Peanuts

Found on Twitter. Source unknown.

Your help needed for S.B. 562 — The Healthy California Act

While so-called "TrumpCare" is on the poised to de-insure millions of Americans and making things so much worse, we are on the precipice of finding a real solution to the health care crisis here in California. It's big, it's bold, and if you ask people in most other countries, it's obvious — why aren't we there yet?  It's called "single payer" health care, and it cuts out the insurance companies and, as happens in Canada, Japan, Taiwan, France, etc., you get to choose your own doctor and health care provider and the government picks up the tab. By cutting out the insurance company "middleman" it will save money in a big way — and It will save so many lives, and get rid of the headaches we've all come to know and not love — pre-existing conditions, crazy high deductibles, unaffordable co-pays, and so forth.

Can you believe — we live in the richest country in the world — and in California, the 6th biggest economy in the world — and yet our citizens have to cut pills in half, use GoFundMe to pay for necessary procedures — or, forgo them altogether.   All to make the insurance companies richer and richer. This has to stop! The solution is S.B. 562. Its support is growing and growing.  At the California Democratic Convention I went to last weekend (read my full report), backing for S.B. 562 was ragingly enthusiastic up and down the state by politically aware Californians.

The problem is that even though the California legislation is filled with a supermajority of Democrats — who you would expect to be in favor of this — many of them are so influenced by the status quo controlled by big corporations with deep pockets that they are shy about passing this. They need our encouragement.

The bill — which is up for a vote in the State Senate in Sacramento as soon as this coming Tuesday — needs our support. It needs YOUR support, and it needs you to contact other Californians and get THEIR support.  And the support it needs is to make a phone call to our state senators, talking to a friendly intern who answers the phone, and asking them to support SB 562.

The senators especially who especially need convincing are Cannella, Dodd, Glazer, Newman, Pan, Roth, and Vidak. If you know people in their districts it would be especially helpful to get them on-board!

Canella (R) #12 (Merced, Monterey, Madeira, Stanisaus, Fresno)
Glazer (D), #7 (Contra Costa, eastern Alameda)
Dodd (D) #3 (Contra Costa, Napa Solano Sonoma, Yolo)
Newman (D) #29 (Orange county & nearby)
Pan (D) #6 (Sacto, Yolo County)
Roth (D) #31  (Riverside)
Vidak (R) #14 (Fresno/Kern/Kings/Tulare)

To call, use the chart below if you already know who to call. But the easier way is to go to this amazing web page that will figure it all out for you.  Call, and leave a message or ask the person answering the phone to request your state senator to support SB 562, the Healthy California Act. You might need to tell them your name and where you live so they know you are a constituent. That's all!
Need more Information?
Here is some more information about SB 562 in case you need to be convinced yourself!

WHAT IS A SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE PROGRAM?

Healthy California is a universal single-payer healthcare program that would provide publicly funded and progressively financed healthcare coverage for all California residents with no network restrictions, deductibles, co-pays, or other limitations on necessary care. This means that a single public body — the Healthy California program — rather than an array of private insurers would pay for the healthcare costs of all California residents.

Healthcare benefits under Healthy California would apply universally to all California residents, establishing a single standard of safe and therapeutic care. Healthcare would no longer be limited by the narrow terms of an insurance plan or premiums paid to an insurance company. Because insurance premiums would be replaced with progressive financing, there would be no out-of-pocket costs to access care when you need it. Gatekeeper obstacles to receiving care — like insurance pre-authorization requirements, lifetime or annual limits, or network restrictions — would also be eliminated.

WHO WOULD BE COVERED UNDER HEALTHY CALIFORNIA?

All California residents would be eligible and entitled to enroll in Healthy California regardless of age, income, wealth, employment, or other status — everybody in, nobody out.

WOULD I BE ABLE TO CHOOSE OR KEEP MY OWN DOCTOR?

Yes. Everyone enrolled would have complete choice of provider. Members would choose a primary care practitioner or other provider to handle their care coordination — helping to navigate the system and helping to get the care, follow-up, or referrals the patient needs.

WOULD I STILL HAVE OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS, LIKE DEDUCTIBLES AND MONTHLY INSURANCE PREMIUMS?

No. Healthy California members would not be charged insurance premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. Participating healthcare providers and care coordinators would be prohibited from charging any rate, co-pay, deductible, or other fee in excess of the payment established under the Healthy California program for healthcare services provided to members.

