Helping Californians Choose the Lesser of 135 Evils. The Dancing Meteorologist Says "Contribute Your Ideas, But Keep Your Cash".
SACRAMENTO -- Peter Camejo, a Green Party leader who was a third-party candidate in three California gubernatorial elections before becoming Ralph Nader's running mate in the 2004 presidential race, died Saturday. He was 68.
Camejo, who had been battling lymphoma, died at his home in Folsom, a suburb east of Sacramento.
"Peter was a friend, colleague and politically courageous champion of the downtrodden and mistreated of the entire Western Hemisphere," Nader wrote in a statement released Saturday. "Everyone who met Peter, talked to Peter, worked with Peter, or argued with Peter, will miss the passing of a great American."
Camejo ran for the state's top office in 2002, 2003 and 2006, supporting abortion rights, the legalization of marijuana, universal health care and a moratorium on the death penalty. Before joining the Green Party, he also ran for president as the Socialist Workers Party nominee in 1976.
In 2004, Camejo was independent Nader's vice presidential pick.
Last month, Camejo, who lost his hair from chemotherapy, attended the Peace and Freedom Party convention in Sacramento to endorse Nader's current bid for the presidency with running mate Matt Gonzalez.
"Ralph Nader is more than a candidate, he's an issue," Camejo said in his Aug. 2 speech, adding that Nader brought true reform, offering an independent choice to the "ruling party."
Camejo passed away a few days after completing his autobiography, according to Nader.
Born on New Year's Eve 1939 in New York City, Camejo, a first-generation Venezuelan-American, became an activist at an early age, speaking out against the Vietnam War and for migrant worker rights. He marched in Selma, Ala., with Martin Luther King, Jr.
His fiery activism also got him expelled from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967 for using a school microphone during a demonstration. A year later, then-governor Ronald Reagan put him on his list of the 10 most dangerous people in California because he was "present at all anti-war demonstrations."
In 1987, Camejo co-founded Progressive Asset Management Inc., an Oakland investment firm that steers its clients' money into socially responsible funds where he remained its board chairman until his death. He also served as a board member of Earth Share, a federation of more than 400 environmental organizations, where he worked to promote solar energy.
"Peter Camejo was a man of great passion and boundless compassion for the poor, uninsured workers and for immigrant workers in their struggle for justice and legalization," Mike Wyman, a longtime friend, said in a statement on behalf of the Green Party of California. "He became a leader in the environmental justice movement and helped organized communities of color around environmental issues that affected them directly."
Padilla arrived Sunday with his cowboy-hat-sporting, bounty hunter uncle Leonard Padilla to bail Anthony out of jail — and, rumor has it, shoot a TV show.
"My only interest ... is to get that child back," Leonard Padilla told FOX News on Monday.
His interest might also be a reality program called "Bounty Hunters" that he stars in on the National Geographic Channel. There have been rumblings that the elder Padilla has gotten involved in Anthony's case to have material for the small screen.
Anthony is charged with child neglect and lying to authorities about her daughter's disappearance on or around June 16.
Even if they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the mayor’s seat, we’ve got some “fringe” candidates with a lot on the ball.Here's my letter:
That’s why SN&R’s editorial board reacted with shock to Bee columnist Marcos Bretón’s decision to slam lesser-known candidates in print, referring to them as “court jesters” in his May 18 column. (For more on that, see “Bullies and Ballots,” SN&R Bites, May 22.)
We interviewed all the mayoral candidates (except Richard Jones, who didn’t return our calls, and Adam Daniel, who’d already dropped out of the race). It’s clear from those interviews that these people are not clowns of any kind.
SN&R’s editorial board was shocked by media figures kicking lesser-known mayoral candidates around? Boy, that's a surprise! In the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, SN&R led the California media pack in kicking lesser-known gubernatorial candidates around. With 135 candidates running, many with impressive credentials, SN&R featured just five or six of the most notorious publicity-seekers, all with the aim of discrediting the entire election, ignoring all the others. Nothing like kicking around the weak to show you mean business.
Why the change? I can only hope that the slovenly gatekeeping exercised by the national media over the last decade, which led directly to the Iraq War, has caused some rethinking even on SN&R’s editorial board. Elections are always vital and should never, ever be scorned. Candidates are rarely frivolous: it's a weary, expensive process to chase votes.
Fringe candidacies often announce the birth of important new political forces. Democratic presidential politics example: 1972's Shirley Chisholm led ultimately to 2008's Barack Obama.
Overlooked constituencies generally have only fringe candidacies to push new ideas into the political mainstream. 2003 recall election example: several candidates championed the rights of non-custodial divorced fathers in California courts. It's an oddball political issue, and if you read SN&R faithfully, you will remain blithely ignorant to it, plus being completely blindsided if it ever develops into something bigger.
The media in general, and SN&R in particular, must stop righteously abusing public-spirited citizens for wanting to enter the political process. I'm glad SN&R put away the pins and voodoo dolls, at least until the next election.
Proposition 13 celebrates its 30th birthday this year. Revolting against out-of-control property taxes that outpaced growth in wages, 65 percent of California voters passed the anti-government measure and state constitutional amendment on June 6, 1978. It not only rolled back property taxes, but forced residents to rethink, virtually overnight, the role of government.
...In the 30 years that have elapsed since Prop. 13 became the rule of the land, L.A. County’s population has grown by 50 percent, adding plenty of residents who can’t plunk down $35 for the new Harry Potter, but its county libraries haven’t even been close to keeping pace. “Until the last, maybe, five years, the newest libraries I had were built prior to Prop. 13,” Todd says. “We were almost 30 years without any capacity to build anything. That really shows in my libraries. If you go to Lennox, which is my oldest, from the late ’40s, [it’s a] tiny, tiny library … huge population to serve. My Cesar Chavez Maywood Library, a postage stamp with a huge population now in Maywood. Even my communities like Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights, where lots of construction has taken place since those buildings were built in the ’60s and ’70s, there’s been no capacity to really increase the size of community libraries to fill the need of the population.”
...By neutering local governments’ incomes, Jarvis’s amendment made beggars of city and county governments. When they need money to provide services their constituents demand, they must crawl to the state government on their knees – the political equivalent of calling a plumber in Sacramento to fix pipes in L.A.
...Elisa Barbour, who recently authored a paper on Prop. 13’s aftermath for the Public Policy Institute of California, observes how the measure undid the old system. “It removed [the local control] that allowed the property tax to reflect, more than any other source, the community-wide taxing decisions of a given set of residents. The state was now responsible for allocating what had been the single largest local revenue source, yet local governments were still responsible for implementing programs locally.” Many theorists agree, she says, “You need to connect revenue raising ability with policymaking responsibility. The point I’m making is that, after Prop. 13, those waters got far muddier in relation to property taxes.”
...The outcome of these types of battles: While cities’ and counties’ inflation-adjusted total revenues are now about the same per capita as before Prop. 13, their general revenues – the funds they actually get to allocate – have shrunk to the tune of more than one-third for cities and more than one-half for counties, according to reports compiled by budget guru Michael Coleman for Californiacityfinance.com. Coleman says that, with so much money already earmarked when they get it, city governments “have less latitude to be able to govern.” The general revenues that cities still get, he says, go to emergency services at the expense of other programs. “It’s not police and fire that are likely to get hit the most,” Coleman explains. “It’s parks, libraries, and streets. You can tell a city is in [budget] trouble when there are potholes, park closures, and cut library hours.”
Edelman governed through these dramatic changes, and their damage has been far reaching, he says. “It has made our education system, made our local government system – we used to have the best in the United States – now ... we’re way down at the bottom. Now, people are going to Sacramento, fighting for their own little areas, and it takes away the flexibility of local government to meet the needs in their area as they see them. We had to go up to Sacramento to get money to keep the county afloat. Eventually, they took the [revenue] they gave us as a substitute [for property taxes], and used it for their own needs,” he says. “We lost control of doing the things that we should be able to do as elected officials. We should be able to tax, and if we tax too much, the voters can vote us out of office!”
Edelman says that, despite the best efforts of the supervisors, county programs evaporated. “All the county services were cut ... whether it be for schools, whether it be for libraries, whether it be for mental health, whether it be for police and fire, it set us back,” he says. “We still have to go hat-in-hand up to Sacramento, and we can’t really run the county with the same ability we ran it previously. We have to release people from prison earlier than we should, the sheriff doesn’t have enough money, we’re still trying to do the best job we can, but revenues are not there.”
Embattled Congressman John Doolittle, the focus of a federal corruption probe, will announce that he will not seek re-election paving the way for former State Sen. Rico Oller for the 4th District Congressional seat, the California Majority Report has learned. The move, first noted back in November in the Stockton Record, could come as early as this week.
Angelyne can barely squeeze into the 8-foot-wide storage room. And not just because she's the buxom, bigger-than-life billboard queen of Los Angeles.
Boxes of printed posters and placards depicting her in glamorous poses fill the Hollywood self-storage space she is renting while she feuds with city redevelopment leaders and developers of a planned $500-million luxury project near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.
...Angelyne operated her promotional company from a Selma Avenue office building for 18 years until she was forced out last fall to make way for a W Hotel, upscale retail shops, condominiums and apartments.
Developers paid relocation expenses for her and about 35 other tenants who were occupying shops and offices in the path of the Hollywood and Vine project.
But they are balking at her demand that they also pay for the reprinting of perhaps 100,000 promotional and souvenir items that list her old address.
"One of the developers said that is too much. He said, 'Honey, take me to court.' He talked to me like I was his ex-wife," she said, adjusting her dark glasses as sunlight streamed through the open storage room door. "I was stunned."
...And Angelyne is definitely a character — though she'd dispute the "old Hollywood" characterization. She became famous (locally, at least) in the early 1980s when a series of billboards popped up around the city featuring her in various sexy poses. Although she has appeared in several movies, she said her billboards have been shown in "hundreds" of films and TV shows.
In the 2003 gubernatorial recall election, Angelyne was one of 135 candidates. Running on the campaign slogan, "We've had Gray, we've had Brown, now it's time for some blond and pink," she finished 28th.
...She estimates it would cost about $400,000 to reprint her inventory with a new address — a sum the developer says is way too much.Those in charge of the Hollywood-Vine project contend they have played it straight with Angelyne and the other displaced tenants. They said relocation expenses of about $6 million have been paid.
"We've offered her a perfectly amiable solution to her problem. We've offered her a permanent address on the property. She can have mail sent to her old address and we will deliver it to her each day," said Jeff Cohen, senior vice president of Gatehouse Capital Corp., the Dallas-based developer of the project's hotel and commercial property.
"She's never shown us her inventory. Relocating her has not hurt her. We've followed every CRA rule and regulation. We've tried to be very fair. When somebody is making a claim we feel is creditless and we have offered a reasonable solution, we have to put it in somebody else's court."
"We don't just print money in the backyard and give it away," Cohen said.
...The standoff is puzzling to Thomas Zia, an Aptos, Calif. real estate consultant retained by Angelyne.
"In the 35 years I've been involved with relocation issues I've never seen anything like this. Under state law they're supposed to pay all of her moving costs and printing expenses for promotional material, business cards and stationery," Zia said.
"Her livelihood is based on her fan club and selling her items. An actual mailing address is important."
