Note: I bumped this to the top of my blog because this is the biggest annual Democratic event.

UPDATE: State Senator Fran Pavley, recently back from meeting with President Barack Obama, will be attending. Here is a photo of her meeting President Barack Obama:

Fran Pavley pushed through legislation that would have allowed California to set a different standard for new vehicles. Under President George W. Bush the EPA didn't allow the legislation to go into effect. But President Obama brought together environmentalists and automanufacturers together to agree on some changes that create higher federal standards. Her legislation started here in California but will be going into effect across the nation.

Click here for an article from Michael Collins explaining this in more detail.

The Ventura County Democratic Central Committee holds an annual Spring Fling Party to raise money for their organization and to have a good time. This event is great for aspiring candidates to meet with activists, get a quick introduction, and practice their stump speech.

There is room set out for those that want to put up a table to support their causes and candidates.

To purchase tickets, reserve space for a table, or to make sure your candidate is introduced click on continue reading for the contact information for the committee putting on the event.

This year they are also inviting all of the Democratic candidates for attorney general to speak. There will be opportunities to meet the candidates, ask them questions, and sign up to help their campaigns. I haven't yet confirmed the list of Attorney General candidates that will be there.

Candidates or elected officials I expect to be there ( beyond the attorney general candidates):

House of Representatives CA 24 ( Currently Gallegly)

Confirmed with me that they are attending:

Shawn Stern (Officially declared)
Marie Panec ( Possible candidate)
Tim Allison ( Possible candidate)

Haven't heard if she is attending:

Marta Jorgenson ( Officially declared)

Democrat Shawn Stern has a great looking website put together. I am sure more policy positions and future events will be posted in the coming months. He does know a way to drive up his google rank and to catch my attention is to post a link to this blog.

Shawn, thanks for the link on your website. Here is a return favor:

State Assembly 35th District ( Currently Pedro Nava)

Confirmed by me that they are attending:

Susan Jordan
"Absolutely. Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Das Williams
"organizing and participating with the local Democratic Party is the best way to move forward a progressive agenda."

Others:

Ventura City Council Member Ed Summers

Any other candidates that you have heard will be attending?

This video with Arnold Schwarzenegger is really, really strange. Invest 30 seconds watching it. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Consider this an open discussion. What's on your mind? What topics do you want to suggest I write an entry on?

State Assembly Candidate Susan Jordan has announced a fundraiser with environmental activists Keely & Pierce Brosnan. Click on continue reading for details.

As you likely know Pierce Brosnan played 007. Click here for his IMBD entry.

This comes a few days after Republicans used a James Bond movie to taunt Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Maybe someone at the fundraiser can ask him to apply a James Bond reference to this campaign.

What endorsements would I like to see? The candidate that gets the most endorsements from former or current Lakers gets my support.

California Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8 -

The embedded document above is the ruling issued by the California Supreme Court. Most people will have a clear opinion on the ruling without ever reading any substantial portion of it.

I don't need a court ruling to tell me that as supporters of legal equality for gays and lesbians we have a substantial amount of work to do to bring people together. As Barack Obama said during the campaign, we are the ones we have been waiting for. He will be in California tomorrow which puts pressure on him to comment on the court ruling and other issues of equality for gay people.

As most of us expected the California State Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 but allowed the marriages of the many people that were married while gay marriage was legal to stand.

Some opponents of Proposition 8 argued that the amendment was actually a revision to the State Constitution and not an amendment. The court rejected that argument and upheld the ban on gay marriage.

Proposition 8 supporters, represented by Clinton Impeachment Prosecutor and Pepperdine Law School Professor Ken Starr, sought to have the state uphold Proposition 8 and not recognize any marriages between gays performed while it was legal. The court rejected the argument against the marriages performed before voters banned marriage between gay people and the state will continue to recognize those marriages.

Gay Marriage will eventually be legal in California. Already Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine all recognize marriage equality. New Hampshire will also likely be added to that list soon.

New York and DC recognize marriages performed in other states as legal in their jurisdictions. Globally South Africa, Sweden, Spain, and Canada recognize marriages between two people of the same gender.

Proponents of marriage equality plan to put the issue on the ballot again in 2010 during the midterm elections and the campaign for governor. All of the Democratic candidates and Republican candidate Tom Campbell support gay marriage being made legal in California.

I will help in earning votes of the people of California to recognize legal equality for gay people. The supporters of marriage equality studied their past mistakes and have already started to adapt new ideas to earn the support of more people.

Check out this new video from the Courage Campaign:

Unlike campaign ads during the Proposition 8 campaign it focuses on gay people and their families. The ads that excluded gay families sometimes acted as if voters didn't know Proposition 8 involved gay people.

Here is State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan reacting to the ruling on Facebook:

I plan to call my local politicians and ask them their opinion on the issue. I know State Senator Tony Strickland opposes gay marriage and he voted against civil unions while in the state legislature. Many of us have changed our opinions over the years and maybe he would vote differently today.

If you communicate with any local politician on this issue feel free to post their reply here as a comment.

One local politician that I don't see altering their view soon is County Supervisor Peter Foy.

In this video candidate for County Supervisor Peter Foy comes out against benefits for the domestic partners of county employees because it is too expensive. Using that logic why does he support benefits for married couples?

I guess this isn't surprising being that he supported Alan Keyes and Pat Buchanan for president.

Click on continue reading to see my videos of the rallies in Simi Valley before Proposition 8 was voted on. If you like a video please pass it on to your friends. While covering the rallies I talked to many gays and lesbians from Simi Valley that I expect will continue to organize for equal treatment under the law.

You don't need to register or use your real name to comment. People that use their real names, or at least don't change their screen names constantly, are usually given more credibility.

Many times I see a comment that is thought provoking, witty, or memorable that should have more attention drawn to it. With that as a though I am going to start posting a top comment of the week most weeks on Sunday nights. If you see a comment that you like please leave a comment after it recommending it for comment of the week.

There is a blogger that has posted comments here for years that goes by the name "Nobody". Over the years Nobody has both humored me and frustrated me. For a long time I deleted their comments because of a lack of civility. But sometimes Nobody leaves a memorable comment.

This is such a comment:

Brian,

There is an old man I see walking everyday. He looks about 80 something. He lives alone and always seems to be wearing the same clothes. He walks with a cane and has to go up these long cracked cement stairs everyday. I see him through my kitchen window. I always hear him coming a long time before I can see him. I have offered to help him but he gets angry and says no. Otherwise he's pretty cool. It takes him about ten minutes to make the trip down the hill of two flights of stairs. I try not to worry but I always do. Today I heard his door shut. He likes to shut the door hard and wiggle all the locks. Then the familiar thump of the cane. I can't see him until he gets by my kitchen window. As he slowly came into view today he was wearing a military uniform with medals shining. That was my Memorial day parade and it was very moving.