WOULD ALL HEALTHCARE SERVICES BE PUBLICLY RUN?

No. The Healthy California Board, an independent public entity, would administer payments from the California Health Trust Fund to healthcare providers and care coordinators, whether private or public, for healthcare services provided to members. Rates of payments and payment methodologies would be negotiated by Healthy California with healthcare providers and drug manufacturers. Administration of Healthy California and the California Health Trust Fund would be state-based.

WHAT TYPES OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES WOULD BE COVERED?

All medical care determined to be medically appropriate by your healthcare provider would be covered. Covered healthcare benefits for Healthy California members would include, at minimum: [See List].

About a dozen more questions are answered here. You can also read more and get further involved on the Healthy California Website.


Thank you for making it to the end. Let's have California lead the nation!

Convention report: Progressive People vs. Patronizing Power

This last weekend, I attended the convention of the California Democratic Party (CDP), as a delegate (one of 14 elected plus a handful more appointed) representing the 18th assembly district (Alameda-Oakland-San Leandro). This is my take on what happened at this historic weekend.  (While reading this, you can follow linked names to their Twitter profiles!)

Rally for Healthy California

The weekend started out Friday afternoon with a big rally for the Healthy California Act, the single-payer legislation currently underway, S.B. 562.  The rally was highlighted by passionate speeches by RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United.  She is amazing, and pulls no punches. She correctly asserted that the Democratic party is “in absolute crisis and denial,” pointing to the hundreds of seats in legislative bodies that have been lost over recent years to the Republicans.

Alongside was Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator, self-described “angry black woman” who had been alongside Bernie Sanders during his campaign. I had heard of her, but seeing her in person is indescribable — she has a fire and charisma that is captivating. Some people are talking about her running for President in a few years. I’d be first in line to vote for her.

I had left near the end of the rally, missing the scene where the crowd went into the reception hall and disrupted the new DNC chair, Tom Perez (who is loathed by the grassroots).  This was the first of many instances where the power structure in the Democratic party was clearly on the opposite side of the grassroots.  If you want to hear the typical salty language from our outgoing chair John Burton — and get a sense of what he thinks about delegates — see the video in this tweet.

Bernie-crats final (?) reunion

One of our local delegates, Marga, had organized a YUGE dinner banquet for people who describe themselves as “Bernie-crats”.   DeMoro and Turner were there, as was progressive congressman Ro Khanna of Fremont, and RN Dotty Nygard, vying to turn the nearby CD-10 (Tracy) congressional district “blue.”  It was a loud and joyful event, and it was clear that the attendees were nearly unanimous in supporting S.B. 562 the Healthy California Act, and supporting the candidacy of Kimberly Ellis for chair of the CDP.  I have been campaigning for he since becoming a delegate. As it was throughout the convention, there were pink T-shirts everywhere!

Nina Turner quoted Booker T. Washington: “There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” She warned us that we were probably going to be hearing a lot of anti-Trump rhetoric in the speeches, and to not get sucked into that as a rallying cry. We should be pulling up, not pushing down.

In retrospect, I almost feel like this was the “final” reunion of Berniecrats. Because something happened this weekend, which I will get to later, in which a large chunk of people who had been Hillary Clinton supporters, and were supporting Kimberly Ellis for chair, and/or were strong advocates for Healthy California Act, found themselves in the same boat as the Berniecrats.  By the end of the weekend, progressives were united regardless of their preference in 2016.

Candidate Speeches

Over the weekend, I ran across, either in person or giving a speech, quite a few candidates for statewide/national offices in the next major election.

For Governor, the front-runner is Gavin Newsom.  He gave an impressive speech, and from what he said, he’s very progressive. My only worry is that he almost looks like a Hollywood parody of himself (played by Matthew McConaughey).  He reminds me of John Edwards, who was the classic “Greek tragedy” hero with the fatal flaw that came crashing down. So it will be interesting to see if he can connect with the voting populace as a genuine person.

John Chiang is also running. He is currently California’s treasurer and formerly the Controller. I didn’t run across him this time, but he does have his supporters, and he would be good at the job.

Finally, we have Delaine Eastin; she was assembly member and Superintendent of Public Education in California a few years ago. I’ve decided that I’m supporting her (even if anybody’s chances of beating Newsom are slim). She is progressive and feisty, and I’ve been impressed with her — and wanted to see her as Governor — since I ran across her six years ago.

