IN JULY I REPORTED how the last-minute impasse staged by Senate Republicans to derail stopgap measures already approved by the Assembly added $7 billion to the state's deficit.
Now it has been widely reported that the recalcitrant "Just Say No" crowd, including our own State Sen. Tony Strickland has just added to the pain our cities will feel as the state takes $2 billion in property tax revenues away from local governments to balance its own budget. These gaps will leave cities scrambling to plug holes they thought they had already filled in their own budget-balancing woes this year.
While the state is obligated to pay the money back in 2013 through provisions in 2004's Prop. 1A, most local officials I talk to don't really believe it will happen.
So cities and counties were counting on Senate Bill 67 to pass in the whirlwind of the last legislative session which ended Sept. 11. This was "cleanup" legislation which would allow a consortium made up of the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties to accept the state's IOUs for the borrowed property tax and issues bonds to local governments to make up for the loss.
But this legislation, along with other bills which required a 2/3 passage, got hung up in a political snit over several unrelated matters, including a vote sought by Republicans on behalf of Intuit, the makers of Turbo Tax, to deny tax preparation services to low-income people through a program called ReadyReturn. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Los Angeles Times took Strickland to task for his part in this scheme. Strickland has accepted $1 million in campaign cash from Intuit, the Times pointed out. And this OpEd piece points out just how wrong Intuit is in pursuing this matter.
Also lost in this power play by the No Crowd was money for battered women's shelters, federal money for swine flu preparations and a bill allowing the state to renegotiate letters of credit with banks, saving the state about $850 million this year.
Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, was the only one to break from his party and vote for the measures. "At the end of the day we were sent to Sacramento to govern, not play politics," he told the Lompoc Record.
BY THE WAY: If you are looking for more Republican non-responsiveness, look no further than Mike Stoker, Tony Strickland's aide and big-time polluter Greka Energy's spokesperson, who is running for the 35th Assembly District seat along with Susan Jordan and Das Williams. I watched him in action at a forum put together at a Gold Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce breakfast last week by The Paladin Principle, Republican Assembly District 37 candidate Jeff Gorell's firm. The press was of course alerted to this breakfast forum, attended by 18 people.
Stoker's idea of debating is apparently interrupting and shouting over his opponent's voice. He isn't much of a listener.
Trying to find a Republican who listens to others and who is not fiscally corrupt, is about as challenging as finding a triple-digit IQ in the Palin household! The last Republican I can think of that perhaps met that criteria was George Deukmejian!
Stoker and a few in the local GOP party hope that Das W. wins the primary because it is his ONLY hope of possibly winning the general. I am not surprised Jeff Gorell's group was co-sponsor of the "debate".
Is it true that Stoker is getting paid by Strickland - taxpayer's money? If so, the people should know. And the Strickland's should stop saying they are against waste and start acting responsibly towards their constiuency. Between giving $20K to on trial for Battery thug Joel Angeles (Audra's Chief of Staff), the spectre of tax money to Mike Stoker, stalling the state budget, voting to not fund domestic violence shelters, the Intuit vote......they clearly are not taking care of the people they are supposed to represent.
Don't tell me we're going to have another race with extremists from each party. Thaaaaat's just great.
Stoker once admitted he was for offshore oil drilling before being against it. And that he was for drilling whenever he spoke to a Republican audience in Ventura County. And against drilling when speaking to a Santa Barbara audience. A total goofball.
Way Right or way left? You got it - both parties are responsible for putting up extreme candidates - moderates get vilified...
The "Just Say No" crowd are saying "no" to the pathological serial irresponsibility of Democrat legislators.
".......triple-digit IQ in the Palin household....... Yah dah, yah dah, yah dah.....". Sarah Palin will speak to a group of 1000 investors in Hong Kong this week. Some of the previous speakers to this body have been Desmond Tutu, Bill Clinton and Alan Greenspan. I do not see the name "Rob" as either an invited guest or as a speaker to this gathering. The head of communications for the group, Simone Wheeler, said "...we believe that she ( Palin ) will continue to be a newsmaker in the future and therefore someone we feel that is definitely of interest to fund managers". Did you hear that, Rob ? Do you know where Hong Kong is ? So, Katie, how are things in the grey middle ?