One of the ways a person can honor people in the military is to read the Dennert Blog. Being informed helps people make better decisions on what propositions and candidates to choose. That way we can avoid things like the Iraq War, Walter Reed and Cher having to buy the soldiers helmets.

Nobody,

Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog. I will take your compliment but the reason I chose your comment is because of the story of your neighbor. Tell him thank you for his service from all of us. The Star hosted a blog by Elias Banales for a few years. Click here to read his archives. I agreed with him sometimes and not others but I concur that we honor our military members by using our constitutional rights that they have fought to preserve. But to do so we should all stay informed.

What suggestions do all of you have to better follow the wars America is fighting and to better understand the needs of our service members before voting?

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan has announced more endorsements including a local labor union leader and more elected officials. Click on continue reading to see the email announcement.

She is running to replace her termed out husband, Pedro Nava in the State Assembly. Pedro Nava is running for Attorney General in a crowded Democratic Primary.

Her opponent in the campaign so far is Santa Barbara City Council Member Das Williams. The voter registration numbers strongly favor Democrats so the winner of the primary is expected to win the general election.

Term limits hasn't accomplished what voters intended. Instead candidates are constantly looking for the next position in government. If you had to vote would you change term limit laws?

Here is a map of the district:

I updated this entry to change union leaders to a union leader.Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate factual errors and typos being corrected.

Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.

I saw this link at Andrew Sullivan's blog and it really draws you in.

Don't click on the link if you are in a hurry.

( Former Governor Pete Wilson, State Assembly Candidate Jeff Gorell, and State Senator Tony Strickland.)

State Assembly Candidate Jeff Gorell held a successful fundraiser last Thursday night raising crucial early money in his attempt to force out any Republican thinking of challenging him in the primary. So far his plan has been very successful as no legitimate challenger has emerged. That is impressive being that he is a social moderate that in the past positioned himself as a Schwarzenegger Republican. Add to that his professional work as a lobbyist for business groups and I could see a conservative populist giving him a serious challenge.

But for the time being he looks like he has cleared the primary field of any credible challengers and is already planning on a general election campaign.

Jeff Gorell told me he took my suggestion to get young people involved by giving them free tickets to events with prominent politicians. At least six high school aged students attended this event for free and he plans to expand on that number for upcoming events.

Jeff, call each of those students personally and ask them to come out and support your campaign at the next event. The investment will likely yield loyal supporters and create life long interest in those young people.

Here is a Youtube video of Jeff Gorell playing Linkin Park that I have posted before:

And here is a video of him campaigning at a Tea Party with a Tea Bag around his neck :

Have you seen the news coverage of the US Soldier that fought against Taliban forces wearing pink boxers and flip-flops?

How great is it that the boxers say "I love New York" on them?

Thank you to the service members and their families that have paid high prices to protect us over the years.

George Orwell sums up my thoughts when he said:

There will be a memorial service in Simi Valley Monday morning. The event details were forwarded to me to post:

VFW Post 10049 invites you to attend the 2009 Simi Valley Memorial Day service:

Location: Simi Pioneer Cemetery, Thompson Lane, Simi Valley.

Time: 10:00 A.M.

Local Veterans organizations and civic groups will pay respects to those veterans who are deceased. Bring a lawn chair if you have one.

Best Regards

W.Wright
VFW Post 10049
Simi Valley, CA

Click here for a history of Memorial Day.

( What's your favorite line from the Slap Chop video?)

My most prolific guest blogger is back with another entry. Send me an email if you want to post a guest blog entry. Posting an entry doesn't mean I agree or disagree with the content.

Here is the entry from Martin Breen:

The E Ticket

Walt Disney was often fond of saying that imagination is the key to all success. For those that remember, the "E ticket" was Disney's coupon that got you on the best rides at Disneyland in the 70's and 80's (my favorite was the monorail). In fact, the term "E Ticket" became synonymous for an unusual and thrilling ride or spectacle. An E Ticket meant excitement and transformation, like stepping into a clean, silent monorail when your parent's car still choked like a Model T. And, today, I think the E Ticket represents the notion that imagination will lead America to its next great revival.

Those that have written us off and say that we are a country on the decline, fail to understand the fundamental character and reason why America has been the greatest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world. In one word: Imagination. Indeed, I think because we are a nation of immigrants, those that risked life and limb to get here were attracted by the unifying force of possibility, that is, imagination. Come on folks, if you're here, you have already dreamed big or you're a descendant of someone who did.

Don't you see how it has always been "possibility" that has propelled our nation forward? The possibility of forming our own government, not ruled by Monarchy. The possibility that you can be born into poverty and rise to great station in life -- equal to any Dickens story. The possibility that all men really are created equal. The possibility that when the world is challenged by fascism one nation rises up to save it. The possibility that a President will claim that we will be the first to land a man on the moon even though we didn't even have the proper rocket yet, and we do.

America has always been the technological and economic world leader through imagination and invention. Indeed, in 1790, President Washington signed a bill establishing the modern patent and trademark system. Since, nearly 8 million patents have been granted. Here are but a few: Eli Whitney's cotton gin; Robert Fulton's steamboat; Charles Goodyear's rubber; Samuel Morse's telegraph; Sam Colt's revolving firearm; Elisha Otis' elevator; Alexander Graham Bell's telephone; Thomas Edison's phonograph and incandescent light bulb; Nikola Tesla's transmission of radio; Ransom Olds' assembly line; Willis Carrier's air conditioning; the Wright Brothers' airplane; George Eastman's photographic film; William Shockley's transistor; John Blankenbaker's personal computer; Cerf & Kahn's internet protocol/TCP; and Martin Cooper's mobile phone. In fact, there are some many prolific American inventions that have transformed our economy (and the world) that I could literally go on all day.

But something happened in the 1960's and America started to forget how to make stuff up. Maybe it was the drugs - maybe it was the sexual revolution or television but something happened and the world-changing American inventions began to dry up. Yes, the personal computer and the laser printer were invented since the 60's, but so were inline skates; fleece; paintball; TiVo; and the robotic vacuum. These are hardly on the same transformative scale as the light bulb and the steam engine. In fact, these are downright trivial. And the silliness just continues today: the Sham Wow and Snuggie - a blanket with sleeves, really? This is what America's imagination has come to?

