This Week in Conejo Valley Politics, March 29, 2009

It was wrong of you to fire Geoff Dean, said the Civil Service Commission to Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks. The sheriff fired Dean for preparing to run for Brooks’s office when Brooks retires in 2010. Dean gets back pay and is the apparent frontrunner in the race.

There is a special election on May 19. It’s about the California budget. Most people don’t like the ballot measures and will vote against them according to a recent poll. This will disappoint the governor.

Californians are not happy: 77% said the state was headed in the wrong direction, 80% disapprove of the legislature’s performance, and 57% disapprove of Governor Schwarzenegger’s performance. Perhaps this is why 81% of people support Proposition 1F, limiting legislative pay during deficits. It’s the economy, stupid.

In a completely unrelated story, Governor Schwarzenegger said he would not run for political office again, since the Constitution forbids foreign-born presidents. Republicans were relieved.

Most drugs sold in Ventura County come from Mexico, say law enforcement officials. Perhaps Rush Limbaugh should buy a sombrero and move south, closer to his suppliers.

The Ventura County Supervisors graciously voted to accept $2.7 million of Barack Obama’s stimulus money this week. It will be used to buy up houses that have been foreclosed and sitting empty. They will be sold to lower-income and middle-class people. Thanks for help Ventura County, Mr. President.

Stimulus money might save police and firefighter jobs in Ventura, but only if they are still around. The Ventura City Council voted to use reserve funds to keep the officers and firefighters employed. Mayor Christy Weir, pinching pennies, voted against it.

Evangelical apocalypse enthusiasts infiltrated the military and George W. Bush’s White House, said filmmaker Michael Wilson during a screening of his movie Silhouette City in Thousand Oaks. They don’t like gays and want to “reclaim the nation for Christ.”

Environment Topic of Next Meeting of the Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley

Voters in upcoming elections have a clear and easy choice: vote for Republicans, who in general deny that climate change is real, caused by human activity, and who will do nothing to address the issue, or vote for Democrats, who in general recognize that climate change is real, caused by human activity, and will draft legislation to mitigate its effects.

 

 

Former Vice President Al Gore wins a Nobel Prize for his work in publicizing the effects of climate change; current President George W. Bush suppresses testimony of executive branch officials about the severe effects of climate change.

 

 

It’s time we register our disapproval of the climate change deniers with our votes.

 

 

The Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley will devote its next meeting on Wednesday, November 14, to discussing ideas and “tangible actions we can take to reduce global warming in our community and our homes,” according to its newsletter.

 

 

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Goebel Senior Center at 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. For more information, see www.conejodemocrats.com or call 805-675-8785.

 

Urge Your Member of Congress to Support the SCHIP Veto Override

Want to see that 4 million underprivileged children get the healthcare they deserve? Then contact your congressman.

 

It’s easy. Here’s the message I wrote to Congressman Elton Gallegly (CA-24) today:

 

I am writing to urge you to support the State Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation.

The $35 billion increase in funding for SCHIP over the next five years is certainly worth the benefit the legislation will deliver for the additional 4 million children who will be provided adequate health care.

I ask you to consider voting to override the president’s veto. Your constituents, myself included, would admire such a brave and independent step forward.

 

Gallegly probably will not read it. He almost certainly will not change his mind and go against the president. But it will help to let him know that there are thousands of us out there who support the SCHIP program and the legislation to expand the program by $35 billion over the next 5 years.

 

Here’s how to contact Gallegly. You can write a letter to his office in Thousand Oaks at 2829 Townsgate Road, Suite 315, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361-3018. Follow up with a phone call if you do not get a response. The office’s phone number is 805-497-2224. Do not bother writing to his Washington, D.C., office. Security procedures could delay your letter by up to two weeks.

 

If you prefer e-mail, use the Write Your Representative feature at the U.S. House of Representatives’ website. The url is www.house.gov/writerep/.

 

You can use this website to send e-mail to any representative.

 

CongressLink provides tips on contacting your member of Congress. In general, be polite, stick to one topic, keep it short, and be sure to identify the legislation you are writing about. SCHIP is HR 976.

