The news comes from Sam Stein that the Obama Administration, through its political arms, Organizing For America and the DNC, is now applying pressure on 15 members of Congress who are presenting a roadblock to its healthcare reforms. Courtesy of the DNC, this commercial will be airing in the districts of the 11 conservative Democrats and four moderate Republicans who are on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Sadly for many of us, Jerry McNerney (CA-11) is one of those recalcitrant Democrats. So for those of you who live in the Sacramento TV market, when you see this ad playing -- even though it doesn't specifically name him, the representative you should call is Jerry McNerney. (202) 225-1947.
For reform advocates, the Energy and Commerce Committee remains the toughest venue of the three committees handling health care in the House of Representatives, in large part because of the Blue Dog and moderate Democrats that make up its ranks. In making this purchase, Organizing for America either is worried about the committee's progress or -- much more likely -- sending a message that it has no problem applying pressure on fellow party members.
No representative is named in the ad. But every one of the aforementioned members will know that the spots are airing in their districts.
I was skimming Roll Call's Shop Talk that get's emailed to me once a week (cause I'm cool like that) and typically it's just ex-hill staffers bragging about their new consulting firm, or new clients etc.
This one though had some local news:
The Winding Rivera. The California consulting firm Gilliard, Blanning, Wysocki & Associates has promoted Cristina Rivera to lead their new political action committee fundraising division. Rivera comes from California Republican Party and worked on the effort to recall then-Gov. Gray Davis (D). GBWA consults with several Congressional clients, and Rivera said she is handling district fundraising for businessman Jon Del Arroz in California's 11th district.
So who is Jon Del Arroz? Well first off he apparently he has some problems with the truth.
Using the Google, one of the first hits besides his campaign site was The Huffington Post's Fundrace. On his website he says that he is a lifelong resident of the 11th District. Problem is Fundrace has him making a $500 contribution to Ron Paul's presidential bid in 2007 at his residence in LaFayette, well within Ellen Tauscher's district.
Perhaps he's moved into the 11th since then, but lying about being a lifelong resident it isn't a great way to kick off your campaign.
You can read the entire series here about the amazing campaign effort that elected Jerry McNerney in 2006. As told by his campaign manager, AJ Carrillo, the series will bring readers up to date with overviews of the 2004 campaign and the early days of the 2006 campaign.
Then, starting at the beginning of June, AJ will move into a real-time chronology, and he'll be posting weekly about the events that transpired in the corresponding week in 2006.
The series will end in November (spoiler alert!) with McNerney's smashing victory over Richard Pombo.
Early last month, I wrote a post about Rep. Jerry McNerney's most recent bill, H.R. 4042, which he announced as a first step to permanent repeal of the estate tax. Introducing his legislation to the local media, McNerney used a SF Public Utilities Commission employee and part-time rancher, Tim Koopman, as his front-man. Telling the tragic tale of how his family was forced to pay estate taxes on his inherited 850-acre ranch in Sunol, Koopman seemed the perfect pitchman.
The post I wrote, "850 Acres Are A Girl's Best Friend," explored the effect of McNerney's proposal to raise the estate tax exemption for farms and small businesses to $8 million ($16 million per couple) and $2 million ($4 million per couple) for family homes.
Well, I just received an email response to that post from none other than Mr. Tim Koopman:
The opinions and views expressed by a variety of writers participating in the discussion about Congressman McNerneys proposed Federal Estate Tax bill appear to be based upon a load of misinformation and distorted facts. It does not appear that anyone responsible for the content of the initial rant bothered to confirm anything.
If you have any interest in getting some background - please give me a call (925) xxx-xxxx.
I am in fact registered to vote in Alameda County
The final "death tax" total for the Koopmann family, including state in lieu taxes, Federal Estate Tax and capital gain taxes was $747,000 +.
I live in a 1983 model mobile home - not a "median priced house/condo valued at $978,000"
I don't play, and have never played golf
We don't have show horses (little girl's show ponies) for recreational purposes
My question to Alameda County about subdivision/re-zoning for the possible sale of a portion of the ranch was only an attempt to pay off the debt
Your comments were mean spirited and ill advised -
We do have 850 acres of well managed rangeland, that is utilized to graze livestock and provides valuable wildlife habitat and viewshed/open space.