Unfortunately, the place we find ourselves today has been the direct result of a failure of imagination. A failure to imagine and think big enough and know that we can do better. A failure to imagine that the next Einstein or Edison is already among us, and, maybe with a little guidance, he or she will literally save the world. But it's also a failure to imagine that things can go badly. A failure to understand that good times do not last forever. A failure to understand that borrowing our way out of trouble will just delay things, not fix them.

I may strike a nerve here but I think America has become too sports oriented. I know your kid has a killer arm and he can throw a football 60 yards on his knees but the world needs another strong-armed quarterback like a hole in the head (or in ozone, if you like). How about instead of having your kid train 4 hours a day with a professional trainer and eating protein shakes mixed by hand, you get your kid to read a book or learn the periodic table of the elements? Maybe actually put school first instead or pretending to do so? I mean kids today know Kobe Bryant's scoring average by heart but cannot tell you the periodic symbol for mercury (it's Hg). And, don't get me wrong, as a former soccer player, I love sports, indeed, I played in college through a scholarship, but sports were a means to an end. That end was to learn teamwork and discipline so that I could attain my college diploma - not become a professional athlete.

And, I say this because I know that next great transformative invention is out there and hopefully in the mind of an American teenager or child. Maybe they're in your high school or middle school, staying in on most Friday nights, googling scientific discovery for fun. As a nation, we just need to value academic achievement as much (or more) as we do athletic success. I mean how many times have you seen front page news stories on teenaged basketball guards or baseball pitchers, yet teenage geniuses live in virtual obscurity, or worse, in fear that their brilliance will keep them socially isolated or mocked.

Well America, we certainly have a lot in front of us: Two wars, global climate change and the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. America has become "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." It's enough to make you want to throw in the towel and curl up on the sofa watching reruns for eternity. But there's another way to look at it: America has become an E Ticket. At a minimum, we are in for one thrilling ride. While we don't know how it will end, we know we will decide how it ends. In the words of President Kennedy in his 1961 "Space" speech, for which I wholly endorse: "I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary." We just need to leverage and value those resources and talents. And, throwing a split seam fastball well, in the big picture, is just . . . well. . , unimportant.

This may seem crazy but good imagination usually does: Water will one day soon provide the entire world's energy. Algae will feed the planet and taste good. Southwest Airlines will be rocketing to the moon from six convenient Los Angeles locations. OPEC will just be some tourist trap museum in Saudi Arabia as Americans will teleport themselves to places far and near. Dolphins will teach us a new language that will one day allow us to communicate with another solar system.

Imagination has always been, and will always be, America's E Ticket.

In the latest update David Pollock (D) is in first, with Nathan Sweet (D) in second and David Bagwell (R) in third.

The numbers appear to be final and even with provisional ballots I don't expect the results to change much.

Congratulations to David Pollock.

I said before that Moorpark voters had some decent candidates running for city council, compared to the rest of us that just had some awful choices to make with the propositions.

I will write a more detailed analysis later but here are some quick thoughts:

The Bagwell campaign had the endorsements of State Senator Tony Strickland and County Supervisor Peter Foy. This obviously could have helped him with Republican voters but announcing it in mailers, his website, and the newspaper could have caused a serious net drag with Democratic voters.

In addition, having Tony Strickland and Peter Foy on his side energized Democratic activists from across Ventura County and beyond.

Many Democrats were motivated to elect someone they agreed with to the Moorpark City Council AND to stop someone that is aligned with Tony Strickland. From his resume David Bagwell is a very impressive community member and I expect he will strongly consider running again.

David Pollock was know to many Moorpark voters from past elections. His experience and name advantage likely pushed him over the top.

Nathan Sweet did a great job for a first time candidate and a relative new comer to Moorpark. I expect he will become more involved by continuing to help in his community and by joining local charitable organizations. I expect to see him running again.

Good night.

BTW: If the elections division somehow updates the unofficial results and it changes anything I will apologize. But that doesn't seem likely as the turn out for this election was very low. How was the line when you went to vote? I have never my precinct so vacant before.

Click here for the results from the elections division.

As I predicted the top candidates so far are David Bagwell, Nathan Sweet, and David Pollock.

Not surprisingly Propositions 1A through 1E are widely expected to fail. Seems like voters across the political spectrum think if they send the same governor and almost the same legislature back to renegotiations a better deal will be emerge. Do you think the next proposal will be better?

Click here for Ventura County results.

Click here for statewide results.

This is an an open thread. What's on your mind?

I am not making any claims that it will influence the vote on Tuesday but Firefighter Nathan Sweet has won my online poll of readers. As is 9PM the results:

Thanks to all of those that voted. Moorpark has many fine candidates to choose from. I know Nathan Sweet and I think he would make a great addition to the Moorpark City Council.

When a vacancy was created on the Moorpark City Council the city could have appointed someone that would then run in the next election as an incumbent. Instead the scheduled an election that allows all candidates to run on a level playing field. It is to the credit of the rest of the city council that they found a way of including voters.

If other boards are in the same situation and want to avoid the cost of an election they could always appoint a place holder until the next election.

Good job Moorpark and good luck figuring our who to vote for on Tuesday!

(For an angry perspective listen to KFI AM 640 in the afternoon for their coverage of California's budget mess.)

The special election is this Tuesday for the ballot initiatives that were created out of the budget deal. Are they all going down? All of them but Proposition 1F?

Do you think that if voters decline to pass the propositions that the legislature will come back with better proposals?

This has been a strange political season. Republicans proposed many of the ideas in Propositions 1D, 1E, and 1F, but now their activists and central committees are campaigning against them. Republicans are becoming more and more the party of NO, to the extreme of even saying NO to their own ideas!

John and Ken of KFI AM 640 are advocating voting NO on all of the measures, including the feel good proposition 1F just so that State Senator Abel Maldonado doesn't get the credit for it.

The California Republican Party, in spite of recentlygiving the governor money to support his agenda, is recommending a NO vote:

The local Ventura County Republican Central Committee is recommending a NO vote on everything:

What do you think they did with the man in this picture in the far right back corner?

But in case you thought I wasn't going to criticize the California Democratic Party look at their initiative endorsements:

They sent their leadership to negotiate a deal and then when the leaders emerged they didn't back their deal. That's fine and expected if the legislative leaders don't support the entire deal. Sure, some will argue that the Democratic legislative leadership was forced to sign onto the deal. But if that is the case why is State Senate leader Darrel Steinberg supporting the propositions? Democrats, if you don't support him as a leader support someone else. It should be that simple. Look how many times Republicans have overthrown their legislative leaders recently!

The progressive group "Courage Campaign" is recommending a NO vote on the entire package:

Here is their scorecard from other groups:

When is the last time you remember liberal and conservative activists being against something supported by the CTA and The California Chamber of Commerce? Here is the view from The California Chamber of Commerce:

A final picture:

Check out that ad placed on the right hand side by Facebook!