Lieutenant Governor has a few potential candidates. There was a lot of presence of Dr. Ed Hernandez. (He chairs the healthcare committee, so I was urging people to contact him to ask him so support the Healthy California Act.)  But I am hoping to see Gayle McLaughlin, former mayor of Richmond, become a full-fledged candidate. She has done amazing work fighting against the influence of Chevron. She is Bernie-approved… so she may make an amazing candidate if she decides to throw her hat in the ring.

A few of our DINO (Democrats In Name Only) representatives are seeing some serious resistance!  I met David Hildebrand, who is challenging right-winger Diane Feinstein in 2018. It is certainly an uphill battle since the California Democratic Party automatically endorses incumbents no matter how bad they are — a policy that Kimberly Ellis challenged as part of her platform. He is young, progressive, and energetic — I would love to see him go far.  And then congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (who, addressing the convention, ignored the loud outcries of “single payer!” while issuing platitudes about the need for the “public option”) is being challenged by Stephen Jaffe. (He wasn’t able to attend the convention but he was talk of the town. I hope to help bring him to Alameda some time!)

Me, with a few of my fellow AD-18 delegates


Patronizing Power

As I watched the candidates and party officials and statewide office holders like Alex Padilla, Xavier Becerra, and Fiona Ma, I was thinking about the Booker T. Washington quote.  I was pleased that not too much time was spent denouncing the idiocy of the Trump administration and the Republicans, but it certainly happened from time to time. When this happened, it felt like a cheap thrill to have the crowd yell and cheer.

While some speeches did have specifics — e.g. Gavin Newsom was unequivocal in his support for S.B. 562 — many contained general platitudes such as needing “universal healthcare” while not actually supporting the specific Healthy California bill.  Not OK by me!

One of the worst speeches was from Fiona Ma. Most of her talk was praising Bernie Sanders and his accomplishments and values — resulting in huge cheers throughout the convention (more cheap thrills) — and then not so subtly comparing outgoing CDP chair John Burton to Bernie Sanders. I was downright insulted by this. John Burton has nothing but contempt for delegates, and how he got to this position of power only speaks to the behind-the-scenes deals that get made. Every chance he got, he would use language that would make Robert DeNiro blush, demeaning delegates — especially the progressive ones.  While his language is a little bit funny at first, it was incredibly insulting to be treated like this. And unprofessional. 

It became ironic that the CDP, which kept using “resist” imagery — see the front of their printed program here, for instance — was actually turning into the establishment force that the grassroots were finding themselves needing to resist…

One of the highlights was to hear RoseAnn DeMoro address the convention — it shows that the progressives are starting to make headway since this wouldn't be possible a decade ago.  Worth a watch for a dose of honesty.

Her warning to the party leadership: "If you dismiss progressive values and reinforce the dynamic status quo, don't assume the activists in California and around this country are going to stay with the Democratic Party. Millions of people are hurting; we've never had a moment like this; we all need to embrace SB 562, and if we don't embrace that, then shame on us, because every death, every person suffering is your fault, Democrats! You've got the power; you've got the majority; you can do this!"

Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party

Saturday evening was the big election for CDP chairperson and other officers. Though Kimberly Ellis started out as the “dark horse” candidate against heir apparent Eric Bauman, it seemed like we had a chance at winning by the time the convention came .  Judging by the cheers for the candidates on the convention floor during and after their speeches, Ellis had at least as big of a group of supporters as Bauman, and probably more.  

We waited for the election results, and we were hearing updates on the count, that Ellis was in the lead as more and more votes were counted.  And then, suddenly, the final tally was announced with Bauman winning by just 62 votes.

The reaction was shock, sadness, but most of all, anger.  The feeling that the rug has been pulled out from under us. Rumors were flying everywhere, stories of oddities with the vote counting process, unlikelihood of a projected victory flipping at the last minute, of people not being allowed to observe the counting, of a big batch of proxy ballots coming in at the last minute, and so forth.  Kimberly Ellis spoke in front of her supporters, and did not concede the race.  She announced that her team was asking to examine the results because they felt there were some irregularities.

