We received the following release from the folks behind the ballot initiative effort to Repeal Prop 8 ballot in 2010:

Million for a Million” will fund signature gathering to put a marriage equality initiative on the California ballot next November

San Francisco, CA, November 4, 2009 – At rallies today in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Fresno marking the somber first anniversary of the passage of Proposition 8 in California, organizers will announce the launch of the first major fundraising campaign to place a marriage equality initiative on the California ballot in November 2010.

Organized by Yes! on Equality and TruthandHope.org, in collaboration with Restore Equality 2010, the goal of the “Million for a Million” campaign is to raise the $1 million necessary to fund getting the more than one million signatures needed to place a marriage equality initiative on the ballot.

Undaunted by last night’s loss in Maine, organizers will redouble their efforts to win marriage equality in California next year.

“We cannot let the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and its allies, who are willing to spend millions of dollars, defy campaign laws and twist the truth, to deny us our rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution – equal protection under the law,” said Chaz Lowe, founder of Yes! on Equality “With the right ballot language, our polling shows solid support for marriage equality in California. With the right campaign, we believe we can win.”

Polling conducted in May shows a majority — 54 percent — of California voters support initiative stating that marriage between any two consenting adults is valid or recognized. That same poll found majority support for gay marriage if a provision were included to protect the First Amendment right of churches – so that no church could ever be forced to perform marriages if they choose not to.

“The only thing we learned from Maine last night is that the forces against equality are still strong, but not unbeatable. All over the margins are close, this was not a landslide, the same with California,” said Eugene Hedlund, founder of TruthandHope.org. “Are Frank Schubert and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) going to decide who has what rights in America or are the people going to decide? Is California ready to once again lead not only the country but the world in progressive, inclusive and forward thinking ideals or is that California just a memory?”

Tapping into the anger of Proposition 8 and the loss in Maine, the “Million for a Million” campaign will include an online fundraising appeal to a network of more than 400,000 grassroots activists, fundraising events in Southern California, Northern California and the Central Valley, and outreach to major donors within the LGBT community in California and throughout the country.

“With a sophisticated online component and with the support we have among the grassroots, I believe we can raise the money necessary to move the campaign for 2010 to the next level,” said Hedlund, whose organization won awards for its work on the Obama campaign.

Organizations throughout the state have endorsed the “Million for a Million” campaign including: Yes! on Equality; TruthandHope.org; Equality Network; One Struggle, One Fight; Meet in the Middle for Equality; and Restore Equality 2010, whose members include Love Honor Cherish, SAME, Stonewall Democrats, Marriage Equality USA, Latino Equality Alliance and more.

“NOM is attacking and misrepresenting LGBT families state-by-state, capitalizing on people’s fear as they go to ballot box and hurting all of us in the process. They must be stopped,” said Lowe, whose organization filed the first ballot language for a 2010 marriage equality initiative. “We need the community and our allies to know that they have a choice to either let those attacks stand or to stand up for the equality we deserve. Waiting is not an option.”

You can donate to “Million for a Million” at: http://www.millionforamillion.com

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Yes! on Equality is a statewide LGBT organization, launched in Sacramento, CA by civil rights leaders in the wake of Proposition 8. Yes! on Equality filed the first ballot language for a 2010 marriage equality initiative. The organization’s mission is to make marriage accessible for any two consenting adults regardless of gender, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity. You can learn more about Yes! on Equality at: http://www.yesonequality.com/

TruthandHope.org is an online based independent expenditure organization founded in 2004 which focuses on complete and innovative media campaigns proven to move public opinion as much as 9% in some polls. Last year, TruthandHope.org took top honors at the prestigious Reed and Pollie Awards with wins for Best Presidential Television Ad of 2008, Best Independent Expenditure Television Ad of 2008, Best use of Contrast in a Presidential Ad and Best Overall Television Campaign of the Year. Since election day 2008, TruthandHope.Org has been focused on the issue of equality in marriage, with a first television ad that studies revealed moved even GOP voters on the issue of equality. http://www.truthandhope.org