I have heard of other states like Nevada trying to attract our businesses but now Canadians are placing ads on Facebook to get us to move? I wonder what on that site made the system that places ads think that they found an appropriate page that would attract attention?

Groups on the left and the right have aligned themselves with party activists to defeat the whole package. I know all of the polls say the whole package ( besides maybe 1F) is going down but because this is a very low voter turnout election it is hard to predict what will happen. That said the odds clearly are not on the side of the governor and his allies.

So, what do you think? Do you buy the logic that the ballot propositions are ugly, but their failure to pass would be uglier?

Do you really think our current legislators and governor will be able to come back with a better deal for California?

I am disappointed that the political parties, politicians, and interest groups haven't been willing to compromise and reach a deal. Instead they all seem intent on protecting their own interests at the expense of the rest of us.

Good luck figuring out how to vote. I don't have many suggestions and I haven't made up my mind on all of them yet.

I have been ponering for way too long my idea of adding new shots to the game of basketball.

How cool would it be if a shot from behind the half court line was worth something like 10 points? Just enough that almost any game could come down to the final seconds.

In addition, every team might hire someone that can't normally play just to bring in when they need to make that shot.

Who's with me?

What rules would you add?

My most frequent guest blogger is back with another entry. Posting a guest blog entry doesn't mean I agree or disagree with the writer. To write your own guest blog entry on Ventura County's most popular local politics blog send me an email.

Enron 3.0
By Martin Breen

You probably haven't thought about Enron in a while - I know I haven't. In the first version of Enron, they stole billions from Californians and helped create the State's blackouts in the early 2000's by manipulating electricity prices. In the second version of Enron, they famously went bankrupt when it was revealed that they had very few actual assets and were criminally inflating earnings. Then finally in the third version of Enron, which only recently came to light, they indirectly helped create our current financial crisis.

In a December 2000 email to Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling (yes, the same guys currently serving time), Enron Lobbyist, Chris Long, said the following about the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA): "Enron was a leading advocate of the passage of this legislation." You know, if Enron was involved, this will not end well. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The CFMA is a little known, and little debated Act signed into law by Bill Clinton in December 2000 as he was headed out the door that essentially exempted financial derivatives from government regulation by the SEC or anyone else for the matter. The CFMA also prohibited the States from regulating these instruments. While I am not an economist or expert on the subject, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I will try to explain how all this fits together.

The CFMA opened the door to unregulated trading of "credit default swaps," one of the financial instruments blamed by many for creating our current crisis (the other is collateralized debt obligations, such as mortgaged-back securities). At their simplest, "credit default swaps" are insurance contracts bought to protect against losses of the underlying asset. For example, those financial institutions that bought the mortgage backed securities hedged this risk of default of the underlying assets (i.e., mortgages) by buying a contract that would make them whole should the asset suffer loss.

Bailout king and insurance giant, AIG, sold these credit default swaps like cans of soda. Indeed, many experts believe that without the creation of the market for credit default swaps, that mortgage backed securities, would not have grown to a $60 trillion market, nearly twice the size of the Stock Market. Put another way, without these "credit default swaps" even Mount Everest climbing Wall Street types would not have been able to grow this new market because mortgage-backed securities would have never gotten AAA ratings. This in turn fed air into the housing bubble as risky borrowers were now allowed to obtain mortgages, even without a job.

But like everything on Wall Street, the whiz kids took it one step further, taking this insurance contract and selling it on the open market. They called this new breed of credit default swaps, "naked" swaps. It was a naked swap because unlike an insurance contract where the person buying it has some risk or exposure, i.e., they could lose money on the deal; the "naked" credit default swap was really just a bet against someone else's failure. Indeed, it was the ultimate form of shorting.

And, ultimately, "naked" swaps dominated this new credit default swap market. In most States, "naked" swaps were considered gaming and therefore either regulated or prohibited entirely. Of course, had it not been for the CFMA preventing the States from regulating this market, "naked" swaps would have still been considered gambling. After Clinton signed the CFMA into law in 2000, the betting began in earnest and the market grew from $900 billion to $60 trillion (remember a trillion is a thousand billion and a billion is a thousand million).

The other important part to understand about these "credit default swaps" is that they are not regulated insurance contracts in the sense that there are not any capital reserves protecting the other party. In real insurance contracts, regulations require that insurers keep capital reserves in a sufficient amount to guarantee the potential loss. In these credit default swaps, there is no money backing the contract so if the loss happens; the contract is only as good as the solvency of the company backing it. It is for this reason that the Government pumped over $180 billion into AIG. And, it is for this reason; the company after company that was involved in this market has liquidity problems, which led to the credit freeze.

So at the end of the day, these credit default swaps that were designed to hedge risk (reduce it), instead ended up multiplying the risk as people placed bets about the credit worthiness of certain bonds and loans, including mortgage backed securities. Of course, once the housing bubble burst, these huge profits quickly turned into huge losses. The losses mounted and triggered the credit default swaps which triggered another round of huge losses. It was like a ponzi scheme but in reverse.

So how and why did Enron get the CFMA passed? Enron did what all big, successful companies do, it bought itself access through career politician, former Senator Phil Gramm (and his wife Wendy Gramm just happened to be an Enron Board Member), who threw his considerable political weight around to get the CFMA attached to a 11,000 page appropriations bill with virtually no debate at all. What started as a way to deregulate certain electronic trades ended up deregulating these new financial instruments? So as a new millennium began, the ticking time bomb had been set.

The fact that Gramm's wife was on Enron's Board should have set off alarm bells in Washington that the fix was in and someone should have put a stop to it. At the very least, there should have been a debate and a vote on the 262 page bill by itself. But this is the way the game is played and Gramm was a master at playing it. Come on folks, how many dots do you need connected before you see the picture - career politicians are causing our downfall.

If you're still not convinced, let me throw one more little factoid at you. In 1998, Brooksley Born, Chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was steadfastly against these unregulated financial derivatives declaring that "an unregulated derivatives market . . . could pose grave dangers to our economy." When her opposition became too intense, she was forced to resign to a more pliable Commissioner. Ironically, President Clinton's economic dream team of Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, Arthur Levitt and Larry Summers (one of Obama's current advisors), are alleged to have helped oust Ms. Born.

And, though I did not intend on mentioning Elton Gallegly, I do so because his name magically appeared when I reviewed those career politicians who voted for the CFMA. Even though the vote was not partisan - please notice that Bill Clinton signed the Act - the Republicans were only too happy to deregulate the markets. Elton Gallegly was not any different and he gladly voted for the CFMA. So when Gallegly (or Clinton) say they had no responsibility for our current problems, please remind them of their vote on the CFMA.

