of Schwarzenegger's announcement.  Why did he unveil this plan in late December and not during the State of the State Address on January 9?  Perhaps Schwarzenegger moved early on this political hot potato as a "trial balloon," a way to gauge public reaction before a major speech like the State of the State.  After considering initial response, Schwarzenegger might tweak his proposal and put revised language in the State of the State address.  Perhaps Schwarzenegger will simply avoid the highly contentious prison issue completely in the State of the State address, but this seems very unlikely given the massive and very urgent crisis in the prisons.  As Schwarzenegger stated himself, a federal takeover of California's prisons (an all-too-real possibility) would result in federally mandated and severe cuts in health care and education.  Schwarzenegger says that his plan would avoid a federal takeover.

 

The centerpiece of Schwarzenegger's proposal calls for 10.9 Billion borrowed dollars (bonds) to build enough new prison cells for 78,000 additional beds.  The very large expenditure, which would put California even further into debt, led critics like SEIU to say that the plan is "too heavy on the bricks and mortar and too light on rehabilitation and reform."

 

On rehabilitation and reform, Schwarzenegger's plan calls for a permanent, semi-independent commission to suggest changes to California's sentencing system.  Such a system would be new to California, but eighteen other states have sentencing commissions similar to the one outlined in Schwarzenegger's proposal.  This is the most progressive part of Arnold's plan, but critics say it doesn't go far enough in changing the way that the courts send people to the bursting-at-the-seams penitentiary system.

 

Most progressives suggest that any real reform must address the controversial "three strikes law," which mandates heavy sentences for a third conviction, even if the third conviction is a trivial offense.  For example, someone facing a third conviction for shoplifting a loaf of bread might face decades behind bars.  Such long sentences inevitably lead to overcrowding.  Governor Schwarzenegger said that he refuses to discuss changing three strikes and would simply reject any alterations to that law.

 

Also absent from Schwarzenegger's proposal is any mention of a cap on the prison population.  Given the severe overcrowding, in which more than 16,000 people (and counting) do not have regular prison beds to sleep on, a cap on the absolute maximum size of California's prisons seems to be absolutely necessary.  Indeed, California has already started shipping people to private prisons in far away states like Tennessee.  A cap on the prison population would be one way to force a reduction in the already-untenable size of the prison population.

 

Also getting short shrift in Schwarzenegger's plan is the defunct prison health care system.  Only about 1/10th of Schwarzenegger's bond dollars would go to improvements for the prison health system, a system so badly broken that it's has already been taken over by federal courts.

  Clearly, the details of the plan need work.  But the larger question is one of leadership.  Last year, Schwarzenegger was accused of backing down and failing to follow through on his ideas for reforming our prisons.  We'll see if there are any changes to the plan in the State of the State, and whether Schwarzenegger can display the bold leadership necessary to move a progressive plan through the Legislature while fulfilling his promise to repair our broken prisons. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Field Poll Finds Massive Support For Healthcare Reform

(Cross-posted from The Courage Campaign)

It's rare but, in politics, sometimes doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are the same. And for California politicians, tackling healthcare may have just gotten a whole lot easier…politically anyway.

According to the new Field Poll, eight in ten (81%) Californians believe

“it should be public policy that government guarantee that all Californians have access to affordable health care insurance or other health care coverage.”

That is the actual wording from the question asked to respondents. Remarkable.

In addition, 78% agree (44% strongly) that government has a responsibility for providing health care coverage for people who can’t afford to pay for it.

More…

These findings would seem to signal that one of the the greatest hurdles to expanding healthcare coverage through government policy, distrust in government to efficiently implement a healthcare system better than the current one, is no hurdle at all.

Another question that loomed over whether people would support an overhaul of the healthcare system was whether the majority with adequate health insurance would get behind reforms that benefitted the minority who are un- or under-insured. The poll answers that question resoundingly. From The Chron:

The survey also found that while a majority of voters are satisfied with the current system of coverage, there is much anxiety about losing coverage in the future and not being able to pay the costs of a major illness or injury. Indeed, 77 percent said they worry that they might not be able to pay for a major injury or illness.

With rising healthcare costs, which employers are increasingly passing onto employees if not lowering coverage altogether, there is a significant amount of insecurity about health coverage out there, even among the middle class. Which means for the pleaser in chief, our governor, passing healthcare reform is a no-brainer.