John Stewart,
Why isn't the media allowed to report on her events?
John, Are we going to hear anymore breathless yet erroneous reports regarding the Tea Party turnout in DC? Here's something for you to think about - Palin costs McCain the election. He should have gone with Condi Rice.
I think John left out that those "1000 Hong Kong" investors wanted to gawk at a person who believes Dinosaurs were running around with humans just a few thousand years ago. Palin probably told the Chinese she knew all about their country, because she saw it in the distance from a plane one time? Palin can read other people's speeches, however. Just like when she read Karl Rove's speech at the convention. Guys like John went ga-ga over her, thinking how great she was with "lipstick on a pig line", etc. when Rove came up with that. Just like the "Red States", John likes his candidates based on emotional/religious appeal, rather than actual governmental acumen and intelligence. Just when you think it can't get any worse than George W, along comes that Palin crowd. If she gets in, they better watch the White House silverware, as I bet Todd, the self-proclaimed "First Dude", will be making off with it!
The worldwide media was all over the event, ladies and germs. They chased Palin to the airport. If you go to the WSJ [ that's "Wall Street Journal", "Rob" ] you'll find a Palin Hong Kong review. Palin saved McCain from a huge defeat, Katie; there were 1,700,000 people there in DC and Condi Rice is not a political animal - most "thinking" conservative Americans understand that. Melvin Goode, an African American Obama pollster who attended the event in Hong Kong and was looking for anything he could find to knock Palin couldn't find anything - besides the fact she's already white. He said " She's bright ", "Rob". So did the NY Times, "Rob". Libs, learn to do your own research ? Biden'a already worried D'Ohbama the Joker won't get re-elected [ much less run out of town on a rail ]. So far he's angered Poland, the Czechs, the French, Israel, Honduras, and the rest are laughing at this piece of work. I think Oprah and Michelle are getting ready to take a trip together to plan what Michelle does when Barry loses and she can't stand his narcissism any longer.
John,
There weren't nearly that many people in DC for Glenn Beck's protest against Barack Obama. Find us any evidence or a source that isn't a conspiracy website.
You posting such wild numbers just shows us you might believe anything told to you by your right wing friends.
To "JJ","JJJ",and the illustrious "Rob":
Try the London Daily Mail ( citing at least a million ) dated 09/14 ( with Youtube film) or the Resistnet.com site ( with live YouTube dramatically showing the millions marching down Pennsylvania Ave.), which cites a 1,700,000 count and assembled by the Univ. of Illinois. I don't rely on either Joe Howry, late of the "Montana School of Journalistic Inerrancy and Mediocrity" or "right wing friends".
For those of us in DC at the time, all communication which would normally enable people in traffic to communicate their whereabouts as well as their ability to find their destination was disabled deliberately to sew mass confusion. It has been fully documented. It is the foreign press which reports these matters accurately. People like Joe Howry and his ilk should be fired for failing to report accurately what is going on in the world around them.
What numbers did Fox News report? I assume you trust them.
JJJ - Fox and every other news source quoted figures in the ten of thousands. The London Daily Mail is the ONLY source that quoted at least a million and had a lot of anti-Obama pictures in the article. ABC news every put a disclaimer on the million person figure on its website.
The delibrate posting of erroneous numbers put this thread into the right wing nut category.
" The delibrate (sp. ?) posting of erroneous numbers put this thread into the right wing nut category ".
Katie, you weren't there. I was there. Get a grip and/or some coffee. Deal with the fact that you are part of a movement going down the drain in ever-decreasing concentric circles faster than any in US history.
1. I have lived in the DC area for years and 2. the 1+ million number is bogus. Re-posting bad info does nothing for your credibility. I encourage anyone to do an internet search to prove me wrong.