 

You can also use the Democratic Party’s e-mail system. You put in your name, address, and e-mail information and the site’s software will send the e-mail to your representatives and senators. This can be found at www.democrats.org/FightForKids.

 

Young Progressive Democrats Set to Change Leadership

In an e-mail to supporters Sunday, Heather Schmidt, president of the Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County, announced the resignation of a number of executive board members .

Election of new executive board members will take place on Wednesday, October 24 at JJ Brewsky’s in Camarillo. Late nominations are being accepted until October 14.

Schmidt is stepping down as president but will remain chair to the executive committee.

“There comes a point where we decide what is the most effective way for us to make social change,” wrote Schmidt.

“Some of us in active leadership of this organization have decided that at this point in time, the most effective way for us to make social change is in ways other than the Young Progressive Democrats.”

 

“As for those of us leaving the organization, we will always support and be committed to the young voters and activists of this community,” she said.

“We will continue to be social activists and to invite you to have fun being social activists with us.”

Schmidt has graciously given the Conejo Valley Democrat permission to publish the resignation e-mail here. It appears below. It is particularly interesting to read the short, month-by-month history she has compiled of the club’s accomplishments. This appears near the bottom of this post.

The Young Progressive Democrats have done a lot in the club’s brief history, as Schmidt’s account makes clear. The Conejo Valley Democrat salutes their accomplishments.

 

 

Sunday, October 7th, 2007
Press Release

 

Resignation of Executive Officers of the YPD Oct 8 2007

 

Dear Young Progressive Democrats and Friends of YPD,

In our year of existence, we have seen an amazing change in youth involvement in this community, across the spectrum of political parties. We have met Greens in their 20s that want to mend ways with the Democrats and work together towards building a progressive message for our community. We have met young Republicans that are not only civilized, but out-right welcoming, and we have sat together and discussed issues as friends. But most of all, we have met Young Democrats who want to be involved, who crave to be active and who have been quietly looking for a place to suit their desire to make social change.

Much to the disappointment of the more conservative faction of this community, there are Young Democrats here and they do care about voting and making their votes count. This is what we have learned over the last year.

When this club began just over a year ago, in September of 2006, the small group of people that started it had a vision much different from what it has become today. That is not to say that the Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County is anything other than a great, power-house of an organization; however, for some of us, it is no longer what we were looking for and have decided that it is time for us to move on to bigger and better things.

It is important to always remember that this organization was founded for reasons and values uncharacteristic of the typical Democratic Club — our mission has never been JUST to get Democrats elected, but rather to cultivate progressive leaders in this community that will not only be one-day elected but build a permanent progressive infrastructure in our community that will last.

Most importantly, though, our mission was to always have fun while doing this — to do this and not be muddied down with technicalities.

We wanted to have a forum where if we have an event, we have an event — there are no agendas, no personalities and everyone is welcome. We wanted to give young people room to seek their self-interest and speak their ideas free of worrying who is waiting around the corner to use their words against them.

We wanted to take the politics out of politics and have a good time as social activists making significant change.

The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County is an organization that many of us are proud of building, are proud of standing up for and are proud of saying was our baby from the beginning. But the turn this organization must take now is that of a Democratic Club whose mission is different than our vision and so we turn it over into the hands of those clearly ready to raise the funds and do the work that this Democratic Club is now ready to do.

As for those of us leaving the organization, we will always support and be committed to the young voters and activists of this community. We will continue to be social activists and to invite you to have fun being social activists with us.

And if worse comes to worse, you will always find us at J.J. Brewsky’s on Drinking Liberally night, whether we’re really liberally drinking or passing out light-bulbs or talking Presidential Primaries.

There comes a point where we decide what is the most effective way for us to make social change. Some of us in active leadership of this organization have decided that at this point in time, the most effective way for us to make social change is in ways other than the Young Progressive Democrats. I hope as leaders of this community we have helped guide many of you to the paths you were already moving towards on your own.

As always, in Peace and Prosperity.

Heather Schmidt
Outgoing President and Chair to the Executive Committee

 

 

Calendar of Accomplishments

In its first year, the Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County accomplished more than many Democratic Clubs or organizations do in a lifetime.

Please take a moment to take a trip down memory lane with us and get nostalgic with us in our year of great change.

