This is the latest update on our efforts to primary out Dianne Feinstein, one of the chief enablers of the Bush administration now that Joe Lieberman is no longer a Democrat. Many people said that an outsider would be better than an insider in making a case against DiFi in the next election. As we eliminate people who do not get voted for, we will replace them with people that you suggest. So, in all likelyhood, your candidate will be considered.
Having said that, I must state that the candidates in question have to be Democrats. For that reason, I can't put up Medea Benjamin for the simple fact that she is a Green and not a Democrat; not only that, she is not willing to become one. However, I will add Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to the ballot as she was suggested by some people as a possible candidate.
August 14th edition
August 7th edition
The case against Dianne Feinstien
The Senators who caved in on FISA
Eliminated:
John Chiang
Bill Lockyer (Eliminated last week)
Diary Rescue:
Ted Kennedy is the FOX News Democrat
In this snarkily-titled diary, brownsox makes the important point that many CEO's and people from businesses and corporations donate to both sides, including many cases when people donate to opponents. That is so that they can get favorable consideration regardless of which side wins the election. It is important that we target DiFi on the issues and not just on who contributes to her; for all we know, they contributed to Ted Kennedy as well.
In the News:
The DOJ's stonewalling of DiFi's inquiries on Gonzales.
TPM tells the story:
"How many United States attorneys have been asked to resign in the past year?" Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asked Alberto Gonzales during a January 18th Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Eight months later, she's still asking.
Her latest answer from the Justice Department? We already told you. "We believe that information responsive to Senator Feinstein’s question was provided to the Committee in the course of the staff’s confidential, transcribed interviews of Department officials," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski wrote to Feinstein in a letter last week.
But if her question was answered, Sen. Feinstein must have missed it. The Justice Department's reply is "wholly unsatisfactory," Feinstein says.
So, this makes her vote to give Gonzales -- whom she says she is against -- more power all the more bizzare. It totally boggles the mind how a Senator who is seemingly one of the most vocal critics of Gonzales would turn around and then give him more power than he had before. The only explaination that seems to make sense is there is a lot of winking and nodding going on, given that she has consistently been one of the chief enablers of the Bush administration on FISA, Iraq, and Southwick.
In other words, I suggest that there is a perfect understanding between the two and that this is a public charade between the two. Gonzo refuses to give the information that she requests, DiFi is not the DINO we think she is, and Gonzo is smug and secure. The ball is in her court to prove otherwise.
New Nominee:
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez
In addition to her progressive voting record, she is also one of the founders of the Vietnam Caucus and is a strong advocate of human rights in that country. She has brought recent attention to the escalation of human rights violations in that country:
Sanchez and Pelosi have led congressional efforts in bringing attention to the recent escalation of human rights violations in Vietnam which include: the sentencing of 8 years in prison for Father Nguyen Van Ly, the arrests of human rights attorneys Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan and Le Quoc Quan; and the unmet medical needs of incarcerated journalist Nguyen Vu Binh. Nearly 200 people are thought to have been held without trial, including the Venerable Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang, leaders of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
"We have worked very closely with these leaders in bringing national attention to the situation in Vietnam," said Sanchez. "We wanted to give the Vietnamese community an opportunity to share their concerns before the Speaker's meeting with President Triet tomorrow."
"It is my hope that human rights will be a topic of discussion for President Bush's meeting with Triet. Human rights must play an integral part in shaping our country's bilateral relationship with Vietnam."
She has been successful in getting Nguyen Vu Binh, a human rights activist in that country, released. She could be a successor of Jimmy Carter in campaigning for human rights around the world.
Other candidates:
Debra Bowen
Secretary of State Debra Bowen is holding hearings to determine if ES&S illegally sold non-certified machines to five different California counties. For those of you who are Chuck Hagel fans, keep in mind that while he talks sense on Iraq, he is a raving wingnut on most other issues and has a financial interest in this company.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced she has set a public hearing for September 20, 2007, to examine whether Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) sold uncertified voting machines to as many as five California counties.
"ES&S sold nearly 1,000 voting machines in California without telling the counties that bought them that they had never been certified for use in this state," said Secretary Bowen, the state’s chief elections officer. "Given that each machine costs about $5,000, it appears ES&S has taken $5 million out of the pockets of several California counties that were simply trying to follow the law and equip their polling places with certified voting machines."