In fact, this goes to a larger point about political parties and the danger of always voting your party line. Here, I am sure that Gallegly did not intend on creating the pathway to our current crisis but had he paid closer attention to the details, had there been any debate at all; maybe this deregulation (a Republican mantra) may not have happened. Indeed, I never understand why Republicans don't trust big government yet completely trust big business. This seems logically inconsistent. Here's a conservative principle: How about we don't trust either, especially when Enron's involved?

I took this video back during the Proposition 8 rallies. This Simi Valley woman was married a few weeks before while she had the opportunity. Proposition 8 is currently being dealt with by the California Supreme Court, with opponents in favor of the state not recognizing the marriages that were performed before Proposition 8 was passed.

Gay families live in our communities across America. They deserve equal protection under the law and they deserve all the responsibilities of marriage. Local politicians who stay silent on this issue are staying silent on the rights of people in their neighborhoods and communities.

The state of Maine has joined Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, and Vermont in recognizing the right of gay people to be married. Maine and Vermont both did it by passing legislation that was signed by their governor. New Hampshire's governor has said he will sign a bill when a few alterations are finalized.

DC recently joined New York in recognizing same sex marriages performed in other states.

To many people it doesn't impact them in any meaningful way. But to those of us that can share the news with family or friends that the issue means so much to that another state supports equal treatment under the law it is profound.

I don't know when California will recognize equal treatment under the law for gay families but it is only a matter of time. Let's not delay it any longer than needed. I favor earning the support of more voters by telling the stories of gay Californians.

Hopefully the groups that write the next ballot proposition will add clauses like New Hampshire is doing that protect religious groups that object from lawsuits.

What a difference in just the last several months.

This election will come down to three candidates: David Pollock, David Bagwell, and Nathan Sweet.

Here is my ongoing online poll:

Whichever candidate is ahead Sunday night I will announce in an entry with their name in the title so it will be up on the front page of Venturacountystar.com on election day.

The Star editorial board has endorsed Moorpark School Board Member David Pollock for the Moorpark City Council. If elected he would resign and someone would be appointed to replace him.

I am a big critic of politicians appointing someone that then runs as an incumbent with the advantages that go along with running as an incumbent. I would rather have someone that will only serve until the next election. Any chance to clarify what the board will do before next Tuesday?

David Pollock also announced the endorsements of many past mayors of Moorpark.

These last few weeks he has been running a decent campaign by rolling out impressive endorsements but I wonder if it is too late since many of the absentee ballots have already been returned. We will find out soon.

David Bagwell has been endorsed by State Senator Tony Strickland, County Supervisor Peter Foy. The support of conservative Republican leaders has helped him attract attention but it has also energized the volunteers of other campaigns.

He has been getting a fair amount of letters published in local papers. Some of them in support and some of them attacking him.

The Ventura County Star's Editorial Board gave Nathan Sweet many compliments in their endorsement.

He has been walking precincts to meet voters with a dedicated group of supporters for months. The fires in Santa Barbara caused the precinct walk last weekend to be canceled but he had a robocall to voters and his campaign will be going out again this weekend. Here is his Facebook update from last weekend:

The grassroots campaign he has been running has attracted support from the Chair of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee Joe O'Neill. To see an email from Joe O'Neill asking people to come out to support Nathan Sweet click on continue reading.

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club has been organizing volunteers to help his campaign too. Click here for their website. On election day he will have the support of labor, including fellow firefighters to Get Out The Vote (GOTV).

His campaign even attracted the attention of statewide political blog Calitics:

Not all Democratic activists are supporting him though. Long time reader and commenter on my blog Laura Winchester has expressed her support for David Pollock.

This campaign will be interesting to see the power of endorsements, grassroots campaigning, and organizational skills will have on the outcome.

Any predictions?

At this point many agree that the government overreacted to the threat of the flu virus. But reading this entry on Wikipedia makes me think that it is just a matter of time before a flu pandemic causes major worldwide havoc, unless we find innovative ways of containing it. Before you comment go and read the entry. It is interesting that the last major flu epidemic hit in waves.

There is a balance between providing important information and sensationalizing an issue but I want to show off this new plug in that The Star staff created. I have seen over hyped stories from some outlets but for the most part I think the coverage has been warranted for the threat the flu could or did present.

Do you think the threat has been rescinded this time?

I saw this video on Andrew Sullivan's blog. Inspiring stuff. That dog just wouldn't give up!

Ventura City Manager Rick Cole recently posted the above video on sprawl that has the provocative line in it about the biggest threat to America. The video was an award Winner of The Congress for New Urbanism CNU 17 video contest. Rick didn't say he was endorsing all of the views in it so I asked him for a comment and this is what he sent me:

Sustainability is not based on wishes or desires, but on the ability to continue to function within available resources. Unfortunately, by that standard, much of the way we've built our suburbs is not sustainable, despite our wishes and desires. This clip makes the dramatic point that sprawl is not sustainable. The hard part, of course, is what comes next: adapting what we've built so that we can sustain our communities past the era of cheap energy and the illusion that we can take without giving back. Here in Ventura, we're working hard on that challenge, recognizing that not everybody even agrees on the problem, let alone the solution(s). But our 2005 General Plan recognizes that Ventura citizens have repeatedly voted against sprawl.

Click here for Rick Cole's blog.

Would you like it if your city council or city manager posted blog entries on vital issues in your city? The City of Ventura is leading the way for the time being. Send me an email if you are a city manager and want to start blogging .

I know "The Bagwell Letters" sounds like a book title or something. Anyways, David Bagwell's campaign has been doing a decent job getting his letters published in local papers. Here are some recent letters:

Like many in Moorpark, I see "David Bagwell for City Council" signs all over town. It's obvious by the size and number of signs that Mr. Bagwell really wants to be on the City Council. Many residents know that Mr. Bagwell and his wife, Jodi Bagwell, own Bagwell Construction Company here in Moorpark, but I would also like to point out some additional facts residents should know before voting. Jodi Bagwell was appointed to the Moorpark Planning Commission by Janice Parvin in Deccember 2008. So the first question is: Do we see a problem with a husband and wife who own a home construction business having seats on the Planning Commission and the City Council? I also want to point out that the Bagwells were staunch supporters of the failed 1,600 new-home North Park Village development in Moorpark in 2005. That year, Mr. Bagwell wrote letters to the Moorpark Acorn supporting and promoting the North Park development on Feb. 17, April 28, July 15, Aug. 12, and Oct. 14. Anyone can find these letters in the archives online. Some quotes from his letters are, "North Park Village is well-planned and would be an extraordinary addition to Moorpark," and "This is a great project." Could it be that the Bagwells supported North Park because it would have benefited them monetarily? No other resident I know supported this destructive development. I don't want to doubt the motives of citizens who wish to volunteer for their community, and I have nothing personal against the Bagwells, but I do have the following question: Why would a husband and wife who own a construction company in town, that already has one co-owner on the Planning Commission, vie for the other co-owner to be on the City Council? Could it be to help push through developments or construction projects that would benefit Bagwell Construction? I would not be concerned if Mr. or Mrs. Bagwell were on either the Planning Commission or the City Council, but I am very concerned about them having positions on both government bodies. -- Lisa Houston, Moorpark

Click here for the letters to the editor page. The real question is which candidate will do the best job of getting letters published in the last edition of the Moorpark Acorn coming out before election day this Tuesday.

