The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County invites you to our " On to the Election, 83rd Annual Democratic Party Picnic " on Saturday, September 27th from Noon until 4PM at Kennedy Grove in El Sobrante. Tri Tip and Corn, Watermelon, State and Local Candidates will speak . RSVP by clicking here! Click here to download an event flyer In the coming November election you will receive bogus slate mailers seeming to endorse the Democratic slate, but not quite. The best way we can counteract the effect of these bogus mailers is the official California Democratic Party door hanger with the official slate and down ticket candidates and ballot measures endorsed by the state and local Democratic Party. The California Democratic Party sent the Contra Costa Democratic Party has 185,000 door hangers with space to print the local down ticket endorsed candidates names along with endorsed local ballot measures. Printing and distributing the official California Democratic Party door hangers can be costly. That is why you should attend the picnic. Your door hanger will look like this with the names of the endorsed local candidates that will appear on your ballot. Take it to the poll with you. Torlakson: I believe in building our schools up, not tearing them down Watch the· VIDEO At the Democratic Party Convention, California Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson discussed his work to empower teachers, parents and communities to make their own education decisions, to help students graduate with real-world skills, and to keep children safe. Here's the full text of his prepared remarks: Thank you, Dean Vogel. Thank you, John Burton. Thank you, Democrats. And a special thanks to my fellow teachers, the classified school employees, the principals, school librarians, counselors and nurses. We're a great team - working together. You are my inspiration. You - and the 6 million students we serve - make this the best job I've ever had. You are the unsung heroes of California schools. You are why graduation rates are rising, and dropout rates are dropping. You helped us stop the budget cuts - and put control over education dollars back where it belongs: in the hands of teachers, parents and schools. You deserve our thanks. But this is an election year, which means people who have never done your job will be telling you how to do your job. Telling you our schools are failing. Telling you that you're the problem. And telling you the way to make our schools great is for you to give up your seniority, or your right to a fair hearing. Where does that come from? It's straight out of the Wall Street playbook. It's not about making schools better - it's about making them easy pickings. It's about buying low and selling high. Hanging a "failure" sign across a school is like putting a foreclosure sign on a house - it lowers the price, and opens the door for private interests. Now don't get me wrong. I believe in private enterprise. But public schools are no place for Wall Street speculation...and the trading desk at Salomon Brothers is no training ground for California's next superintendent. As a teacher and a coach, I believe in building our schools up - not tearing them down. I believe in empowering teachers, parents and communities to make their own decisions. I believe in partnerships that bring people together - not misguided policies designed to tear us apart. Besides, there's plenty of work to see our schools through the historic transformation that's already underway: We've rejected top-down micro-management of our education system - whether it comes from Washington, Sacramento or Wall Street. We've stopped the outdated bubble tests. We've taken $13 billion earmarked for 37 separate red-tape ridden programs and turned those dollars back over to our schools and districts. We're implementing the Governor's local control funding formula - which means more help for English learners and children in poverty - and more power over education dollars for parents, teachers and schools. More dollars with each passing year. We're also doing more than ever to give students a taste of the working world before they graduate - because we know all students need skills they can use in the real world of careers and college. We've got a long way to go, but we're going to bring back arts, music and drama to our schools. We're working hard to expand early learning - because nothing helps children succeed in school like a good start. And we're determined to keep all kids safe, with after-school programs that keep students away from gangs, drugs and guns - and laws to be sure all students are safe from bullying, protected from discrimination and afforded the respect and dignity they deserve. Education takes teamwork. We know that. We know our students succeed when parents, teachers and communities come together. We've built a strong team - we are led by a Governor dedicated to our public schools, and to standing with us to build a smarter and stronger California. We have Democratic majorities in the Legislature - led by Speaker John Perez and Senate President Darrell Steinberg - who have put education first. And we have a new generation of rising stars, including our next Senate President, Kevin DeLeon, and our next Assembly Speaker, Toni Atkins. Do we have a strong team? A team ready to lead California into the future? Yes, and it's a good thing we do. Take it from a teacher, Democrats. 2014 will be a test - and this is no fire drill. The forces opposing us are real. The stakes are high. The test is whether we will stand strong together, for our values, for our public schools and for our children. That test starts now. Who's done their homework? Who's ready? And most important of all, who's with us? Thank you, Democrats! Source Tight race to save public education from privatization The recent Field Poll finds a statistical tie in the non-partisan contest for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Likely voters currently divide 31% in support of educator Marshall Tuck, 28% for incumbent State Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson, and a huge 41% undecided. Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Cohn writes in A Great Divide: The Election Fight for California’s Schools “ The 40-year-old Tuck is a Harvard Business School graduate who has workedas an investment banker for Salomon Brothers” … “ Tuck’s candidacy is supported by the same mix of wealthy education privatizers, Silicon Valley and entertainment money, hedge fund and real estate interests that backed privatization candidates”…“Tuck supports using student test scores as a way of evaluating individual teachers’ performances. Critics of this policy, which is favored by school privatizers, claim that it forces classroom instructors to “teach to the test” and scrap curriculum that is not seen as reaping high student test scores.”