The ES&S AutoMARK Version 1.0, also known as Phase One or Model A100, is an electronic ballot-marking device that the Secretary of State certified for use in California in August 2005. According to information provided by the counties to the Secretary of State, 14 counties (Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Marin, Merced, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus and Tuolumne) use the AutoMARK to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirement to provide at least one machine in each polling place so voters with disabilities can cast ballots independently.
However, according to information obtained by Secretary Bowen, ES&S sold AutoMARK Version 1.1, also known as Phase Two or Model A200, to five of those counties (San Francisco, Colusa, Marin, Merced and Solano) in 2006. ES&S had never submitted Phase Two, a version that is substantially different from the state-certified AutoMARK Phase One, to the California Secretary of State for certification. Furthermore, ES&S delivered hundreds of AutoMARK Phase Two machines to California counties months before the model’s August 2006 federal certification.
Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown is turning global warming rhetoric into reality by shooting for the 80% reduction in greenhouse gasses that both parties have agreed to in California. He has settled a lawsuit against San Bernadino County in which they would committ to meeting the state's targets. The settlement would entail the following:
Under today’s agreement, the County will embark upon a thirty month public process aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions attributable to land use decisions and County government operations. The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan mandates the following:
• An inventory of all known, or reasonably discoverable, sources of greenhouse gases in the County.
• An inventory of the greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990, currently, and that projected for the year 2020.
• A target for the reduction of emissions attributable to the county’s discretionary land use decisions and its own internal government operations.
Feasible mitigations include the following:
• High-density developments that reduce vehicle trips and utilize public transit.
• Parking spaces for high-occupancy vehicles and car-share programs.
• Electric vehicle charging facilities and conveniently located alternative fueling stations.
• Limits on parking.
• Transportation impact fees on developments to fund public transit service.
• Regional transportation centers where various types of public transportation meet.
• Energy efficient design for buildings, appliances, lighting and office equipment.
• Solar panels, water reuse systems and on-site renewable energy production.
• Methane recovery in landfills and wastewater treatment plans to generate electricity.
• Carbon emissions credit purchases that fund alternative energy projects.
Today’s settlement resolves a lawsuit, filed by the Attorney General in April, contesting the adequacy of San Bernardino’s general plan under the California Environmental Quality Act. Brown contended that the plan, a blueprint for the physical development of land until year 2030, did not adequately analyze the effects of development on global warming nor did it identify feasible mitigation measures.
This was one of Brown's early official acts as Attorney General and shows that he intends to be a leader on this issue.
Gavin Newsom
Improving service at airports:
Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced the opening of a new airport security fast-pass program that will help registered passengers speed through screening check points at San Francisco International Airport safely and securely.
Clear, a service provider of registered traveler lanes at nine U.S. airports, including SFO, will open two fast-pass lanes at the airport in next few weeks, although passengers may register now, either on-line or at SFO.
"Now passengers at San Francisco International Airport can take advantage of Clear’s airport security fast-pass program, an offering that combines technology and good customer service," Mayor Newsom said. "It will be particularly useful for those very frequent flyers." The mayor noted that United Airlines, which handles approximately 47 percent of passengers at SFO has more 1K (100,000-mile) flyers at SFO than at any other U.S. airport.
Passengers enrolling in the Clear registered traveler program voluntarily submit to in-depth background checks, provide hand or eye retina scans information and pay an annual service fee of approximately $100. Registered passengers have access to a separate line through airport security checkpoints by using an identity card containing their encrypted fingerprint or iris images. The program is interoperable, meaning a passenger joining at SFO would receive similar benefits at eight other airports – Orlando, Albany, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, New York JFK, Newark and San Jose international airports. LaGuardia and Little Rock, Ark., airports are scheduled to come on line next month.
It was the case that after the 9/11 attacks, the length of time to get on a plane went way up. But now, this is no longer has to be the case at San Francisco.
Lt. Governor John Garamendi
Garamendi gave a speech on the Lake Tahoe Project, which was a bipartisan environmental restoration project for that lake, which borders the two states. He talked about the successes and the challenges:
The collaborative effort of federal, state, and local partners in California and Nevada has lead to the acquisition or improvement over 15,000 acres of sensitive ecosystems and wildlife habitat, significantly reduced runoff to the lake from city and county roads and state highways, and reduced forest fuels on more than 20,000 acres. And equally important, we have shown that we can move beyond the conflicts of the past in the basin by investing in our common future. But we also know that this is just the beginning - a down payment on the investments that will be necessary to protect the environmental, economic, and social health of the Tahoe basin. Federal, state, and local agencies are now working with local communities around the basin to develop the vision and the framework for the next decade of investments that will be needed to sustain and advance the progress we have made.