...Likened by some to an earlier era's Paris Hilton, Angelyne became famous for being famous because of her billboards.
As for her fan club, Angelyne claims "hundreds of thousands of members, or something like that — I don't know." Her website, meantime, states that club membership is about 20,000.
Although not a dues-payer, Hilton is among them, according to Angelyne — who met the now-jailed hotel heiress once: three years ago at a Hollywood night club.
"Paris said she's a fan," Angelyne says before slipping into her pink Corvette and driving off.
Diana Foss: The movie is great! And I'd say that even if I didn't make a microsecond appearance in it. (As if I'm the only one!)
Doesn't 2003 seem like a long time ago?
Marc Valdez: Have you seen the movie, Diana? How many boxes of Mentos does it rate? Has anyone else seen it?
Diana Foss: I have seen it. Abner sent me a rough cut DVD last year. I can't really use the Mentos scale (given how sick I made myself on Mentos three years ago) but I'd say the little man is definitely sitting up and clapping.
Cheryl Bly Chester: Do you think we can get all of the Sacramento Area Candidates out for next weeks showing?! - I think it would be a total blast!!
Marc Valdez: I'm definitely up for it! Let's get everybody down to the Crest Theater on Thursday evening and have a party!
Sunday, November 5, 2006, 4 PM
Art Share Los Angeles (in downtown arts district)
801 E. 4th Place • Los Angeles, CA 90013
Friday, October 20, 2006, 6:30 PM
The Pageant Theatre • 351 East Sixth Street • Chico, CA 95928
Thursday, October 19, 2006, 7 PM
The Crest Theatre • 1013 K Street • Sacramento, CA 95814
Staffers listened to hours of talk radio and found that the obsession with illegal immigration on talk radio had appeared virtually from nowhere.Appeared from nowhere? Give me a break! KFBK's DJ Mark Williams, in Sacramento, started on the illegal immigration bandwagon almost immediately after the California Recall Election, in October 2003. By November, 2003, it was a staple of Sacramento Talk Radio - the next enthusiasm, after the California Recall. It was a meme consciously placed on the air waves by the usual suspects of the California Right - Howard Kaloogian, et al.
BOARD MEMBER BURROUGHS: Thank you. That's currently what I have that's on the table right now.
Prior to what's on the table and we're going passed now is philosophically I believe that planners, developers, the community, our entire society has to have common sense about where to build homes. And building homes in a floodplain, to me, does not make good common sense.
It's great that we do have some of these agricultural levees that are in place and we've been able to hold our breath as they've stayed in place. But they're not long term. They're not lasting. And I guess what we're seeing here is I'm just not into a crapshoot of building homes first without protection and building more homes and having people at risk while we, so to speak, set bonds or taxes or assessments and have these people have to pay for it.
And that's my problem, is that I just don't believe that homes belong on floodplains and there's smarter places to put homes. And I apologize for that.
And at the same time, I feel like that's the voice I'm here on the Board for is to -- is to be for the everyday person. And sometimes -- but I have heard if people there in this area -- and I haven't heard from everyone. When I got on the Board I got a couple of calls, concerned citizens that just said, "Just want to let you know that when I bought this home I didn't know anything about it. There was a fine print behind the closing statements." And last week I asked, "Well, you know, you've said that there's this problem. Why aren't you going to the meetings?" And they said, "Well, most people didn't get a specific notice that there was a specific hearing in regards to this issue."
So I would -- I think I would implore you to give the best notice you can in the appropriate hands. And that would be -- I think that's the right thing to do anyway. Not for me asking you, but it's the right thing to do.
MR. SHAPIRO: Well, we believe we do and we will redouble our efforts. And for what it's worth, I think you have been a clear voice in this and I think your "no" vote last month in the policy issue represented a very clear voice on this. And I believe people heard that voice. We would ask for your vote "yea" today on the agreement to implement the action the Board has already said in the direction it desires to go, understanding that if there's anything we can put into this agreement to address some of your concerns, we remain willing to do so.
BOARD MEMBER BURROUGHS: With that, I'm vote yes.
The state Reclamation Board plans to reconsider an April vote that moved toward allowing luxury homes to be built on top of levees on a Delta island.It's not clear what's really going on here, but it should be closely watched.
Board President Ben Carter announced his intention to reconsider the vote at the board's meeting Friday (May 19) in Merced. He cited concerns that the decision violated state open-meetings law. That concern was expressed at the time by the board's own attorney, but ignored by the board.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides didn't know it, but when he dropped in on UCSD College Democrats yesterday, he was not the only one in the room who has sought the top job in California politics.I'm not running this year because I'm not so annoyed as I was in 2003 by the California political situation. And why isn't Daniel running?
Sitting with about 40 other students – and armed with the toughest question of the day – was Daniel Watts, one of 135 candidates in the 2003 recall election that put Republican action-movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor's office.
A history and political science major from San Jose, Watts, 23, financed his campaign with some of the $11,300 he won on TV's "Wheel of Fortune."
His platform was simple: He ran against tuition and fee increases for California's public universities and colleges.
That put him in ideological sync with Angelides, the state treasurer, whose call for taxing the wealthy and businesses to finance education – and to roll back higher education tuition and fees – is a cornerstone of his campaign.
Angelides emphasized his education policy heavily yesterday, without
mentioning taxes.
Until Watts raised his hand.
"What, specifically, are you going to do to pay for it?" Watts asked.
As for Watts, he has abandoned, for now, his interest in becoming governor. He got 2,021 votes in 2003, but took a pass on this year's contest. “I ran out of 'Wheel of Fortune' money,” he said, “so I couldn't afford the filing fee.”
To my esteemed Fellow Historical Figures - I want to set the record straight on Dan Walter's erroneous hit job on me in the Sacramento Bee yesterday. It was, of course, politically motivated and I am sure he isn't even aware that he has been played by his puppeteers.
First of all, my firm Rosewood Environmental Engineering does not currently work for developers and started closing out its contracts with developers during the 2003 Gubernatorial Recall election. No funding from developers was accepted during any of my political campaigns. Rosewood's final project for a developer was completed over a year ago.
The Project discussed in the Dan Walters commentary was not to build on a levee as he reported. In fact, it was specifically to build a massive and very costly privately funded fill area that would raise the entire ground level under the houses well above the flood plain.
No one reading this understands the implications of building on, behind or near levees and floodways more than I do. As the Vice President of the California Board of Reclamation, I look at all projects that come before the Board on an individual merit basis. I stand on my record, which is regularly reported in the Sacramento Bee by real reporters who are doing a remarkable job in keeping the flood protection issue in the news and, unlike Mr. Walters, actually attend Reclamation Board meetings and become familiar with the issues.
Neither I nor Mr. Walter's other target, Board Secretary Teri Rei (who happens to be the sole Democrat on the Board), made the motion to approve the project, nor did either of us second the motion. I moved to amend the motion in order to provide more stringent easement restrictions than was requested by the applicant or by the Board Member who made the motion to approve the application (Butch Hodgkins). Mr. Walters obviously knew better than to attack Mr. Hodgkins who is beyond reproach on the matter. However, in swerving clear of impugning Mr. Hodgkins, Dan Walters mischaracterized the proceedings.
Aside from a basic failure to provide accurate reporting for his readers, Mr. Walter's polarizing political commentary is unsophisticated and interferes with achieving Californians' desire for a government that works together to resolve important issues.
I'd be delighted to catch up with any of you and hope you are all doing well.
- Respectfully,
Your Fellow Historical Figure, Cheryl Bly-Chester
Last year - on Sept. 16, to be precise - the state Reclamation Board, a relatively obscure state agency that oversees flood protection levees, approved a potentially far-reaching policy to intercede when local governments and developers propose residential subdivisions behind levees designed to protect farmland.Cheryl doesn't see the downside of projects like these. Placing premium houses on top of levees increases the state's liability and adds to the cost of levee maintenance. Isn't anyone speaking to that?
... Ten days later, before the new policy could be finally adopted, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fired the entire board and replaced it with seven new appointees, most of whom had strong ties to land developers. Ever since, skeptics of building homes behind agricultural levees - including deposed members of the Reclamation Board - have wondered aloud whether the new board would be more favorably disposed toward development interests.
The issue was settled, it would seem, late last month, when the Reclamation Board voted to allow the developer of an immense subdivision on a Delta island south of Stockton to begin widening the existing levee and - ignoring warnings from the board's attorney that it was violating state open-meeting laws - expanded the developer's permit to indirectly allow construction of luxury, riverview homes atop the widened levee.
A transcript of the board's April 21 meeting reveals that two of the board's members - Cheryl Bly-Chester, who owns a Roseville engineering firm that does work for developers, and Teri Rie, a Contra Costa County public works engineer - pushed hard to expand the permit sought by Cambay Group, the developer of the River Islands project.
The development on Stewart Tract, a Delta island that flooded in 1997 when a levee broke, envisions a community of 11,000 residential units, two golf courses, several marinas and 5 million square feet of commercial space. Cambay, owned by British financier F. Allan Chapman, has already obtained the enthusiastic support of the small city of Lathrop, whose boundaries include Stewart Tract.
Cambay - acceding to the board staff - had sought just a permit to begin shoring up and widening the existing levee, but the firm had made no secret of its unhappiness with the board staff's go-slow approach under which the levee expansion would occur first and the issue of what could be built atop the levee would be taken up later. Cambay project director Susan Dell'Osso complained that the company was reluctant to do the levee work without assurances that home construction would be allowed, and that became the board's bone of contention during a lengthy and often rambling debate.
Member Butch Hodgkins, former director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, tried to delay a decision on housing, but Bly-Chester and Rie eventually prevailed on a 5-1 vote even though the board's counsel, Scott Morgan, warned repeatedly that altering the permit to imply approval of housing atop the levee would violate rules against taking up issues not on the agenda. Hodgkins actually voted with the majority in the end. The only dissenter was Rose Burroughs, owner of a Denair livestock company.
VICE PRESIDENT BLY-CHESTER: Thank you, Susan.
What I've heard -- and I want to make sure the rest of the Board members really heard this -- is that the only way they can afford to do this multi-million dollar flood improvement project for the State of California is if they have lot premiums that they can sell. They cannot sell lot premiums if they don't know how close to the levee edge they can build.
So they cannot afford to do this. The state will not get the benefit of this project. And it's free levee protection, is what it is, for the State, as far as the state's concerned.
So this project is not going to be worth it to the applicant if they cannot do lot premiums. They can to lot premiums unless they know where they can build their buildings. We need to give them some direction here so they can do this project.
So why run?
"I really expected that (Maze) was not going to run," Zellhoefer said.
Like many, Zellhoefer expected Maze to run for state Sen. Roy Ashburn's seat when it looked as though Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, would run to replace retiring Rep. Bill Thomas in Congress.
But just before the election filing deadline, Ashburn said he wasn't going to enter the race for the House seat, opening the Republican field for Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
By that time, Zellhoefer had declared his candidacy for the Assembly seat and paid the $1,109 filing fee.
Congratulations, Jon!
I Googled Assembly District 34, and it looks like you're a shoo-in if you can get through the primary (48% Republican to 33% Democrat).
Good luck with the campaign!