Restore Equality 2010 is an organization, founded and supported by 80 grassroots organizations throughout California, dedicated to equal marriage rights for all Californians. Our mission is to unite Californians in the campaign to restore marriage equality in 2010, through grassroots activism, signature gathering, outreach, education, and dialogue. You can learn more about Restore Equality 2010 at: http://www.restoreequality2010.com

Assemblymember Noreen Evans

We received this press statement from Assembly Budget Committee Chair Noreen Evans on the passage of the State Water Bond legislation.

SACRAMENTO — The State Legislature passed an $11 billion water bond, along with a package of policy bills addressing water conservation and groundwater monitoring. The following is a statement from Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, about the bond.

“This water bond is an historic achievement for all the wrong reasons. It was crafted behind closed doors, never received a public vetting, and was passed on the fly in the middle of the night by legislators who lacked an adequate analysis of it. It brings our debt burden to historic new levels. And, for the first time, it requires the public across the state to finance half the cost of new dams and reservoirs benefiting private interests.

By passing this bond, the Legislature is flirting with financial disaster. Already, the state is unable to pay for services demanded by Californians. We’ve just gone through three horrific state budgets to close a $60 billion gap. And, more troubles lay ahead. We face an $8 billion gap next year and a $15 billion gap after that.

When discussing recent state budgets, the governor and others said the state could not afford to fully maintain its universities, community colleges, HIV/AIDS services, poison control centers, domestic violence shelters, state parks, health care for children, and in-home care for seniors and the disabled. Paying back this water bond will come at the expense of these services that Californians expect.

It’s the same tired story all over again. The Central Valley and Southern California plan to take water from the North by building a peripheral canal. The rub is that they want Northern California to pay for it too. All Northern Californians get from this bond is the privilege of paying the bill.”

Fullerton city council member Pat Keller had two announcements today on one of our favorite social media sites; the first, that’s she’s throwing her hat into the ring to run for re-election in Fullerton and the second, more important announcement, she has a new baby cousin named Emily Suzanne.

We spent some quality time with Pam last March while waiting in line for the Obama town hall meeting on healthcare in Costa Mesa. Pam’s site is not yet finished, but at least she took steps to protect her domain name from being hijacked by the bullysphere in Fullerton which can only criticize without offering a solid idea that voters can get behind.

We received the following press announcement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office this afternoon.

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a ceremonial swearing-in for Congressman-elect John Garamendi of California on Thursday, November 5 at Noon.

Garamendi will be sworn in tomorrow afternoon on the House floor to fill the 10th district seat of California left open when Ellen Tauscher resigned to become the State Department’s Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

By Stephen Lendman

November 4, 2009

At a time of growing US poverty, hunger, homelessness, and despair, imperial wars without end, and the Obama administration even worse than its predecessor, Venezuela:

– is a model participatory democracy;

– holds free, fair and open elections;

– respects the rule of law, civil liberties, and human rights;

– doesn’t intimidate its neighbors;

– uses its resources responsibly for the people;

– provides essential social services for the needy;

– champions judicial fairness and the rule of law;

– has a model free and open media;

– wages no foreign wars;

– doesn’t torture or imprison its adversaries;

– conducts effective operations to halt illicit drugs trafficking;

– promotes global peace, solidarity, equality and social justice; and

– its only threat is its good example that shames its northern neighbor.

In contrast, America:

– is a serial belligerent and world class bully;

– spends more on militarism than the rest of the world combined at a time it has no enemies;

– backs the world’s worst dictators and faux democrats like Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe, a man closely linked to the country’s paramilitary death squads and drug cartels; and

– through the CIA, has actively engaged in global drugs trafficking since the agency’s 1947 founding; it profits hugely from its dealings with local traffickers; so do major US banks and other powerful business and financial interests.