To be successful, this EIP update must focus on several challenges that were not given much attention ten years ago, including transportation, invasive species, and the impacts of global climate change. Just this past Wednesday, for example, UC Davis released a new "State of the Lake" report demonstrating that the Tahoe basin's climate is warming up, which may have profound impacts on snowfall levels, lake clarity, and other natural features that are so vital to the region's environment and economy.
Fortunately, this time we will have the benefit of a world-class laboratory, the newly established Tahoe Science Consortium, and years of research from the best minds in the country on the most cost-effective ways to improve the lake's clarity and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire. That continuing research will be the centerpiece of our next decade of investments in the Tahoe basin.
Rob Reiner
The new film "Stardust" drew comparisons to one of Reiner's best-known works, "The Princess Bride:"
Audience members exiting the theater after our preview screening made comparisons to Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride. That's totally understandable, but slightly inaccurate. Like Reiner, Vaughn dabbles in fantasy for adults but exercises a far more macabre sense of humor. Lives are sacrificed on Tristan's quest. The ghosts of Secundus' brothers tag along for the adventure, providing an acerbic commentary track. The kids in our theater were thoroughly disturbed by the spell-casting witches.
Stardust provides the awe-inspiring fantasy that usually attracts saucer-eyed young ones, but doesn't shy away from murder, dark magic, and adult jokes. It's a breath of fresh air after months of summer blockbusters aimed squarely at male teenagers. Stardust promises storybook adventure for grownups, who require (and deserve) a little fairy dust blown their way from time to time.
This may not seem very political in a political blog, but it is. What makes people like Rob Reiner so successful is exactly what should make our movement successful -- we have to have something to sell. And in our case, we do -- we on the left see life as an adventure to be lived; the very things that we fear might turn out to be our salvation. This is a crucial difference between us and the Bush administration, whose one aim is to hold us in the prison of fear. Fear of terrorism, fear of someone who is different than us, fear of Islam. I could write a whole diary on this topic; Michelle Obama said it better than I could have. She said in a recent speech in Council Bluffs that this election should be about hope, and not the kind of perpetual fear that too many people on both sides have caved into.
Antonio Villaraigosa
The mayor of LA protested the deportation of Elvira Arellano, who became an activist for immigrants' rights. Her story:
Elvira Arellano, 32, became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents as she defied her deportation order and spoke out from her sanctuary. She announced last week that she was leaving the Adalberto United Methodist Church to try to lobby U.S. lawmakers.
She had just spoken at a Los Angeles rally when she was arrested Sunday outside Our Lady Queen of Angels church and deported, said the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto United Methodist.
"They were in a hurry to deport me because they saw that I was threatening to mobilize and organize the people to fight for legalization," Arellano said in Spanish outside a Tijuana apartment building where she was staying with a friend. "I have a fighting spirit and I'm going to continue fighting."
Arellano, who said she is a single mother, left her 8-year-old son, Saul, in the care of Coleman's family. They were reunited Monday afternoon in Tijuana, but Arellano said her son would be going back to Chicago to live with his godmother and begin third grade in a public school.
"We've all been living together. He knows his mom is OK. He's going to be sad sometimes," said the godmother, Emma Lozano, who drove him from Los Angeles to Tijuana.
This is just one of many instances in which our immigration laws separate families. Villaraigosa:
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the case demonstrates the need for a reform of U.S. immigration laws.
"Until we resolve the status of the estimated 12 million undocumented people living and working in the United States by giving them some meaningful pathway to citizenship, families will continue to be torn apart," Villaraigosa said.
Ron Dellums
The Oakland mayor is working on teacher recruitment so that his city can be a model for educating youth. He is currently holding a summit on that topic:
"The essential component of realizing the model city vision in Oakland is rooted in our ability to provide the fundamental resources for citizens to be successful from an early age," said Mayor Dellums. "Providing a high
quality education for all Oakland students is both a moral imperative and essential to the city’s economic future."
Among the day’s presenters will be Mayor Ron Dellums, OUSD State Administrator Dr. Kimberly Stratham, and Oakland Education Association President Betty Olsen-Jones. Summit co-sponsors include Office of the Mayor, Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson (D-16th), OUSD, Oakland Education Association and the Workforce Investment Board.