Yep, I've got my hat back in the ring again. This time it is for the State Assembly seat that will be vacated by Joe Canciamilla at the end of the current term due to term limits. Interestingly enough, even though I ran for Mayor of San Bruno in 1991, and for Governor in 2003, and another time for a County Board of Education spot - the Contra Costa times still considers me to be a political unknown.Gerald has formidable memory skills: name a week in the last half-year, and he can tell you what the Super Lotto Megabucks number was for that week. If politics were like 'Jeopardy,' he'd win easily. But as we know, politics is a trickier game....
Now I realize that some of the things that I have said over the years have been very contraversial - and this may be problemetic insofar as how I should approach the current situation. My first instinct is to run a basic platform that I think that "political decisions would be better off being made by engineers than for engineering decisions to continue to be made by politicians" AND that "I have a track record of identifying (the critical) issues (that are most often overlooked by those suffering from a failure of imagination)"
"This is in the tradition of the Boston Tea Party and the Pine Tree Riot," Organizer Logan Darrow Clements said, referring to the riot that took place during the winter of 1771-1772, when colonists in Weare beat up officials appointed by King George III who fined them for logging white pines without approval.There is a legitimate issue here. Indeed, just listening to the news regarding the particular Connecticut eminent domain case, my impulse was to side with the conservatives. Nevertheless, an opponent of Clements sees things differently:
"All we're trying to do is put an end to eminent domain abuse," Clements said, by having those who advocate or facilitate it "live under it, so they understand why it needs to end."
State Rep. Neal Kurk, a Weare resident who is sponsoring two pieces of eminent domain legislation in New Hampshire, said he expects the group's proposal to be defeated overwhelmingly.Indeed, there is a regrettable impulse, at least on the part of conservatives in California (such as California State Senator Tom McClintock), to see eminent domain controversies, such as the recent one involving Yolo County and the Rumsey Rancheria (as I blogged about here last year) as just another handy wedge issue, which can be cynically manipulated, whatever the local nuances, to score lazy Culture War points.
"Most people here see this as an act of revenge and an improper attack on the judicial system," Kurk said. "You don't go after a judge personally because you disagree with his judgments."
When will socialists like yourself come to realize that socialism is disgustingly unethical. I’m sure you already realize that it is a miserable failure everywhere in the world. But I’m not against socialism because “it doesn’t work”, I’m opposed to it because it makes “society” the standard of value and sacrifices individuals to this new god called “society”. Under socialism individuals become pawns of the government who can tell them what to do, take as much of their money as it wants....or kill them if it is “good for society”. Problem is that “society” is nothing more than a word to denote a group of individuals. So history shows us that socialism amounts to one individual (or group of individuals) using the power of the government to rob, imprison or murder another individual (or group of individuals).
You socialists fear “big corporations” that provide us with food, housing, cars, software, clothing, medicine and everything else but you don’t fear “big government” which has murdered over 100 million people in the last 100 years (read “The Black Book of Communism” written by former socialists) and stolen more money from people than all the thieves in the world in all of history. A thief might steal a car stereo, some jewelry or a few hundred dollars. Governments take 50% to 80% of the income of their subjects. In socialist nations they steal entire factories and entire industries. Hillary Clinton tried to put one fifth of the US economy under socialism with her delicately named “single payer” health care plan.
What governments do: start wars, murder people, imprison people, steal our money, take away our freedom
What “big bad corporations” do: produce all the things to keep us alive, make us happy and save our life
Who do you and your ilk think are the real villains in our world?... the mass murders, destroyers and thieves which are governments? No, the companies that sell you the car you drive, the toothpaste you use and the milk you drink. What a pathetic lot of misguided fools you all are.
It’s funny how socialists like yourself often favor gun control but all of your programs require guns because they all function by force. Force people into social security, prohibit people from freely trading by force, prohibit competition with public transportation by force, take their money by force, force employers to do this, force workers to do that, force, force, force...its the way the wheels turn (or don’t) under socialism. You will need a lot of guns to implement your plans since none of them involve free choice and all involve force.
I won’t defend the Republicans. Many Republicans are as bad as Democrats, some are worse. I’m an Objectivist who just ran on their ticket. I’ll defend Objectivism though and if you’d care to take a swipe at it here’s where you can get more information about this philosophy. Take your best shot!
Www.objectivistcenter.org
Bus route to Arnold appointment
Two years ago, Cheryl Bly-Chester roamed the state with a bus of unknown candidates in the 2003 recall, tailing Schwarzenegger on the campaign trail.
Bly-Chester, a Roseville engineer, helped organize the multiday bus tour from San Diego to Northern California in a desperate attempt to attract media attention in the 135-candidate race.
The bus tour didn't make Bly-Chester famous - she won 4,527 votes to finish 17th that year. But she credits her two-month foray into campaigning for her nomination last week to the state Reclamation Board, California's lead flood-control agency.
Schwarzenegger apparently didn't hold any grudges against his former opponent.
"Technically, he ran against me because he declared after me," Bly-Chester mused. "I think he had a good sense of proportion about the whole thing."
Bly-Chester said she has supported Schwarzenegger since he took office and has become active in Placer County Republican politics since the recall.
If scandal-ridden Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) runs for re-election, as he claims he will, he'll have to deal with a primary challenge for the first time in his career. Businessman George Schwartzman, who runs a health records management company, announced yesterday that he will take on Cunningham next year.George Schwartzmann - he ran as one of the 135 candidates in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election!
Last week, Carl Forti, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, explained to WND that self-described pornographer Mark Kulkis and his date, porn star Mary Carey, will be attending the two-day event, "The 2005 President's Dinner and Salute to Freedom," next Monday and Tuesday because their money is just as good as anyone else's.
Dean said he wanted the audience to focus not only on national politics but also on state and local elections.
He urged every person present to run for office.
"How many people in the audience think they can't be just as good a
president as George W. Bush?" he said, prompting a wave of applause and
laughter.
He encouraged those not able to run to donate "$10 or $15" to a political candidate they support or donate their time to a political campaign.
"It's not about Republicans and Democrats, but about democracy that works," he said. "I'd rather see someone go to work for a Republican campaign than sit on their butt."
Charles Pineda Jr. had to defend his Democratic credentials after Julie Padilla told him he ought to rethink his party registration when he said he opposes gay marriage. Pineda insisted later that many Democrats agree with him.I've always believed that liberals need to concerned primarily with economic matters, not life-style matters. Pineda may be 'conservative' regarding gay marriage, but on economic matters, he is a solid liberal. Gay marriage is a godsend of a wedge issue that Republicans use to split Democrats apart. We should ignore Republican wedge issues and focus on what keeps liberal Democrats together. Gay marriage is inappropriate as a wedge issue, particularly when Social Security needs to be saved from the 'piratizers.'
Here on the first anniversary of the election, we're back in the news. Here's an article about Jack Grisham and here's one featuring more candidates.
The Los Angeles Democrat would increase the number of signatures to 12 percent of registered voters, rather than the current requirement for 12 percent of the number of votes cast in the last election for that office.
His bill also would ban statewide initiatives from the recall ballot and designate the lieutenant governor as the replacement when voters kick the governor out of office.
"This (recall) process seems to be flawed in so many ways," Erwin Chemerinsky, USC law professor, said. "It was far too easy to get the recall on the ballot. ... It was far too easy for people to qualify to be candidates."
VARIOUS POSITIONS:
Why Should Democrats Support the Recall?
This election is likely the first of a new trend in American politics, featuring snap elections and larger menus of candidates. More choices and shorter election periods can make the Internet-informed voter and officeholder both more alert and more responsible, virtues Democrats should encourage.
I was asked by a good friend to justify why Gray Davis should be recalled. After all, Davis, at great effort and expense, fairly won the election for Governor last year. Some of the methods Davis employed (e.g., his pre-emptive attacks on Richard Riordan) may not have been the most sporting, but he played the political game as he found it. If the rules of the political game can be altered so readily by a dissatisfied faction (dittohead Republicans this time), or even by a few isolated millionaires able to pay for recall signatures (e.g., Darrell Issa), then what is to prevent another recall in short order?
Let me be the first to state that Gray Davis is certainly a capable politician. By far, he is the best fund raiser the state has ever seen. But ultimately, raising money is not his job. His job is to govern. His timidity in dealing with the power crisis when it first raised its ugly head in December, 2000, followed by his panic the following summer, did not give the electorate much confidence in his governing abilities. The electorate preferred Davis over Simon last year, but the simple magnitude of the budget deficit this year has really shaken their confidence.
I suspect we won’t see more recalls soon, provided each of the two major parties are free to choose their own candidates without undue interference from the other party. Last year's election was illegitimate: this year's election, with a greater participation by the electorate, is the legitimate one. Nevertheless, the Governor must meet a certain minimum level of performance, including being able to evade the machinations of dissatisfied factions, and failure to do so will inevitably bring a recall on.
Proposition 13
The shift away from property taxes to income taxes that Proposition 13 made necessary has introduced instability into state finances, since income is generally more volatile than the value of property. Today, as so clearly illustrated by the $38 billion deficit, following hard on the heels of the 90's boom surplus, we are reaping that whirlwind of volatility.
As part of a concerted effort to correct the state's finances, we need an initiative calling for the repeal of Proposition 13. Unlike Arianna Huffington, I've never thought Prop. 13 could be reformed - it's just too primitive). We need a concerted effort to go on Talk Radio and explain to the true believers why that might be necessary - so the state gets stability again, which the mid-70's legislature foolishly lost by not paying attention then to accelerating property tax rates.
I would make available low or deferred payment home equity loans, underwritten by the state, that would allow taxpayers to pay property taxes no matter what their income levels are. By implementing an improved property tax system, featuring various circuitbreakers that limit rapid increases in property taxes when property values soar, the tax system can be made more stable. Income taxes for the rich can be reduced, with income taxes for corporations increased in compensation.
An example of the weird effect of Proposition 13 on California politics: despite ideological solidarity, it's no longer in the economic interest of young conservatives to favor keeping Proposition 13, just so that older conservatives can benefit. Warren Buffett noticed the problem. Someday (and may that day be - now!), everyone else will too.
State vs. Counties
It's time for Sacramento to start devolving more of its powers, and the money streams that support them, back to various localities. After all, some California counties have populations that exceed that of many states, and it may well be that that is where authority best resides. Chains of authority are currently weak and confused in California State Government - a constitutional convention may be required. It's time to sort them out.
H1B and L1 Visas
Hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers have been laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 nonimmigrant visa program and offshore outsourcing. The abuse of the nonimmigrant visa programs continues to accelerate. In the Bay Area, unemployment benefits paid to laid-off IT workers already roughly equals the salaries of the H-1B workers.
The economic damage caused by these destructive practices is passed on to the taxpayer in the form of unemployment benefits, while the replacement laborers are paid below the levels they would otherwise merit.
The American habit of farming jobs overseas, with all those precious skills, causes income tax shortfalls, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and prolongs the recession in California. Whether as taxpayers or workers, we all suffer from the callous actions of the multinationals, aided and abetted by the Congress and the White House. It’s time to fight back!