John is so "far out there" in his imaginary world, I am surprised he was not one of those ones that wanted to join aliens in the tail of the comet a few years back! Yeah, Palin can satisfactorily read a speech written by her backers. She was lucky Catie Couric was not there to ask her questions...tough ones like "name a newspaper of magazine you have read". Palin's answer "I can't name one, but I read a lot of them!". Yeah, right! Here she quit her Governorship mid-term, because it was "too hard". Running Alaska has been equated to running a small town. Revenue is not much of an issue due to subsidies, and even then she managed to have all sorts of corrupt things going on. She left because the investigations were mounting. Guys like John like her because of her looks and they think she is "tough" and religious. She will end up being inept and will top the Bush administration in graft, corruption and stupidity. Hopefully, sensible Repubs, like Katie, will smell the rat and try to run a capable candidate, not a stuffed shirt!
Yes, "Rob" I am indeed "out there", running a business - which is difficult to achieve in an "imaginary" world. What do you do, 'Rob"?
Katie: with all due respect, you are opinion-driven; not fact-driven. Having spent time in D.C. somewhere in the distant past does not give you particular knowledge-by-osmosis of who and how many were there. I have provided factual information and you choose to ignore it. It is difficult to see with your head in the sand.
"Rob": Katie Couric's constant interruption, gotcha political angling viewed through her dermabraised "surprised"-Pelosi-like eyes was obvious to any intelligent viewer (except "Rob") and Palin shined her on, as she did Charley Gibson, who is now out of a job as a result of his resultant low ratings; Couric's are somewhere south of Baja as well.
"Rob": Couric's zambonied forehead and botox'd face belied a countenance bent on entrapment, and Palin wasn't having any part of it.
John, I have provided you the links and you choose to ignore them. I am totally fact driven and you are citing subjective sources. Face it - you are wrong on your figures.
My family is in DC, I was just there last month. You are reporting the smoke up your pants.
Provide me with factual info that can be verified with independent public sources and we can talk. Until then, you have a credibility issue.
John,
You now think that Fox News is lying to protect Democrats? Why don't you trust Fox News anymore?
Sarah Palin is providing giggles for businessmen at Hong Kong conventions. Great. Is it possible for Republicans to embarass the crap out of us any more?
John Stewart,
Managing a fantasy football team isn't running a business. What kind of business do you run?
As Marie knows quite well, I'm a Republican, but I have no use for the Stricklands. They are an embarrassment to their party and their constituents.
Rob, I wish we could have George Deukmejian back. I'd vote for him any day. But your IQ comment can be applied to many Democrats I can think of. For instance, Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer who act more like spoiled children than adults.
By the way, Angeles was just acquitted of all charges by a jury that found the witnesses against him to be less than suitably credible.
I fail to see what Sarah Palin has to do with anything in Marie's blog. But then changes of subject seem to be the order of the day on the Star's web site.
As Marie knows quite well, I'm a Republican, but I have no use for the Stricklands. They are an embarrassment to their party and their constituents.
Rob, I wish we could have George Deukmejian back. I'd vote for him any day. But your IQ comment can be applied to many Democrats I can think of. For instance, Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer who act more like spoiled children than adults.
By the way, Angeles was just acquitted of all charges by a jury that found the witnesses against him to be less than suitably credible.
I fail to see what Sarah Palin has to do with anything in Marie's blog. But then changes of subject seem to be the order of the day on the Star's web site.
Katie the RINO: What links ? I see only missing links.
"Rob": As Saul Alinsky used to say: If you can't respond with the facts, try to mock the messenger. Sadly, even that seems difficult for you.
JJJ: What ?
Student: With your level of understanding, you'll be a student you whole life.
As I've always said, the dumbest 52% voted for D'Ohbama.
John, you are resorting to personal attacks and name calling - a sign of desperation. Yet another nail in your crediblity coffin.