As people started to leave, either to parties (not me — I was sleep-deprived and not feeling celebratory) or to their lodgings, word was spread from person to person that we Ellis supporters should show up early Sunday morning to work on protesting the fishy results.  I was able to convince fellow Delegate Cheri to not just pack it up and drive home.  This was my seventh convention (I was a delegate 2005-2010), and while I haven’t seen anything of this magnitude happen before, I know from experience that there is usually some controversy that doesn’t get resolved until the last day of the convention, and that often the grassroots get stomped on because they leave early, letting the party old-guard who know the drill to stay behind and work against the grassroots’ interests.

Leaderless, angry progressives gather at 7:30 AM Sunday


Sunday morning, people started showing up, and it was fascinating to watch a leaderless protest movement come together. There were too many people for anybody to be heard by themselves, so several people started using the Occupy movement technique of “human microphone.” (If you aren’t familiar with this, watch this video. It’s important that people know how to use this technique —  It’s amazingly effective.)  People worked on gathering the 300 signatures required for introducing a bill on the general session floor.  Others organized a protest outside of a corporate Dem’s power breakfast upstairs in the convention center, ranting against his coercing his appointed delegates to all vote for Bauman. Others had brought marking-pens and large paper for people to make protest signs to hold up in the convention center.  I ended up helping create a bunch of signs that said “Validate the Vote” which you can see in some of the pictures on this LA times story.

Most people I spoke to expressed frustration that this keeps happening to the progressives.  Bernie Sanders having his success snatched away from Hillary Clinton (thanks to voter suppression, media bias, the AP declaring victory for Clinton the night before the California primary election, our Secretary of State campaigning for Clinton and making it so hard for no-party-preference voters to vote in the primary, etc.); Tom Perez being chosen for head of the DNC over grassroots-backed Keith Ellison, and now establishment Democrat Bauman, who had taken thousands of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry last election to help defeat proposition 61, being elected chair of the CDP.

The morning’s program was raucous and chaotic. Hundreds of people stood at the delegate-comment microphones, begging for “point of information” and “point of order” and getting shut down with derision by Chairman John Burton every time. Once in a while he would let somebody make their case, and then rule them out of order. Another protestor asked for a copy of the agenda so people could know when something would be IN order. It was clear that the deck was stacked against the grassroots.

Finally the issue of the election was addressed at the podium, and it was announced that the Ellis campaign had met with outgoing chair John Burton and presumptive winner Eric Bauman and that they would be allowed to have an audit of the election.  Still, there were hundreds and hundreds of upset people that didn’t feel like that was enough; it certainly didn’t resolve the problem right away. A highlight was when outgoing party controller Hilary Crosby (a progressive whom I helped get elected several years ago) addressed the convention and helped us feel satisfied that the audit will be real. I trust her, and because she was a supporter of Kimberly, being the one to convince her to run in the first place, I think that others will too.)

Eric Bauman finally came to the podium to speak to the delegates at the end of the program, and he couldn’t come close to addressing the delegation. The outrange in the hall was undeniable, and he could hardy speak over the yelling.  It was clear that the California Democratic Party is horribly divided.  That is when I left, to go to a nearby park with hundreds of Kimberly Ellis supporters, for a final goodbye and to learn that the Ellis team will be staying in Sacramento over the next few days to audit the vote.

What will happen?  Who knows.  If Bauman is indeed the valid chair, he has his work cut out for him in bringing the grassroots on board. I’ll keep you posted.

Stay Local

In the meantime, I encourage all my neighbors to get active and stay active on a local basis.  Our grassroots organization, Alameda Progressives — an offshoot of the Bernie Sanders campaign — is “young scrappy and hungry” and it would be great to have people who are interested in action at the local level.  Go check out the AP Facebook Page and click the blue Sign Up button to get email announcements of upcoming events.


Anybody reading this want to get my emails?  I send out occasional emails like this in my role as a delegate and also just a concerned citizen. Get on the non-spammy list at http://eepurl.com/4OA7j ...

Thanks for reading, and keep up the fight!

"Lessons of the 2017 California Democratic ADEMs"

For those who are interested in the process that brought progressives like me into the delegate positions, this article has a great statewide overview of the influx of progressives/berniecrats into the fold.

(BTW: Apparently there was a tallying error; all fourteen of our "Groundswell Progressives" slate wound up winning.)

Countdown clocks considered harmful

Today I read that a countdown clock of how long we have to put up with President Trump has gotten very popular for people to put on their websites, share on social media, etc.