Education
So many interest groups are meddling in education that the only real solution to education's problems is a radical one: get everybody out of the classroom and restore the authority of teachers to set their own agenda. Starting around 1969, first in big cities like New York, and then nationwide, teachers were brought to heel and forced to respond to "community" concerns. That sounds idealistic enough, but remember that communities are full of individuals who have mutually-exclusive agendas. Whipsawed by clashing priorities (driver's ed, safety concerns, inappropriate censorship, civil rights concerns, lawsuits), demoralized teachers lost their will to resist. Education got dumbed down - in California, particularly in the decade of the 1980's.
Students need to be educated first to be individuals capable of thinking for themselves, so they can join their communities as strong, independent-minded people, not enthralled to hand-me-down thinking. The first role of education, then, is to show students different ways of thinking, beyond the thinking in whatever parochial community they were born into. This is a process that does not 'take a village.' When the 'village' comes calling, wondering why Johnny is reading Huckleberry Finn, the teacher must send the village away. No matter how many good people a community has, their collective impulses are usually bad for education.
Teachers owe their loyalty first to their discipline, then to their students (and their students' parents). Secondary loyalties are owed to their fellow teachers and educational institution, and if they choose to join, their union. Community concerns are tertiary. Getting the hierarchy of loyalties right is important, because teachers are human beings, after all, and can't be expected to be all things to all people. Once the authority of teachers is restored, they will, of their own volition, increase academic standards.
According to teachers I’ve talked to, only standards-based assessment is actually useful: for example, making sure grade levels across the state correspond to each other. Other assessment programs are pointless - it's time to get rid of high school exit exams (even before many have been implemented). There is no need for further statewide testing programs, which only serve, after all, to increase the petty power of remote bureaucrats over a vital, but intensely personal process - learning.
MediCal
Similar to education’s problems, medical aid to the indigent suffers from energy-eroding micro-management. Time to trust the doctors more.
Affirmative Action
I'm skeptical about the importance of affirmative action: it has never played much of a role in my education, for example. Of far greater importance is keeping grants and low-income loans available for educational purposes.
Worker's Compensation and Disability
Reform is urgently required. Costs have doubled in the last three years. A system where the amount reimbursed for each doctor's visit is capped, yet the number of visits is not capped, cannot long survive when health costs continue to accelerate. Some of the reforms under consideration in the legislature would help, but maybe not enough: savings of 20% per year are not adequate when costs are rising at 30% per year.
Most Worker's Disability claims are filed by women office workers, an unlikely population for on-the-job injuries, suggesting that either the office workplace is more hazardous than we generally think, or many dubious claims are being filed. Additional authority for the Worker's Disability bureaucracy to reject dubious claims may be required.
Environment (Air Quality)
For the first time in four years, in 2003, air quality in California has declined. Technological improvements are not keeping up with the real world, where more people drive more miles every year. The state's current air quality bureaucracy has divided its efforts into so many directions that progress is uncertain and halting everywhere. Some decisiveness is required to restore progress. Hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles should be promoted. Improved inspection and maintenance programs and expanded vehicle scrappage programs should do much to improve air quality. Electric vehicles (poor battery performance) and hydrogen power (significant safety issues) should be junked.
I am very skeptical about the power of governments to deal with global warming issues by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Oil is to the economy what vodka is to the alcoholic - efforts to limit consumption by self-denial will be met by violent opposition. Technological improvements in the economy are the only way to moderate consumption, short of using up all the oil in the world.
Environment (The Living World)
The most urgent environmental job in California is habitat protection. Every other environmental concern is secondary. That's why I support the California Coastal Commission, despite its reputation for heavy-handedness - once nature is despoiled, it's very hard to bring it back.
Crime and Prisons
Prison times for small-time drug offenders, particularly those convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana, are too long. Let's bring back the power of the pardon, responsibly used.
In a properly-functioning prison system, the promise of parole and pardons can serve as a powerful deterrent to random and vengeful violence. As far as I can tell, the ONLY reason why Gray Davis hasn't used his pardon powers is because it's politically inconvenient. That is a dereliction of duty, and it should be an impeachable offense. What a weasel!
If elected, I would quickly issue pardons statewide to model prisoners who have been unfairly turned down before for parole. Then I would move to issue blanket pardons for those serving excessive sentences for marijuana possession. A blanket pardon would highlight the draconian sentences society has been laboring under, and the need to allow judges to exercise their discretion, something that federal sentencing guidelines, for example, unfairly limits. And it might even save the state a bit of money, too, which is nice in this time of deficit. I would then begin to go through the prison system to identify inequities in sentencing, and use pardons as needed. The idea is to USE to Governor's powers, rather than sit on them.
People in prison need educational opportunities and work training more than most, and it's important to maintain and enhance funding for such programs.
Death Penalty
The death penalty is OK with me, but I'm sympathetic with the position that the death penalty makes errors in the judicial system MORE, not less, likely (see the 'Thin Blue Line'.)
Abortion and Related Issues
I'm pro-choice. Nevertheless, there are problems in the abortion sphere. For example, Roe vs. Wade was an unnecessary intervention by the (liberal) Supreme Court into state practices that were already moving piecemeal to a pro-choice position in the early 70's. Pro-life groups would have found organizing resistance to liberal abortion laws much more difficult in the 70's if it had been made clearer through the democratic political system that pro-life positions were actually fairly unpopular, which would have happened had not the Supreme Court short-circuited the process. Instead, outrage about constitutional over-reach combined with outrage over abortion to reinvigorate the conservative political movement.
This year, the (conservative) Supreme Court appears to have overreached again in its recent ruling regarding homosexual behavior, this time putting such behavior completely out of the state's control. Normally, that would be fine by me, but there are extreme instances that are not hard to imagine (e.g., an uncontrollable outbreak of a hypothetical new, contagious, sexually-transmitted disease) where the state might have a compelling interest in regulating sexual conduct by everyone, including homosexuals. So, the Supreme Court, whether liberal or conservative, tends to express its power with unwarranted interferences in the political process.
Gun Control
I think gun control should be executed on a local basis, based on local sentiment. If rural areas want guns, fine, and if central cities want to ban them, fine. I do not worship at the shrine of the 2nd Amendment - I do not believe there is an inalienable right to own arms (although my sister, an NRA member, disagrees).
Infrastructure
We aren't doing enough to keep up with the demands that our population places on our highways, canals, etc. We have to do more work, with the same amount of money, or even less.
Casinos
There are two kinds of models for casino expansion: the Las Vegas model, where outsiders are flown in, fleeced, and then sent back home before they become public embarrassments, and the South Carolina model, where video poker is promoted in populations that live near the casinos - people who can't simply be sent away when they crash and burn. Even ten years ago, the few casinos open in California were located in rural areas only, where the influx of money at least raised local living standards - basically, the Las Vegas model. With the latest wave of casino expansion, one example being the new $280 million Thunder Valley casino near Roseville, with its rapidly-growing retirement population sitting like fat sheep just a few miles away, California is abandoning the Las Vegas model and endorsing the South Carolina model. How stupid! And all because only urban and suburban casinos can deliver that crack cocaine of politics, money, fast enough to keep politicians satiated! It's interesting to note that Cruz Bustamante has received campaign contributions (totalling over $1 million over the last decade) from Tribal Casino interests.
Indian Health Care
Casino profits have yet to penetrate to the tribal health care level. It's important to enhance, not cut, Indian health care.
Illegal Immigration
There is no issue on which people are more hypocritical than illegal immigration. Mexican immigrants persuade themselves they're only going to be in the U.S. a few years, when it should be clear even to them they are here for keeps. Employers use middlemen to shield themselves from the knowledge that their employees are illegals. And people like myself just like paying low wages, while nevertheless carping about illegals taking jobs.
Mexico pays a huge price for the supposed virtue of political stability. Mexico and the U.S. have had an understanding for years, by which the U.S. permits illegal immigration in order for Mexico to avoid political instablity. The people who would otherwise be available for making much-needed changes in Mexico instead run off to the United States.
It's time to "get real" and accomodate ourselves to the knowledge that immigration is here to stay, to regulate it more effectively, and just get along with our southern neighbors. I favor drivers licenses for illegals, but only if the licenses clearly indicate the illegal status of the holders of the licenses. In other words, let's start acknowledging reality for a change. We need a general amnesty, or perhaps an updated bracero program, to help regulate the presence of recent (illegal) immigrants in the U.S. - whatever works to get awy from today's stupid system.
From the get go, our group has been pledged to discuss the issues, come to a consensus as to our views, and to respect each other as candidates. To now suggest that The Forum politicize itself and endorse one candidate or another to block another candidate is anathema to my way of thinking. The devil himself may be elected governor of California. That in no way changes my observations that we have, amongst ourselves, the strongest group for positive political change that this state has seen since the Monterey or Auburn conventions of the 1850s.No WAY am I going to endorse a candidate in this election.
Jon Zellhoefer
Cheryl Bly-Chester
Jonathan Miller
Iris Adam
Badi Badiozamani
Lingel Winters
Jim Vandeventer, Jr.
Dick Lane
Editors:
Mr. Kotkin is wrong when he says attention will turn to fundamental changes in California's political system after the recall election is over. This election is the ONLY chance Californians will get. Paralysis lies ahead if either major (non-progressive) candidate wins. There are a few sound progressives on the ballot, but voters will have to summon the courage to vote their beliefs, rather than what the lazy media and comfortable politicians urge.
Hello. My name is Marc Valdez, I make my home in Sacramento, and I’m a Democratic candidate for California Governor. First, I would like to thank Pete Bennett and the coalition of various organizations sponsoring this protest: Hire American Citizens, No More H-1B, the National Association for the Employment of Americans, The Organization for Rights of American Workers, and The Programmer's Guild.We are here today to honor the memory of Kevin Flanagan, an IT martyr in the battle against the worker replacement practices of large multinationals. Kevin’s misery is not forgotten. Hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers have been laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 nonimmigrant visa program and offshore outsourcing. The economic damage caused by these destructive practices is passed on to the taxpayer in the form of unemployment benefits, while the replacement laborers are paid below the levels they would otherwise merit.
The American habit of farming jobs, and all those precious skills, overseas, causes income tax shortfalls, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and prolongs the recession in the Bay Area. Whether as taxpayers or workers, we all suffer from the callous actions of the multinationals, aided and abetted by the Congress and the White House.
The Bay Area’s agony has attracted little attention till now, but the abuse of the nonimmigrant visa programs continues to accelerate. In the Bay Area, unemployment benefits paid to laid-off IT workers already roughly equals the salaries of the H-1B workers.
What fields are most affected by the import of cheap, skilled labor?: all forms of Engineering and Computer Programming, Accountants and Auditors, Architects, Managers, Biologists and Chemists, Educators, Commercial Artists, Salesmen, and Medical Professionals. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! In the Philippines, even poorly-trained nurse trainees quickly depart for the United States – when in Manila, don’t dare get sick! California once hosted a Gold Rush: we now have a huge Job Rush. Soon, virtually every technical skill in the United States will be at risk of being filled by well-trained but poorly-paid people overseas.
As a California gubernatorial candidate, I will highlight these problems, and as Governor, I will work to solve them. I am behind everything you are doing here today.