 

September 2006
The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County is founded in a small home in Simi Valley, California. There were 13 people and the organization has exploded since. Many members of the Young Progressive Democrats also attended an open training with Barbara Graves and the Precinct Captains system to learn more about making our community a more progressive one.

October 2006
The Camarillo ACORN featured an article on the Young Progressive Democrats walking precincts with candidates for office available in print and online.
The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County hosts its Kick-Off Party to introduce itself to the community and have a great time. The event was at the outdoor patio at B.J.’s in Oxnard and many stopped by to see.

November 2006
Teams of YPD activists hit the streets and help campaigns in posting signs all over town for various Democratic candidates and causes. YPD also designs and sends out a postcard to Decline to States for Congressional Candidate Jill Martinez and State Assembly Candidate Ferial Masry and facilitates a county-wide robocall with selected candidates and causes to every high-propensity Democrat in Ventura County.

December 2006
The Ventura County STAR does a feature article on YPD coming to town available in print and online.
The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County hosts its first annual Madison-Jefferson Holiday Party, co-hosted with the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee, the Ventura Democratic Club and the Stonewall Democratic Club. Eighty attendees enjoyed political discussion and Holiday Fun.

January 2007
Drinking Liberally VC Chapter starts and the Young Progressive Democrats reconvene after the holidays to begin planning outreaching to students and other young activists in the community.

February 2007
Drinking Liberally VC Chapter takes it to new heights with new faces and events seeing upwards of 30 to 40 people. YPD also attended an immigration march in Oxnard in support of the many immigrants that are looking for legalization and support in our community.

March 2007
YPD attended a number of vigils and peace marches in support of peace and in observance of the anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war. We attended a vigil in Ventura, a vigil in Thousand Oaks and a peace march in Ventura later in the week. YPD hosts its first annual Saint Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl in downtown Ventura. YPD instilled political fun and activism into the evening, including playing political charades, raising awareness of the organization and signing up fifteen new Democrats in the bars hit up through the evening. Also, members from YPD that oppose the LNG plant off the cost of Oxnard attended and protested the hearings to put the plant into our community. The plant was denied access to the Oxnard waters, but the fight still continues.

April 2007
In observation of Earth Day or Earth Month, the Young Progressive Democrats engaged in a variety of activities in honor of our Mother Earth. The April meeting held a lively discussion with student and activist Spencer Burke (student of Harvard University) on Global Warming and its effects on our community and at the end of April, Drinking Liberally VC and YPD passed out 100 energy-saving, Earth-friendly light bulbs to the patrons of Dargans in downtown Ventura. At the end of April, the Young Progressive Democrats also crashed the California Democratic Party state convention and mingled with other Young Democrats, including our young State Assembly representatives and Presidential Candidate Bill Richardson at the San Diego Young Democrat’s Art Museum event.

May 2007
The Young Progressive Democrats of Ventura County holds a meet-up at the UFCW Hall in Ventura to hear speakers and activists on the Rocketdyne Power Plant in Simi Valley. Screening of the Rocketdyne History Channel, and documentarist John Hofius and STAR journalist Teresa Rochester led a discussion on the meltdown and tragedies of the powerplant overlooking Simi Valley. The end of May also saw a Women’s Issue Luncheon to connect young women to older political mentors. Mayor Maricela Morales discussed Women’s Economic Interests.

June 2007
June was healthcare month for the Young Progressive Democrats and Drinking Liberally VC. At the first Drinking Liberally for the month, we listened to speakers from OneCareNow.org and Planned Parenthood talk about the healthcare crisis in America. Activists hit the street in June and asked Father’s Day pedestrians in downtown Ventura to sign petitions in support of Sheila Kuehl’s SB 840 for Universal Healthcare. And, the Young Progressive Democrats closed out the month by hosting a successful Dinner and a Movie Date Night with YPD, where we had a delicious California Pizza Kitchen dinner and screened Michael Moore’s newest film on healthcare SICKO.

