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Governor Schwarzenegger claims the voters sent a “clear message” against taxes in the May 19th election. GOP legislators and conservative anti-tax groups are happy to echo him.

While we all know that California needs budget reform, the type of carnival “shell game” that the measures proposed were an insult to Californians. Most voters rejected them because they were short-sighted and unrealistic attempts to “balance” the budget.

One proposition would have given governors unilateral authority, while another would have permitted the sale of bonds based on uncertain future lottery revenues. One measure redirected revenues away from early childhood programs, and one diverted money from the Mental Health Services Act.

How can this be interpreted as the voters saying “no” to taxes? I believe the voters said NO to granting unlimited power to the governor, NO to gambling with our future, and NO to condoning the raiding of funds from our children and those in need.

How did our Golden State fall so far? Why do we, the eighth largest economy in the world, find ourselves without enough financial resources to fund even our most important institutions like education and basic social services?

Yes, the economy is certainly a factor. However, it’s important that Californians take a close look at some of the other factors that have contributed to this fiscal chaos.

A main part of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s platform in his run for governor was reversing the Vehicle License Fee. The loss of revenue from the VLF has cost our state $6 billion per year. He’s been in office since 2003. Do the math.

Even with the current financial crisis, the Governor would not agree to reinstate the VLF to its 2003 status. Apparently his pride is more important than all the pain caused by cuts in education and social programs.

The Republicans would like us to believe that the only way out of this financial crisis is with a cuts-only budget. Not true! The GOP repeatedly rejects solutions put forth by Democratic legislators. And though the Democrats are in the majority, the two-thirds rule prevents them from raising revenue or passing a budget without Republican support.

During the long budget negotiations, Republicans insisted on considering only cuts, not finding new revenue because most signed a “No Tax” pledge. This no-tax pledge is of the most benefit to large corporations, who are not paying their fair share. How can a no-tax pledge supersede a legislator’s oath to serve the people of California?

I urge every Californian to watch the informative video about budget myths on Assembly Budget Committee Chair Noreen Evans’ website. Go to: www.asm.ca.gov/Evans and click on “Budget Reform.”

Please write, call, or email the governor and your state legislators. Tell them it’s time to put the people of California first and have a budget that reflects our values.  We must provide for our children, our elderly, our disabled, and one another.

Let’s make sure that Arnold hears the real message.

by Toni Shellen
 

 

Taking on Education
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am
from The White House Blog
download .mp4 | also available here | read transcript

In the opening of his speech today at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the President met critics head on who complain of too much change, too fast: 
 Every so often, throughout our history, a generation of Americans bears the responsibility of seeing this country through difficult times and protecting the dream of its founding for posterity. This is a responsibility that has fallen to our generation. Meeting it will require steering our nation’s economy through a crisis unlike any we have seen in our time. In the short-term, that means jumpstarting job creation, re-starting lending, and restoring confidence in our markets and our financial system.  But it also means taking steps that not only advance our recovery, but lay the foundation for lasting, shared prosperity.  

I know there are some who believe we can only handle one challenge at a time. They forget that Lincoln helped lay down the transcontinental railroad, passed the Homestead Act, and created the National Academy of Sciences in the midst of Civil War. Likewise, President Roosevelt didn’t have the luxury of choosing between ending a depression and fighting a war. President Kennedy didn’t have the luxury of choosing between civil rights and sending us to the moon. And we don’t have the luxury of choosing between getting our economy moving now and rebuilding it over the long term.  

The President explained why, on education in particular, we cannot afford to wait, noting that even within a few years America will see a different reality: "By 2016, four out of every ten new jobs will require at least some advanced education or training."    The President pledged to end pointless partisan finger-pointing, and to ensure that new investments also came with new reforms. He pointed to deep commitments both in the recovery act and his budget proposal, while also telling the audience that "It is time to start rewarding good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones."  

He proposed five pillars of reform:  
      1) "Investing in early childhood initiatives" like Head Start;  
      2) "Encouraging better standards and assessments" by focusing on testing  
         itineraries that better fit our kids and the world they live in;  
      3) "Recruiting, preparing, and rewarding outstanding teachers" by giving
         incentives for a new generation of teachers and for new levels of excellence
         from all of our teachers.  
      4) "Promoting innovation and excellence in America’s schools" by supporting 
         charter schools, reforming the school calendar and the structure of the school day.
       5) "Providing every American with a quality higher education--whether it's college
         or technical training."  