John,
Fox News doesn't support your numbers for the 9/12 protest. Why do you think they contradict you? Is it because they have suddenly chosen to undermine conservatives?
No, it is because you picked a false media report that is laughable. Your are off by more than a factor of ten. Fox News doesn't even support your position.
Katie, I do usually remove ad hominem attacks, but I guess I left this particular one up because it amply demonstrates how the right is using bullying tactics to get their message across these days.
John, you're a smart guy. You can do better than this.
Also, Katie is a founding member of a group which supports centrists in politics. You need more people in the Republican Party who think like her. Your tent is too small and most moderate Republicans have fled or are not relating to their party any more.
The Club for Growth, Tony Strickland's group, was set up to chase moderates out of the Republican Party:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_for_Growth
When Strickland left the Assembly, he became president of this group's California operations.
Katie, glad to hear you founded a group for Centrists in your party! The more I see of the local Democratic groups, the more I think they need the same thing! Their agenda has been hijacked by extremists, like VCCOOL types, who are promoting intensive development in Ventura, combined with "social equity" and "affordable housing", all in the name of "being green". Like the Republican extremists, these Democrat extremists make me wish there were more centrist thinkers involved. Maybe an Independent Party, with Centrists from all parties, is the way to go. Otherwise, all these others push their social agendas and repressed inner guilt off on the rest of us, under the guise of all sorts of "justifiable" causes. They have not moved on to accept a level playing field, where we all equally compete, and succeed accordingly. The failures of the old "quota systems" and "affirmative action" programs are something these extremists did not experience first hand. They long for such things, under other names, because they have a psychiatric void in themselves where they use such causes to convince themselves they are indeed "good people" afterall. I am ready to meet sane people in the middle! Good for you, Katie, we need it on the Demo side. Enough of these "new urbanists" and Rick Cole/Bill Fulton ego maniacal blowhards! Lets vote centrists in to office and improve our society!
John Stewart,
Why are you being defensive when I simply asked "what type of business do you run"?
You don't really run a business do you?
Rob - wearing my CPAC hat now - we have centrists from the Dem, Rep and DTS parties - no one gives up their party. So it is good for everyone because the extremists on both ends are making it bad for the broad middle. There isn't that much difference between most of the Dems and most of the Reps but they are not being represented anymore. That is why the Decline to State (DTS) block is the fastest growing voter block - people are SICK of the extremists!!!
*CAPC
I always do that!!!! CAPC CAPC CAPC CAPC
Katie: Having referred to you as a R.I.N.O. ( Republican in Name Only ) is a "personal attack" and "name-calling", just as criticizing Obama on anything is now a "racist attack". A R.I.N.O. is not a conservative, but a person who espouses a country club Republican thought process. Marxist types who want to control speech resort to such remarks.
Marie: To what "ad hominum attack" do you refer ? Referring to somone as a "R.I.N.O." is an opinion and can in no way be referred to as a "personal attack", "name-calling", or as an "ad hominum attack". I would refer to Colin Powell as a R.I.N.O. as well, as he calls himself a Republican and campaigned for Obama - there is nothing "personal" about it. Yes, I am a very smart guy and I know what I am talking about.
Student: " Managing a fantasy ........ is not a business...." from an unidentified intellectual buffoon is not a remark I choose to respond to. It is not "defensive " for me to choose not to reveal to you the nature of my business as much as it is "offensive" for you to ask. No manners, son. It is personal, none of your business and has nothing to do with the discussion. Someday when you are grown up, are more mature and have real responsibilities you may understand that concept. I've run a business for almost 40 years, son; have you a real name yet?
John, I would prefer arguments here be issues-based.
Insulting the intelligence of other bloggers and attacking them personally instead of attacking their arguments is usually the method of last resort when no other valid argument can be used.
Why waste your time arguing with someone that thinks Fox News is trying to undermine conservatism?
John, even Fox News reported the correct estimates.
John Stewart,
You brought up that you run a business not me.
When Tony Strickland took money from big tobacco he made it quite clear where his loyalty lies. I don't see any tobacco fields in Ventura County. How does that help us?