PLEASE NO.

I remember this kind of thing when George W. Bush was in his first term.  Everybody was so looking forward to the end of Bush's term and his replacement with somebody better that I would see bumper stickers, signs, and digital media heralding either Election Day 2004 or Inauguration Day 2005.

And then, Bush stayed for another term.

So please, let's not make any assumptions that Trump will be easy to topple in four years. No matter how much we want him gone, there are plenty of voters, corporations, 1%ers, and electoral college members who will be more than happy to sign him up for even more.  Especially once our new UnPrecident continues to "game" the system that got him elected in the first place.

In order to beat Trump, the Democrats have to do something very different from what they did in the 2015-2016 campaign.

Albert Einstein is generally credited with defining insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

And yet, there are forces — powerful forces, the predominant forces — in the Democratic Party who are hoping to do just that.  Just keep on with the game they have been playing, sucking up to big donors (the 1%, big pharma, big oil, etc.) and while they talk a good talk, there are so many voters who see through all the phoniness and choose the wise-cracking "Tony Stark" maverick they somehow identify with.

Imagine 2020, the Democratic Party proffering another candidate, a corporate-sponsored individual who speaks platitudes that sound great, while unashamedly behaving almost like a Republican at the same time; somebody as universally unpopular as Hillary Clinton was.  He or she wouldn't have a chance.

That's what is going to happen if the Democratic Party keeps telling itself lies about who it is.  From the leadership in the national (DNC) and state (like California Democratic Party) levels on down to the regional (like our county central committees) and grassroots activists like you and me.

Part of the change that we at the bottom can perform is to insist that the leadership in the Democratic Party be replaced in a big way.

At the national level, Keith Ellison is running for chair of the DNC. He's the candidate who will get rid of the system that has been failing us for years — even while we had a Democrat in the White House, the rest of the country went red in a big way.  How about checking out Keith?

In California, we delegates have the ability to choose the leader of our state's party. The front-runner is the old-model, big-money style candidate that we can't afford to keep having. Eric Bauman worked hard to defeat Proposition 61, which would have slashed prescription drug prices, after receiving $12,500 per month from Big Pharma.  That's why I'm strongly supporting Kimberly Ellis for the state chair. She's all about turning that upside-down.

We can keep going the way things have always been done in the Democratic Party, or we can choose to get active and change the paradigm.

The time until Trump leaves office depends on what we do about it. There is no countdown.

Victory in yesterday's election!

Well, we did amazingly well yesterday.  Thanks to so many of you, and the people you brought, and the people that my slate-mates brought out, we were victorious overall.  Thirteen out the the fourteen on our Groundswell Progressives Slate were elected yesterday.  (I got 4th place on the men’s side.)

Wow.

I wanted to thank everybody who was able to come out to the election meeting yesterday.  Thank you SO much.  Friends and neighbors that I see all the time, and friends I’ve made in my recent political activity, and friends I only see once in a while seemed to all be there.  And also thank you to everybody who wasn’t able to make it, either last-minute or being otherwise engaged — or even, arrived there but unable to vote due to the long lines — but still supported me.  I am honored and humbled.  It was so amazing to see so many people who came out to support me and what I — we — believe in.

It was especially amazing to have a couple of newly-turned-eighteen-year-olders come out, get registered to vote, and vote for us as their first election.

And it wasn’t a small sacrifice to be there!  The union hall that they picked to hold this was embarrassingly small.  You would think that they were expecting at most 200 people, and relying on good weather as well.  I heard there were over 800 ballots cast!  The last-minute changes to the schedule they performed also meant that people had to wait around in a unnavigably crowded auditorium or wait in long lines around the building, outside, in the (thankfully light) rain.  (Past venues for this kind of election have been in much larger spaces with a good foyer area where people could get indoors quickly and get checked in without so much hassle.)


Politically, this victory sends an important message — that the voters are not confident with the “business as usual” approach, that has failed so miserably, put forth by our leaders.

And what’s really amazing is that I’ve seen the results from across the state — elections like ours were held either yesterday or will be held today — and yesterday’s results brought progressive sweeps or near-sweeps into a vast majority of the districts.  I’m predicting something similar for today’s districts as well.

One of the big issues that our slate has been behind is to get fresh leadership in the California Democratic Party, and that is by supporting Kimberly Ellis to be chair of the party.  She is the underdog, but with these big victories I think she has an increasing chance.