And for students themselves, the President had a message for them as well:  

Of course, no matter how innovative our schools or how effective our teachers, America cannot succeed unless our students take responsibility for their own education. That means showing up for school on time, paying attention in class, seeking out extra tutoring if it’s needed, and staying out of trouble. And to any student who’s watching, I say this: don’t even think about dropping out of school. As I said a couple of weeks ago, dropping out is quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country, and it is not an option – not anymore. Not when our high school dropout rate has tripled in the past thirty years. Not when high school dropouts earn about half as much as college graduates. And not when Latino students are dropping out faster than just about anyone else. It is time for all of us, no matter what our backgrounds, to come together and solve this epidemic.    

 After suffering through eight years of the Bush Administration Democrats can rejoice, not only because we have elected a Democratic president, but that this president is actually working to fulfill his campaign promise of change. Our new President, Barack Obama has already accomplished much in the short time he's been in office

 

On his first day he called in advisers to begin dealing with war and the recession. Obama called leaders of Israel, the Palestine Authority, Egypt and Jordan.

Breaking with Bush policies, President Obama has ordered major changes that would halt the torture of suspects, close down the Guantanamo detention center, ban secret CIA prisons overseas and fight terrorism "in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."


The president froze salaries for top White House staff members and ordered new lobbying rules for "a clean break from business as usual." He also unveiled ethics rules stating that "the way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable."

To deliver on his pledge of a transparent government, Obama said he would change the way the federal government interprets the Freedom of Information Act, that it should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails.  What a wonderful change from the past!

On January 29, 2009, the very first bill President Obama signed was the  Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act saying,  "It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign - we are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness."

Don't you just love this man?  And one gets the impression he's just getting warmed up.

He's already made many changes that are dear to my heart, but perhaps my favorite change was evidenced on what was not a very good day for President Obama. On the same day that  Senator Tom Daschle withdrew his name for secretary of health and human services, Nancy Killefer withdrew hers for consideration as the federal government's chief performance officer. Both Daschle and Killefer dropped out because of their failures to pay all of their federal taxes.

While his detractors prepared to throw barbs, Obama stepped forward, took full responsibility and apologized, saying simply, "I screwed up." I have no doubt that somewhere Harry Truman was smiling because the U.S. finally has a president again who understands that, "The buck stops here." In President Obama's  Inaugural address, he said,  "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility." It is obvious that those weren't just empty words.

Obama has even tried to live up to his pledge of bipartisanship. If he has erred at all, it was in believing that the Republicans in Congress would grasp and accept this idea.

When presenting his original economic stimulus plan, compromises were made to make the package more palatable to Republicans so that it could pass as a bipartisan plan. It passed, but not one single Republican in the House voted for it. I could hardly believe what I was hearing as they sang their same old song of "tax cuts." Tax cuts? For the wealthy I assume.

When the bill reached the Senate, Republicans and even some Democrats stalled the bill because of "the cost." Yes, the cost. So more changes were made to make it acceptable until three Republicans finally agreed to vote for it.

Do GOP legislators have any memory of the monstrosity called the Iraq War? Which, by the way, still piles up death, destruction, and debt daily.  How about bailing out the banking industry? I guess it's not "socialism" if it helps the rich.

 

I think I have this figured out. Apparently, there's a huge epidemic of mass amnesiaWashington. They seem to have forgotten that we've done the tax cut thing for eight long years and the only thing that's trickled down is debt and despair.

They also seem to have forgotten that just last November the people spoke- loud and clear. As President Obama said in his Inaugural address, "They have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

I'm sure that that the job losses, home foreclosures, and rising health care costs are touching Americans everywhere regardless of their party affiliation. Our new president is working for all Americans. among the Republicans in

 

It is my hope and dream that all of our U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators will join him in working for the good of our country.












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What a difference a day makes! Election Day 2008, that is.

Has anyone else noticed that the sun seems to be shining a little bit brighter, people are smiling more, and we’re all sleeping better?

Every time I open my e-mail, I receive more pictures of people from around the United States and the world celebrating the election of Barack Obama. Newspaper headlines from nations across the globe joyfully announce Obama’s election. Best of all, these stories proclaim redemption of the American Dream and revived respect for Americans’ values. It was said that if the world could have voted, Obama would have won not just by a landslide, but an avalanche.

Barack Obama ran on a platform of change. He has already proven throughout his campaign that this was not just an empty phrase. He changed the way he financed his campaign and he ran a positive campaign. While he criticized the policies that his opponents proposed, he didn’t attack them on a personal level. Even when he was under slanderous attacks by his adversaries, he remained calm and kept to the high road. This is indeed  “Change we can believe in.”