Call me - I welcome a visit so that you at least have some understanding of the issues from my side, or maybe you are not interested in facts
Well, NPR did a piece yesterday about how Iraq is fading as an issue in 2008.
The reported decrease in violence in Baghdad may be having an effect on politics at home. Some reports have shown that Iraq has become less of an issue in the presidential campaign.
Congressional representatives say concerns about Iraq remain, but the war is not the only top-tier issue among voters. Many have turned their focus to domestic issues such as health care, energy, the mortgage crisis and immigration.
The NPR story then went on to cite an interview with the Congressman from Stockton to support that thesis.
You can read a transcript of the interview on the flip...
I've noticed that things that I've written on FireDogLake have a tendency to get spread far and wide on the internets, and sometimes they come back apparently having been translated out of English and then back again. At any rate, I thought you might find these amusing…
Congressman Jerry McNerney has recently decided to lead an attack on the estate tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the Family Farm, Small Business and Home Tax Relief Act. Here's how a local newspaper reported on McNerney's … (read more)
And here are some of the ways it showed up online...
Congressman Jerry McNerney has lately decided to model an attack on the country stand tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the dynasty Farm, inadequate work and domicile Tax Relief Act. Here's how a district newspaper reported on McNerney's ...
Congressman Jerry McNerney has lately decided to protagonist an attack on the country peg tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the parentage Farm, narrow industry and joint Tax Relief Act. Here's how a sectional newspaper reported on McNerney's ...
Congressman Jerry McNerney has latterly decided to leadership an attack on the territory tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the descendants Farm, miniature line and homestead Tax Relief Act. Here's how a insular newspaper reported on McNerney's ...
Congressman Jerry McNerney has lately decided to edge an attack on the lands tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the in-laws Farm, poor sales and villa Tax Relief Act. Here's how a town newspaper reported on McNerney's ...
I dunno. I'm kind of leaning towards an amalgam of those. How about we refer to it from now on as "The Dynasty Farm, Narrow Industry and Villa Tax Relief Act"?
Jerry McNerney is at it again. Following the marching orders issued by his newfound mentor, Steny Hoyer, McNerney has embarked on a rampage of hate directed against many of the members of the district he is supposed to be representing. At the same time he is introducing legislation to protect wealthy landowners from contributing their fair share via the estate tax, he has been consistently striking out against the Latina/o community in CA-11.
Last night was just another example. McNerney was one of 36 Democrats whose votes helped to pass a Republican motion that would prevent the EEOC from cracking down on businesses which mandate that their employees must speak English at work. McNerney's vote was part of an orchestrated effort by Steny Hoyer, who believes that freshman Dems from "vulnerable districts" must vote like Republicans in order to get reelected.
The Hispanic Caucus, however, is going nuts (as well they should) over these racist votes being cast by Democrats at the behest of House leadership. Joe Baca (CA-43), head of the CHC, went toe-to-toe with Hoyer and Pelosi over last night's vote, threatening to shut down debate on the tax bill:
The rebellion was a response to votes by 36 Democrats Thursday night in favor of a non-binding Republican motion Hispanic members called offensive. It instructed House conferees on an appropriations bill to accept a Senate-passed provision prohibiting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from suing employers over certain English-speaking requirements.
That motion was the latest in a series of immigration- and language-related votes that Republicans have used to splinter Democrats, some of whom are nervous about GOP attack ads that could portray them as "soft" on illegal immigration.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said Thursday night's vote was their breaking point. They retaliated by initially voting against the rule allowing debate of the tax bill, very nearly sinking the measure and prompting a fiery exchange on the floor.
The Institute for the Preservation of Dynastic Wealth announced a contest today to find an actual farmer who can serve as their spokesman in the Senate Finance Committee hearings on the estate tax repeal bill scheduled for Nov. 14.
You see, that talking point about family farmers forced to sell the farm to pay for estate taxes is such a popular urban legend that first, last week, Jerry McNerney used it in introducing legislation to give huge tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy; then, today, the Contra Costa Times editorialized about it, saying McNerney's bill didn't go far enough: (emphasis added)
ONE OF THE MOST insidious taxes levied by the federal government is the one on estates of deceased owners. Its unfair burden on farmers, small businesses and individuals has grabbed the attention of Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton.