Adam Mendelsohn, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said the poll results are "another clear indication" that the governor's emphasis on health care this year is welcomed by the voters.

"The system is broken, costs are going up and people are concerned about the future of their health care, which is exactly why the governor is taking this on," he said.

The LA Times is reporting that Schwarzenegger will lay out his plan to fix California’s healthcare system in a speech he’ll deliver on Monday. Let's hope the results of this poll embolden the governor to go further than he might ordinarily go. He likes to say his first priority is to do the people's business. Well, governor, the people have spoken.

The Courage Campaign will be holding a conference call next Thursday to discuss the governor’s plans for 2007 with an eye on healthcare in particular. We’ll have details for everyone soon, I hope you will join us.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Real Healthcare Reformer?

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(Cross-posted from The Courage Campaign)

George Skelton has an interesting piece in yesterday's LA Times that suggests that those of us who seek expanded access to healthcare in California should actually be optimistic about Arnold's claims to want to fix the current healthcare crisis (6.5 million Californians are uninsured.)

Conventional wisdom among Arnold skeptics is that he's a pretend progressive who has no core principles other than his own ambition and maintaining power. Well, healthcare may be that rare exception. Remember where he comes from, after all.

Arnold Schwarzenegger says one of his first purchases after coming to America 38 years ago was health insurance.

"It's a cultural thing, maybe," he says. 

"I come from Austria, where everyone's insured. It was a totally normal thing to me. Like eating and sleeping and finding an apartment. It was like, 'Now you've got to get the insurance.' One of the things I wanted to do the first month."

More…

Austria has a generous social insurance program that has only been cut back recently as more conservative leaders have taken power. Essentially, health insurance is a part of social security and is handled through a combination of contributions from citizens, employers and the government. So Arnold is a product of a society that values government as a means to level the playing field; a society that gets that the socio-economic status one is lucky or unlucky enough to be born into should not dictate the level of healthcare one receives.

Is that to say Arnold will sign the most liberal of health insurance plans that come across his desk? Of course not, we've already seen him veto single payer. He is a Republican after all who is beholden to interests who traditionally oppose such programs. But this might make him just the advocate we need to gain consensus on this issue, which, while it may not be needed politically, is in the longterm interest of any program that is implemented in the state. Gavin Newsom stood up to his liberal city council to pass a compromise health care program that, because it is somewhat business-friendly, has a chance to get replicated in other less liberal cities across the country.

As an example of Schwarzenegger's ability to bring conservatives around to the progressive view on certain issues, look at how he framed Prop 90 back in November when he finally came out against it. He used conservative language touching on their fears of "trial lawyers," "frivolous lawsuits" and wasted "taxpayer dollars" to make his case against 90. He does the same thing here by framing the healthcare of his homeland not as socialized medicine or the triumph of big government but rather in terms of personal responsibillity (he says "everyone's insured" and "you've got to get the insurance"), which of course is another favorite buzzword of conservatives. 

If Schwarzenegger is as committed to expanding health insurance to the 6.5 million uninsured Californians as Skelton seems to genuinely think he is, he could really serve as a great tool by which to frame the healthcare debate nationally and to normalize the idea for those whose kneejerk reaction would be to oppose it. As Senator-elect Bernie Sanders said on Air America this morning, the way the US is going to adopt a national plan is only once states start implementing them at the local level. We have a unique opportunity to lead the nation on this issue, here's hoping the governor doesn't squander it.

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Building And Turning Out The Progressive Base in California

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(Welcome first time blogger Javier Gonzalez who did some very important and largely unsung work both building and turning out the progressive base this year. It’s important that we in the netroots are in touch with what’s happening on the ground and vice versa. – promoted by Todd Beeton)

(Cross-posted from The Courage Campaign)

Believe it or not, progressives and working people in California made great leaps forward in the November 7th election. While for many progressives the election was all about beating Arnold and for others it was about keeping the statewide offices in Democratic hands, for many of us who work politics the old fashioned way, we were focusing on building, for the here and now and for the future, and we did fantastic.