…“Tuck also believes in the contentious Parent Trigger law, which has opened the door for charter schools to take over public schools and is strongly supported by conservatives and school privatizers. Torlakson voted against the law in 2009 when he was a member of the state Assembly.” If Wall Street bankers can succeed in privatizing California public school, they will repeat the strategy all over the country. The Republican strategy has been to vastly underfund public education to the point where California ranks amongst the lowest states in the country by test score and funding per sudent. Republicans then prescribe charter schools that may sometimes and sometimes not deliver quality education but are exempt from many of the requirements that public schools and teachers have to meet. Corporations set up charter schools based on business principles that make them profitable. Frequently profit is more important than educating. Tuck was President of Green Dot Public Schools a corporation with 19 charter schools in Los Angeles. It isn’t difficult to figure out what his plan for California schools looks like. After years of fiscal starvation at the hands of the Republican obstructionist, education is getting better in California. Thanks to the fiscal strategies of Governor Brown, the Democratic majority in the legislature, Tom Torlakson and Proposition 30; California has stopped short-changing our kids. Save Public Education , tell your friends and neighbors why re-electing California Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson is so important. Truth Bytes Did You Know PUC Chief of staff found in bed with PGE Execs In an effort to reduce the financial downside to being judged by an unfriendly PUC judge, PGE Executives convinced Carol Brown, Chief of staff to PUC President Michael Peevey to intervene on PGE’s behalf. PGE wanted to make sure the judge chosen to determine the penalties for the San Bruno fire, would be PGE friendly. As a result of e-mail revelations, 3 PGE Vice Presidents have resigned, and Ms. Brown has taken a paid leave of absence and if she resigns, she can go back to her old job as an administrative judge at the PUC. Mr. Peevey has removed himself from further dealings with the situation. Activist groups are calling for his removal. Meanwhile PGE has been running full-page ads in local newspapers saying how they are working hard to make us safer. The are also running TV ads showing how local PGE workers are dedicated to the community. This while PGE execs worked behind the scenes to undermine their regulatory agency. Reports indicate that the judgment says PGE will be penalized $1.4B, not to be paid for by ratepayers (us). In order for that to happen the fines have to be paid by the stockholders. The way that can be done is for PGE to issue additional shares of stock thereby diluting the value of current shares. Details PGE bills are expected to rise 4-5% next month due to a rate increase – surprise. A cherry on top of obstruction of justice. Who the Democratic Party endorses locally The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County Endorsement Committee spent over 60 hours on 6 weekends to interview more than seventy Democratic candidates for local offices in Contra Costa County. One of the most important jobs of the DPCCC is to vet candidates and decide which are worthy of endorsement. The committee members are commended for their efforts. The names of candidates endorsed by the party will appear on door hanger slate cards that is frequently taken into the voting booth for reference. Candidates or their campaign will deliver many of the cards. Endorsement by the party with the name on the card improves candidate credibility. The DPCCC has made the following fifty endorsements for the November 2014 General Election: Candidates stated the three most important reasons to vote for them, click the links to see who was endorsed why you should vote for them. City Races School Board Races Special District Races Endorsements by the California Democratic Party · Statewide candidates, state legislators, congress ballot measures Door hangers with the above slate should arrive at your home before the vote by mail ballots. Your door hanger will have the names of the candidates on your ballot. CA Senators Voting NO on Fracking Moratorium Received 14x More $$$ from Oil Gas Industry On May 29, 2014 the California State Senate rejected a bill, SB 1132, that would have placed a moratorium on oil and gas well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic and acid fracturing, until the government completes a scientific study of the practices' impacts on human and environmental health. Senators voting 'NO ' on the moratorium bill have received 14 times as much money from the oil and gas industry , on average ($24,981), as senators voting 'YES' ($1,772). Source: MAPLIGHT How much does a seat in the CA legislature cost? On average over $700K, for a job paying about $100K/year. The most expensive seat cost over $4M in campaign contributions. Maplight has an interesting chart showing how much was spent for each legislators seat in the 2012 election. Fracking Frontline Action A small county in New Mexico successfully fought off The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, three private landowners and a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to prevent fracking. The community is gearing up to defend their local ban on fracking against another onslaught by energy companies who want to explore natural gas extraction through fracking. The area’s traditional livelihoods are farming and ranching, which rely on clean, healthy rivers and streams. Millions of gallons of water are used to frack and water contamination and earthquakes are increasingly paired with fracking. Water is less available in New Mexico as they have suffered severe droughts. Full story: YES! Magazine TriValley Democrats Oppose Two CA Supreme Court Confirmations At a September 15, 2014 meeting of the TriValley Democratic Club the membership voted to oppose the confirmation of two California Supreme Court justices and endorse a slate of statewide local candidates and positions on two statewide ballot measures. The two confirmation votes are of particular importance. The 2 Justices were appointed by the governor and must be confirmed by the voters in the next gubernatorial election in November. These Justices both decided to not allow Proposition 49 on the ballot. Mary Linton the TVDC Secretary explained the reason to not confirm the Justices to club members. See why Diddo Clark disagrees and would confirm Goodwin Liu. Minimum Wage Myth Ten years ago, San Francisco raised it minimum wage from $6.75 to $8.50 an hour, a 26 percent increase. Since then, it has gone up at regular intervals to its current $10.74 per hour, the highest big-city starting wage in the country. The city has slapped other mandates on businesses, including paid sick leave and a requirement to provide health-care coverage or pay into a pool for uninsured residents. What have the effects been on employment Almost none, according to economists at the University of California, Berkeley, who studied San Francisco, eight other cities that raised their minimum wages in the past decade, and 21 states with higher base pay than the federal minimum. “Our data show that an increase up to $13..00 an hour has no measurable effect on employment”, said Michael Reich, a Berkeley Economics professor with The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Read the full story: The Seattle Times Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) If you're not behind on your mortgage payments but have been unable to get traditional refinancing because the value of your home has declined, you may be eligible to refinance through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). HARP is designed to help you get a new, more affordable, more stable mortgage. HARP refinance loans require a loan application and underwriting process, and