(more…)

With voters in NY23 rejecting a hard right wing idealogue, perhaps voters in AD-70 can do the same next year and cast a ballot for Melissa Fox against two hard core right wingers who desire to out-conservative each other.

A Right-Wing Extremist or Melissa Fox?

In November of 2008, voters in our district chose Obama, and it wasn’t close. Less than one year from today, the voters will choose a new representative in Sacramento. Here’s the text of an email we got from the Fox campaign a short time ago:

Will it be one of two extreme far right-wing ideologues or will it be progressive candidate Melissa Fox?

The choice, in a very real sense, depends on what you do right now.

Far right-wing extremist Number 1 is Jerry Amante – known as “Toll Road Jerry” because of his relentless attempts to foist expensive toll roads on the public in boondoggle schemes that even the Bush administration opposed — who has mismanaged Tustin’s water supply and repeatedly shown his contempt for the environment and our ocean, waves and beaches.

Far right-wing extremist Number 2 is Don Wagner – known as “Book Burner Don” because of his vitriolic attacks on the non-partisan American Library Association — who has called for the infliction of corporal punishment on our kids in elementary school.

Neither Amante nor Wagner offers anything that would bring jobs, economic development and prosperity to our district.

Neither Amante nor Wagner offers anything that would improve our schools.

Neither Amante nor Wagner offers anything that would protect seniors.

Neither Amante nor Wagner offers anything that would improve UC Irvine or our community colleges or prevent them from becoming beyond the reach of the middle class.

In contrast, Melissa Fox is a passionate advocate for families, the middle class, small business, schools, jobs and economic growth.

Alone among the candidates, Melissa is committed to fighting for our kids and to make sure that California’s schools are again the best in the nation.

Alone among the candidates, Melissa is committed to helping homeowners, supporting small businesses, bringing jobs and economic development to our community.

Alone among the candidates, Melissa will fight to ensure that seniors obtain the health care they need, are free from abuse and exploitation, strongly opposes cuts to home health care, and will fight to ensure that our seniors are not forced from their homes.

Alone among the candidates, Melissa is committed to fighting for the students and faculty at UC Irvine and for protecting and improving our community colleges

Neither Toll Road Jerry Amante nor Book Burner Don Wagner represents the values of our community.

But one of them will represent us in Sacramento unless you take action to support Melissa Fox now.

There Has Never Been More at Stake

There has never been a time when we needed real representation more than we do now.

Please make a contribution to Melissa now to help ensure that someone who shares our values – and not a far right-wing ideologue with an extremist agenda – represents us in Sacramento.

With the passage of time, some things may change. Political attitudes may evolve and public support may appear on the rise; but in the end most things remain the same.

Today, the election results from Maine’s Question #1 to repeal Marriage Equality for Gay and Lesbian partners appears to have passed, by a similar margin to the California vote last year which amended the California Constitution to ban same gender couples from having the rights of marriage.

Associated Press reports this morning:

PORTLAND, Maine – Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the votes.

This result is significant, not just for the people of Maine, but for those in California spear-heading an effort to repeal by initiative last years Proposition 8. One of the foundational arguments for the Repeal 8 effort has been the belief that the support for marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples has increased since the vote a year ago, and the conviction that such support will only increase over the next twelve months when the repeal initiative is planned for presentation to the voters.

The result in Maine provides us with just one more example of a few core problems in relying on the voting public to embrace change. First, like with interracial marriage, if the question is placed to the voters, history shows that those who have a right are rarely willing to give someone else that same right. The change that brought the strongest advancements in civil rights have been initiated by our federal and state courts, not by voter initiatives. Second, people vote their fears, and the opponents of marriage equality have been very successful at capitalizing on those fears to stop advancement of this civil right.

The results from this election make one thing very clear. Our record in achieving Marriage Equality by action of the voters is a dismal 31-0 against success. A significant amount of voter education will be necessary to achieve majority support for Marriage Equality in California and around the nation.