As the Executive Director of SOL (Strengthening Our Lives) my job was simple: put 300 full time staff on the ground in Orange, Fresno, San Jose and Los Angeles Counties. Our goal was to reach out to 300,000 voters and then beef up to a 1,000 full time staff to get our target voters out to vote.

What is unique about our work is four things:

  • we are not a Political Party – we are a Political Action Committee that runs Independent Expenditure campaigns funded by large progressive donors and labor
  • the vast majority of our time AND MONEY is devoted to talking to voters door to door
  • we hire community and labor leaders at all levels of our campaigns and not party huggers looking for a job/career. Our folks are activists by nature, motivated, hard working, credible messengers and adept at a grass roots message and approach to organizing the vote; and most importantly
  • we target unlikely voters – and Latino Immigrants to boot!

More…

For those unfamiliar with electoral jargon or strategy, an unlikely voter is a voter that is deemed not likely to vote in the upcoming election. This is actually a majority of registered voters.

Unlikely voters are also among California’s most progressive voters. Unlikely voters earn less money and are less likely to have health insurance or own homes. There are higher numbers of unlikely voters among Blacks and Latinos than Whites. Among Whites, unlikely voters tend to be younger and less well to do. Building a progressive majority in California must both educate likely voters and get more progressives out to vote. The best way is by face to face voter education where we can have conversations and get people out to vote personally.

Imagine a political consultant handicapping a race for an aspiring politician. The consultant breaks the numbers down in a scenario as follows:

  • There are 300,000 people in the district
  • 200,000 of them are poor
  • Of the 300K voters, only 110,000 are registered to vote
  • In the last three similar elections only 50,000 voted
  • 30,000 of them are white
  • 5,000 of them are African American and the rest are Latino and Asian
  • There are three decent candidates in the race and probably 20,000 votes wins, and
  • Of the 50,000 that voted 40,000 have health care and 30,000 of them have household incomes over $60,000 a year.

The consultant then says “our base will be White and middle class voters. Let’s stay away from issues of race and class and focus on tax breaks, public safety and responsible government. We need to run the table on the more well to do and compete decently among people of color and stay away from radical proposals to health care, the economy and ‘other’ issues.” (plug other characteristics: environmentalists, gay rights, etc and the scenario still works).

Now, you get your moderate candidate and the result is, all too often, a moderate Representative. But this could change if we registered more regular people and inspired them to actually turn out to vote. In the above scenario just 10,000 more regular people voting in that race changes the math.

By adding 10,000 more working voices concerned about health care, the economy, the war, community services, and public education, the candidates are forced to defend their positions to those new voters. It’s simple really: turning out unlikely progressive voters forces the candidates to address issues they would otherwise avoid, perhaps change their position to address the concerns of progressives…and progressives are more likely to win.

This is not a novel idea. So why don’t others do it? Simple. It is too expensive and too hard. It took us weeks to recruit and train volunteers and staff. The full time effort took working 12-14 hours a day for 6 and even 7 days a week for 6 weeks. More importantly, we create a spirited and energetic feel that make our campaigns more like a movement of working people and immigrants fighting for better government for a better life. These types of campaigns have people asking “what else can I do? And not, “What time do we get to go home?”

This is what it takes to get people to vote and we need to stop focusing on what is wrong with everyone else and begin to invest in programs that get working people out to vote. As progressives we have lost the ability in California to mobilize mass numbers of voters to scope and scale. We need to get it back.

Yes, I understand that voters are cynical, blah, blah. I also understand that to most voters politics is mail and TV commercials. The majority of all of our opinions, ideas, and information about almost anything comes from friends, family and co-workers. That is, people they trust and people they relate to. We need credible messengers reaching out to voters and inspiring them to vote. SOL campaigns hire the same Janitors, hotel workers, laborers, parent activists, community college students, and community leaders you see fighting everyday for better contracts, schools, and safer communities. It takes them all of 15 seconds to win over voters face to face.

Of our targeted 300,000 voters we reached 140,000 doors and spoke to 112,000 voters. 96,000 of those voters stood with us in our fights. That is close to 86%! The results are proven: in the last two elections our targeted demographic turned out to vote at 21% higher rates and we were a major part of the efforts to Elect Tony Mendoza, Kevin Deleon and Jose Solorio to the Assembly and Lou Correa to the Senate in a heated battle with Republicans. We also helped to elect a completely new school Board in Fresno. These representatives can now work for the people and not their donors or political mentors.