July 2007
YPD garnered the support of many community members in July by hosting its first big fundraising Garage Sale. The morning was busy and we had great things to sell thanks to our devoted supporters. Special thanks to all the volunteers that helped out with the preparation and day. Also in July, the Young Progressive Democrats and Vote Blue Central Coast hosted an activist training and voter registration walk where we hit the streets and registered some new Democrats. We called it a Registration Rodeo to round up new Democrats and enjoyed a Western-style Pizza Party upon return. Many local candidates and electeds joined us in being trained and changing the registration patterns of our community.

August 2007
YPD launched a huge web campaign to garner interest from those that cannot always attend events and activities but still like to be involved. We bumped up our activity on youth outlets like myspace and facebook, we launched our website ypdofvc.org, we opened a blog and started guest blogging and posting on other sites and we even started our online newsletter “The Domestic Ass.” The Young Progressive Democrats were also represented at a more intensive training with Barbara Graves and the Precinct Captains system to learn about being precinct captains and interfacing with our community members.

September 2007
The Conejo Valley Democrat blog does a feature article on the Young Progressive Democrats available online. In the beginning of September, YPD was proud to be honored by the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats and California Young Democrats for hard work and to help build the club with a monetary grant to help our club keep moving in great directions. The Young Progressive Democrats and Drinking Liberally VC hosted an awareness of the Presidential Candidates event, called the President Hopefuls, at J.J. Brewsky’s in Camarillo. People eating and attending happy hour even stopped by to join us and hear representatives from all of the local campaigns. We had representatives from the Obama campaign, NWPC on behalf of Hillary’s campaign, the Draft Gore 2008 initiative, the Kucinich campaign, the OneCore Edwards campaign and one of our members even stood up and talked on behalf of his support for Bill Richardson. It was held on the same night as the Presidential Debates, so much great discussion was had. The Cal State University Channel Islands campus chapter of YPD is certified and begins.

 

 

Bush’s Poodle: Why Gallegly Won’t Fund Children’s Health Care

Apparently funding the health care of poor children is not as important to Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks) as funding the war.

After all, poor children are certainly not going to vote Republican when they grow up. If they survive without health care, that is.

There’s no doubt about it, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which would cost taxpayers $60 billion over 5 years, would be expensive. But isn’t it the legitimate business of government to protect those who are most vulnerable?

Only if it is not too expensive, apparently.

“I understand where the president is, and I agree with him on this issue,” Gallegly told the Ventura County Star.

The president vetoed a bill to renew SCHIP on Wednesday, despite overwhelming support in the House and Senate.

The bill is popular with Republicans, Democrats, and most Americans. But not with Gallegly or Bush.

Both say the bill is too expensive. And, says the president, “government coverage would displace private health insurance for many children.”

This is certainly not true, but even if it were children with health insurance, even government-sponsored health insurance, are better off than children with none.

Senate Republicans have bent over backwards to meet the president’s demands.

“Frankly, I think the president has had pretty poor advice on this,” said Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

“I can answer every objection that they’ve made, and I’m very favorable to the president. I know he’s compassionate. I know he’s concerned about these kids, but he’s been sold a bill of goods.”

Gallegly told the Star that “this is a classic case of the ugliest part of our government process, which is taking something as critical as the healthcare of children and turning it into political spin. Today is a day that I think is an embarrassment to this institution.”

Wednesday certainly was an embarrassment. It was embarrassing for Gallegly, for Bush, for the Republican Party, and for the nation. It shows the world that we value a wasteful war in Iraq—a war that has nothing to do with terrorism—more than we do the health of our own children.

The proposed $35 billion increase in funding for the SCHIP program, an increase that will cover a five-year period, mind you, is about as much as it costs to finance the war in Iraq for a mere three months.

The president just asked Congress for an additional $200 billion in war funding. The war in Iraq has cost about $457 billion to date, and increasing at a rate of about $300 million a day, according to economist Scott Wallsten.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the ineptly named war on terror will cost about $1.2 trillion between now and 2017.

Less than half of this amount, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times, “would pay for an unprecedented public health campaign — a doubling of cancer research funding, treatment for every American whose diabetes or heart disease is now going unmanaged and a global immunization campaign to save millions of children’s lives.”

And yet the president and his obedient congressman can’t scrape up enough money, or moral courage, to help out 10 million poor kids.