If you are interested, Kimberly Ellis will be presenting her vision of the California Democratic Party at the next meeting of the Alameda Democratic Club this coming Wednesday,  January 11, at 7 PM at the Alameda Hospital. You don’t need to be a member of the club to attend;  I am predicting that since this is going to one of Ellis's first local appearances since this sweep, there will be a lot of people interested in hearing her talk, so arrive early if you want to come.  (Kudos to Slate-mate Gaby Dolphin for arranging for her to come present in Alameda!)

Here are the results of the AD 18 election, highest votes at the top.

Female:
Pamela Harris
Rabia Keeble
Eleanor “Ellie” Casson
Amber Childress
Mara Schechter
Gabrielle “Gaby” Dolphin
Malia Vella

Male:
Sean Dugar — also elected to Executive Board
Michael Lee
Jeromey Shafer
Dan Wood
Carter Lavin
Michael Fortes
Michael Katz

I'm looking forward to working with these people, including councilmember Malia Vella who also garnered a spot.

I will be posting update to this blog about my involvement as a delegate.  Stay tuned!

Starting up this blog again!

I had set this blog aside for a while as my involvement in politics waned. Of course last year (2016) I got re-energized in campaigning for Bernie Sanders.  I was considering adding to this blog some more, but never got around to it.

After the aftermath of the primary election essentially stolen from Sanders, and the embarrassing loss of Clinton in a race between the two most unliked candidates in history, and with a unthinkable Trump presidency about to start, I decided to dig in — again.  To run for delegate to the California Democratic Party.  I had been delegate for three 2-year terms before (2005-2010), and so I figured it was time to try it again. I and the progressives I worked with had quite a bit of success last time, so it's time to do it again.

Like you I’m devastated that Trump will be President soon, but I’m furious that the leadership of the Democratic Party (like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) seem to be waving the white flag, denying that the party needs a new direction. They want to keep the same losing strategy, sucking up to corporate donors and denying the progressive values that most Americans actually hold dear.  In order to change the Democratic Party, we need new leadership — like Keith Ellison, running to head the DNC, and Kimberly Ellis, running to head the party in California — but that’s not enough. As Bernie said, change always happens from the bottom up, so we need a groundswell of real progressives like me to be the change we want to see.

There are 14 spots open for delegates to the CDP in our Assembly District 18 (Alameda, most of Oakland, and San Leandro). But many candidates are part of the political establishment who don’t want to rock the boat.  So I have teamed up with an amazing, diverse slate of progressive men and women from our district — you might recognize some of them as being active in the Sanders and Clinton campaigns — and I need you to come out and vote for me and our entire group, so that we can remake the Democratic Party into a party that succeeds in representing our progressive values. The people in our slate have some amazing skills and I’m hoping that my experience being a delegate will be helpful in turning their values and ideas into action.

We call ourselves the “Groundswell Progressives.”  We have a website with information about our values and the people on our slate: www.groundswellprogressives.us.

To be eligible to vote for me and the Groundswell Progressives slate, you need to be either already registered to vote as a Democrat — or you can actually register/re-register to vote, as a Democrat, there.  (Note: If you want to support me but don’t feel like a Democrat at heart, you could always take an extra registration form and re-register with a different party preference after the event. I won’t tell.)

We in the grassroots are up against a well-funded establishment political campaign to install a set of “business as usual” candidates, and they are well-versed at bringing out big numbers. So this is something where we really need as many real people to get active as possible to counter that “machine.” I’ve been on a team that has succeeded at that three times before, and I need you to make this work again.

Come See the Amazing Delaine Eastin this Wednesday Night

Back in November, I saw Delaine Eastin, former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, speak at the E-board meeting of the California Democratic Party.

She absolutely brought down the house. Just an amazing, dynamic, inspiring speaker.

Through my suggestion, she will be coming to this month's meeting of the Alameda Democratic Club. I am really looking forward to hearing her.

She will be speaking about education and California politics. I can't recommend her enough. Please come!

The meeting is THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING at the Alameda Hospital, 2070 Clinton Ave @ Willow in Alameda. Start time: 7 PM. Everybody is welcome, no admission is charged.



(Photo Credit: Tom Torlakson (Yes, him!)

