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S o u n d i n g s
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Feb 2008
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People's Democratic Club
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February 21, 2008
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PDC Annual Club Dues are Due
| Help support progressive politics in Santa Cruz by supporting the People's Democratic Club.
Annual Club dues are on a sliding scale: $10 - $25.
Mail your check to:
People's Democratic Club
P.O. Box 2374
Santa Cruz 95063
Be sure to include your Name, Address, Phone & Email Address.
Thanks for your continued support. |
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Santa Cruz Post-Election Analysis And June Preview
By County Elections Chief Gail Pellerin
Next PDC Meeting: Thursday February 21st | For our monthly meeting on Thursday, February 21, at 7 p.m. we'll get an insightful "postmortem" analysis of the February 5 and the two upcoming 2008 elections from County Clerk Gail Pellerin. This will be at the Louden Nelson Community Center 301 Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz.
Gail is a true veteran and professional leader of Santa Cruz County election activities and has shared her insights and experiences with us in prior years. She has all the facts & figures at her fingertips about parties, precincts, volunteers, absentee ballots, and State and Federal instructions and legal requirements for elections.
She'll tell us about the new voting machines, about the two more upcoming elections later this year, about her reactions to our new California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, as well as lessons learned from the February 5 Primary.
Before she starts, we'll have a brief visit from 27th Assembly District Democratic Party candidate Bill Monning who has just formally announced his campaign in Monterey and Santa Cruz.
Bill, who has many friends and supporters here, is getting campaign help from former Santa Cruz mayor and councilman Bruce Van Allen. |
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President's Message
| I am loving this Democratic Primary. It is like a soap-opera for political junkies. Every day a new episode with a new (or re-worked) idea why Obama or Hilary will win. Or lately, a new analysis on why neither will get the 2025 delegates from the primaries and caucuses to win the nomination. Then super delegates will have to decide. But how and in whose interest will they decide? In their favorite candidates interest? The Party's? Probably in their own self interest.
At the moment, the delegate count is close to a tie with Obama about 100 ahead. The political buzz is that Hillary must win Texas and Ohio. And there good arguments that she can...and arguments that she won't. An interesting analysis determined that even if Hillary wins 55%-45% of the popular vote (which seems possible), she will net only about 35 more delegates than Obama (because the states' delegates are awarded in proportion to the popular vote).
Another analysis determined that even if either candidates wins all of the remaining primaries by 60%-40% ratio of the popular vote (very unlikely) that candidate still will not have the 2025 delegates to secure the nomination. It already seems like this has been a long primary season...but there is a long, long time to go. The last primary is June 7th in Puerto Rico. (Who knew that Puerto Rico had a primary?) Even the "know-it-all" political pundits and "wise" party leaders can't figure out how this will end. Might as well get comfortable. Love it!
There are also some local elections coming in June we should be thinking about. 27th Assembly District (sorry John). County Supervisors Mark Stone, Ellen Pirie and Jan Beautz. The People's Democratic Club is planning some candidates forum/debates probably starting in March. We'll let the members know ASAP. |
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Senator Joe Simitian Stripped of Chairmanship
Do It Senate Boss Perata's Way or You are OUT!
Maybe Term Limits Are A Good Thing -- for Perata | SACRAMENTO - Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, was removed as chairman of the state Senate environment committee by Senate leader Don Perata after bucking Democratic leaders on part of their plan to tackle the state's massive budget deficit.
It was unclear Thursday if the punishment was permanent or whether Simitian eventually would be reinstated to the influential post. Simitian was unavailable to comment, his office said Thursday.
The dust-up came during a Senate budget committee hearing on Wednesday night over an arcane matter involving funding for schools. The panel, on which Simitian sits, was debating a series of proposed budget cuts to deal with the state's $14.5 billion deficit through June 2009.
At issue was how much education funding to cut in the current fiscal year. Under Proposition 98 of the state constitution, schools are guaranteed minimum funding each year based on a complicated formula. Cuts made this year lower the base and therefore the guaranteed minimum for next year.
...There is more to this article. Click here to see all of article |
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Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird
Releases Budget Special Session Subcommittee Report
| SACRAMENTO – Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) released the Assembly Budget Subcommittee report on the Fiscal Emergency Special Session, in conjunction with today’s Budget Committee hearing.
To view the full report, go to:SpecialSessionSubcommitteeReport
Report Overview:
“On January 10, 2008, the Governor declared a fiscal emergency and called the Legislature into Special Session in accordance with the terms of Proposition 58.
The Governor projected a $3.3 billion General Fund shortfall for the current year and a $14.5 billion General Fund shortfall in the budget year. In addition, the Governor identified a severe cash crisis for the state that if left unaddressed would see the state nearly being out of cash in March and unable to pay its bills in July and August.
As required by Proposition 58, the Governor proposed his plan for addressing the fiscal emergency. His proposals filled over 900 pages of solutions that turned the projected current year deficit into an $864 million reserve and provided over $8.7 billion in cash solutions to ensure the state can pay its bills throughout the rest of the current year and the budget year.
...There is more to this article. Click here to see all of article |
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CA Food Policy Advocates Honor John Laird
Award Honors Efforts to Improve the Food Stamp Program
| Sacramento, CA: Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), and five other Californians were honored with awards for their special accomplishments in strengthening the Food Stamp Program in California. The Food Stamp Program is the nation’s best defense against poor nutrition; however California ranks last in the country for reaching working families with food stamp benefits. Over two million low-income Californians are eligible for food stamps but do not receive them. California loses out on over $2 billion of federal help as a result of this poor participation. The Stampy Awards acknowledge efforts to improve California’s food stamp performance and to attract more of these federal nutrition resources.
Mr. Laird received the state policymaker award for his efforts to remove paperwork and other hassles which prevent low-income Californians from accessing the nutrition benefits provided by the program. The award also acknowledged his successful legislation which established a computer system to ensure that needy children receiving food stamps were also enrolled in free school meals without additional paperwork burdens.
For more information on the awardees and on the Stampy Awards, visit Stampy Awards |
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Sam Farr Hosted A Telephone Town Hall Meeting
Next Telephone Meeting February 26th
| I hosted a Telephone Town Hall Meeting that lasted about an hour and covered issues important to folks on the Central Coast. I enjoyed hearing from many of you and having a chance to answer your questions. For anyone not able to participate, please click here to listen to audio copy of the town hall.
If you wish to participate in a future Telephone Town Hall, sign up on my web site at www.farr.house.gov. I will be holding another call on the evening of February 26th.
--Sam Farr |
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California Democratic Party
Quarterly Regional Meeting
Saturday, February 23, 2008 | Quarterly Regional Meeting
Organizing to Win 2007-2009
Saturday, February 23, 2008
San Benito County Democratic Central Committee Headquarters
910 Monterey Street
(Corner of Hawkins and Monterey)
Hollister, CA 95024
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Updates to our Regional "Organizing to Win" strategy as well as reports on election activities. Food will be provided.
Please RSVP
For additional information, contact Shawn Bagley
831-262-0367 or bagleys@redshift.com
SAVE THE DATES!
Thursday evening, March 13, 2008
CDP Pre-Endorsement Conference Region 9
Location in Santa Cruz Area TBA
March 28, 29, 30, 2008
CDP Convention
San Jose, CA |
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