refinance fees will apply. Get info Hillary Clinton Ar gues For “ Inclusive Prosperity ,” John Boehner Ignores His Past The Center for American Progress was honored to host a dynamic panel of women leaders featuring Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Patty Murray, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro to discuss why women’s economic security matters for everyone. Clinton spoke forcefully about the need for workplace policies that work for women and families. “The number one thing we can do to make our economy grow is to tap into the full potential of women who want to be in the workforce”, she said. FULL STORY Tim Sbranti supports The Disclose Act Tim Sbranti told THE LOOP: ” I wanted to let you know that I fully support the Disclose Act and have stated so on numerous occasions in public forums and at events. In fact, I even supplied literature from my own campaign to activists who were fighting for the Disclose Act's passage from my own race as evidence as to why this bill is needed*. If the bill does not pass this session, this will be one of the first bills I will try to get passed if I am elected to the State Assembly. Transparency is a critical part of our political process, and the Disclose Act would play an important role in improving our system.” * Tim Sbranti was talking about a 16 page full color mailer sent after the primary to voters in the assembly district, as an example of how big money influences politics. The mailer slamming Tim cost between $400,000 $1M . ” The Powell Memo by Gordon Miller We have disparate phenomena in today’s politics: Failure of the press to cover news. Think tanks spouting gibberish. Prestigious universities involved in financial wrongdoing. Torrents of lobbyists and money infest DC and Sacramento. Politics responds only to the rich. Middle class decline. Something ties all of this together the way plate tectonics unifies geology and evolution unifies biology. Back in 1971, at the behest of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, a tobacco company lawyer named Lewis Powell wrote a battle plan for big business to defend itself from the progressive tide and government regulation. The memo called for: Creating persuasive arguments positions leading to the formation of conservative think tanks Increased lobbying Monitoring what is said in the press academia to be sure pro-business information is presented The Chamber formed a task force of 40 executives of America’s biggest businesses to implement the “Powell memo” battle plan including executives from CBS and ABC. Then things happened fast. Network news became a profit center rather than a public service. People magazine ushered in the era of infotainment. Middle class compensation began its long stagnation and decline in the later 1970s. Powell’s defensive language and intent became an offensive that made business supreme ruler of the USA using big money in politics and a controlled press that infotains and propagandizes rather than informs and investigates. These events make the Powell memo, written and initially executed in near-secrecy, the most important document in American history since the end of World War 2. What happened to Lewis Powell? Nixon appointed him to the Supreme Court where he participated in the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision that declared money counts as speech and the 1978 First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti decision that struck down state laws banning corporate donations to political campaigns. Find out more about the Powell memo. The Powell memo is Attachment 4 in the article. Alameda Labor weighs in on Community Choice Aggregation On September 15th Victor Uno the Business Manager of IBEW 595 spoke to the TriValley Democrats concerning Community Choice Aggregation - CCA. Alameda County Supervisors voted to spend $1.3M to study the feasibility of CCA in Alameda. IBEW has a big stake in how the CCA is implemented, specifically in consideration of Marin County’s CCA experience. A resolution adopted by the Alameda Labor Council Executive Committee 07/11/14 Delegates 07/14/14 supporting a CCA that will create green jobs in California, will sell real clean energy not greenwashed energy from out of state. The resolution is called RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A LABOR FRIENDLY COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROPOSAL FOR ALAMEDA COUNTY . Full text with “where as” paragraphs included Principles for Implementation of Labor Friendly Community Choice Aggregation Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) from union generating companies/agencies: The power procured by the CCA must be sourced from generators who employ union workers. Such generators should also be located in State. Today, dozens of utilities in California generate and purchase electricity generated here and California generates nearly 80% of all the electricity that it uses. This increases the buying power of the customers while using the Utilities’ infrastructure and power generated and delivered by union workers. PLAs Covering Renewable Energy Generation: The CCA shall purchase renewable power from generating plants that have been built under a Project Labor Agreement or from plants that will be built under the CURE model. Currently, this is universal in California, where Utilities who generate and purchase green power do so from generating facilities that have been built under a CURE PLA. But funding for these new renewable generation projects must be in place before Alameda County launches its CCA because no funding means no construction and no work. Instead, the new CCA will contract for out of state power and use Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to greenwash dirty, fossil fuel power. PLAs Covering Energy Efficiency Work: The Alameda CCA shall agree upfront to perform necessary energy efficient work on their customers' building under a Building Trades PLA. This work must create sufficient energy savings to pay for these improvements and the energy efficiency work must performed under a Project Labor Agreement. A wide variety of financing strategies are available from Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). The work is performed by trained union workers ensuring high wage and benefits to the workforce; and Community Benefits Agreements . CCA projects that have community benefits provisions requiring local construction and local hiring should have priority over projects without such commitments. The Alameda CCA shall agree upfront to Community Benefit Agreements with provisions requiring local construction and local hiring have priority over projects without such commitments prioritize projects to assure workers residing in Alameda County will benefit from the CCA: and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , that upon adoption of these principles by Alameda Board of Supervisors, including identified financing for local renewable generation development in Alameda County and throughout the State of California, the Alameda Labor Council will support fully the implementation of the Alameda CCA; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, all participating Cities and other entities should also endorse the principles for CCA creation to ensure that the jobs created will be the good, green jobs long promised by the green economy. THE LOOP is distributed through Democratic clubs and members who send it to friends and family. We hope you enjoy, learn and value THE LOOP. PLEASE forward THE LOOP to your list. S ubmit articles, Truth Bites or Did You Know items to Marie McDonald or Ellis Goldberg . Please include source links. All items are reviewed and approved by an editorial board of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to THE LOOP. Ellis Goldberg Marie McDonald Editors of THE LOOP EllisG237@aol.com 925 831 8355 home-office 925 451 4303 cell