Bernie Sanders, Independent, Addresses California Democrats

[Note: I hadn't updated this blog in a while, but I found this in my Drafts folder. Considering how far Bernie has come since this, I thought it would be interesting to go ahead and publish this....]

This was the first year in a while when I haven't been a delegate to the California Democratic Convention. I'm actually kind of relieved that I didn't go this year, between my workload and my growing unease with the two-party system.

So I found it ironic that the big speech event of last weekend's convention was when Bernie Sanders, an "independent," rocked the convention with his speech. It's worthwhile to watch.

I guess there are other people with my name out there

It was just pointed out to me that somebody has recently been posting comments to local political blogs using my name. I guess that's the disadvantage of having a short and common name. Or, maybe some low-life is trying to impersonate me - it seems like too much of a coincidence.

Unfortunately, there is no way to really confirm identity on the blogosphere.

But I just wanted readers of this blog to be aware that things may not be what they seem, especially if it seems that the person using that name is either spewing nonsense, or engaging in online activities that aren't characteristic of the real me.

MSNBC - Banksters & Government Exposed FINALLY by Mainstream News!

I know this isn't Alameda-specific, but it's a great introduction to a topic that has been capturing most of my attention lately, moreso than local and state issues. Of course we here in Alameda are all affected by this national (in fact, international issue).

We Are All Wisconsonites

From Michael Moore's Page

The results are in....

Unfortunately I didn't not prevail personally at the election today, but many of my slate-mates did. Congratulations especially to Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont, Nwamaka Agbo, Jessamyn Sabbag, and Jakada Imani, and also congratulations to the other winners as well. Thanks to everybody who came out to brave the cold weather, and the long lines — especially those who waited patiently while additional ballots were printed out. (They had printed 500 originally; I think there were about 700 votes total -- double last time around!)

Why I'm Running for Delegate Today

If you are reading this blog on its publication date — Saturday the 8th — and you are a registered Democrat, and you live in Alameda, parts of Oakland, or Piedmont — The 16th Assembly District, represented by Sandré Swanson — I hope you can come head over to Laney College's Theatre building today, arriving after 2 PM but before 4 PM, to vote for me, and the progressive slate that I am a part of:

6 Women: Nwamaka AGBO, Pamela DRAKE, Susan HARMAN, Jessamyn SABBAG, Margaret SCHULTZ, Esperanza TERVALON-DAUMONT

6 Men: Sean DUGAR*, Joseph J. GEORGE (Jakada Imani), Abel GUILLEN*, Robert PECK, Sean SULLIVAN*, Dan WOOD

* = additional candidates recommended by the slate

I am also running for the position of EXECUTIVE BOARD. One person from the twelve winning delegates is eligible to become the E-Board representative for our district. As one of the most inveterate delegates in our district, I feel that I'm qualified to step up to this additional level of responsibility. Thus, there will be a second ballot; please write my full name on that additional ballot and turn that in.

But the main reason I'm writing this is to talk about why I'm running. It's very easy to get caught up in the calling, emailing, team-building, endorsement-collecting aspect of running a campaign ... whether it's a big campaign or a tiny campaign like mine. But more important than that is the original reason that a candidate is running in the first place. For me, there are so many reasons to run for delegate, to do what I can to make the California Democratic Party become more progressive.

I am running because the Party should not be helping out those Democrats-In-Name-Only who are just Republicans in disguise, just because they are the incumbents. Democrats stand for something, and when there is a "Democrat" in office who does not stand for something, they should be shown the door. I'm looking at Congresswoman Jane Harman, and at Senator Diane Feinstein, for instance.

I am running because as delegates, we have the ability to vote on which candidates for primary elections get the endorsement of the party. We got to have great candidates like Dave Jones, Kamala Harris, and Debra Bowen on our November ballots due largely to their backing by the Democratic Party in the corresponding June elections.

I am running because, when enough progressives get together and build up a Party Resolution, it's possible for the state party to get a message out that is not being given attention at the national level. For example, the Party's message just over a year ago was a resolution called End the U.S. Occupation & Air War in Afghanistan. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

I am running because we all need to put a stop to rampant corporate control of our media, of our politicians, of our government, and of us - including our children.