In the future, we plan to expand to San Diego, San Bernardino and other parts of the North and Central Valley. We also hope to organize a mass voter registration effort. However, at some point we need to figure out how to connect with other progressive groups and funders to build even larger programs to win and make the types of reforms and changes we all hope for and desperately need.

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Stand With LAX Hotel Workers As They Fight For A Living Wage

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(Cross-posted from The California Courage Campaign)

by Elliott D. Petty

This evening 500 hotel workers, community members and faith leaders will participate in a candlelight procession along Century Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport, beginning at the home of Margarita Uriostegui, a Radisson hotel worker who tragically died two days after the historic September 28th civil disobedience and in whose memory the fast is dedicated.

Eighteen hotel workers will be engaging in a seven-day water-only fast from December 6th to December 12th.  These brave workers have chosen to go without food for a week to continue their struggle for a living wage and to honor the memory of Margarita Uriostegui, their late co-worker who symbolizes their struggle to earn the right to receive fair pay for their hard work.

Show them you support them by signing OUR PETITION today.

More over the flip…

Hotel workers on Century Boulevard work full time, sometimes more than one job, yet many of them are still living in poverty. As a result of the civil disobedience, the Los Angeles City Council passed a living wage ordinance for Century Boulevard hotel workers as a first step in lifting these workers out of poverty; the legislation was signed into law by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on November 27th.

The Century Boulevard hotels and other business groups are now seeking to repeal the law through a ballot referendum, jeopardizing the living wages of these workers and their hopes to provide a better life for their families.

Century Boulevard hotel workers earn 20% less than their counterparts in downtown L.A., and the nearby communities of Lennox, Inglewood and Hawthorne, where a large number of these workers live, suffer high rates of poverty, crime and overcrowding. One in four residents in these communities lives below the federal poverty line, a measure of extreme poverty, while more than 40% of children come from poor households. Median household income is 25% lower than in L.A. County as a whole.

Read more about the fast and how we can help secure the dream of a decent standard of living for each and every hotel worker HERE.

Fasters will sleep in front of the hotels every night as they endure hunger, thirst and cold weather to make their statement for a living wage for them and their families. 

Its not too late.

Sign the Courage Campaign petition today and it will be hand-delivered to the fasters this Saturday, December 9th.

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Join Courage Campaign, Rep. Hilda Solis & MyDD’s Chris Bowers For Post-Mortem Conference Call

( – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Congratulations to everyone for all you did leading up to yesterday’s phenomenal result. What we accomplished really was extraordinary and we should all be really proud of the effort we put in. As we all know, however, this is only the beginning of a long hard fight, both nationally and here in California. That’s why The Courage Campaign would like to get the ball rolling with a discussion of the impact of the California election results both on the future of California politics and on the national scene heading into the future.

What does a Schwarzenegger win mean for the fate of California’s 55 electoral votes? Are they in play? And what do the voter trends we saw yesterday tell us about how to keep California progressive?

We’d love you all to join us and special guests Congresswoman Hilda Solis of CA-32, Chris Bowers of MyDD, pollster Joel Wright of Wright Consulting and Frank Russo of the California Progress Report for a lively discussion. It will be held tomorrow, Thursday, 11/9, from 4:30-5:30pm PST. To join, just RSVP to [email protected] to receive the dial-in details. Space is limited. Participants will be welcome to ask questions, as time allows. Please invite anyone you think would be interested to join as well.  Thanks!

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CA-46: Dana Rohrabacher Caught On Tape Insulting Military Families

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( – promoted by SFBrianCL)

I know, I know, Dana Rohrabacher insulting military families is hardly news. I mean, back in September he was a veritible model of compassion when confronted by members of Military Families Speak Out – Orange County outside of his house in Huntington Beach:

“I am going to get all of you arrested if you don’t leave right now.”

“My son is in Iraq!” responded Tim Kahlor, 48, whose son is on his second tour of duty in Iraq until January 2007.

“Did he volunteer?” Rohrabacher yelled back.

On other occasions, Rohrabacher has called the concerned families of our fighting men and women “unpatriotic, ” “traitors” and accused them of “lowering troop morale.”