Facing a tough re-election challenge in a Republican-leaning district, McNerney has introduced a bill to reduce the estate tax. His measure would raise the exemption from $2 million to $8 million on farms and small businesses and as much as $2 million on the family home.
That is a small step in the right direction but does not deal with the fundamental drawbacks of the estate tax. Besides, McNerney's bill is more of a political ploy than a credible tax reform. […]
Estate taxes place an additional levy on assets that already have been taxed. Individuals and families that have worked hard, accumulated wealth and have paid considerable taxes along the way cannot pass their successes on to their heirs, who must forfeit up to half of their inheritance to the federal government.
The result is that many family-owned businesses that do not generate enough income to pay the estate taxes must be sold. Farms and other land holdings are often sold to developers to raise money to pay the estate taxes.
Only problem? Um, as the IPDW has found, it's not so true.
I'm going to assume that most readers here have a passing knowledge of the neo-conservative Heritage Foundation, a think tank founded in the '70s and funded by Joseph Coors and Richard Mellon Scaife. George W. Bush gave an address there earlier this morning. The Heritage Foundation's goals are simple:
[T]o formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of "free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."
Not surprisingly, a neo-con think tank funded by heirs to the Coors beer fortune and the Mellon industrial and banking fortune stands in square opposition to the estate tax (or as framed by Frank Luntz, the "death tax"). Back in the '90s, in an essay entitled "DEATH TAX DEVASTATION: 12 HORROR STORIES FROM MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICA," the Heritage Foundation unleashed an attack on the estate tax using the heartbreaking story of rancher Tim Koopman, of Sunol, California:
Family Farm Horror Story #1
Tim Koopman's family has owned ranch property in California for most of this century. His children would like to continue to run the ranch, but the death tax may prevent this.
Since Tim's mother died four years ago, the Koopman's have paid about $400,000 in death taxes. For three of those years, however, Tim has been able only to pay the interest on the death tax bill, and soon he will not be able to pay that without selling some or all of his land. This is a decision that he does not want to face. This land is an important part of his life.
The Koopman's faced the death tax once before. In 1973, Tim was forced to sell one of the family's ranches to pay the $125,000 death tax bill that he owed when his father died. Now the family faces the death tax again. Tim wants to pass the ranch on to his children, but the hefty death tax may leave little ranch for him to do so.
So today, Rep. Jerry McNerney teamed up with the very same Tim Koopman to announce new legislation he is sponsoring, H.R. 4042, The Family Farm, Small Business, and Home Tax Relief Act , that will create an $8 million estate tax exemption for family farms and small businesses.
Stand beside Tim Koopman on a tawny slope of slippery late summer grasses and watch his daughter, two more rolling hills in the distance, as she runs to the head-tossing roan that taunts her like a friend.
Below that view, deep in the valley, a busy ribbon of U.S. 680 hums with traffic between San Jose and Pleasanton . In their cars they watch forward, oblivious to the charming little drama of the teenager and her horse on the hills above them, and unaware that they are being seen without being noticed. Stand there and glance at the soft glow from a tough man's face as he watches his daughter with pride. There's something fragile there that knows about forever. LINK
Now don't get me wrong. Like Congressman McNerney, I think that every girl should have 850 acres and a pony as her birthright. Oh, wait. No, I don't.
It's sometimes hard to realize just how much the people and events around us can change over a relatively short period of time. It's been just a little over six months since the Tracy Press ran this April 1 article analyzing Rep. Jerry McNerney's chances in the 2008 election.
Robert Benedetti, a University of the Pacific political science professor, said McNerney in 2008 would need to again rely on the influence of national interest groups that helped him defeat Pombo in 2006. Pombo blamed environmental groups for his loss at a press conference shortly after the election.
"(McNerney's) got to keep his national credentials, because I don't think the two years in Congress will be enough time for him to develop a really solid local network," Benedetti said Friday.
Benedetti also said McNerney's 2008 election results will rely heavily on the Democratic Party's success.