People often ask us so-called minor candidates for California governor: why should I “waste” my vote on one of you guys? I suggest to you that there are times when the smaller the margin of victory, the more responsive and daring the eventual victor is. In the late 1940’s, there was no more responsive Texas Congressman than Lyndon Johnson. That was because he won his election by less than 200 votes. Johnson lost touch in 1965, after he had defeated Goldwater in the second biggest landslide victory in U.S. history. If you vote your conscience and support the candidate that most closely matches your views – one of the so-called minor candidates – you convey a message to who ever eventually prevails. Don’t waste your precious vote on Arnold or Cruz!
Apart from nonimmigrant visa and offshore outsourcing problems, my main focus is on stabilizing the state’s budget problems. The shift away from property taxes to income taxes that Proposition 13 made necessary has introduced instability into state finances, since income is generally more volatile than the value of property.
As part of a concerted effort to correct the state's finances, we need an initiative calling for the repeal of Proposition 13. In addition, we need a concerted effort to go on Talk Radio and explain to the true believers why that might be necessary - so the state gets stability again, which the mid-70's legislature foolishly lost by not paying attention then to accelerating property tax rates. I would make available low or deferred payment home equity loans, underwritten by the state, that would allow taxpayers to pay property taxes no matter what their income levels are. By implementing an improved property tax system, featuring various circuitbreakers that limit rapid increases in property taxes when property values soar, the tax system can be made more stable. Income taxes for the rich can be reduced, with income taxes for corporations increased in compensation.
An example of the weird effect of Proposition 13 on California politics: despite ideological solidarity, it's no longer in the economic interest of young conservatives to favor keeping Proposition 13, just so that older conservatives can benefit. Warren Buffett noticed the problem. Someday (and may that day be - now!), everyone else will too.
Vote yes on the recall, and vote for the minor candidate of your choice! Consider me, Marc Valdez, Democrat, when you make your choice!
SUBJECT: Workers to Stage Labor Day Protest at Site of Worker's Suicide
In a Labor Day action to searchlight worker replacement practices contributing to the suicide of Bank of America technology worker Kevin Flanagan, members of a coalition of technology organizations will picket at the site of Kevin's death; the Bank of America Concord Technology Center in Concord, CA on Monday, September 1 from 9 a.m. to noon.
The picketers represent hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 nonimmigrant visa program and offshore outsourcing. The group considers the huge multi-national to be a major offender.
Flanagan Took Own Life After Firing
"The pressure to reduce workers' wages and rights due to government subsidized labor creates terrible desperation in the work force," said protest organizer Lee Perry, "expressed to its ultimate degree by Kevin Flanagan, who took his own life earlier this year after training H-1B replacements for his work group and then getting a pink slip.
"The 'Great American Job Giveaway' is one of the main reasons for the record income tax shortfalls, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and continuing recession," Perry stated. "It is destroying the US technology sector and creating national security issues.
"We must educate the public on the impact of these practices. Labor Day, celebrating the contribution of working people, particularly the immigrants who adopted the American dream, is the right time to do it."
Press Release
Aug. 31, 2003
Candidates Working Together Today for A Better Tomorrow
By Cheryl Dietz
Forty-two qualified candidates for governor convened on the USS Hornet August 30,2003 in an historic event. Coming from all parties and walks of life, these candidates committed their energies, time, and talents to be a voice to represent the people. " This is the single most important election since the revolution," stated one member. This historical moment was forged as the 42 candidates gathered as Americans, not parties. It was the largest single gathering of mixed party candidates to date.
In a morning session, the candidates all agreed that they would debate the issues, not each other. Their common concern is that the media has promoted polarization with coverage of sensational topics about a select few candidates. They reiterated their belief in unity and not in polarization. The strength of unity will enable voters to make an educated choice. Candidates committed to meeting next Sunday in Los Angeles at RJ’s restaurant at 252 N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills from 10am -3pm. They further agreed to meet in San Diego on Sept. 13.
Several participants commented that candidates meeting as one voice was likened to a "constitutional convention." The Coalition of Candidates is working to empower the voters so that they, the voters, can take control of the state.
Working in an afternoon session, candidates explored the possibility of a debate to further examine issues in depth. Candidates agreed to support each other and that there should be a link on each person’s website to inform the voters of the events of the Candidates’ Forum. This would allow people to see who is in the Coalition as well as dates of future meetings, events and results of the meeting.
Here are the contents of the letter I delivered to Davis' spokesman. I focused on parole matters, because Davis still has a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of history in the limited time he has left in the Governor's office:
August 28, 2003
The Honorable Joseph “Gray” Davis
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, California 95814
Dear Governor Davis:
The only thing I would like to focus on in this letter is your failure (to date) to pardon any person, no matter how deserving, in the California prison system. In a properly-functioning prison system, the promise of parole and pardons can serve as a powerful deterrent to random violence and misdirected vengeance. As far as I can tell, the ONLY reason why you haven't used your pardon powers is because it's politically inconvenient. Unlike some Governors, like Pat Brown, who wrestled with his conscience regarding pardons, you have been perfectly willing to cause chaos, out of sight, in the prison system, just to deprive opponents of political ammunition. This kind of conduct is a dereliction of duty, and should be an impeachable offense.
Sincerely,
MARC VALDEZ
Candidate for California Governor
From: Marc Valdez
To: Kate
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 1:12 PM
Subject: RE: hi, questions that need to be addressed
Hi Kate!
I've been fortunate in not being directly involved in the prison system, but that also means I'm somewhat ignorant of some of the problems with the system. I'll let you know what I think - my sentiments - and you can see if they fit well with your experiences. I have a friend who was briefly involved in an advocacy organization - The Prisoner's Right's Union (PRU), and so I have at least that contact.
In a properly-functioning prison system, the promise of parole and pardons can serve as a powerful deterrent to random and vengeful violence. As far as I can tell, the ONLY reason why Gray Davis hasn't used his pardon powers is because it's politically inconvenient. Unlike some Governors, like Pat Brown, who wrestled with his conscience regarding pardons, Gray Davis is perfectly willing to cause chaos out of sight in the prison system, just to deprive his opponents of political ammunition. That is a dereliction of duty, and it should be an impeachable offense. What a weasel!
I'm pretty ignorant of family visitation issues - I don't know how many, if any, lifers get such privileges now. I'm sympathetic to your concerns, though. The biggest problem might be administering family visitations so they don't compromise prison security. For example, in Northern Ireland, family visitations have served to turn prisons into auxiliary IRA headquarters, but that experience probably has no bearing on California's experience. Provided prison security is not seriously harmed, I see no need why family visitations can't occur.
If elected, I would quickly issue pardons statewide to model prisoners who have been unfairly turned down before for parole. Then I would move to issue blanket pardons for those serving excessive sentences for marijuana possession. First, I'd have to identify what an excessive sentence is (my ideas are still fuzzy here, but 10 years is way too long a sentence for possessing small amounts of marijuana), and then identify those who would qualify and don't have other issues clouding their cases (like other convictions). A blanket pardon would highlight the draconian sentences society has been laboring under, and the need to allow judges to exercise their discretion, something that federal sentencing guidelines, for example, unfairly limits. And it might even save the state a bit of money, too, which is nice in this time of deficit. I would then begin to go through the prison system to identify inequities in sentencing, and use pardons as needed. The idea is to USE to Governor's powers, rather than sit on them.
People in prison need educational opportunities and work training more than most, and it's important to maintain and enhance funding for such programs.
We need to get away from our current bankrupt approach towards prison issues. That's what I hope to do.
Thank you for your attention! E-Mail back with any questions! In fact, if it's OK with you, I might post this exchange with you on my gubernatorial Web Page.
Marc Valdez
-----Original Message-----
From: Kate
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 12:48 AM
To: Marc Valdez
Subject: hi, questions that need to be addressed
Hi, I'm part of a organization called PTO prison talk online. I have read your issues your stating but I would like to know how you feel on the prison systems. Gray Davis has took parole away from people who rightly deserve it, also no family visits for lifers, which is so wrong because when you think about it, there's kids and family that would like to see their loved ones and parents for those special two days out of the month, it also would lessen the assaults and violence in most prison. Other issues like education, good time, work, and half time for first time offender of any sentence needs to be addressed also, but the other two are our main concern. Like me thousands of people have loved ones in prison, and that’s thousands of votes for the governor that will do the best for the inmates and their familys. If you already or now have any views or opinions on the matter id appreciate seeing them. I look forward to hearing back from you. thank-you
Sincerely,
Kate
1.) Regarding Hasen's recommendation to increase nomination signature and filing fee requirements, I think he conflates two problems, a crowded ballot vs. a ballot with non-serious candidates. There are large concentrations of non-serious wealth in the United States, particularly in California. If requirements are raised, only porn merchants and ex-sitcom stars will be able to afford access to the ballot. Serious folks will be excluded. It's a distraction having non-serious folks on the ballot, but it's better to let them in, in order to allow the serious others to have a shot as well. And what's so bad anyway about having a ballot crowded with serious candidates?
2.) In the era of the Internet, the nature of 'an effective campaign' may be changing, with more individualistic tailoring possible than in the mass campaigns of the past. A serious political message can start small, and quickly spread in a meme-like way. Setting a limit, say, of 50,000 signatures to determine seriousness, is highly arbitrary, squashing serious and non-serious messages alike.
3.) As is only too evident in modern American elections, a runoff or primary to narrow the list of candidates stunts public interest instead. THE major source of illegitimacy in modern elections is lack of choice (e.g., Davis vs. Simon, 2002), not a field divided among many candidates (no recent example available, except possibly the bifurcated split between Bush and Gore, which is arguably a different problem). Otherwise, why are we bothering having an election so soon after the previous one, if the previous election wasn't illegitimate? An instant runoff voting procedure would help, however: choice is preserved, and yet it is possible for a legitimate majority to be determined.
VARIOUS POSITIONS:
Why Should Democrats Participate in the Recall?
This election is likely the first of a new trend in American politics, featuring snap elections and larger menus of candidates. More choices and shorter election periods can make the Internet-informed voter and officeholder both more alert and more responsible, virtues Democrats should encourage.
I was asked by a good friend to justify why Gray Davis should be recalled. After all, Davis, at great effort and expense, fairly won the election for Governor last year. Some of the methods Davis employed (e.g., his pre-emptive attacks on Riordan) may not have been the most sporting, but he played the political game as he found it. If the rules of the political game can be altered so readily by a dissatisfied faction (dittohead Republicans this time), or even by a few isolated millionaires able to pay for recall signatures, then what is to prevent another recall in short order?
Let me be the first to state that Gray Davis is certainly a capable politician. By far, he is the best fund raiser the state has ever seen. But ultimately, raising money is not his job. His job is to govern. His timidity in dealing with the power crisis when it first raised its ugly head in December, 2000, followed by his panic the following summer, did not give the electorate much confidence in his governing abilities. The electorate preferred Davis over Simon last year, but the simple magnitude of the budget deficit this year has really shaken their confidence.
I suspect we won’t see more recalls soon, provided each of the two major parties are free to choose their own candidates without undue interference from the other party. Nevertheless, the Governor must meet a certain minimum level of performance, including being able to evade the machinations of dissatisfied factions, and failure to do so will inevitably bring a recall on.
Proposition 13
The shift away from property taxes to income taxes that Proposition 13 made necessary has introduced instability into state finances, since income is generally more volatile than the value of property. Today, as so clearly illustrated by the $38 billion deficit, following hard on the heels of the 90's boom surplus, we are reaping that whirlwind of volatility.