Intuit isn't in Ventura County either. Did Tony Strickland take money from Intuit because the government was thinking of giving the taxpayers free software to do their taxes and it might hurt Intuit's profits? How does that help the people?
Now Tony Strickland is taking money from the local government to pay for the States problems. Go figure.
Katie: You flatter yourself. Referring to you as a R.I.N.O. ( Republican in Name Only ) is not a "personal attack" nor am I "name-calling", just as criticizing Obama on anything is not a "racist attack" as is frequently claimed by his minions. A R.I.N.O. is not a true conservative, but a country club Republican who claims that middle of the road is the same as conservative. IMarxist types who want to control speech resort to such remarks as "personal attack" and "name-calling". You all have whined incessantly about my comment concerning the number of people in D.C. on 09/12 - I referenced the Daily Mail as the source - not Fox News.
Marie: To what "ad hominum attack" do you refer ? Referring to somone as a "R.I.N.O." is an opinion and can in no way be referred to as a "personal attack", "name-calling", or as an "ad hominum attack". I would refer to Colin Powell as a R.I.N.O. as well, as he calls himself a Republican and campaigned for Obama - there is nothing "personal" about it. Yes, you are correct, I am a very smart guy and I know what I am talking about.
Student: " Managing a fantasy ........ is not a business...." from an unidentified unintellectual buffoon is not a remark I choose to respond to. It is not "defensive " for me to choose not to reveal to you the nature of my business as much as it is "offensive" for you to ask. You obviously were not brought up with a modicum of mannerly behavior. No manners, son. It is personal, none of your business and has nothing to do with this discussion. Someday when you are a more seasoned citizen, to borrow a term Rush Limbaugh uses frequently, are more mature and have real responsibilities, you may understand that concept. I've run a business for almost 40 years, son, plus some time in the Marine Corps; have you a real name, son, or are you simply posing here?
Katie has referred mockingly to my "breathless yet erroneous reports", Rob has also mocked " John like his candidates based on emotional/religious appeal"; suggesting mockingly the "First Dude" may make off with the silverware, yet is unable to respond to anything of substance I've suggested - simnply a mocking tone - right out of the Saul Alinsky book. JJ, or JJJ, or JJJJ continues the mocking tone, with not a word from Marie - no substance whatsoever, Marie, from any of these characters. "Student" is allowed to continue the mock-brigade. Either you enforce substance here or you do not, Marie.
John,
Why won't you address the obvious problem with your choice of sources for the numbers at the 9/12 protest? Fox News and every mainstream American source says it was a fraction of the number your foreign press source list is as being.
Seriously, do you think Fox News is distorting the truth?
Dude, they are breathless and ERRONEOUS and you keep repeating them. Even the Washington Times (well known and respected DC paper) says attendence was in the 10,000's. I checked National Review and Human Events and don't see any figures. At least report National Review - Human Events is a little more iffy. NewsMax cites the same overseas source as you and they aren't particularly well respected. Give it up!
Mr. Stewart,
I don't have to agree with you just because you are old and you were in the military. If this was China that might work but it's not it's America.
Why don't you have manners and make a on topic comment?
The topic is "State Senate Republicans Playing Politics At Our Expense".
Student: So now it's "Mr. Stewart". That's progress. You're denied the ability to mock so now you suggest I'm off topic. Your analogy to China is simply irrelevant. Clean up your grammar ( "why don't you have manners and make a on topic comment" is a poorly-constructed sentence ). There is a reason why, in most societies, those older do tend to know a little more than the young.
Katie ( R.I.N.O. ) Teague: aka Dudette - I do nor recall referencing the Wash. Times, National Review, News Max, Human Events, or Fox News - again, I referenced Mail Online ( Daily Mail ) www.dailymail.co.uk aka Mail Foreign Service. I might also note that the Univ. of Illinois did a satellite grid count giving 1,700,000. Dan Bara of the National Park Service stated it was the largest event ever in attendance in D.C. For a color picture visit www.freedomworks.org. Also visit iusbvision.wordpress.com.