"As goes the Democratic Congress, so goes Jerry McNerney," Benedetti said. "He's tied himself very closely to the current Congress. Should (Congress) be successful and appreciated by the public at large, and in this district specifically, I think McNerney's campaign will go well."
The political novice now has the advantage of being the incumbent, and he has so far retained the support of the national movement of online activists that in 2006 helped fell Pombo.
The "netroots" movement in 2006 helped organize an army of McNerney volunteers from inside and outside the district through such blogs as Say No To Pombo, which during the campaign received far more Internet traffic than Pombo's own campaign Web site.
ActBlue, a clearinghouse for online political donations, last year collected in small denominations from visitors to a variety of blogs about 8 percent of the roughly $2.5 million raised by the McNerney campaign.
I've written before about Jerry McNerney's vote on the Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 3161) early last August -- the one where he switched his anti-immigrant vote from a "yes" to a "no" after the vote had been declared final. Last month, the Stockton Record's Hank Shaw reported on McNerney's version of the night's events:
According to McNerney and several other lawmakers who were on the floor the night of Aug. 3, here is what happened:
As the day's session stretched into the night, Republicans employed a parliamentary move to get lawmakers to vote on whether the federal government should enforce existing laws that bar illegal immigrants from receiving services such as food stamps.
Democrats say the Bush administration already is enforcing the laws, so the motion was moot; the GOP move also would have sent the legislation it was attached to -- an agriculture spending bill -- back to committee, complicating its passage. Republicans say the motion was needed to send a message to a bureaucracy that is not really enforcing the law.
Traditionally, this sort of motion is used by the minority party to force its opponents to cast votes that can be used against them come campaign time; they are typically struck down along party lines.
But not this time. McNerney and several other Democrats representing districts that are either Republican-leaning -- similar to McNerney himself -- or those that are only marginally Democrat voted with the GOP so that they could not later be attacked as being "soft" on illegal immigrants.
McNerney said he voted with the Republicans because he was initially unaware that existing law made the GOP motion redundant.
"Of course, I didn't want federal money to go to undocumented workers," he said.
I'm feeling a little melancholy today. Thinking back to this time last year, when most local activists were hard at work in the McNerney/Pombo race, it seemed like there was so much promise in the air. Shortly after the June primary, McNerney had won an online contest run by Sen. Russ Feingold and been named as one of Feingold's Progressive Patriots. Here's the entry from McNerney's blog:
Wonderful news from Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund:
The Progressive Patriots Fund announced Jerry McNerney as the winner of "Pick a Progressive Patriot: YearlyKos," a special round of its popular online voting event. McNerney is challenging Rep. Richard Pombo in California's 11 District.
"This round of the 'Pick a Progressive Patriot' was a huge success," Feingold said. "Over 50 candidates were nominated from 24 states, but in the end McNerney received the most support from a very enthusiastic group of bloggers and online activists. We are happy to send $5000 to the McNerney campaign and we thank everyone who participated in this round of 'Pick a Progressive Patriot.'"
"If we are going to change this country and return honesty, integrity and accountability to Congress, it will be from the bottom-up," said McNerney. "That's why I'm thrilled to receive the support of the grassroots and the netroots and I'm honored to be picked as a Progressive Patriot by Russ Feingold."
But there was an even more important prize than the $5,000 campaign donation from Feingold's PAC. The Progressive Patriot Fund also provided a trained volunteer to work on the campaign for its duration. That volunteer's name was John Gunn. If you ever went to McNerney campaign headquarters during the 2006 general campaign, odds are extremely high that you were greeted by the smiling face and the soft Alabama drawl of John Gunn, whether it was day or night, weekday or weekend -- John virtually lived there and he seemed never to sleep.
A while back I got an email on one of the many listservs to which I belong, passing on a request from Josh Grossman of Progressive Punch; he was looking for input on designing a new Progressive Punch widget. Well, since I had an opening, I was happy to change the subject and promote my own interests:
Off topic, but there is a way the PP data could be organized to be more useful from my perspective. What I'd really like to see is an overall database such as there is now and then have it further broken down by Congressional session.