As part of a concerted effort to correct the state's finances, we need an initiative calling for the repeal of Proposition 13. In addition, we need a concerted effort to go on Talk Radio and explain to the true believers why that might be necessary - so the state gets stability again, which the mid-70's legislature foolishly lost by not paying attention then to accelerating property tax rates. I would make available low or deferred payment home equity loans, underwritten by the state, that would allow taxpayers to pay property taxes no matter what their income levels are. By implementing an improved property tax system, featuring various circuitbreakers that limit rapid increases in property taxes when property values soar, the tax system can be made more stable. Income taxes for the rich can be reduced, with income taxes for corporations increased in compensation.
An example of the weird effect of Proposition 13 on California politics: despite ideological solidarity, it's no longer in the economic interest of young conservatives to favor keeping Proposition 13, just so that older conservatives can benefit. Warren Buffett noticed the problem. Someday (and may that day be - now!), everyone else will too.
State vs. Counties
It's time for Sacramento to start devolving more of its powers, and the money streams that support them, back to various localities. After all, some California counties have populations that exceed that of many states, and it may well be that that is where authority best resides. Chains of authority are currently weak and confused in California State Government - a constitutional convention may be required. It's time to sort them out.
H1B and L1 Visas
Hundreds of thousands of technology service sector workers have been laid off and replaced by imported workers through the H-1B and L1 nonimmigrant visa program and offshore outsourcing. The abuse of the nonimmigrant visa programs continues to accelerate. In the Bay Area, unemployment benefits paid to laid-off IT workers already roughly equals the salaries of the H-1B workers.
The economic damage caused by these destructive practices is passed on to the taxpayer in the form of unemployment benefits, while the replacement laborers are paid below the levels they would otherwise merit.
The American habit of farming jobs overseas, with all those precious skills, causes income tax shortfalls, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and prolongs the recession in California. Whether as taxpayers or workers, we all suffer from the callous actions of the multinationals, aided and abetted by the Congress and the White House. It’s time to fight back!
Education
So many interest groups are meddling in education that the only real solution to education's problems is a radical one: get everybody out of the classroom and restore the authority of teachers to set their own agenda. Starting around 1969, first in big cities like New York, and then nationwide, teachers were brought to heel and forced to respond to "community" concerns. That sounds idealistic enough, but remember that communities are full of individuals who have mutually-exclusive agendas. Whipsawed by clashing priorities (driver's ed, safety concerns, inappropriate censorship, civil rights concerns, lawsuits), demoralized teachers lost their will to resist. Education got dumbed down - in California, particularly in the decade of the 1980's.
Students need to be educated first to be individuals capable of thinking for themselves, so they can join their communities as strong, independent-minded people, not enthralled to hand-me-down thinking. The first role of education, then, is to show students different ways of thinking, beyond the thinking in whatever parochial community they were born into. This is a process that does not 'take a village.' When the 'village' comes calling, wondering why Johnny is reading Huckleberry Finn, the teacher must send the village away. No matter how many good people a community has, their collective impulses are usually bad for education.
Teachers owe their loyalty first to their discipline, then to their students (and their students' parents). Secondary loyalties are owed to their fellow teachers and educational institution, and if they choose to join, their union. Community concerns are tertiary. Getting the hierarchy of loyalties right is important, because teachers are human beings, after all, and can't be expected to be all things to all people. Once the authority of teachers is restored, they will, of their own volition, increase academic standards.
According to teachers I’ve talked to, only standards-based assessment is actually useful: for example, making sure grade levels across the state correspond to each other. Other assessment programs are pointless. There is no need for further statewide testing programs, which only serve, after all, to increase the petty power of remote bureaucrats over a vital, but intensely personal process - learning.
MediCal
Similar to education’s problems, medical aid to the indigent suffers from energy-eroding micro-management. Time to trust the doctors more.
Affirmative Action
I'm skeptical about the importance of affirmative action: it has never played much of a role in my education, for example. Of far greater importance is keeping grants and low-income loans available for educational purposes.
Worker's Compensation and Disability
Reform is urgently required. Costs have doubled in the last three years. A system where the amount reimbursed for each doctor's visit is capped, yet the number of visits is not capped, cannot long survive when health costs continue to accelerate. Some of the reforms under consideration in the legislature would help, but maybe not enough: savings of 20% per year are not adequate when costs are rising at 30% per year.
Most Worker's Disability claims are filed by women office workers, an unlikely population for on-the-job injuries, suggesting that either the office workplace is more hazardous than we generally think, or many dubious claims are being filed. Additional authority for the Worker's Disability bureaucracy to reject dubious claims may be required.
Environment (Air Quality)
For the first time in four years, in 2003, air quality in California has declined. Technological improvements are not keeping up with the real world, where more people drive more miles every year. The state's current air quality bureaucracy has divided its efforts into so many directions that progress is uncertain and halting everywhere. Some decisiveness is required to restore progress. Hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles should be promoted. Improved inspection and maintenance programs and expanded vehicle scrappage programs should do much to improve air quality. Electric vehicles (poor battery performance) and hydrogen power (significant safety issues) should be junked.
I am very skeptical about the power of governments to deal with global warming issues by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Oil is to the economy what vodka is to the alcoholic - efforts to limit consumption by self-denial will be met by violent opposition. Technological improvements in the economy are the only way to moderate consumption, short of using up all the oil in the world.
Environment (The Living World)
The most urgent environmental job in California is habitat protection. Every other environmental concern is secondary. That's why I support the California Coastal Commission, despite its reputation for heavy-handedness - once nature is despoiled, it's very hard to bring it back.
Crime and Prisons
Prison times for small-time drug offenders, particularly those convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana, are too long. Let's bring back the power of the pardon, responsibly used.
Death Penalty
The death penalty is OK with me, but I'm sympathetic with the position that the death penalty makes errors in the judicial system MORE, not less, likely (see the 'Thin Blue Line'.)
Abortion and Related Issues
I'm pro-choice. Nevertheless, there are problems in the abortion sphere. For example, Roe vs. Wade was an unnecessary intervention by the (liberal) Supreme Court into state practices that were already moving piecemeal to a pro-choice position in the early 70's. Pro-life groups would have found organizing resistance to liberal abortion laws much more difficult in the 70's if it had been made clearer through the democratic political system that pro-life positions were actually fairly unpopular, which would have happened had not the Supreme Court short-circuited the process. Instead, outrage about constitutional over-reach combined with outrage over abortion to reinvigorate the conservative political movement.
This year, the (conservative) Supreme Court appears to have overreached again in its recent ruling regarding homosexual behavior, this time putting such behavior completely out of the state's control. Normally, that would be fine by me, but there are extreme instances that are not hard to imagine (e.g., an uncontrollable outbreak of a new, contagious, sexually-transmitted disease) where the state might have a compelling interest in regulating sexual conduct, including homosexual conduct. So, the Supremes, whether liberal or conservative, tend to express their power with unwarranted interferences in the political process.
Gun Control
I think gun control should should be executed on a local basis based on local sentiment. If rural areas want guns, fine, and if central cities want to ban them, fine. I do not worship at the shrine of the 2nd Amendment - I do not believe there is an inalienable right to own arms (although my sister, an NRA member, disagrees).
Infrastructure
We aren't doing enough to keep up with the demands that our population places on our highways, canals, etc. We have to do more work, with the same amount of money, or even less.
Casinos
There are two kinds of models for casino expansion: the Las Vegas model, where outsiders are flown in, fleeced, and then sent back home before they become public embarrassments, and the South Carolina model, where video poker is promoted in populations that live near the casinos - people who can't simply be sent away when they crash and burn. Even ten years ago, the few casinos open in California were located in rural areas only, where the influx of money at least raised local living standards - basically, the Las Vegas model. With the latest wave of casino expansion, one example being the new $280 million Thunder Valley casino near Roseville, with its rapidly-growing retirement population sitting like fat sheep just a few miles away, California is abandoning the Las Vegas model and endorsing the South Carolina model. How stupid! And all because only urban and suburban casinos can deliver that crack cocaine of politics, money, fast enough to keep politicians satiated! It's interesting to note that Cruz Bustamante has received campaign contributions (totalling over $1 million over the last decade) from Tribal Casino interests.
Indian Health Care
Casino profits have yet to penetrate to the tribal health care level. It's important to enhance, not cut, Indian health care.
Illegal Immigration
There is no issue on which people are more hypocritical than illegal immigration. Mexican immigrants persuade themselves they're only going to be in the U.S. a few years, when it should be clear they are here for keeps. Employers use middlemen to shield themselves from the knowledge that their employees are illegals. And people like myself just like paying low wages, while nevertheless carping about illegals taking jobs. It's time to "get real" and accomodate ourselves to the knowledge that immigration is here to stay, to regulate it more effectively, and just get along with our southern neighbors. I favor drivers licenses for illegals, but only if the licenses clearly indicate the illegal status of the holders of the licenses. In other words, let's start acknowledging reality for a change.
Yesterday evening, Mulholland was momentarily inescapable. I felt like like a frantic car thief on 'Cops', unable to escape the Mulholland media helicopter circling above. First, Mark Williams on KFBK lambasted Mulholland, doubting he had written his own apology. Then Hannity on FOX News, generously giving Mulholland nationwide television air time. Then back on KFBK, Rush Limbaugh, sternly condemning Mulholland's 'threat.' Mulholland slammed his tormentors, but since his rhetoric contained nothing that was really that new, I concluded he was slightly unprepared for the attention (congruent with the idea he originally misspoke rather than issued a threat).
Still, it showed once again, as if we need another demonstration, that outrageous statements ungrounded in truth - the 'Big Lie' - gets far more attention than unattractive truth. What did Mark Twain say, in 'Roughing It': A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
Mulholland has been working the seamier side of politics for some time. He was apparently the fellow who exposed the Republican candidate for Senate's fondness for nudie bars (following Kaus' practice, I don't mention the fellow's name here, although it's all a matter of public record). For the record, the last time I visited a nudie bar was New Year's Eve, 1995, but the fun was overshadowed by what happened later. I was first at the scene of an auto accident, and witnessed the death of a young Mexican immigrant after he was slashed ear-to-ear by the broken windshield. Thereafter, I called New Year's Eve, 1995 "The Night of Sex and Death."
Given the bonanza of attention being certifiably nuts can provide, my friend Michael has been urging me to let my inhibitions down:
Crop circle news is all the rage these days. That might get some attention. maybe you could say they were confused aliens due to the fact that you were driving a "Saturn"... I think the nuttier you sound, the more attention you will get. Let's face it, there are a few females on the ticket you are going to have trouble competing with in the photo op department, so you have to go the mental route and appeal to the marginally sane part of the populace.
I don't know, I figure I'm outrageous enough, in a nice, safe way, that I don't have to go the Mary Carey/Gary Coleman/Angelyne/pet ferrets kind of way. My calm zaniness will speak for itself. But then I'm left with the same problem I had before - getting exposure in a crowded field, with just two months to make some noise.
So, we'll see what we can do......