Obama ran a “grassroots campaign,” and those who were involved in it can attest to the fact that it was the best organized campaign anyone has ever run. The Obama website connected people from neighbor to neighbor and across the nation. The level of communication through e-mails, text messages, and conference calls kept volunteers informed and feeling that they were really part of this campaign for change.

Obama’s transition team is in place and at work. A website has been set up so that we can all learn more about the presidential transition. Visit http://www.change.gov and you can see what’s taking place, and even tell your own story about what this campaign and election mean to you. You can share your hopes for an Obama Administration and a government for the people.

On this website it says, “Across the country, national leaders and ethics experts praised President-elect Barack Obama's strict new ethics rules for the transition team, which place restrictions on registered lobbyists and former lobbyists.” That sure sounds like the kind of change we’re looking for. And he’s only just begun.

President-elect Obama said, “Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.” That’s exactly my idea of the American Dream.

The fact that Barack Obama has been elected to be the first African American President in the history of the United States makes this victory even sweeter. While it doesn’t mean that we’ve completely overcome racism in this country, it is certainly a significant milestone that many of us have longed for, for many years. I hope it removes those barriers forever. While I celebrate this as a civil rights’ victory, it’s not the main reason I wanted to see Barack Obama elected to be our next president. That was a bonus.

I confess that I just want to have a smart president who can speak in complete sentences. I want a president with integrity who understands and respects our constitution. I want a president who cares about people. On January 20th, 2009, I’ll have one.

Congratulations, President-elect Obama. I’m counting the days.

During the last eight years I have often wished I could buy a full page ad in every publication in this country stating imply, "Wake Up, America!"

As each new revelation of deception, greed, distortion, and pure incompetence unfolded, I thought that at last everyone would realize the damage the Bush administration was inflicting upon this country.  Yet neither proof that we had been lied into the war in Iraq,  the discovery that the U.S. was torturing prisoners at Abhu Ghraib prison,  the mismanagement of the Katrina disaster, nor a myriad of other scandals was sufficient to awaken this nation.

Most of us have realized that our country was facing economic disaster as we have seen our fellow citizens lose their jobs, their health care, and even their homes. President Bush and Senator John McCain repeatedly assured us that the economy was "basically sound." As the unemployment rate and the number of home foreclosures continued to rise, they stuck with this same party line.  Now that our economy is near collapse, they have changed their tune.  Deregulation is no longer their rallying cry.

In 2000, a statement from the Office of the President Office of Budget and Management (OBM) stated:
"In 1998, the Federal budget reported its first surplus ($69 billion) since 1969. In 1999, the surplus nearly doubled to $125 billion, and then again in 2000 to $236 billion. As a result of these surpluses, Federal debt held by the public has been reduced from $3.8 trillion at the end of 1997 to $3.4 trillion at the end of 2000 and to an estimated $3.2 trillion in 2001. With continued prudent fiscal policies, the budget can remain in surplus for many years. Under the President's budget proposals, $2.0 trillion in Federal debt held by the public will be retired over the next 10 years—all of the debt that can responsibly be retired."

Some Republicans enjoy referring to Democrats as the "Tax and Spend Liberals." Now, if memory serves me correctly, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat,  was in office when this great surplus took place. Again, there was a $236 billion budget surplus when George Bush first took office.

The fact that the price of gasoline had risen from $1.46 per gallon when President Bush took office to $4.00 plus today, has only led the GOP to declare that it's the Democrats' fault for not allowing offshore drilling. Their idea of alternative fuel seems to be finding an alternate place to drill.

This administration has never been committed to telling the American people the truth. Facts (even scientific facts) have often been hidden or manipulated to serve their purposes. In terms of the injustices that the Bush administration has perpetrated upon this nation during the last eight years, the few issues I've mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg. (Do you remember icebergs?)

John McCain keeps referring to himself as a "maverick." Unless he is claiming to be "an unbranded range animal," the term simply no longer fits.  A senator who has voted with President Bush over 90% of the time
can certainly not claim to be "an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party." Voting in lockstep with Bush doesn't sound like a candidate promoting change.

It is clear that this nation needs change. We need progressive leadership and innovative solutions. It's time to look to the future and stop clinging to the failed practices of the past. It is also time for us to stop being ruled by fear- a favorite strategy  of the current administration.

 The push by the White House for immediate action on the Wall Street crisis was very reminiscent of the rush to war in Iraq. The original bailout proposal prompted tremendous response from citizens. Are Americans at last pulling their heads out of the sand? Are we awake yet?

Let's trade deception and fear for hope and change. Let's do everything we can to help elect Obama to be our next President.