Yesterday, outside Rohrabacher’s debate with Jim Brandt, The California Courage Campaign and Military Families Speak Out gathered a group of 100 or so protestors to present Rohrabacher with a petition calling for him to apologize for disrespecting MFSO on several occasions. You’ll be shocked to learn he didn’t take the petition, however, he did open his big fat mouth again. This time, though, we caught it on tape.

Video over the flip.

The video below shows Rick Jacobs of Courage Campaign and several members of MFSO demanding an apology from Congressman Rohrabacher and attempting to present him with the petition. He just passes them by on his way into the school where the debate was being held.

But Rohrabacher being Rohrabacher couldn’t leave it alone and snapped back at Tim Kahlor as he told of his son’s finding a dead Iraqi family in their home after a US bombing and demanded an apology for dismissing his concerns over his son’s safety with “he volunteered, didn’t he?”

Rohrabacher told Kahlor:

You’re the one calling your son a war criminal.

You can then hear Tim Kahlor passionately rebut this offensive retort.

My son is not a war criminal! You just called my son a war criminal! My son is not a war criminal!

A father’s anguish incarnate.

Watch it here:

Rohrabacher’s contempt for the families of the men and women he so willingly puts in harm’s way is offensive and tragically typical of the chickenhawks that led us into this war and still support it.

At the debate yesterday, he made no attempt to distance himself from his support of the war, continuously conflating it and the war on terror.
In fact, he got some unintentional laughs with these gems:

“Radical Islam hates our way of life.”

“It’s our job to take out those people who hate America.”

“The best thing we can do is take terrorists out overseas so that they can’t attack us here.”

“mistakes are made in every conflict.”

Congressman Dana “Warbacker” Rohrabacher” needs to go.

Jim Brandt for Congress.

Support Military Families Speak Out.

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Watch Our New Ad, “The Future of California” [UPDATE]

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(It’s a cute little ad, with a very important message. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

(Cross-posted from The California Courage Campaign)

The Courage Campaign‘s new ad, The Future of California, will be running on TV in certain California markets starting Tuesday but you can watch it on YouTube now:

The spot is a humorous play on the 2004 ad that accused liberals of being Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, chardonnay-sipping…you know the rest. Here, we have the Californians who matter most (kids) tell us what they think of George Bush's special interest agenda taking root in California.

Please view it, rate it up, and spread it around. In addition, in order to keep it on the air, we’re looking to raise an additional $20,000. Any donations to the cause are greatly appreciated.

The ad follows up on our Stop Bush in CA campaign in which we frame 5 of November's ballot initiatives in terms that can really get Californians worked up — their relation to the Bush agenda. Yes, Bush is indeed on the ballot in California this November, especially in the form of two ballot initiatives on which we urge votes of No: Prop 85 & 90.

More on these dangerous propositions over the flip…

[UPDATE]Our ad got linked over at CA Observer and Political Muscle. Let’s try to really get this thing out there! Thanks!

From our Stop Bush in CA page:

Proposition 85: 

If approved, Proposition 85 would require notification given to parents of a pregnant girl under the age of 18 when she seeks an abortion. Then, a 48-hour waiting period is mandated. 

The issue of parental notification has a long history in California. To chip away at a woman's right to choose, abortion opponents use the idea that good parents should know about their children having an abortion. From this, they work to legislate good parenting. 

Of course, good parents should be involved in a decision like this, but in reality, this law forces even girls who are scared of abuse to inform their parents of their pregnancy. Unfortunately, some children come from families where they just can't talk to their parents. Girls faced with the choice of an illegal, unsafe abortion or facing their abusive parents will often delay crucial medical care or perhaps even consider suicide. The real goal here isn't good parenting but rather a rollback of women's rights. 

This is why nurses, doctors, and teachers all oppose Prop 85. 

The potential for parental notification laws to endanger the lives of children, and the inability of government to impose good parenting means that you should vote NO on 85.

Proposition 90:

Municipalities have basic zoning and land-use laws on the books to protect our communities. Restrictions on big box retailers, adult book stores or huge subdivisions, for example, are intended to maintain a community's integrity. 