As an example, when I'm looking at a Progressive Punch rating for a freshman (oh, let's say McNerney) and comparing his rating to that of some other incumbent (like, I don't know, Tauscher) I get a rating for her that encompasses eleven years of votes. Now, I get the idea that Tauscher has been voting in a more progressive manner lately, but the PP ratings don't necessarily reflect that. So I'm left feeling a lot of the time like using PP ratings leaves me comparing apples to oranges.
Overall scores are certainly important, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. But it would be really great if there ware also, say, 108th, 109th, 110th Congress PP ratings so that head-to-head comparisons were rendered more meaningful.
Well, all I can say is kudos to Josh! Today he unveiled a great new upgrade for Progressive Punch. Not only has he instituted a new "'07-08 Progressive Score" but also a nifty scoring system inspired by Open Left which he calls "Chips are Down" so that PP can "now display how members of Congress voted on particularly tight votes where the progressive side either lost or won very narrowly."
Over the weekend, Rep. John Hall (NY-19) posted a diary on DailyKos announcing his intention to introduce a House resolution censuring Rush Limbaugh today:
I know that there is a back and forth about whether another condemnation is worth the time. I happen to believe it is in this case. Therefore, I'm introducing a resolution that shows emphatically that Congress will not condone ad hominem political attacks on U.S. troops. On Monday, I'm introducing legislation to express the Sense of Congress that this body rejects and condemns Limbaugh's heinous remarks, and will continue to engage in a debate on ending our involvement in Iraq that eschews character-based attacks on our Armed Forces.
Hall's action followed on the heels of an email blast sent out by Jerry McNerney under the heading Chickenhawk Limbaugh Goes Too Far:
Yesterday, right-wing icon Rush Limbaugh insulted everyone who has served our nation in uniform.
In an exchange with a caller, he actually called troops who return from Iraq and voice their opposition to the war "phony soldiers."
Where does Rush Limbaugh get the moral standing to pass judgment on our heroes who wore this nation's uniform and returned to exercise their First Amendment rights? Even for Rush, that's too far!
Will you join me in calling the following radio stations to demand they take Rush's show off the air?
Meanwhile, Mark Udall (CO-02), the Colorado Congressman who is running for Senate in 2008, is seeking support for his own resolution to censure Limbaugh.
So why is it that after nearly 20 years of listening to Limbaugh's blather, these Congressmen are suddenly SO offended by this particular comment? Gee, you don't think it could be anything so politically craven and cowardly as a CYA for their votes in favor of censuring MoveOn, do you?
Meanwhile, all of the members of Congress who voted to censure MoveOn and who are now contemplating censuring Limbaugh, have violated their oath of office: To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Well, you know it's getting close to the end of the quarter when the fundraising letters start coming in fast and furious. But most of the Democrats I know are feeling pretty unhappy with the quality of representation we've been getting in DC lately. That's why it was refreshing to get this fundraising email that eschewed feel-good campaign rhetoric and took the straight-shooting approach.
Hello babaloo,
One person really can make a difference.
In just my first nine months in Congress, I've already set in place an agenda that's preserving the status quo.
Since I am passionate about new energy technology, I was particularly proud of the legislation I wrote and introduced to increase research and development funding for cutting edge, 21st century geothermal technology. That legislation was put on a calendar to be considered for a House vote back on June 21, and no further action has been taken on it since that time. Currently, my bill is on hold while I'm trying to round up a veto-proof majority so I can bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
Two months ago, I was honored to lead a bipartisan, all-freshman Congressional delegation to Iraq. I returned impressed with the signs of progress there and am now more likely to listen to those who want more time in Iraq. While I still favor a timeline, I'm now open to crafting it in a way more favorable to generals' wishes.
I feel privileged to be able to sit down with Republicans, see what would be acceptable to them to end the war, and present it to the president. None of that would have been possible without your support in my campaign for Congress. Now I'm asking for your support again.
After you donate, there's a box where you can share your thoughts and ideas. I probably won't read them, but you don't have too many other choices, do you? What are you going to do, help a Republican get elected?
Thank you for everything you do.
Jerry
P.S. I value your support and commitment, at least when its expressed monetarily. So keep your dollars coming and your opinions to yourself.