I am running because we need to put a stop to the powerful, out-of-control military forces. Our entire current military operations are based upon lies. I'm in the middle of an amazing book about the presidency of JFK, and how hard he had to fight against his military advisors' constant pressure upon him to go with a military solution. (It's astonishing that JFK was able to keep us from nuclear annihilation!) Fast forward 50 years of rampant military-industrial-complex growth, and I can imagine that it must be nearly impossible for even the most liberal President to have any control over this. Wikileaks' recent disclosures have shown how horrible things are in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there doesn't seem to be any end in site.

(What can we do as mere delegates to the party about this? Only a little at a time, but it's better to try than to throw up our hands!) We have to do something to put an end to our Naqoyqatsi.

I am running because we need to do something about our economy, which is in shambles, and perched on the edge of a precipice. The State of California is close to bankrupt, mostly thanks to Proposition 13, which has protected corporations from paying their fair share of taxes. And thanks to our latest propositions from the November ballot, the legislature has no way to raise new revenues without getting held hostage by the Republicans (who would prefer to see the state budget go down in flames). And things are even worse at the Federal level. Our country is deep in debt; our dollars would be worth nothing if they weren't the international standard — and this artificial support could crumble any time — and there is no end in sight to the hemorrhaging by the military on our budget.

I am running because our health care system is still in a horrible state. The well-publicized, heavily debated congressional reform ended up being just another giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry.

I am running because we need to put pressure on our President to do actually implement some of the things he promised. [Broken Promises] We still have the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. We still have corporate give-aways. We still have torture. We still have the USA PATRIOT act. (You know, it feels like we still have George W. Bush!)

And I am running for so many other reasons. We're running out of time, in our economy, in our climate, in our oil supplies (the other inconvenient truth), in our constitutional freedoms. I want our kids to have a future.

A single delegate who cares about these issues can only do so much. A swarm, however, can be pretty effective. Let's hope that we get a swarm of progressive elected across the state today.

I'm again running for Delegate to the CA Democratic Party

As I have been doing once every two years since 2005, I am running for delegate to the California Democratic Party. This is a way that activists from the grassroots can have some influence on the largest state Democratic Party in the country. It's sometimes an uphill struggle against the lackluster establishment, but we have had some real victories. I can connect California Democrats' huge November victories back to the energy of the grassroots, and I want to keep that up!

The only way I can actually win is if enough of my neighbors who are registered Democrats come to an event in Oakland (at Laney College) at about 2 PM on Saturday, January 8, and vote for me, in person.

If you are a reader of this blog, living in the 16th Assembly District (represented by Sandré Swanson — Alameda, Piedmont, and about half of Oakland), I hope I can count on your support. [Not sure what your district is?] If you can definitely or maybe come to vote for me, please Email me your RSVP so I will know to expect you.

This is my candidacy statement:

I have been a delegate for the last six years, and I wish to continue in bringing a progressive voice to the California Democratic Party. I will resume my membership of the Progressive Caucus and also the very progressive Women's Caucus. I've been active in a number of campaigns, and organizations like DFA and the CADC. I have contributed resolutions and additions to the CDP's platform document to make sure that the party has a strong message. We must hold Democrats accountable to these principles, and support progressive candidates, even if that means challenging incumbent Democrats who have slithered too far to the right. I am passionate about a number of issues including election integrity, reining in out- of-control corporations, exposing corporate-owned media censorship, and ending our country's state of warfare based on lies. Also, we need to bring in more funding for the Democratic Party from small donors, so it's not beholden to PACs and rich contributors. (That's why I'm a proud member of the DEM2012 program!) Since communication with the people I represent is important, I use my 300-person email list and my blog at http://progala.blogspot.com to get the word out.

Every Vote Counts! Two years ago when the election meeting was at Alameda Hospital, I was probably overconfident in my chances of winning, and I wound up tieing for the last slot, and then I lost the coin flip! (Our district was the most competitive district in the entire state!) So if you want to see the California Democratic Party head in a progressive direction, please don't assume that I have this "in the bag" like some of my friends did last time around! :-)

If you are willing to invest an hour or so, about 2-3 PM, on Saturday January 8th, please mark your calendar, and be sure to email me your RSVP.

This is a very small campaign, but all that means is that every single vote counts in a BIG way. I really hope you can come out to help, and ideally even drag along a spouse, neighbor, or friend who shares your progressive values to come vote as well — and to share the ride and thus help the environment :-)

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts, in the comments or by emailing me.


May you have a Happy New Year!





RSVP here [Note: this is a temporary email address]