What Prop 90 does is allow virtually anyone – including wealthy land speculators and developers – to sue our communities if any subsequent ordinances put on the books might cause them "economic harm."  For instance, if a developer wants to build 1000 homes but your city limits growth due to traffic to 250 homes, Prop 90 allows the developer to sue your city to recover his lost potential "profits" from the 750 other homes.  If the city can't pay then the land use law will be waived. And cities can't pay these frivolous claims if they want to pay for necessities like police, firefighters, parks and roads. 

But 90 isn't just limited to development. According to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office, "these laws and rules could include requirements relating, for example, to employment conditions, apartment prices, endangered species, historical preservation and consumer financial protection."

Help us send a message this November that George Bush's regressive right wing agenda is not welcome in California. View our ad, The Future of California, and spread the word that a vote against 85 & 90 is a vote against George W. Bush. 

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Courage Campaign Prop Watch

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The California Courage Campaign has launched our fall campaign to oppose the Bush agenda on the ballot in California this November in the form of several propositions.

Our Stop Bush in CA page is an excellent resource for information regarding the initiatives on which we’re taking stands:

No on 85

Yes on 86

Yes on 87

Yes on 89

No on 90.

We’ve also just launched a letter to the editor writing campaign to get the word out in the media that Proposition 90 is unacceptable and needs to be opposed. Please join the effort by going HERE and using our user-friendly webtools, complete with talking points, to send an LTE today.

I’m also going to be keeping tabs on all the proposition news in my weekly (or perhaps more frequent, as needed) “Prop Watch.”

Join me for all the latest proposition news over the flip.

Proposition 85

The OC Register has an article reminding us that this year’s Prop 85 is essentially a re-write of last year’s parental notification bill, Prop 73. The bills are nearly identical except for some strategic changes that have been made to the wording of this year’s model:

Proponents have adjusted the wording of the measure in an effort to weaken some arguments against it. One change is removing the definition of a fetus as "a child conceived but not yet born." Opponents last year pointed to that as an indication of the philosophy and ultimate intent of the backers…

Another change is stating explicitly that a parent can sign a standing waiver for their daughter, which would allow her to get an abortion any time without special notification. This is designed to defuse the argument of the parent who says, "I just want my daughter to be safe if she's going to have an abortion, I don't care if I know," said Albin Rhomberg of "Yes on 85."

Proponents are confident that even if the original wording remained intact, 85 would pass this year. They attribute the 53-47% defeat of 73 to the "vote No on everything" anti-Arnold wave of the 2005 special election.

While The L.A. Times acknowledges the changes to the newer bill, it says Prop 85 "still contains the same troubling provisions" and "remains part of a broader campaign to chisel away at a woman’s right to privacy."

More over the flip.

They lay out the case against Prop 85 in a recent OpEd:

By requiring doctors to notify a girl’s parents (or seek court permission) before she can end her pregnancy, Proposition 85 interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. The measure would almost invariably delay abortions, and because teens are more likely to find out later rather than sooner that they are pregnant, it could lead to more later-term procedures, which are riskier and more complicated.

For girls who are afraid to report molestation by a family member, the proposition would create an almost insurmountable obstacle. Similar laws in other states have not appreciably changed teen pregnancy or abortion rates.

Let’s make sure Prop 85 doesn’t pass. VOTE NO ON 85

Proposition 89

In their ongoing quest to make the case for clean money, The Yes on 89 folks have compiled a list of the special interest money that has flowed into California from out of state in the last 5 years. Remarkably, Middlesex County, New Jersey is responsible for more donations to California campaigns ($10.2 million) than Kern County, California is ($7.5 million.) Why?

Middlesex County is the home of Johnson & Johnson and other pharmaceutical companies involved in last fall's high-priced ballot battle over discounts for prescription drugs.

Big Pharma isn’t the only special interest investing in California campaigns. This year, add big tobacco to the list.

Since the June election, there have been at least nine new contributions of more than $5 million, led by a $13.8 million donation from Philip Morris and $10 million from R.J. Reynolds, of out-of-state tobacco companies that have each put up more than $20 million to fight Prop. 86, which would boost the state tax on cigarettes by $2.60 a pack.

That fact alone makes you want to support Prop 86, doesn’t it? We are. Learn more at Yes on 86.