I had a very edifying email response to the post I wrote the other day about San Ramon's Republican Mayor Abram Wilson and his appointment to a new term last month. In that piece, I complained that Democrats had failed to recruit a single candidate to run in 2007 against either Wilson or the two Republican members of the City Council, and I laid that failure pretty squarely on the doorstep of the local and State Democratic Party.
Not so fast, said my correspondent.
In the opinion of this person, who is an experienced campaign professional, a big chunk of the blame should be placed with none other than Rep. Jerry McNerney -- or at least with his campaign staff. It turns out that this kind of stuff is pretty basic to running a high level campaign.
Why should building a farm team should be the responsibility of McNerney's team?
He is the sole beneficiary. The farm team helps by eliminating officeholders down ballot that could be hostile and sling arrows at every opportunity they get.
Then my correspondent went on to describe a Congressional campaign elsewhere in the country where a Republican was elected by a narrow margin in 2000 to a district where local non-partisan seats were held on about a 50-50 basis. This Congress member's campaign manager had the foresight to "lead a purge of down ballot office holders" that resulted in almost 80% of all current local electeds being Republican. Now, facing a tough race in 2008, this Congress member's support from local officials could make the difference in whether the seat is won or lost.
Tracy neocon Steve Wampler had an op-ed published in the Tracy Press the other day which was dramatically entitled "Where Does McNerney's Loyalty Lie?" Wampler tried to tie McNerney to last week's MoveOn.org ad which referred to General Petraeus as "General Betray Us."
Rep. Jerry McNerney isn't shy about telling people in the 11th Congressional District that he is a big supporter of America's soldiers and military personnel.
The Pleasanton Democrat makes that point even though he opposed the surge, which has provided reinforcements and cut violence in Iraq, called for withdrawals with little regard for the consequences and has opposed the military's mission in Iraq.
Now the first-term congressman faces a stark test: Does his loyalty lie with the left-wing, anti-war group, MoveOn.org, that has given him campaign funds, or will he condemn the organization's vile smear against Gen. David Petraeus, America's top general in Iraq? […]
For the record, The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word "betray" as "to commit treason against or be a traitor to."
In effect, MoveOn.org, which provided more than $53,000 to McNerney's political campaign in the 2006 election, has compared one of America's most brilliant generals to traitors like Aldrich Ames, John Walker or Benedict Arnold.
Thus the question emerges: Does San Joaquin County's congressman stand with and support our military, or does he support his campaign backers and the attackers of Petraeus at MoveOn.org?
Just to clarify Wampler's assertion, it's probably useful to note that in a visit to dictionary.com, American Heritage is the only source that links the loaded term of "treason" to the word "betray." All of the other dictionaries cited follow more along the lines of this alternate definition from American Heritage: "To lead astray; deceive." But that doesn't stop Wampler from continuing on and demanding action from McNerney to establish his loyalty and patriotism:
Now the ball lies in McNerney's court. Does he agree with MoveOn.org's vicious attack on Petraeus? Will he condemn calling America's top general a traitor? And, most importantly, will he return the money from this reprehensible organization? McNerney's silence on this issue will tell residents all we need to know about his support for the military.
Well, it looks like Celeste Garamendi has decided to run again for Tracy mayor. You may remember that in last year's election, she ran on a slow-growth platform against Brent Ives, a pro-development City Council member who was endorsed by Richard Pombo. It was the growth issue that spurred developers to throw huge chunks of money into a state PAC devoted to defeating Garamendi:
In the race for Tracy's first new mayor in more than a decade, a Sacramento-based political action committee poured in more money than both candidates spent running for the city office.
Not only has the amount of money spent raised some eyebrows, but so have some irregularities on the documents filed with the city Jan. 29.
HAT PAC, which has ties to local developers and former U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, spent more than $200,000 in October to help Tracy Mayor Brent Ives defeat slow-growth activist Celeste Garamendi, according to campaign finance reports.
Ives, whose own campaign spent about $40,000 on the election, defeated Garamendi by 1,600 votes, slightly more than 10 percent of the ballots cast in a race that brought the city's polarized viewpoints on growth to the surface. […]
The committee spent the bulk of their money on mass mailers sent to voters' homes. It also ran television ads on cable channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, according to the finance reports. […]
Garamendi, who spent a little less than $18,000 on her campaign, said HAT PAC paid to get their candidate into office.