Bush and his sycophants, like Gallegly, have been calling recently for more fiscal discipline. This is a laughable attempt to salvage some respectability at the last minute after six years of deficit spending.

The public debt is now up to more than $9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. When Bill Clinton left office, there was a budget surplus of $127 billion.

And yet the president and his party continually tout themselves as being deficit hawks and Democrats as tax-and-spend liberals.

Nobody’s buying it, least of all now, and Republicans will pay a hefty fine at the ballot box in the 2008 elections.

The presidential veto is meant to be a check on congressional power. But in some cases, the president, be he (or soon, she) a Republican or Democrat, is just plain wrong.

This is one of those cases.

The Constitution provides Congress with the ability to override a presidential veto. The House needs 25 more votes to do this, and even Republicans are lining up to oppose the president.

These, ladies and gentlemen, are the last days of a failing presidency.

Will Gallegly go down with the ship?

That’s up to Ventura County voters. Let’s all turn out for the elections in November 2008 and show Gallegly the door.

Key Links:

Gallegly’s Voting Record, as reported by the Washington Post

“Bush Vetoes Child Healthcare Bill,” by Michael Collins, Ventura County Star, October 4, 2007

“Families Brace for SCHIP Demise,” by Carla Williams, ABC News, October 4, 2007

“Bush Vetoes Health Measure,” by Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post, October 4, 2007

 

“The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt, retrieved October 4, 2007

 

“Estimated Costs of U.S. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and of Other Activities Related to the War on Terrorism,” Congressional Budget Office, testimony before the Committee on the Budget
U.S. House of Representatives, July 31, 2007.

 

“What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy,” by David Leonhardt, New York Times, January 17, 2007.

 

“President Clinton announces another record budget surplus,” by Kelly Wallace, CNN.com, September 27, 2000

 

“Snow, Praising Bush on Budget, Calls Clinton’s Surplus `Mirage,’” by Alison Fitzgerald, Bloomberg.com, December 21, 2005.

 

 

 

Gallegly Refuses to Discuss Earmark Plans

Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks) refused a newspaper’s request to reveal his plans to add earmarks to the federal budget, but recently criticized others who keep their earmarks secret.

 

Gallegly, Reps. Jerry Lewis of Redlands, Howard “Buck” McKeon of Santa Clarita, and Gary Miller of Brea recently signed a petition calling for Democrats to do more to reveal the names of lawmakers adding earmarks to legislation.

 

However, each of these representatives declined to reveal their own pet projects.

 

According to the article in the L.A. Daily News, an aide from Gallegly’s office “noted the petition called for public disclosure of projects approved for funding, not those still under consideration.”

 

This is splitting hairs. What does Gallegly have to hide?

 

It is just another example of Republican hypocrisy at work.

 

But lest we get too smug, even some Democrats are guilty of the same sort of obfuscation. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Pasadena), for example, has been on record criticizing a Republican bill to match lawmakers with earmarks as not going far enough, but refuses to release his own list of earmarks.

 

“I strongly believe that all projects funded by Congress should be disclosed,” he told the Daily News.

 

The key here is the word “funded.” Many lawmakers feel that they need not disclose their earmarks until they receive funding.

 

The advantages of this strategy for lawmakers are that they do not offend constituents when their efforts to fund earmarks fail and that they do not appear to be favoring one earmark over another.

 

However, this lack of transparency indicates a shortage of courage on the part of these members of Congress. And courage is exactly the quality we need in our representatives, who make the vital decisions daily that we have to live with.

 

Earmarks, it should be noted, are not uniformly bad. Some, like efforts to fund improvements in the Los Angeles River, for example, help support noble efforts.

 

Others, like the infamous Alaskan “bridge to nowhere,” waste taxpayers’ money. These projects are rightly called pork. Even that is being generous.

 

“If they [members of Congress] are endorsing a project as a good expenditure for federal money, they have an obligation to tell their constituents, ‘This is what I’m supporting. This is what I think we should be spending our tax dollars on,’ ” said Steve Ellis, spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense.

 

Refusing to disclose earmarks in advance “shows at least some level of contempt for their constituents,” he said.

 

Amen to that.

 

Congressman Gallegly, we have a right to know what you’re up to. Release your plans for earmarks without delay.