In my continuing online poll candidates Nathan Sweet and David Pollock are close to tied for first with David Bagwell in third. I wonder if some of the other candidates have even bothered to google their names recently. I will have updates from other candidates later this week. If you have any photos of campaign activity, including pictures of campaign signs send them to me and I will post them.

Blog entries like this remind me of the difference between newspapers and blogs. You can't watch a video in the print edition and it isn't newsworthy enough to be mentioned in a medium measured in column inches or by word count. I am posting this video because Jeff Gorell is running for state assembly, not because he is a musician. That being said he knows how to play.

I don't know all of his policies but personally he has always known him to be a modest and nice guy. Even though he has experience in public relations and lobbying I am not sure he has the skills most typical politicians posses.Maybe when he runs his first misleading ad I will think different.

Jeff Gorell checked in earlier from the Ventura Red Cross where I assume he is helping out because of the fire in Santa Barbara. Join him on Facebook to follow his campaign.

Note: I am reposting this with the new image from The Star included. This entry was posted back in May.

I am not into baseball much, but I thought this photo was really funny because of the error message in the background.

Anyone remember those old 404 error message pages?

Here is an example of a 404 error message:

Anyways, credit goes to Daniel Goldberg for posting the picture even though he didn't catch the computer geek humor of it.

I like basketball much more. I want to see Kobe Bryant versus Lebron James in the finals. Or maybe a Celtics as a throwback to a different era. Who do you want to see in the finals?

Camarillo Community Activist David Maron is asking people to give their input on an issue that is important to him. I have talked with David a few times and he has always seemed to be a community minded man with a penchant for wonky topics. Here is his guest blog entry:

Clerk-Recorder. Appointed or elected? By David Maron

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors will soon decide what to do with the elected position of county clerk-recorder. The clerk-recorder is responsible for such things as marriage licenses, fictitious business name filings, land ownership records and the managing of all elections. Phil Schmit was elected in 2002 and resigned in January, leaving the office empty until the 2010 election.

April 21, the county executive officer provided options to the board, including appointing an interim clerk-recorder, consolidating job functions with other departments and converting the office to an appointed position. This last option troubles me because I believe the person responsible for elections within Ventura County should be answerable to the voters. The elections process must have the full confidence of all residents without any question of inappropriate pressure applied by supervisors or the county Executive Office.

As an elected official, the clerk-recorder can be recalled or voted out of office if not performing well. However, if appointed, the clerk-recorder's independence will be diminished and the supervisors will ultimately be responsible for the management of elections, including their own.

If the board decides to convert the office, it must first win voters' approval by placing a measure on the ballot in the next election. If you're wondering about other counties in California, of the 44 general-law counties including Ventura, only Mono County has an appointed clerk-recorder.

What do you think? The board will tentatively debate this issue May 12. Residents can share their opinions in an e-mail to me, on The Star's blogs, in letters to the editor or contact your supervisor directly. To receive a copy of the eight-page April 21 board letter discussing the options for this office, send me an e-mail at VenturaCountyComments@yahoo.com and I will gladly e-mail you a copy. Or simply let me know what you think is best for Ventura County.

Moorpark City Council candidate Nathan Sweet has been called up to Santa Barbara to help with the quick moving fire there. Let's hold those impacted in our hearts and prayers.

Facebook, Twitter, blogging, email, and text messaging are all bringing our world closer together. The image above is an update from Nathan Sweet on Facebook announcing he is rolling out to fight the fires in Santa Barbara. Below his update is a comment from State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan who has been evacuated from her home.

What personal experience can you share of how the world is growing smaller?

Many of the precautions to hinder the spread of the swine flu ( sorry I am not going to change the name of a disease when someone complains) make sense. Washing your hands more often, avoiding sick people, and staying home if you are sick are all good ideas.

But this is just funny. Afghanistan, as a largely Muslim country, doesn't have many pigs around. In fact, they are reported to have only one pig in the entire nation and now that single pig is being put into quarantine as a precaution against the swine flu. By quarantine I mean the zoo keepers built it a seperate room out of sight so visitors will stop complaining.

Swine Flu paranoia might have just jumped the shark.

How have you seen people overreacting? To post a comment you don't need to register or use your real name. That way your co-workers don't know you are making fun of them!

School Board Member David Pollock emailed me his latest mailer. Click on continue reading to see it.

My online poll shows David Pollock making a surge and is behind Nathan Sweet in first and David Bagwell in second.

David Bagwell was recently endorsed by Republican Ventura County Community College District Trustee Bob Huber, Republican County Supervisor Peter Foy, and Republican State Senator Tony Strickland. If you are looking for the choice of the Republican establishment of Ventura County David Bagwell is your choice. At this rate I expect Republican Member of Congress Elton Gallegly to endorse him. Although, with absentee ballots already being mailed in I wonder why these endorsements were announced earlier.

I have not seen any campaign material from Republican Party activist Jon Miller. If you see anything send it in.

Send in any events, campaign literature, or photos of campaign signs you want me to post of any of the candidates.

Go to the Secretary of State's website and print out a form to register.

It must be postmarked by the end of the day, so bringing it to the post office is a good idea.

Have you made your choices for all of the ballot measures? I haven't read through all of them in the voter pamphlet yet.

Just a reminder that the event to discuss ways to get your campaigns and causes covered by the local media will be going on tomorrow night. I am moderating the event to direct the conversation and try to make the night effective for local community organizers and activists. Although the event is sponsored by a group of Democrats it is open to the whole community.

Here is my earlier blog entry on the subject:

I will be moderating a forum on how to work with the local media. The forum will provide you with the background and skills to get your press releases printed, your events covered, and increase the attendance at your press conferences.