"If we are to realize the Mayor’s grand vision for our city, then we must ensure that our children receive the
highest quality instruction possible," said Dr. Statham. "It is imperative that we make every effort to attract the
best, the brightest and the most committed citizens to Oakland schools. Events like the Teacher Recruitment
Summit help place the focus on this critically important issue and make the process of becoming a teacher more
transparent for those who want to work toward a better future for all of Oakland."
The range of topics to be discussed at the event will include: educating high school and college age students
about the process of earning a teaching credential; finding out which local colleges and universities offer
programs in education; locating sources of financial aid, grants, and scholarships options available to underwrite
a career in teaching; discovering how to transition into a second career in teaching; learning about the current
opportunities to teach in Oakland.
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey
No news available.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
No news available.
Maxine Waters
This article talks about Waters' relationship with Code Pink; they have been very active these days, confronting Republican enablers along with people like Donald Rumsfeld; a Code Pink person shouted, "War Criminal!" at him after his recent testimony on the Tillman death. It has gotten to the point where the Capitol police and the Code Pink people know each other by name:
Code Pink's tactics are confrontational, but not (always) alienating. Their congenial relationship with John Murtha made news in March after Murtha convinced the Capitol Hill police not to arrest Benjamin after she disrupted a hearing. "Murtha called the sergeant-at-arms and said, 'This is not a police state. This is a democracy. You will not arrest this woman for speaking out in a hearing,'" Benjamin said. After one hearing, I saw Representative Maxine Waters take a photo with a group of Code Pinkers. Later, Waters told me: "I really appreciate the work that they're doing on this war in Iraq...They may get on some people's nerves, but they don't get on my nerves. As a matter of fact, I rather like them."
Group members have even bonded with their natural enemies, the Capitol Hill Police Department. While Benjamin and Desiree Fairooz, a grandmother and former school-teacher and librarian who cashed out her retirement fund to join Code Pink in D.C., were leaving the House office building, a plainclothes cop stopped to chat. He and Benjamin talked for almost 15 minutes, Benjamin remembering that a member of his squadron had just got married and asking after his children. Another cop came up to Hourican before the oversight hearing to apologize for arresting her the day before. "Yeah, they often bring us little gifts, we bring them gifts, we share books, we share interesting articles we find," Benjamin said of the Capitol Hill police, sounding bemused. "We give them lots of t-shirts." (A spokeswoman for the Capitol said that Code Pink was "generally cooperative" when arrested.)
Jerry McNerney
Jerry McNerney posted at Kos today to discuss his views on Iraq and to solicit feedback.
I am firmly in favor of withdrawing troops on a timeline that includes both a definite start date and a definite end date ("date certain") and uses clearly-defined benchmarks. I am not in favor of an "open-ended" timeline for withdrawal, as some members of Congress have proposed recently.
As many foreign policy experts agree, setting a date certain for withdrawal is fundamental to forcing George W. Bush to bring our troops home from Iraq and ensuring the Iraqis step up and defend their own country. That's why -- even as I consider all proposals as a matter of due diligence -- I am standing strong on setting a definite redeployment end date (as an example, I recently voted for the "Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act" to safely draw down our troops over the course of nine months).
As this national debate begins anew, I am counting on you to stand strong with me as well. The only way that we, together, can bring this unfortunate chapter in our history to a close is if we remain united and steadfast in our collective commitment.
Diane Watson
Her feud with the Cherokees continues to be in the news.
The Los Angeles congresswoman has introduced legislation that would cut off $270 million in federal funding to the Cherokee Nation unless it restores tribal citizenship to more than 2,800 descendants of tribal slaves, known as freedmen.
The tribe voted March 3rd to strip the freedmen of citizenship, although this is on hold pending court action to resolve the issue.
[Cherokee Principal Chief Chad] Smith said that under Watson's bill the tribe would lose 6,500 jobs and many of its poorest citizens would lose health benefits.
He said the tribal status of Freedmen should be determined in court, adding: "The Congress is not judge, jury and executioner."
Congressman Henry Waxman
Waxman is now investigating how the Bush administration is using governmental agencies for partisan political purposes and has written a letter to AG Gonzales to that effect. He has written to other agencies as well
Chairman Waxman writes to federal agencies requesting documents about their involvement in White House "asset deployment" meetings held to discuss the use of federal resources to promote the reelection of President Bush and Republicans in Congress.
Agencies receiving this request: Departments of Justice, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, Labor, State, Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, United States Agency for International Development, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.