"At the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the minority staff of the Government Reform Committee assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report Politics and Science in the Bush Administration (.pdf) finds numerous instances where the Administration has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings. Beneficiaries include important supporters of the President, including social conservatives and powerful industry groups. This website is an ongoing record of interference with science by the Bush Administration."
We now seem to be at the other bookend of this generation (1978-2003) of taxation chaos. The Recall of Gray Davis has some of the same attributes of the 1978 revolt. Due to Proposition 13's shackles, the state's income was shifted away from property taxes to income taxes, which are inherently volatile, closely following the dot-com boom and crash. The magnitude and speed of the collapse of the state's finances startled many, strengthening the conviction many already had that state government was somehow squandering vast sums of money. Combine that with actual arrogant incompetence in the State Capitol, and the makings of another revolt were in place.
Once again, echoing 1978, liberals are not taking the complaints of Davis' incompetence seriously enough, particularly the noxious shenanigans surrounding this spring's 10.7 billion dollar bond sale, and once again there is the unimaginative effort to defend the overall level of governmental outlays rather than their quality.
It's time to break out of this nightmarish version of 'Groundhog Day.' Repealing Proposition 13 would have the effect of putting more of the state tax burden on large corporations (since it was they who benefitted most from Proposition 13 in the first place), and remove a portion of the tax burden from the rich and middle class.
First to be addressed is the immediate crisis, then the problems that underlay it:
Immediate Crisis
1.) Recall Davis, and elect someone else as Governor (preferably myself);
2.) Cancel this spring's troublesome bond sale, and call the legislature back into special session, for the purpose of raising income taxes to cover the missing bond sale, and also to obtain legislative approval of the tripling of the vehicle tax (a point that, with fairness, rankles many).
3.) In the event that approval IS forthcoming, start immediate efforts to reduce state expenditures, that would include cancellation or postponing of some state programs. Worker's compensation reform could then proceed.
4.) In the event that approval is NOT forthcoming, then in order to save scarce money, start a selective shutdown, two weeks at a time, of various state agencies (employees NOT paid), starting first with CALTRANS (because its services MUST be available during hazardous winter months), and rotating through every state agency (implemented differently with agencies upon whom life-and-limb depend). Also, pardon numerous prisoners who have largely served some of California's onerous prison sentences for minor crimes.
Underlying Problems
1.) Repeal Proposition 13 on the March ballot;
2.) Make available low or deferred payment home equity loans, underwritten by the state, that would allow taxpayers to pay property taxes no matter what their income levels are;
3.) Implement an improved property tax system, featuring various circuitbreakers that limit rapid increases in property taxes when property values soar.
Then, with a more-stable tax system for the state, less-susceptible to the vagaries of income and the market, we can proceed into a better future, for every Californian, rich, poor, and middle-class.
1.) signatures in lieu of filing fee; and,
2.) nomination signatures.
At first, I understood that I had to get 65 registered Democratic signatures, so I sent away numerous Republicans, independents, etc. Then I understood that non-Democratic signatures counted too, so I relented on getting just Democrats. Then I was made to understand that that didn't mean I didn't still have to get 65 registered Democratic signatures. So, it was confusing, but because I started early, I was able to finish, about 12:30 p.m. today (Saturday), before the deadline.
Here is a tabulation of the signatures, and how they counted (as far as I understand at the moment):
Submission #......1......2......3......4......5......Total
Raw count ..........51....35....21....11....2......120
In-lieu.................37....31......?.......?....?.......at least 68
Nomination.........30....24......9.......5....?.......at least 68
There were some interesting scenes on the last two days. On Friday, Channel 13 (local CBS affiliate) news cameras were stationed at the Sacramento Registrar's office, expecting a big crush of candidates, but in the lobby there were only two of us Future Governors of California, a Mr. Hadidi and myself. Reporter George Franco interviewed us both, and we were featured on the evening news. After filming me taking the Oath of Candidacy (they really do have such a thing here in California), they pinned a microphone on myself and let me ramble a bit. For the part used on the air, Franco asked me something like 'where will you get support?', and I responded something like: "Well, family and friends, of course. But then it will be important for the California voter....to take a look...." It all sounded a bit mysterious on-the-air (I need to work on my sound-bite techniques). When the piece aired, I was visiting friends Sally and Brian in Woodland, and long-time acquaintance Cindy called them to let them know I had been on TV. Fun!
Today about 12:15 p.m., at the Sacramento Registrar's office, numerous cameras had gathered in anticipation of John Garamendi arriving and announcing his candidacy, but his appearance was cancelled (he has apparently since withdrawn from the race). The idle cameras were instead pointed at a new arrival who intended to gather all 65 required signatures that afternoon on the K Street mall. Given the fact that many of the people there would be either uncooperative state employees, or the unregistered, I knew how hard that frantic effort was going to be. Outside, a reporter from the Sacramento Bee asked me some questions, which she intends to use for an article about the lesser-known candidates.
The hard part now is figuring how to conduct a statewide two-month-long campaign on $1000 or less, the amount I'm constrained to follow to have my candidate statement published (at $10/word) in the California Voter's guide provided to every registered voter in the state. If I go over $1000, I have to notify by fax all 155 or so candidates in the state first, so I want to be sure it's worth it before breaking that particular covenant.
What was enjoyable this afternoon was hearing the representative of the Sacramento Registrar's office say, in clipped official tones, with just the tiniest trace of a smile: "Your paperwork is complete. Goodbye."
Daniel Weintraub at the Sacramento Bee is focused on the irregular (perhaps illegal) nature of a 10.7 billion dollar bond offering next spring that is part of the current budget. That offering probably should not go forward, but then that means severe budget cuts need to be implemented immediately, and a special session of the legislature should be called to implement immediate tax increases and budget cuts to deal with the shortfall. In short, the new governor may have a budget emergency to deal with. New ideas! New ideas! We need them now! And the candidates are moving into position!
1.) The low burden of entering -- it only takes $3,500 and 65 signatures to participate;
2.) the non-partisan nature of the "replacement election" free-for all, meaning that (unlike in a primary) you can defy the party leadership and appeal, not just to the predictable and obedient primary-voting party members, but also beyond the party; and,
3.) the lack of runoff election, which makes the chances of victory seem greater.
Kaus calls it the "American Idol, low-entry-barrier, free-for all model" of an election. The model may have much to offer our attenuated democracy, and it will be interesting to see how this recall election turns out and whether it is a good for the future.
I had misunderstood the directions of the Sacramento County folks regarding petition signatures. I had thought that I could obtain signatures from only Democrats, and so I had unnecessarily sent others away. Now we are trying to get a hold of the others who had expressed an interest in signing.
Apparently the signatures count in two ways: signatures in lieu of filing fee (open to all registered voters), or nomination signatures (open only to Democrats). Thus of the 51 signatures I submitted to Sacramento County on Monday, 37 count in lieu of filing fee, and 30 count for nomination signatures. Either way, they are still well below the minimum of 65. There is a backlog of Yolo County signatures that won't be submitted until Friday - 30, and rapidly building, plus I have another ten or so. It's going to be close!
In my view, heretical Democrats like myself are not like jackals, joining in the killing. We are more akin to vultures - we are here to pick up the pieces. I'm absolutely certain that the presence of obscure Democrats on the ballot will not change any minds one way or the other regarding whether Davis should be recalled. But in the political ecosystem, just like out on the Serengeti Plain, vultures play a crucial role. Should Davis fall, we will be vital to keeping the Governorship in the Democratic party. A prominent Democrat still might decide to join the vultures, but it would not surprise me if no one did.
Then, once the election is over and the roadkill dealt with, the victorious vulture will molt, transform into a falcon, and carry the battle to the predators. Meanwhile, I'm sitting comfortably on my telephone post above Interstate 5, waiting to see what fortune brings my way.
(and remember, Larry Flynt can't molt - those skanky feathers have been woven into his skin).
Current raw signature count: 72 (minimum of 65 required).
On Saturday, I spent 3 1/2 hours in the late afternoon and early evening in front of the Alhambra Safeway, collecting signatures from Democrats registered in Sacramento County. The day was hot and rather humid - the southwestern summer monsoon is pumping an uncharacteristically large amount of moisture into California, which is a story all to itself meteorologically. After awhile, I ran out of water, so I felt a bit like a bug squashed on hot pavement. The Alhambra Safeway serves much of Midtown and Downtown Sacramento, so there is a very eclectic group of people who shop there, including a strong component of state employees.
Standing there with my clipboard, I got the reception I expected from some folks - something like 'you must be the telemarketer from hell I came to the store to avoid.' And to be fair, many folks were in a hurry for diverse reasons. But then, after talking with the folks, I realized the reaction I was getting was actually a lot more sophisticated, and sadder, than just another impertinent interruption in their day.
Because of the importance of the state government in Sacramento, the city sometimes has a company-town feel to it. Many people either work for the state, or are heavily dependent on it in one way or another. And these folks are worried. Better than anyone, the employees of the state know the weaknesses of the state, and if the state falters and falls, they would be the big losers. So glimpsing me collecting Democratic signatures at the supermarket was, for many people, like stumbling across a body in the street of medieval plague-ridden London - hardly a cause for interest or celebration at all. Several people refused to sign because their jobs were directly tied to state business. Two people refused to sign or even talk because they actually work IN Davis' office.
But there were exceptions, of course. Two tall men loomed over me and asked "do you want to raise taxes or not?" I replied, "no, I don't want to raise taxes unless absolutely necessary." Smiling, they replied, "that's the WRONG answer!" (They eventually signed anyway). A married couple, particularly the woman, who had an interest in social issues, tried to pin me down. "Look," she said, "if you had to choose between cutting state aid for the disabled and the elderly, or for mothers with children, who would you cut off, and why? And realize how you answer this question will determine for me how you think, and whether I sign your petition or not." I replied that I didn't think it would come to that, but if forced to choose, I would cut off the disabled and elderly first, because federal programs are available to them that mothers with children do not have access to. I never really learned whether they thought this was the 'correct' answer, but the couple eventually did sign the petition.
One young man signed the petition, and identified himself as an employee of a firm contracted to the state. He said that the state had delayed payment to his employer as a result of the delay in finalizing a budget, and frankly he was sick of the whole game. In him, I glimpsed the kind of cynicism that you might expect among soldiers in a war zone - Kosovo, Bosnia, or Iraq - but Sacramento? A rather sobering conversation. A medical resident identified a blizzard of forms required by the state to obtain paltry Medi-Cal reimbursements and asked - 'what can be done?' (this plea tails nicely with my desire to free teachers of onerous state oversight - teachers and doctors BOTH). One man rudely stalked into the supermarket when I identified myself as a Democrat running against Davis, but when he came out, he engaged me in a conversation about the recall, and what is the best way to deal with the budget deficit. He didn't sign the petition, but he went home in a happier state of mind. Other people didn't say much, but I could tell they were listening to me with keen interest, trying to size me up, whether I was simply nuts, or perhaps deluded, or whether I had half a brain in my head.