. 1122 Division St, Pleasanton Please park on Fair St or Del Valle Parkway Wednesday August 27 6-8 pm Susana Peter Krulevitch invite you for a Fiesta to launch Joan Laursen’s re-election campaign to the Pleasanton School Board. Stop by for eats, drinks and to support Joan's work on behalf of our students. RSVP REQUIRED Impact Oakland Hub's Art Gallery, 2323 Broadway Wednesday, August 27 5pm - 7pm You are invited to an event in support of the Controller John Chiang's race for Treasurer. We truly appreciate your time and consideration and we hope you can make this exciting event! RSVP required. Main Street Pleasanton Wednesday September 3 4:45 set up 9 PM teardown Join The TriValley Democratic Club for FIRST WEDNESDAY in Downtown Pleasanton. Your help is needed in our booth. We will be campaigning, speaking to voters, having fun. Contact Ellis IBEW 595 6250 Village Pkwy Dublin Monday September 15 Doors open @ 7PM The TriValley Democratic Club presents Analyzing Community Choice Aggregation with Seth Baruch President of Carbonomics Eloise Hamann - OFA CCA Honcho. Refreshments. Public invited. Tim Sbranti HQ 6990 Village Pkwy Suite 205, Dublin Until Election Day Tuesday November 4 Campaign for Tim Sbranti for State Assembly in AD16 Walk precincts for Tim Sbranti CONTACT Calvin Sherwood - calvin@timsbranti.com 925-212-7915 Mark DeSaulnier HQ 2280 Diamond Blvd Suite 500, Concord. Campaign for State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier for US Congress , in CD11. Contact bo@markdesaulnier.com Eric Swalwell HQ 6689 Owens Drive, Suite 100, Pleasanton Campaign for Congressman Eric Swalwell in CD 15 Contact josh@swalwellforcongress.com Crow Canyon Country Club 711 Silver Lake Drive Danville Thursday August 28 6:15 Networking 6:45 Dinner (Optional); 7:15 Program The San Ramon Valley Democratic Club presents Money and Politics: What to Do About It with Prop 49 and Other Steps, with Derek Cressman, from the Prop 49 campaign. Jerome Pandell , candidate for the SRVUSD Board, will also address the club. RSVP REQUIRED San Leandro Library 300 Estudillo Av Help fill the Food Bank Barrel Wednesday September 3 7 - 9 PM The Democratic Party Of Alameda County Central Committee meeting Abercrombie’s home 393 Borica Drive, Danville Saturday, September 6 2 - 5 pm The San Ramon Valley Democratic Club invites you for a fun afternoon at our Annual Potluck BBQ. Enjoy terrific food, live music, and a great opportunity to mingle with a number of our local elected Democratic officials and prominent Democrats. For info to RSVP Lafayette Library and Learning Center 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd Thursday, September 11 7:00 pm The Lamorinda Democratic Club ’s next meeting Agenda will be announced soon. Ygnacio Valley Library 2661 Oak Grove Rd Walnut Creek Wednesday September 17 7 PM The Diablo Valley Democratic Club Proposition Pros Cons please do not park in the library lot Kennedy Grove Park 6531 San Pablo Dam Rd. El Sobrante Saturday September 27 Noon to 4PM The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County invites you to a picnic "On to the Election, 83rd Annual Democratic Party Picnic" Tri Tip and Corn, Watermelon, State and Local Candidates will speak. RSVP Required Rossmoor Event Center Walnut Creek Thursday October 9 social hour @ noon The League of Women Voters is moderating a Tim Sbranti / Catherine Baker debate The Democrats of Rossmoor and the Republican Club of Rossmoor are jointly sponsoring a debate between Democrat Tim Sbranti and Republican Catherine Baker who are opposing candidates for the State Assembly seat currently held by Joan Buchanan. In front of the Museum on Main, 603 Main Street, downtown Pleasanton, Corners of First and Neal Streets. Second Wednesday, 7 PM Fourth Wednesday 5 - 6 PM PLEASANTONIANS 4 PEACE Candlelight Vigil to reflect on the human and monetary costs of the war, honor our veterans who have sacrificed, and visualize ways of moving beyond this conflict to a more peaceful world. We are planning to continue this monthly event, the second Wednesday of the month, as long as necessary. Also Peaceful War Protest on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Please join us if you can. See www.Pleasantonians4Peace.org to check for changes. Contact: Cathe Norman (925) 462-7495 Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano 4010 Nelson Avenue, Concord Weekday Mornings The Food Bank needs help bagging and distributing groceries at our Antioch, Bay Point, Pittsburg, and San Pablo Food Assistance Program sites. We also need help at our Richmond Food for Children site. Each distribution is held one weekday morning every month (schedule) . Please sign up today by contacting volunteerhelpdesk@foodbankccs.org or (925) 676-7543 or click to help Ellis Goldberg Tri Valley Democratic Club President Webmaster www.TriValleyDems.com 925 831 8355 home/office 925 451 4303 cell Ellisg237@aol.com To be removed from this list send me an email with the subject DELETE. Or if you did not get this email directly and want to, send one that says ADD .
www.ContraCostaDems.org Divisiveness The Corner Office Bully by Ellis Goldberg The corner office bully mentality describes the management environment in many of the largest organizations in the world.It is an environment where rocking the boat is a career limiting decision, in other words you can get fired without a usablereference, or worse.The bully mentality is built intothe infrastructure of organized crime.The bully on top manipulates and extorts under-bullies who do the same throughoutthe organization. On the other hand the chief is often very good to his family and generous to those loyal to the organization who are unaware of their participation in damage to the rest of the world. Today’s corner office bully has learned the lessons of organized crime and has figured out how to go legit.The corner office bully makes decisions that are most profitable to him or her.Decisions like: ¨ Laying off workers and off-shoring production to increase profits ¨ Producing unsafe products and hiding that from customers and regulators ¨ Falsifying reports about providing veteran’s health care in order to justify bonuses ¨ Lying about WMDs to start a war for oil ¨ Not funding inspection of gas pipelines ¨ Choosing production schedules over safety on oil drilling platforms ¨ Not funding the replacement of corroded unsafe refinery equipment ¨ Selling fraudulent mortgage packages with high risk as low risk causing the 2008 financial meltdown ¨ Cheating on sanctions against doing business with banned countries ¨ Leaving poisons in corroding barrels to leak into water supplies ¨ Corrupting the political process through; lobbying, campaign contributions independent expenditures, revolving door job placement for former government officials. ¨ Off shoring profits to avoid taxes Going legit is no longer enough, corporate bully dominance of the planet is the new goal.To achieve that goal; a new weapon has come into play “DIVISIVENESS”.Because environmentalists and labor stand between the bullies and their goal, the bully strategy is to drive wedges between environmentalists and labor. ¨ Locally in the recent Sbranti / Glazer contest.Glazer’s independent expenditure committees portrayed union supported Sbranti as anti-environment because the BART strike put more vehicles on the road. ¨ Environmentalists are going head to head with some unions who favor allowing the WESPAK refinery in Pittsburg to bring inshale derived oil to town by rail. ¨ PGE opposes Community Choice Aggregation (allowing communities to compete with PGE) with representatives from its union arguing on PGE’s behalf. See the article by Eloise Hamann below in Did you know?. ¨ Some unions oppose Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ ballot measure giving the Commissioner purview over health insurance rate hikes.See the letter from Insurance Commissioner Jones below. How do the bullies get away with it? If you have a middle management job with a big company and feel secure enough to buy a house, raise a family, send your kids to college and plan a secure retirement, then it is unlikely that you will rock the boat.If at that point in your career you became aware of corporate foul play, would you report it and risk being thrown under the bus for your efforts? Whistleblowers are frequently scapegoated for revealing foul play, while corporations are fined when they are caught, letting the stockholders take the bullet for the actually responsible corner office bullies. Political consultants with many connections to the Democratic Party are working for organizations that would drive the wedge deeper into the party.See “An Inside Job – Selling Out the Democratic Grassroots by Gerri Field” and the message from DARAKA LARIMORE-HALL both below. An Inside Job – Selling Out the Democratic Grassrootsby Gerri Field Spring 2014 – While California Democratic activists were focusing on the Koch brothers’ activities, a far more pernicious threat to Democratic values was unfolding at central committee meetings throughout the state. WellPoint Inc., Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., United Healthcare Ins. Company and other insurance special interests had pooled together over 25 million dollars to defeat a proposition endorsed by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, California Nurses Association, Physicians for a National Health Program and other community coalitions that would require insurance companies to justify their rate increases on small businesses and individual health insurance policies. The 25 million dollars bought the insurance special interests some friends in high places – Democratic Party insiders with fat Rolodexes from years of networking with the grassroots. With a Democratic governor and a Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature right-wing strategists realized that if their issues were to win in the Golden State, business as usual – hiring Republican strategists - would no longer deliver victories. Defeating the Democratic grassroots could no longer be done from outside the Democratic Party; it had to be done from the inside. Election 2014, and in particular Proposition 45, the Justify Rates proposition , is the testing ground for this strategy of undermining Democratic Party values. During the spring, the insurance special interests began implementing this strategy by sending paid consultants to Democratic central committee meetings up and down the state of California masquerading as financially disinterested Democratic activists to persuade real Democrats to vote against putting an end to health insurance gouging. Among the mercenaries hired by the insurance industry was the ultimate insider - former executive director of the California Democratic Party, Kathy Bowler. Bowler’s consulting firm, K Bowler Group, received $65,250 from insurance special interests in exchange for her willingness to argue in favor of allowing insurance companies to continue to gouge California businesses and consumers at Democratic central committees and clubs. Twenty-five million dollars buys a lot of friends in high places. Democratic insiders Robin Swanson (Swanson Communications), former spokeswoman for John Perez, Steve Maviglio (Forza Communications), Perez’s current spokesman, and Labor’s Bob Balgenorth (KMA Consulting) have all joined Bowler on the insurance special interest payroll. See the full list of expenditures made by the insurance special interests to defeat this proposition on Secretary of State Deborah Bowen’s page The California Democratic Party is at a crossroads. Betty Yee, in her electrifying speech at the California Democratic Convention alluded to this. The direction our party takes will be determined by how we in the grassroots respond to the inside job that is taking place within the heart of our party. Will we allow the agents of the special interests among us to come into our meetings and corrupt our party or will we fight them as ferociously as we do the Koch money? How we vote on Proposition 45 will tell the tale. What is the danger of finding out too late? A message from DARAKA LARIMORE-HALL Secretary, California Democratic Party Arnold Schwarzenegger's former Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy, has for some time opposed health insurance rate regulation. That's not surprising. What may surprise you is she is on the Board of Covered California (California's new health insurance exchange). In fact, 3 of the 5 Covered California Board members have opposed health insurance rate regulation in the past. Two of them were appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. So, it wasn't a shock when Kennedy and others said they had "questions" about Justify Rates, even though health insurance rate regulation will not impede Covered California, a program that with others Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has worked hard to help implement. Don't be fooled. Health insurance rate regulation has been adopted in 35 states. The federal agency responsible for implementing the Affordable Care Act - the Department of Health and Human Services- even provides additional funding to states that have rate regulation authority to help them in their efforts to reject excessive rates. The Justify Rates ballot measure is endorsed by key supporters of the Affordable Care Act and Covered California, like United States Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well as Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. I am working with the grassroots Democratic coalition to support Justify Rates because, as Senator Feinstein has said, it fills in a missing piece of the Affordable Care Act. Health insurers have already dumped $25 Million into their campaign against Justify Rates, so you are going to hear a lot of negative and misleading questions and arguments against Justify Rates in the days and weeks ahead. It's just noise. There is no conflict between the Justify Rates ballot measure and the Affordable Care Act or Covered California. The ACA is a great step forward, but we have a long way to go toward true, universal health care. Requiring that insurance companies justify their rates is another important step on that journey. I hope you will join us. In solidarity, Get involved, get info DARAKA Truth Bytes Did you know? Nader explodes the myth of Corporate Capitalism Ralph Nader writes, “Large corporate