John, Carla Boney wrote an op-ed piece today on the Tea Party in DC. She quoted the same figures as you and even the same sources. I corrected the record in the comments but you should probably know about it.
Note Ventura resident Carla Bonney's article/photo in today's VC Star (pg. A17) re. her family's visit to the 9/12 D.C. march. She notes the D.C. police counted between 1.5 million and 2.1 million people and that ABC came up with 1.5 million.
This is a duplicate of info I listed on Carla Bonney's Teaparty op-ed piece she wrote yesterday. As I told her in an earlier e-mail, she should really start endorsing now that she has a "name". I would imagine the officials and "names" around her won't like that but why do all the work and get none of the glory?
9/12 CROWD ESTIMATES JUMP THE SHARK.... The "debate" over the size of the crowd for the right-wing protests in D.C. on Saturday have been painful to watch the last few days. Absurd claims and bogus photographs abound. This morning, Glenn Beck said a "university" put the number at 1.7 million, but he couldn't remember which one.
All of this has been embarrassing for a few days now, but the story didn't become farcical until today.
Yesterday on his radio program, while discussing the crowds at this weekend's 9/12 protests, Glenn Beck claimed that the London Telegraph "quote[d] a source from the Park Service, the National Park Service, saying that it is the largest march on Washington ever." This led to a good deal of confusion here, as the Telegraph article contains no such quote. Just another case of Beck making things up? Actually, the story behind this turns out to be much funnier than we could have anticipated.
Several conservative blogs have been quoting National Park Service spokesman "Dan Bana" as saying the 9/12 protest was "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever." This appears to be a repurposing of this quote from David Barna (who, unlike Dan Bana, appears to be a real person):
"David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the US Capitol grounds, National Mall, and parade route. 'It is a record,' Barna said. 'We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever.'"
There are an astounding number of conservative bloggers running with this today, all of whom are telling their readers that Saturday's protest was the largest in D.C. history. (My personal favorite was the one mocking "Democrats and their media acolytes" who refuse to believe it.)
The problem, of course, is that the quote conservatives are so excited about referenced the Obama inauguration. The article that generated all of this right-wing excitement has a headline that reads, "Inaugural crowd size reportedly D.C. record." The very first sentence in the article that the conservative bloggers relied on reads, "The National Park Service says it will rely on a media report that says 1.8 million people attended President Obama's inauguration."
Charles Johnson, himself a conservative blogger at Little Green Footballs, finds the right's approach to this rather depressing. "This is so pathetic I don't know whether to laugh or cry," he said, adding, "An epic, monumental fail."
—Steve Benen 3:45 PM Permalink |
This is a duplicate of info I listed on Carla Bonney's Teaparty op-ed piece she wrote yesterday. As I told her in an earlier e-mail, she should really start endorsing now that she has a "name". I would imagine the officials and "names" around her won't like that but why do all the work and get none of the glory?
I had to shorten the quote on this page but for the entire post go to the main page.
"Yesterday on his radio program, while discussing the crowds at this weekend's 9/12 protests, Glenn Beck claimed that the London Telegraph "quote[d] a source from the Park Service, the National Park Service, saying that it is the largest march on Washington ever." This led to a good deal of confusion here, as the Telegraph article contains no such quote. Just another case of Beck making things up? Actually, the story behind this turns out to be much funnier than we could have anticipated.
Several conservative blogs have been quoting National Park Service spokesman "Dan Bana" as saying the 9/12 protest was "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever." This appears to be a repurposing of this quote from David Barna (who, unlike Dan Bana, appears to be a real person):
"David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the US Capitol grounds, National Mall, and parade route. 'It is a record,' Barna said. 'We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever.'"