The work we need to do will not be easy, and the results will not materialize over night. Absent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Marriage Equality, civil unions and domestic partnerships, like approved by voters in Washington State on Turesday, appear to be about as far as we are going to move in the short term. This does not mean that we won’t ultimately get there, but I have my doubts about us getting there through a proposed ballot initiative in California next November.

Going to the voters over and over again with the same request hoping for a different result, absent application of the financial resources to get voters to change their core opinions, is the very definition of futility.

New York’s North Country, a moderate Republican district since the 19th century, has a new Democratic Congressional representative. Bill Owens, endorsed this weekend by the conservative Watertown Daily Times, has been elected to Congress. Read about it here.

This election is a noted defeat for conservatives like Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, Fred Thompson and our own Chuck DeVore who backed Hoffman, a carpetbagger with no clue about local issues, but a full grasp of conserverative talking points.

The Watertown Daily Times, the largest newspaper in the district, has an expanded story here. While Owens raised a little more than a half million to Hoffman’s $300K plus, Hoffman’c contributions from conservative PACs put his fundraising at well over a million dollars.

From the WDT story: ”

Mr. Owens’ win could signal renewed strength among Democrats, or at least reassure them of Republicans’ perceived weakness. New York now has only two Republican representatives in its 29-seat Congressional delegation.

“They’re in a civil war over the definition of their party,” said Paul Blank, a Democratic consultant. “And the extremists have won.”

Fiorina (left) DeVore (right)

H/T to Martin Wisckol over at the Register’s Total Buzz Blog, Carly Fiorina is expected to announce her bid for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination to challenge Barbara Boxer in Garden Grove on Wednesday.

Wisckol reports:

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is holding a town-hall forum in Garden Grove tomorrow, and says she’ll make a “major announcement” there – an announcement expected to be her declaration that she’s running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Fiorina, long considered a possible candidate, could set the stage for an ideological battle with state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, for the Republican nomination. DeVore is a hero to many conservatives, while Fiorina is expected by some to bring a more moderate approach to her campaign.

A Field Poll last month showed Fiorina and DeVore in a statistical dead heat among Republican voters. But Fiorina’s 21 percent and DeVore’s 20 percent revealed that most GOP voters were undecided. That poll also showed a swing in DeVore’s favor since March, when Fiorina was ahead of him by 12 percentage points.

Fiorina’s Garden Grove event will be held at Earth Friendly Products at 12570 Industry St., but attendance is by invitation only. The event will be Webcast live on Fiorina’s Web site, www.carlyforCA.com.

Well, it could have been worse for our favorite tweeting Senate candidate Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Carley could have chosen to announce in his Assembly District.

HOPE Sculpture Denver 2008

On Election Day one year ago on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. What seemed to be a long shot bid of a freshman Senator from Illinois launched in February 2007, had turned in to the reality of electing our first African-American President.

Speaking on Election night before a crowd of at least 125,000 people, and millions across the nation Barack Obama thanked his supporters for their historic victory. He pledged to bring the change our country needs, and challenged all Americans to work together to bring about the change we need.

“I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.”
- Barack Obama, Election Night 2008 

While the victory was stunning in its scope, the implementation of the change promised has been slow. The obstruction from the right-wing nut machine has been running at full throttle since President Obama was sworn into office. We have witnessed false claims of Socialism, Fascism, Communism, and dictatorship. We have seen phony charges that President Obama was not born in the United States and therefore ineligible to be President. We have endured Fox News Channel driven protests (Tea Parties) against tax increases and health care reform with charges of “Death Panels,” even though most of those protesting have not had their taxes increased and THERE ARE NO “Death Panels” proposed anywhere.

But for this brief moment at least, let’s take time to recall the hope we felt that election night one year ago. Let’s continue to push for the CHANGE the needs to come, and hold on to the HOPE of things to come.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the full speech, as prepared for delivery . . .

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama-as prepared for delivery

Election Night
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up withon the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Now let’s get busy.