capitalism is a breed apart from smaller scale capitalism. The former can often avoid marketplace verdicts through corporate welfare, strip owner-shareholders of power over the top company bosses and offload the cost of their pollution, tax escapes and other “externalities” onto the backs of innocent people. Always evolving to evade the theoretically touted disciplines of market competition, efficiency and productivity, corporate capitalism has been an innovative machine for oppression.”Read his blog to understand how the bullies in the corner office pull this off. The six ways Justice Stevens would fix the constitution Just a few words can hold a world of meaning. John Paul Stevens, the retired Supreme Court justice, has written a short new book in which he proposes a few words here and there that would create some sweeping changes. The book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution , details the half-dozen ways Stevens thinks the Constitution could be improved, changes that he says are worth the trouble of the arduous amendment process. FULL INTERVIEW Hobby Lobby Ruling In “ Freedom, Power, and the Conservative Mind ” Robert Reich says “The Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Affordable Care Act, ruling that privately-owned corporations don’t have to offer their employees contraceptive coverage if that conflicts with the corporate owners’ religious beliefs.” He discusses how the court increased corporate constitutional rights by giving corporations the right to practice religion. CommonDreams.org says , “This ruling goes out of its way to declare that discrimination against women isn't discrimination.” In a second ruling the court held that the corporations’ religious rights include not being required to fill out a form that exempts them from providing contraception, because that would enable employees to apply for government funded contraception. The Washington Post reports that Democrats acting to negate the effects of the court ruling failed to get sufficient support in the senate.It is predicted that the Hobby Lobby Contraception issue will drive the 2014 congressional campaigns.Conservatives may have won in court but they will lose many women in November, some men too. Gentlemen - You have a stake in this too. The Roberts Court decreed that the employer’s beliefs matter, the employees’ beliefs do not matter and in areas where personal beliefs matter most. Where will this stop? Chuck Carpenter, Contra Costa Democratic Party Chair suggests, "HobbyLobby stores are located in Antioch @ Lone Tree Empire, in Concord @ Willow Pass Diamond Blvd in the Dublin Plaza Shopping Center. Keep your friends away.” Why is the Federal Reserve considering raising the interest rate? Apparently the economy is nearly back to pre-2008 conditions, the equivalent to zero growth from then until now.Where is the pressure to raise the FED rate coming from?Paul Krugman postulates the pressure comes from those who would stand to gain – that is because he is an economist.Most of us stand to gain little if our bank accounts pay a slightly higher dividend. But the one percenters accrue a considerable portion of their income from dividends. Krugman writes “Complaints about low interest rates are usually framed in terms of the harm being done to retired Americans living on the interest from their CDs. But the interest receipts of older Americans go mainly to a small and relatively affluent minority. In 2012, the average older American with interest income received more than $3,000, but half the group received $255 or less. The really big losers from low interest rates are the truly wealthy — not even the 1 percent, but the 0.1 percent or even the 0.01 percent. Back in 2007, before the slump, the average member of the 0.01 percent received $3 million (in 2012 dollars) in interest. By 2011, that had fallen to $1.3 million — a loss equivalent to almost 9 percent of the group’s 2007 income.” FULL STORY The ultimate-goal-of-the- NSA-is-total-population-control says William Binney one of the highest-level whistleblowers to ever emerge from the NSA. He was a leading code-breaker against the Soviet Union during the Cold War but resigned soon after September 11, disgusted by Washington’s move towards mass surveillance. On 5 July he spoke at a conference in London organized by the Centre for Investigative Journalism and revealed the extent of the surveillance programs unleashed by the Bush and Obama administrations. “At least 80% of fibre-optic cables globally go via the US”, Binney said. “This is no accident and allows the US to view all communication coming in. At least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA lies about what it stores.” How would you like to use cleaner electrical energy without lifting a finger? Community Choice Clean Power for the People Aggregation (CCA) California legislation, AB 117, enables communities and counties to work together to create a public energy service provider for electricity. It is the most powerful tool local governments have for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by empowering them to choose renewable energy. The legislation passed in 2002, but was not available to California local governments until 2005 due to a lengthy California Public Utilities rulemaking process. Then, it took five years for the first Community Choice program to be launched in Marin County. Marin Clean Energy’s operation was a success from the outset. They paid off the $1,000,000 startup costs within the first year and s ince its service start in 2010, MCE has eliminated an estimated 131,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of the annual carbon sequestered by 48,752 acres of U.S. forests. FULL STORY by Eloise Hamann TAX Inversion About 41 U.S. companies have reincorporated in low-tax countries since 1982, including 12 since 2012. Five, including Walgreens, plan to do so in the coming year, according to Alternet . Inversion is another user friendlier name for EVASION. Robert Reich suggests “ Even if there’s no way to stop U.S. corporations from shedding their U.S. identities and becoming foreign corporations, there’s no reason they should retain the privileges of U.S. citizenship. By treaty, the U.S. government can’t (and shouldn’t) discriminate against foreign corporations offering as good if not better deals than American companies offer. So if Walgreen as a Swiss company continues to fill Medicaid and Medicare payments as well as, say, CVS, it’s likely that Walgreen will continue to earn almost a quarter of its $72 billion annual revenues directly from the U.S. government. But as a foreign corporation, Walgreen should no longer have any say over the size of those payments, what drugs they cover, or how they’re administered. In fact, Walgreen should no longer have any say over how the U.S. government does anything. In 2010 it lobbied for and got a special provision in the Dodd-Frank Act, limiting the fees banks are allowed to charge merchants for credit-card transactions — resulting in a huge saving for Walgreen. If it becomes a Swiss citizen, its days of lobbying and obtaining special provisions should be over. “ CA makes an official call for a U.S. Constitutional Convention to overturn Citizens United CA passes AJR 1, joins Vermont as the second state to call for an Article V Convention SACRAMENTO —June 23, 2014, the State Senate passed AJR 1, making California the second state in the union to