Representatives from The Ventura County Star, KEY TV, Daily Kos, and more will be on the panel. The discussion and training is open to the public but it geared towards political activists, campaign staff, and candidates for office. The event is going to be a night to network with local activists and to understand how to better communicate your message to the public.

David Atkins, a blogger for the Ventura County Democrats and for Daily Kos recently wrote his thoughts on the Tea People protests.

Click on the image to see his blog entry.

David Atkins does focus groups and polling for political causes. I expect him to be a major player locally in the coming years.

The blogger behind VoteSimiValley.com, Mike Chandler has another update up, this time defending CandleLight Nightclub. Here are a coup of key quotes:

No doubt, nobody wants to tell pissed off residents that they need to stand by and wait for the owners of this nightclub to make a good faith effort to resolve the issues. Who would want to? They're pissed off! But this place earns money for the city AND (and read this, because this is the most important part) the owner's genuinely WANT to resolve the issues completely and be good neighbors! Not sure you believe me? Read on...

o with this issue once again facing City Council, the big question is will they do what's right for Simi Valley business and the general fund? Will they inform citizens of the effort being made and encourage them to wait and see while promoting Shop Simi First, or will they answer the angst of pissed off neighbors and ensure their votes for the next election cycle? This is politics, after all.

Click here for his blog entry.

Candlelight Night Club recently had an article in the Ventura County Star related to their ongoing efforts to work with the neighborhood and their application to expand some of the facilities.

Here are a couple of quotes from that article:

Commissioner Keith Mashburn at the beginning of the three-hour meeting asked if there are different requirements for the various uses at the site, which includes a wedding and banquet venue, a restaurant, a bar and a nightclub.

Paul Drury, the city's acting deputy director for environmental services, said the business' primary use is a restaurant/banquet/bar facility -- all allowed in the commercial planned development zone. Candlelight's co-owner, Garner Gerson, said the property gets 85 percent of its business between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. But that fact could lead to more problems for the business.

After the meeting, Drury noted the city permit as well as the state Alcoholic Beverage Control license is valid for a restaurant and a bar, where alcohol sales cannot exceed food sales. If the majority of business is coming in after 10 p.m., it would appear alcohol would be the driving force.

"If they did do that, they would not be allowed there at all," Drury said after the meeting.
Mashburn said Candlelight is "over-serving" customers. "I had the impression this was a restaurant," Mashburn said. "It's a nightclub. Patrons are leaving and causing DUIs." Mashburn asked Simi Valley Police Lt. Mike King how many DUIs could be traced back to patrons of the business.

After almost three hours of public comment, the commission voted to send the issue back to city staff. The lone dissenting vote, Commissioner Jim Dantona, said he wanted to move forward with the application with the possibility of additional conditions.

Click here for the Ventura County Star story.

A real quick fix would be for Candlelight Night Club to only allow people to park on site or in the parking lot they rent from Simi Valley High School. As long as nightclub patrons are parking in a residential neighborhood the problems will continue. Now, as far as sound and the other issues those are more complicated.

Click here for Candlelight's website.

Speaking of their website is the man in the bank wearing a towel without a shirt? I haven't been up there in awhile but did they open a new type of bar or something?

Moorpark City Council candidate David Bagwell added the Moorpark Chamber of Commerce to his list of endorsements which already included State Senator Tony Strickland and County Supervisor Peter Foy.

Click on continue reading for the press release written by local consultant Keith Jajko.

Click here for David Bagwell's website.

I am keeping the poll open until election day. Currently David Bagwell is a few votes in front of Nathan Sweet.

Have you seen any mailers in this campaign? If you send them in from any of the campaigns I will post them. I have most surprised that I haven't seen more from the incumbent school board member David Pollock or from Ventura County Republican activist Jon Miller. Send me anything from them you want me to post.

The absentee ballots have already been sent out and some of them have already been returned. That means any serious candidate has already sent out mail, posted signs, walked precincts, made phone calls, and did other campaign work.

Have you seen the candidates out campaigning?

( This video is really short and worth the time. It is a funny joke from a debate between Al Gore and Jack Kemp during the 1996 campaign.)

Jack Kemp has passed away. Most of his life's work ( football and politics) was before my time but click here for a moving essay he wrote on the election of Barack Obama.

Do you recall Jack Kemp with fondness? He seems like he leaves behind a good legacy.

He hasn't gotten around to meeting with the superintendents of education from this area but he is set to play Saturday night at CLU.

What are the chances local liberals will show up to get footage of any shots he misses to turn into an ad?

Tony Strickland, if you have time to twitter when you are practicing basketball you have time to twitter something classy about Michelle Obama to show how much you disagree with Tammy Bruce, who called Michelle Obama trash on her radio show before you shared a stage with her. ( Note: I updated that last sentence. I had a link in it and the html made it hard to see it wasn't written clearly. As I reported before it was Tammy Bruce that called Michelle Obama trash. I know Tony Strickland doesn't talk like that but it would be helpful if he distanced himself from such trash talk.)

Seriously, you share a stage with someone that calls the first lady trash when referring to a story of Michelle Obama encouraging young African-Americans to do their best in school but then challenge the president to a game of basketball?

You are better than that disgusting attack on the first lady. You didn't show it when you shared the stage with Tammy Bruce but you could spend a few seconds on your Blackberry and send out a tweet.

If you do I will say nothing but nice things on my blog about you until the end of the year.

Deal?

I am not going to the game tonight but I expect Tony Strickland to play fairly well. He has a record as a decent player and as I have pointed out before he is tall. I don't care if a State Senator plays basketball from time to time. But I do expect him to meet with community leaders before he votes on bills and campaigns for ballot propositions.

In the comments an anonymous blogger posted that the meeting is finally scheduled for next week. I look forward to that happening.

UPDATE:

Here is a photo of State Senator Tony Strickland playing basketball:

All reports thus far say he played well, especially for a politician. Here is how The Star reported it:

It's not every day that a third-string small forward gets the night's biggest ovation just for checking into the game.

Strickland's stat line for the night: three minutes, one rebound, one-for-one from the field, two points.

Photo Credit goes to State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell.

Thanks Jeff!

This is the latest guest blog entry from Simi Valley citizen Martin Breen. In this latest installment he starts to bring his attention closer to local politicians. Read his thoughts and then leave him some feedback. Just because I post his entries it doesn't mean I agree, nor does it mean I disagree. I enjoy reading thoughts from a variety of views. If you want to write a guest blog entry that will be read by many local activists, staff members of elected officials, and office holders send me an email.

Martin, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. In your next entry consider bringing up the board of supervisors or the city council. Keep it up!