So, I have roughly 50 signatures now - not yet enough. And I have a closer look at how people think, at least around here. To my surprise, many Democrats do not think the same way I do, that Davis should be recalled. Most Democrats appear to be against the recall, and angry that they might have to participate in it anyway. I suspect a lot of their anger may be a residue of the Florida debacle in the 2000 election. With Florida, however, there was a cabal of Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court that conspired with the Republican party to actually steal an national election - a matter of grave importance to the future of the country. Recall is an option that has been in the California Constitution for nearly a hundred years, however, so the recall election doesn't have the same constitutional shadow Bush vs. Gore had. So, it's not a slam dunk that Davis may be recalled. He may yet survive. On the other hand, who knows what people outside downtown Sacramento think? What do people think, say, in Stockton, or Yuba City?
So, if you walk the streets of Sacramento, and you espy a man in a suit of feathers and a giant beak, waving incense around and doing a dance, don't fear: it's not a sign of the Apocalypse, a medieval doctor trying to clean the streets of the plague, it's just your local candidate for governor trying to scare up a few registered Democratic voters for his ballot qualification petition.....
I remember shopping for a townhouse in Mission Beach, San Diego, and how pricey everything seemed by New Mexico standards. Of course, this was just before the big real estate inflation of the 70's, so what we were really looking at were bargain-basement prices. If we had succeeded in getting some duplex or other in Mission Beach, I could well be in the same position of some of these Proposition 13 weenies, desperately hoping my dad could cling to his windfall before property taxes go up again. Some things worked out OK after all - I don't have the windfall, but I don't have my head screwed on backwards either!
Yet is it really in the state's interest to subsidize these folks while everyone else who bought into the market post-1978 is forced to pay higher taxes? It's really a tax entitlement, welfare for mom and pop by the beach. Yet it is certainly in no one's interest to force these people out either. I propose low-interest, low-or-deferred payment home equity loans to allow these folks to stay where they are at in peace, yet pay their fair share of the tax burden, so the tax rate can be lowered for everyone. Come on, California has been good to you - isn't it time you were good to California?
Well, I did put a couple of pictures on my personal Web Log, so you can look at those over there. I don't have much in the way of a head shot, except maybe the one we used for "A Chorus Line" at DMTC last January (without the glasses I usually wear). I'll stick that over there too. I'm trying not to spend much money on this campaign, and this blog is the standard free Blogger account. I can't upload pictures here, but on the personal Web Log, I can do so. Also, on my personal Web Log, trying to keep up with Georgy, I offer my old briefs, but somehow I don't expect many offers.....
Ted Costa, managing to look both dyspeptic and complacent in the newspaper photo, apparently helped lead the Proposition 13 revolt of 1978, the first really big adventure of the garrulous right. Then I recalled reading (was it Robert Kuttner?) at least a decade ago that, for various technical reasons, Proposition 13 had created something of a property tax entitlement for those who bought their homes pre-1978. Twenty-five years later, if that entitlement is still there and if enough people still benefit from it, it would be a potent target for a populist attack.
More importantly, the shift away from property taxes to income taxes that Proposition 13 made necessary has introduced instability into state finances, since income is more volatile than the value of property. Today, as so clearly illustrated by the 38 billion dollar deficit, following hard on the heels of the 90's boom surplus, we are reaping that whirlwind of volatility. Hey, now I'm beginning to sound like Dan Walters (the Sacramento Bee columnist). His style is pretty easy to satirize.....California, the Golden State, is riven by so many ethnic groups, split into so many income levels, governed by so many overlapping jurisdictions, and conflicted by such a torturous geography, that it is virtually unmanageable. Boom and bust, bust and boom, what is California's future?
Well, we have a presidential primary in March. As part of a concerted effort to correct the state's finances, at that time, perhaps we need an initiative calling for the repeal of Proposition 13. And a concerted effort to go on Talk Radio and explain to the true believers why that might be necessary. California doesn't need more partisan warfare, and I'm not particularly interested in raising taxes through the roof for any grand governmental expansion (I certainly have no such plan). Maybe a deal can be struck, mostly with the dittoheads in mind, a grand compromise - a promise of lower income tax rates AND the repeal of Proposition 13 (with higher property tax rates resulting). That way, the state gets stability again (which the mid-70's legislature foolishly lost by not paying attention then to accelerating property tax rates) and the people aren't much affected, keeping more of their income, but losing more in property taxes. A win-win, as they say.....
Remember, the "community" is an ass. Teachers owe their loyalty first to their discipline, then to their students (and their students' parents). Secondary loyalties are owed to their fellow teachers and educational institution, and if they choose to join, their union. Community concerns are tertiary. Getting the hierarchy of loyalties right is important, because teachers are human beings, after all, and can't be expected to be all things to all people. Once the authority of teachers is restored, they will, of their own volition, increase academic standards. No need for repellent statewide testing programs, which only serve, after all, to increase the petty power of remote bureaucrats over a vital, but intensely personal process - learning.
Affirmative Action
I'm skeptical about the importance of affirmative action: it has never played much of a role in my education, for example. Of far greater importance is keeping grants and low-income loans available for educational purposes.
Worker's Compensation
Reform is urgently required. Costs have doubled in the last three years. A system where the amount reimbursed for each doctor's visit is capped, yet the number of visits is not capped, cannot long survive when health costs continue to accelerate. Most Worker's Comp claims are filed by women office workers, an unlikely population for on-the-job injuries, suggesting that either the office workplace is more hazardous than we generally think, or many dubious claims are being filed. Additional authority for the Worker's Compensation bureaucracy to reject dubious claims may be required.
Environment (Air Quality)
For the first time in four years, in 2003, air quality in California has declined. Technological improvements are not keeping up with the real world, where more people drive more miles every year. The state's current air quality bureaucracy has divided its efforts into so many directions that progress is uncertain and halting everywhere. Some decisiveness is required to restore progress. Hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles should be promoted. Improved inspection and maintenance programs and expanded vehicle scrappage programs should do much to improve air quality. Electric vehicles (poor battery performance) and hydrogen power (significant safety issues) should be junked.
I am very skeptical about the power of governments to deal with global warming issues by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Oil is to the economy what vodka is to the alcoholic - efforts to limit consumption by self-denial will be met by violent opposition. Technological improvements in the economy are the only way to moderate consumption, short of using up all the oil in the world.
Environment (The Living World)
The most urgent environmental job in California is habitat protection. Every other environmental concern is secondary. That's why I support the California Coastal Commission, despite its reputation for heavy-handedness - once nature is despoiled, it's very hard to bring it back.
Crime and Prisons
Prison times for small-time drug offenders, particularly those convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana, are too long. Let's bring back the power of the pardon, responsibly used.
Death Penalty
The death penalty is OK with me, but I'm sympathetic with the position that the death penalty makes errors in the judicial system MORE, not less, likely (see the 'Thin Blue Line'.)
Abortion
Pro-choice ('nuf said).
Infrastructure
We aren't doing enough to keep up with the demands that our population places on our highways, canals, etc. We have to do more work, with the same amount of money, or even less.
Casinos
There are two kinds of models for casino expansion: the Las Vegas model, where outsiders are flown in, fleeced, and then sent back home before they become public embarrassments, and the South Carolina model, where video poker is promoted in populations that live near the casinos - people who can't simply be sent away when they crash and burn. Even ten years ago, the few casinos open in California were located in rural areas only, where the influx of money at least raised local living standards - basically, the Las Vegas model. With the latest wave of casino expansion, one example being the new $280 million Thunder Valley casino near Roseville, with its rapidly-growing retirement population sitting like fat sheep just a few miles away, California is abandoning the Las Vegas model and endorsing the South Carolina model. How stupid! And all because only urban and suburban casinos can deliver that crack cocaine of politics, money, fast enough to keep politicians satiated!
Illegal Immigration
There is no issue on which people are more hypocritical than illegal immigration. Mexican immigrants persuade themselves they're only going to be in the U.S. a few years, when it is clear they are here for keeps. Employers use middlemen to shield themselves from the knowledge that their employees are illegals. And people like myself just like paying low wages, while nevertheless carping about illegals with driver's licenses. It's time to "get real" and accomodate ourselves to the knowledge that immigration is here to stay, to regulate it more effectively, and just get along with our southern neighbors.
Education
Ph.D. (1987) and M.S. (1985) in Atmospheric Sciences (minor, Physics), University of Arizona, Tucson. B.S. in Physics and in History (minor, Mathematics), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. First two undergraduate years at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro. Graduated from West Mesa High School, in Albuquerque in 1974.
Work History
Post-doctoral positions at Arizona State University, Tempe, and University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
Since 1990, I've been Air Quality Meteorologist at Sierra Research, an air quality consulting firm located in Sacramento. Most of my duties concern dispersion modeling, an essential step that industry must follow in the process of obtaining a permit from regulatory agencies for polluting the air. Tell me how tall your smokestack is, plus a few other details, and I'll tell you, from a regulatory standpoint, how much of an impact you'll have on air quality.
Hobbies
I have a fondness for performing arts, particularly ballet and musical theater. I have been a regular performer in various dance recitals (Tucson Community Ballet, now Tucson Regional Ballet 1985-1988; Woodland Academy of Dance 1993-present). I am an occasional performer with the Woodland Opera House, and a regular performer with Davis Musical Theater Company (DMTC). I currently serve as Treasurer of DMTC.
Miscellaneous Facts
The old-fashioned liberal in me recoils at some of this, regarding it as irrelevant, but things have changed since the 1950's, and so it's pertinent today.....
Family: Single, no children (unless a dog and a house rabbit count).
Religion: Agnostic
Strength: An eternal optimist, no matter how dark things get.
Weakness: An eternal optimist, no matter how dark things get.
Sexual Orientation: Even though I like show tunes, and prance about in tights, I'm not gay.
Celebrity Hero: Kylie Minogue
Vice: A fondness for casino blackjack (which informs my opinion that we should start closing casinos in California, not opening new ones).
Most Proud Of: Despite what might seem like obvious risks, for the last year, with no scandal and with few problems, my colleagues at DMTC have entrusted me with the position as their Treasurer, handling about $10,000 per month of their cash and checks.
For example, U.S. infantry patrols in Iraq are generally working well in their new roles as gendarmes, despite being poorly-equipped for the task (military vehicles are far too noisy for superior crime deterrence). Nevertheless, why are things going well? An effective chain-of-command. Why does an organization like the U.N. frequently aggravate international crises (e.g., Rwanda, Bosnia) rather than ameliorate them? Because the powerful leaders of the U.N. in New York carry too little responsibility for the consequences of their actions, and the reponsible people in the field don't have enough power.
Dysfunction in California is most clearly evident regarding the power of the pardon. The governor alone has that very considerable power. Because the reponsibility is so clear, and the consequences so grave, can we be surprised that it is the one power of the office that Gray Davis has absolutely dodged since he took office?
Power in California has been overly-centralized in Sacramento, and is held disproportionately by various people like campaign consultants, who have no formal responsibility. Divorce power and responsibility, and trouble will result.
It is time for liberals of an old-fashioned bent (meaning we have less interest in life-style single-issue politics, and more interest in improving the economic lot of ALL Californians, rich AND poor) to band together, and start setting things aright. We may need to make tactical retreats from liberalisms more outlandish outposts, in order to preserve the promise that government CAN make our lives better. We may not have much time - this huge budget deficit indicates that major surgery is required. I propose surgery WITH anesthesia, with compassion, unlike too many Republican proposals, which, with their unimaginative budget slashing, are more like gratuitous amputation.