officially call for an Article V constitutional convention for the sole purpose of passing a United States constitutional amendment that would effectively overturn Citizens United v. FEC and limit the corrupting influence of money in our electoral process. After passing the State Assembly earlier this year 51 to 20, AJR 1 passed the State Senate 23 to 11 with thunderous applause from the gallery. Because it’s a joint resolution, it takes effect immediately without the signature of Governor Brown. The most common way to propose a U.S. constitutional amendment is by a 2/3 vote of Congress. But the U.S. Constitution also provides another way: A constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution can be called by 2/3 of the states. If 32 other states join California and Vermont, a convention will be triggered without any action from the U.S. Congress. In addition, Congress will not be able to prevent it. In addition, the people of California will have a chance to express their opinion about Citizens United, Proposition 49 (the Campaign Finance: Advisory Election on Overturning Citizens United) this fall. Big business will use every tool in its immense arsenal to defeat Prop 49 so be prepared to work for getting it approved. Take the Pledge to Kick the Koch Habit Charles and David Koch are the poster children for no-holds-barred class warfare and political corruption in the USA. We often support them when we shop. Take the pledge to not buy products made by Koch Industries and its subsidiaries and to ask friends, family, and acquaintances to also boycott Koch Industries because of the harm the Koch brothers' political activities are causing to the USA. They are major Tea Party supporters. The Kochs and affiliates plan to raise about $1 billion for the 2014 elections and to stop Hillary Clinton. But wait! There’s MORE ! Forbes Magazine has an article “ New App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping Cart ” which is very useful. Get a business card sized list of Koch Industry products. Don’t get mad, get even – John Bellucci House Ethics Committee Eliminates Required Disclosure of Privately Financed Travel by Members on Financial Forms by David Vance The House Ethics Committee has eliminated the requirement for House Members to disclose their privately financed travel on their financial disclosure forms, according to National Journal . The Committee made this change without any public announcement whatsoever, and when it was discovered yesterday the Committee Chair, Ranking Member and Committee staff refused to comment on the controversial move. Who are the richest people in each state? See if your favorite billionaire is the richest in the state. Click Success of Endorsed Democratic Party Candidates in 2014 Primary Election by California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton While votes are still being tallied, it’s important to note that in contests where the State Party’s delegates endorsed a candidate, those candidates performed exceedingly well. In fact, 96% of candidates endorsed by the California Democratic Party moved past the primary election and will be on the ballot in November – that’s an extraordinary success rate. Our candidates' success speaks to the importance of the Democratic Party’s endorsement in the era of the “Top Two” Primary.Below is a tally on the performance of endorsed candidates in the 2014 primary election: Statewide Endorsed: 9 Moving on: 9 Congressional Endorsed: 50 Moving on: 49 State Senate Endorsed: 16 Moving on: 15 State Assembly Endorsed: 63 Moving on: 60 TOTALS Endorsed: 138 Moving on: 133 For a complete list of endorsed California Democratic Party candidates moving on to the 2014 general election click here (endorsed candidates moving on are highlighted in blue): http://www.cadem.org/admin/miscdocs/files/2014_Primary_EndorsedMovingOn1.pdf Assembly District 16 Round One: Sbranti beats Glazer Round Two: Sbranti vs Baker starts now The June primary was a malicious contest where $3.5 to 4 Million dollars was spent by the combined Sbranti – Glazer campaigns and independent expenditure committees.The candidates’ campaign committees are prohibited by law from communicating with independent expenditure committees.According to www.ebcitizen.com “Baker, a Tri Valley attorney, won 36.5 percent of the vote, followed by Sbranti with 29.6 percent; Glazer at 22.5 percent and Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich with 11.4 percent.” Round two, the general election pits a relatively unknown Catherine Baker against Tim Sbranti.According to www.foxandhoundsdaily.com “Republicans have a substantial candidate of their own in attorney Catharine Baker. She has worked in the public arena for the late Congressman Sonny Bono and in politics as Mitt Romney’s Bay Area Regional Chair. She also has the financial backing of Republican rainmaker, Charles Munger, Jr.”.Munger’s dad is Warren Buffett’ $ business partner.Baker comes into round two without mud from round one.Glazer’s campaign was very divisive, driving Democrats away from Sbranti, some will vote for Baker, others won’t vote and some will vote for Tim Sbranti. But the glass is more than half full for Sbranti.His campaign is in fourth or fifth gear where as Baker is starting up.Sbranti’s campaign has hundreds of former current students from Dublin HS, in addition to local Democrats who campaigned for him in round one.The district registration is 32% Republican and 40% Democratic.The unions are firmly behind Sbranti and are able to fund the independent expenditures committees and staff them with volunteer union members and their families, making phone calls and walking precincts. Two things to watch: 1. Will Munger’s millions in independent expenditures swamp Sbranti’s grassroots support or will Baker join Carly Meg learning that California is not for sale . 2. Will the campaigns become malicious?Remember the Independent Expenditure organizations are not controlled in any way by the candidates, Munger’s $$$ will go to these organizations. AD 16 will certainly be the most interesting race to watch in the bay area if not the state.The outcome will be determined by voter turnout.There are fewer Republicans in the district, but they tend to turn out to vote more than Democrats. To campaign for Tim Sbranti for State Assembly in AD16 contact Michelle Henry michelle@mwhconsult.com 925 389 7253 California Democratic Party EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING by Regional Director Craig Cheslog The California Democratic Party's Executive Board met in Oakland July 12 13. In addition to committee and caucus meetings, E-Board members voted on resolutions, a legislative committee report, and to make endorsements for the propositions on the November general election ballot. With the certification of the primary election results, the California Democratic Party in accordance with its by-laws endorsed Alex Padilla for Secretary of State, Betty Yee for State Controller, and Bill Dodd in Assembly District 4. Congratulations to them for joining the statewide Democratic slate! Click here to see the full list of California Democratic Party endorsed candidates. The California Democratic Party also made the following endorsement decisions for the Propositions on the November general election ballot: Proposition 43 (Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012): Defer to California Democratic Party Chair in consultation with party