Here is his guest blog entry:

On that December day that the Department of Justice announced its impending indictment on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, he stood in his relaxed warm-up suit incredulous that he had been accused of any crime. Questioned over what he meant when his taped recorded conversations revealed comments such as "what's in it for me" and "a Senate seat is a [redacted] valuable thing, you just don't give away for nothing," he answered "it's just politics." While most Americans were shocked or cringed that any politician would attempt to sell President Obama's former Senate seat, I couldn't believe that any politician could be so honest.

Indeed, this may have been the first (and last) honest thing that Blagojevich has said in his many tough and tumble years in politics. Maybe you didn't hear it? He said it was just politics. And, I for one believe him. That's why I think that Rod Blagojevich is an American hero. Of course, not in the same sense, that a firefighter is when he or she rushes into a burning building. But nevertheless, a genuine hero for giving us a rare look down the rabbit hole and for saying out loud that everyday politics is not about serving the public or working to make America better. Let's face reality here; career politicians can longer be trusted.

I am not suggesting that every politician is a blatant crook like Rod Blagojevich or Ted Stevens (sorry, prosecutor misconduct doesn't mean he didn't do it - he did). Rather, some are better than others at hiding their deceptions. But make no mistake about it -- it's there just below the surface -- just lift the rug a little and you will see the filth underneath.

Everything is either sold or traded in politics. You know that life-time tenured District Court Judgeship? Yep, bought and paid for by some political heavy weight or his or her friends. Sorry, merit and hard work had nothing to do with it. You know that Appointee for Special Committee for School Betterment? Yep, it just so happens, it's the Board Chairman's largest contributor.

What did Blagojevich's indictment also reveal? That politicians are obsessed with raising money for their own reelection. Indeed, it is clear that being reelected is their most important concern. Each and every single issue or problem that comes to their attention is seen through this distorted prism. A constituent has a family immigration problem: How much money can you raise for me or my political friends? A company has serious tax issues: How many votes can you get me?

I would argue that Congress' systematic corruption [insert California or your State Legislature here] is so pervasive that the entire system needs to be rebooted. In fact, the political arena is this netherworld of smarmy characters that suck the lifeblood out of America. Remember, Lord Acton's oft quoted line that "power corrupts." Well, most people get this quote wrong; the real quote is "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." In the other words, the real meaning of the quote is that power causes corruption in all cases - on a sliding scale. Some politicians steal, others lie, yet others put their own self-interest above the people they work for, but in the end - power corrupts them all. And, this is exactly what has happened in America. Indeed, our Constitution is designed for this inevitability.

A recent example of a career politician's descent into self-indulgence is Congresswoman, Jane Harman. According to reports of FBI wiretaps, Harman offered to intervene in a criminal case in return for support of her effort to be named head of the intelligence panel. At best, Harman's actions demonstrate that politics-as-usual has nothing to do with you or me. At worst, she is part of the backroom "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" club that has bogged this Country down to the point where we ripping apart at the seams. If her self-serving demand to be head of the intelligence panel wasn't enough, entertainment mogul Haim Saban (remember that Power Ranger phenomenon - you can thank Haim) was purported to threaten to withhold campaign donations to Nancy Pelosi if Harman wasn't named to the head of the intelligence panel. Unfortunately for us, this is the kind of stuff career politicians do everyday behind the scenes - they're usually just not taping it.

And, let's be clear. I am not saying that Jane Harman committed a crime. Because as the law is currently written, she did not. But don't you see how it is crime that this sort of conduct is not a crime? Listen up Jane, I want you working each and every tax dollar-funded second for my interests and my kids' interests, not for the Haim Saban's of the world and certainly not so you can be made head of the intelligence panel. Maybe if you (and your 434 colleagues) didn't spend every waking second helping yourself get ahead we might not be in this mess. Can you imagine if politicians put all their energy and resources into running this country instead of running for office?

And, of course, on our sliding scale, Republicans are not any better. Elton Gallegly, by all appearances, seems to be a very unremarkable Congressman. But these days, being a "do-nothing" politician is sort of like being a decent shipman on the Titanic - you're still going down with the ship. Yes, Elton, you have a 98% voting attendance record but the kid in class who shows up every day and gets the blue attendance award is not necessarily the best student in class - often, he's the one that just doesn't have anything else to offer. Did you ever hear of quality over quantity? And, by the way, your voting record of supporting everything George Bush wanted was not what the 24th District wanted. Especially, if you call yourself a fiscal conservative but then you vote for a costly war and Medicare changes that increase our national debt.

Another thing you so-called career liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans don't get is that you cannot argue adherence to the Constitution only when it supports your agenda. That's the thing about the Constitution; sometimes its words are in your favor. Some times its words are against you. Regardless, it's the law and you swore an oath to uphold it. So uphold it, even if it means you might not get to bailout AIG or read the emails of American citizens.

So here's my solution: if you're tired of the current system, vote all career politicians out and put someone in who does not care about their own reelection or finding ways to stay in some government office or another. It's time to move America back to its origins when part-time politicians ran our government. In fact, if you recall they had to beg George Washington to accept the presidency - he didn't want it - We need more reluctant politicians. Just like jury duty, ordinary Americans would fulfill their patriotic duties by serving in government. Incidentally, I heard that the pay and benefits is not so bad either.

There are 435 House of Representative jobs and 100 Senate jobs that can be filled by regular, everyday Americans. Indeed, wouldn't it be great if instead of one Republican and one Democrat (and that crazy pot smoking Libertarian) running for Congress, it was one thousand concerned Americans running for each and every Congressional seat. Talk about sending a message. Your numbers alone would probably overwhelm the system. Because sometimes when things don't work -- the quickest way to fix them -- is to take the plug out of the wall and start all over again.

When Peter Foy ran for county supervisor he chose businessman/farmer for his ballot designation, even though his primary source of income and his main experiences were running an insurance firm. That's why I dubbed him Farmer Foy. The exaggerations candidates are willing to make to come up with a powerful ballot designation continues to amaze me.

Because of that I asked a friend Brian Mack to create a photoshop of Peter Foy as Farmer Foy.

Now, I am again putting out a call for a photoshop from a reader. You will be given credit and a link back to your website.

This time I need Peter Foy photoshopped as a communist leader. Choices include Stalin, Mao, Fidel Castro, Marx, or any other easily recognizable communist figure.I will explain why later.

If I get a photoshop by Sunday night I will post a picture of myself photoshopped as Vladimir Lenin.

Here is a recent photo submitted from a reader:

Mike Gibson, frequent antagonist of many around here, has said he is running for cuty council in Ventura in Walmart.

If you want to take credit for it leave a comment.