"There are questions within their report that should be reported to and investigated by the (Fair Political Practices Commission)," Garamendi said. "They spent $200,000 to ensure that they maintain their control of the City Council because they want people that will vote for their projects. ... That's the more important message to the city of Tracy: Their election was bought by special interests."
Well, it turns out that it wasn't just special interests; it was really, really sleazy interests. As you might expect, wherever Richard Pombo is involved, the ethics and legality start to get shaky. For instance, HAT PAC's FEC report shows that Pombo's aptly named RICH PAC donated $25,000 to HAT PAC, money that eventually found its way into the anti-Garamendi independent expenditures.
Now comes word that the FBI has seized the financial records of New England's Mashpee Wampanoag tribe as a part of its investigation into RICH PAC donors from within the tribe.
That was the term apparently coined by Cenk at The Young Turks to sum up the problem we're facing these days in our attempts to hold our Democratic representatives to Democratic ideals. And it seems like an apt description.
The American public thought, when it elected Democrats in the wave election of 2006, that we had sent a message to Washington, DC. That message? Bring our troops home from Iraq. Back in 2006, when our candidates were busy painting themselves as Fighting Dems, who could have guessed that the first time George W. Bush pulled out his veto pen, they would get the vapors.
More on the flip... if you can stay on your feet, that is.
Last week saw big wins by Woodfin workers, the youth of Tracy, and the dwindling population of Delta smelt -- three groups that have struggled for justice against the odds.
Last April I wrote about Emeryville's Woodfin workers and their scandalous treatment by the Woodfin Suites Hotel:
In 2005, Emeryville voters passed Measure C, a ballot measure intended to improve wages and working conditions in the city's hotels. The Woodfin Suites Hotel led the campaign against Measure C, filed two separate lawsuits seeking to overturn it, and illegally underpaid housekeepers for more than a year after the living wage went into effect.
When Woodfin workers blew the whistle on the hotel's violations of Measure C, managers began harassing and threatening them. In December, the Woodfin fired 21 workers, including nearly all the housekeepers who had led the campaign to enforce Measure C. The Woodfin claimed that it had found problems with the workers' immigration status. But the workers had been on the job for up to five years without problems until they stood up for their rights.
Workers returned to the hotel two weeks later, thanks to an outcry from the community and an injunction issued by a state court judge. But the injunction expires on April 20th, and the Woodfin still insists that it plans to fire the workers. The hotel has also refused to pay more than $200,000 in back wages owed to workers.
Well, to follow up on that, the injunction expired, the workers were re-fired, and the hotel continued to refuse to pay back wages. Most of the workers were quickly able to find new (and presumably better) jobs. But the issue of back wages has continued to fester. Last Monday night, the Emeryville City Council reaffirmed its earlier decision awarding back wages to the workers and assessing penalties against the Woodfin. The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy gave this report of the decision:
In a unanimous vote last night, the Emeryville City Council ordered the Woodfin Suites Hotel to pay about $300,000 in fines and back wages to housekeepers. The Council rejected the Woodfin's appeal of a similar decision issued by the City Manager in June.
Over 200 residents, workers, students, faith leaders and activists turned out for the hearing, which followed a momentous rally outside Emeryville's city hall. The rally was the culmination of a year-long highly visible campaign for the back wages of former and current Woodfin workers!
For months, workers and activists have picketed the hotel, demanding that the company pay back wages to housekeepers who were illegally underpaid under the City's living wage law. The August 27th rally and hearing marked a milestone victory in the struggle.
As supporters packed the hearing -- both the City Hall chambers and the overflow basement were filled -- City Council members patiently listened to the Woodfin's appeal and waited for relevant evidence to surface. When none was produced, the Council motioned to adopt the conditional operating permit ordering the Woodfin to pay its back wages to housekeepers and a $45,500 fine to the City. The Woodfin has until September 14th to pay the wages and the fines.
EBASE and the groups who have worked in tandem with them deserve huge props for fighting against the Woodfin, staging twice-weekly picketing actions for months and months.
ONE OF THE MOST insidious taxes levied by the federal government is the one on estates of deceased owners. Its unfair burden on farmers, small businesses and individuals has grabbed the attention of Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. 