leaders as the content of the measure may change Proposition 44 (State Reserve Policy): Yes Proposition 45 (Approval of Healthcare Insurance Rate Changes): Yes Proposition 46 (Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors. Medical Negligence Lawsuits): Neutral Proposition 47 (Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties): Yes Proposition 48 (Referendum to Overturn Indian Gaming Compacts): Yes Proposition 49 (Campaign Finance: Advisory Election on Overturning Citizens United): Yes Click here to learn more about these propositions on the November 4 statewide ballot. The Executive Board also adopted resolutions and legislative recommendations. Click here to review those reports and a report of the Rules Committee. A message from Insurance Commissioner DAVE JONES Thanks to the support of the Democratic grassroots, the California Democratic Party endorsed Proposition 45 Justify Rates! Thanks to all who supported our grassroots campaign at the CDP Executive Board meeting in Oakland this past weekend. At the start of the three day meeting we had the endorsement of over 1,200 Democratic Party Delegates, 51 Democratic County Central Committees, 220 Executive Board Members (two-thirds of the leadership body), Democratic Clubs, labor unions, progressive elected officials and party officers. Volunteers worked hand in hand with Democratic activists throughout the state over the last five months to phone, mail, text and email every delegate, county central committee member and Executive Board member and built a true grassroots coalition in support of Justify Rates/Prop 45. The health insurers and their army of consultants pulled out all the stops - including sleazy personal attacks and circus stunts such as Koch brother impersonators waving cash around (yeah, we didn't get it either) - to try to defeat us. Grassroots Democrats saw through their misleading arguments. Our momentum and support grew with each debate and procedural battle at the three day Executive Board meeting. Finally, the morning of the last day of the Executive Board meeting, the health insurers and their paid consultants threw in the towel. Facing certain and overwhelming defeat on the floor of the general session, they packed up and left. And then, the California Democratic Party endorsed Proposition 45 with a unanimous vote! Thanks again to each and every Democrat who stood up against the health insurers to insist that they justify their rate increases.And, thank you to the 51 Democratic County Central Committees that stood up in support of Proposition 45 before the Meeting - this gave the Democratic base a strong voice at the Executive Board Meeting, and sent a strong message to the Executive Board to endorse the ballot measure. Thanks to Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, SPI Tom Torlakson, Secretary of State nominee Alex Padilla, Party Secretary Daraka Larimore-Hall, Controller Hilary Crosby, Vice Chair Eric Bauman, and the California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, California Nurses Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, AFSCME Local 685 Probation Officers, Northern Regional Council of Carpenters, ILWU Northern District Council, Orange County Employees Association, United Teachers of Los Angeles, and Labor United for Healthcare, along with so many others, for your support of Proposition 45. Grassroots Democrats faced down the health insurers' millions and won this critical endorsement. Now, with your leadership and help,we need to take the message to the voters -- vote YES on Proposition 45. Stop health insurers from charging excessive rates! Thank you. DAVE JONES Insurance Commissioner Proposition 45: Scoreboard At the July Executive Board meeting in Oakland the California Democratic Party endorsed Prop 45 as noted by Commissioner Jones Craig Cheslog.Forces opposing Prop 45 realized that pulling the proposition from the consent slate would result in a contentious floor fight that they would not win.But the forces of opposition still have the upper hand in financial backing. Who is backing opposing Prop 45 with how much money? Prop 45 is still below the general public’s radar.Those opposing Prop 45 have deep pockets and realize that spending millions could bring billions in additional income to those pockets.Is California for sale?Unregulated health insurer’s rate hikes have treated members of all political parties unfairly.This ballot measure can be the issue that will bring out voters and activists. How are we doing? · To what extent are we fulfilling our goals “ to educate Democrats so that they may refute and re-frame misinformation in a way that is easy to understand and to encourage the involvement of Democrats in the political process.” · What do you recommend we do differently? · What can we do to maximize voter turnout in November? Please send your comments to Marie McDonald Diddo Clark . THE LOOP is distributed through Democratic clubs and members who send it to friends and family. We hope you enjoy, learn and value THE LOOP. PLEASE forward THE LOOP to your list. S ubmit articles, Truth Bites or Did You Know items to Marie McDonald or Ellis Goldberg Editors of THE LOOP. Please include source links. All items are reviewed and approved by an editorial board of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to THE LOOP.
《再别康桥》 英文版 朗诵 RidgeWalker 音画 铜山 Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again Very quietly I take my leave As quietly as I came here; Quietly I wave good-bye To the rosy clouds in the western sky. The golden willows by the riverside Are young brides in the setting sun; Their reflections on the shimmering waves Always linger in the depth of my heart. The floating heart growing in the sludge Sways leisurely under the water; In the gentle waves of Cambridge I would be a water plant! That pool under the shade of elmtrees Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky; Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream? To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream To where the green grass is more verdant; Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight. But I cannot sing aloud Quietness is my farewell music; Even summer insects heep silence for me Silent is Cambridge tonight! Very quietly I take my leave As quietly as I came here; Gently I flick my sleeves Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again Very quietly I take my leave As quietly as I came here; Quietly I wave good-bye To the rosy clouds in the western sky. The golden willows by the riverside Are young brides in the setting sun; Their reflections on the shimmering waves Always linger in the depth of my heart. The floating heart growing in the sludge Sways leisurely under the water; In the gentle waves of Cambridge I would be a water plant! That pool under the shade of elm trees Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky; Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream? To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream To where the green grass is more verdant; Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight. But I cannot sing aloud Quietness is my farewell music; Even summer insects heep silence for me Silent is Cambridge tonight! Very quietly I take my leave As quietly as I came here; Gently I flick my sleeves Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away http://www.zhenzhubay.com/zzw/upload/up/1130/e9b8837.mp3
标签: 2014