The problem, of course, is that the quote conservatives are so excited about referenced the Obama inauguration. The article that generated all of this right-wing excitement has a headline that reads, "Inaugural crowd size reportedly D.C. record." The very first sentence in the article that the conservative bloggers relied on reads, "The National Park Service says it will rely on a media report that says 1.8 million people attended President Obama's inauguration."
Katie: For a Republican you certainly seem anxious to dissuade anything positive concerning the conservative Two Million Man/Woman March in D.C. on 9/12. Talk about looking for loopholes. My facts are very accurate as are my comments. I was there, first of all- you were not. The "university" you challenge is, as noted for not the first time on this blog, the University of Illinois, which did a Google grid count, arriving at 1,700,000 - you challenged it on your comment nearby. You erroneously cite the London Telegraph, but, again for not the first on this blog, it was the London Daily Mail which referenced the 1.5 - 2.1 million count. Yes, ( you were correct ) it was David Barna, not Dan Bana, of the Park Service, which stated it was then largest gathering ever in D.C. The Senate committee ( mostly Democrats ) voted Obama's healthcare plan down in committee two days ago. Do you think the March on D.C. was effective or not? Now what do you think the count was ?
I am interested in facts and accuracy and I think this is independent of party ideology. The London Telegraph was quoted by someone else.
Was the DC March conservative? Carla keeps saying how it is non-partisan.
Since all sources (from Fox News to the Washington Times to MSM) say 10'000's - I will stick with that.
Katie, you are not interested in facts and/or accuracy. You are an ideologue of whatever stripe. The march was non-partisan as is the growing national revulsion with Obama. "All sources" do not say "10,000's". You are beating a really dead horse. Stick with what you want but you are wrong. By the way, Katie, I have a whole new thing for you to chew on: there could legally be a military takeover of the U.S. government, under this theory: U.S. military officers are sworn to " support and defend the constitution of the U.S. against all enemies, foreign and domestic". Enlisted men only are sworn to "obey the orders of the president of the U.S." Think about that. Ms. R.I.N.O.
I know I'm beating a dead horse. And you were the one who said it was a "conservative" march.
Well, duh - This is a center-right country. Most people are "conservative" - whther they call themselves "conservative", "independent", or "bluedog democrat" - so, yes, it was a "conservative" march with white, black, mexican and Asian "conservative" Americans.
No - it is a blue county now. Most people are in the center and aren't represented by the extremists that are currently being elected. Thus the DTS is the fastest growing voter block. This group is tired of not being represented.
Oh, I know - a "good" Republican wouldn't say that....
Juan,
Why not go with the figures from Fox News?
The VCRCC doesn't care what Ventura Republicans think. In my opinion they are in business accepting bribes from big corporations and money laundering.
Republicans like Katie Teague are the only chance the Republicans have of ever making a comeback. The VCRCC's biggest mistake is not believing a true conservative can have an indepedent thought. Katie Teague fills in that void. Those are the real conservatives and they are the ones who have to take back the party from the lunatic fringe.
Katie Teague is not a Republican, which is why the Obama voters like her. A "true conservative" tends to think like a "true conservative" and has the "independent" thoughts of a - liberal ?
Student - you are the nicest person in the world!
Juan/John - I've been a Republican all my life. As I said before, I am Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro-Troops, Pro-Truth and Pro-Integrity - can you say the same? If so, say it and use your real name.
Katie, I am so fed up with the local and State Democrats and their social agendas, that I am ending my life-long Democrat Pary affiliation. I am going to become one of the "DTS" members you describe. Do you have an organized group of local Centrists?? If so, where do I sign up? There must be some Centrist Republicans too, who do not support their extremists like Marie's article describes above?
The current City Council and their leftist supporters are taking us down the same path of ruin that led to the recent housing and financial collapse. They do not want a level playing field and are using our Tax Payer monies to subsidize housing for those that can't afford it! Can you believe they are out pushing this agenda again when we have such recent evidence of the disaster such policies cause to our country?? The local Democrat extremists sound eerily like Hugo Chavez! I am hearing from more and more people who are equally fed up and just want non-extremist policies from all parties. Look at the "comments" after this recent Star article about another one of our City Council's "accomplishments". It shows we are not alone in our frustration! How do we unite to bring back fairness and common sense? I hate to give up our society, and City, without fighting to prevent the extremists from ruining it!