Meanwhile, a new poll shows that while Californians are critical of the role of big money in our elections, Prop 89 has not yet made its case with voters.

A poll released today by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 61 percent of likely voters are convinced the current system that allows politicians to collect millions of dollars in special interest campaign contributions is hurting the state, while only 6 percent think it's good for California.

But when asked whether they backed Prop. 89, which is designed to take almost all private money out of California campaigns, only 25 percent of those surveyed said yes, compared with 61 percent who said they would vote against the initiative. 

Proposition 90

The City Council of Pasadena has joined the California League of Cities in formally opposing Proposition 90, the so-called “Protect Our Homes Act.” You almost have to admire how perfectly Rovian its title is considering what a far cry it is from describing what the measure would actually do.

While acknowledging some reform is necessary, opponents said a provision requiring the government to pay property owners for substantial economic loss resulting from regulations on use of private property would end up costing taxpayers billions in lawsuits. "This goes way, way too far," said Kathy Fairbanks, spokeswoman for the No on 90 campaign. "Now, when a developer wants to build 50 houses and the city tells him he can only build 25 – he can sue for compensation for the others."

While Prop 90 would

prohibit local governments from using eminent domain to acquire private property unless the government itself plans on using it.

The Pasadena City Council took issue with the fact that 90

would prevent cities from acquiring blighted areas, eliminating slum lords, building affordable housing and providing public facilities by private for-profit agencies.

In other words it would prevent the government from doing what’s best for its citizens. 

Help us fight Prop 90 by writing a letter to the editor today. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

See Ya, Ben Lopez: Netroots Cooperation In Action

(cross-posted at The Courage Campaign)

Last Thursday, dday wrote a great post over at GovernorPhil titled Arnold And The Traditional Values Coalition. It quoted an LA Times article that told of an unholy alliance that had formed in Sacramento.

Meanwhile, to drum up support for Schwarzenegger among evangelicals, the state party has hired Ben Lopez, a lobbyist for the Rev. Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, a group that seeks to outlaw abortion and roll back gay rights.

Lopez and Anna Bryson, statewide coalitions director for Victory '06, the party's November election operation, plan to meet next week in the Sacramento area with roughly 200 conservative ministers — the first of several such gatherings to promote the governor, Bryson said.

The Traditional Values Coalition is no ordinary conservative group, you see.

More over the flip…

As dday went on to document, with the help of PFAW's great Right Wing Watch:

TVC founder the Rev. Lou Sheldon once said this:

“Americans should understand that their attitudes about homosexuality have been deliberately and deceitfully changed by a masterful propaganda/marketing campaign that rivals that of Adolph Hitler. In fact, many of the strategies used by homosexuals to bring about cultural change in America are taken from Hitler’s writings and propaganda welfare manuals.”

We at The Courage Campaign took this nugget of pure gold and ran with it, composing an e-mail that went out the following Monday calling on supporters to sign our petition demanding that Arnold Schwarzenegger fire Ben Lopez:

Ben Lopez's Traditional Values Coalition has…said this about gay rights activists: “Many of the strategies used by homosexuals to bring about cultural change in America are taken from Hitler’s writings and propaganda welfare manuals.”1

This one is simple: Governor, show us who you are. Do you side with the hate mongers who masquerade as religious leaders?

And then…

Call on the head of California's Republican Party, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to fire Ben Lopez.

Gov. Schwarzenegger can’t keep playing the moderate with extremists like Ben Lopez at his side.

How gratifying it was to wake up this morning to the headline: State GOP suddenly dumps newly hired evangelical lobbyist. The spin from the CRP was that Lopez was only meant to work

"…through the convention, and that work is now completed."

Yet according to the Chronicle:

on Sunday, Dorinson had given no indication that Lopez's job with the party would end.

Not to mention:

Lopez, reached Sunday by The Chronicle, didn't appear to know that his work was to end at the close of the convention.

As Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs writes in the Huffington Post, our success at getting this "bad actor out of state politics" is a victory for good ole (or, rather, good new) fashioned people powered online organizing. Indeed it's a victory for all of us in the grassroots and netroots that worked together to bring attention to the governor's divided loyalties, get a big chunk o' hate out of Sacramento and force the governor to cut an important tie to the right wing base, an action that just might keep some of them home in November.