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/29/ventura-council-oks-bonds-for-affordable-housing/
Katie: You forgot to say "Pro-Conservative"
We have Dems, Reps, and DTS - all are sick of the nutcases. Send me an email at katieteague@verizon.net for more info. All members can vote on the ratings for the upcoming Sheriff's race and Assembly primaries and weigh in if we want to rate/endorse for the City Council members.
DTS - "Decline to state" - Fair enough - then DON'T state you are a Republican, thank you very much, and go on to denigrate what conservatives are doing and in what numbers at D.C. on 9/12 - describing your choice being a result of being "sick of the nut cases" - the nuttiest case would appear to be you and your DTS/I'm really a Republican schizophrenia. Everything in the middle-of-the-road is referred to as "roadkill".
Juan, I have no clue who you are talking to - I'm not DTS but I am sick of the nutcases.
Tom Johnston - do you know who the SEIU endorsed for the City Council race? Results are supposed to be out 10/1/09 but I don't see them.
About the S.E.I.U. Union - probably the most corrupt union in the US - and the union-of-choice of Ventura's city employees - All matters involving the Walmart coming to Ventura should be viewed as a conflict-of-interest as between all personnel working for the City of Ventura because their union is S.E.I.U., which has paid money at the national and local level to orchestrate the non-opening of Walmart stores. This includes all planning staff and any other City staff either in the S.E.I.U. union or working on the Walmart matter. So far, the city staff has worked assiduously to reduce the footprint of the store multiple times, directly affecting Walmart's freedom to operate on their own property - a violation of their constitutional rights couched in the language of unelected planners - This over-dramatization of what Walmart does or doesn't do is orchestrated by the union using union dummies and other dummies to drag out their self-acknowledged " site fight " ( their term not mine ). Rick Cole knows this and should stand up like a man ( he reads this blog ) in the interest of transparency. The time for mature leadership on this has arrived, Rick. Of course Rick is a 'new urbanist", a philosophy which the entire planning staff in the City of L.A. ridicules and which only doctrinaire planners could love.
SEIU is not funding the anti-Wal-Mart campaign in Ventura. You are incorrect. Further, the footprint for the Ventura Wal-mart follows the city's General Plan document for the Victoria area. Not a place for big boxes in that area but they could go elsewhere.
I am quite correct. S.E.I.U president Andy Stern, through local CAUSE leaders, Livable Ventura,Stop Walmart Ventura, SEIU721,the Tri-counties Labor Foundation ( with its clenched fist socialist logo ) and led by Jim Alger, who has run anti-Walmart campaigns elsewhere are running this whole thing. The size of the footprint has been dictated from the beginning by SEIU and related individuals getting involved early with the planning process in order to control the final product. They are pawns of the union, whether they know it or not. The measure drafted for Ventura uses the same language as has been used elsewhere. Why would there be six separate labor organizations fighting this one project so intensely ? The United Food and Commercial Workers ( Von's etc. ), Tri-Counties Labor Found'n, Stop Ventura Walmart Coalition, Livable Ventura, Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy ( what a load ), Ventura County Working People's Alliance. Check out www.seui721.org - it's about the anti-walmart program as sustained and supported by Camille Harris.
I am quite correct. S.E.I.U president Andy Stern, through local CAUSE leaders, Livable Ventura,Stop Walmart Ventura, SEIU721,the Tri-counties Labor Foundation ( with its clenched fist socialist logo ) and led by Jim Alger, who has run anti-Walmart campaigns elsewhere are running this whole thing. The size of the footprint has been dictated from the beginning by SEIU and related individuals getting involved early with the planning process in order to control the final product. They are pawns of the union, whether they know it or not. The measure drafted for Ventura uses the same language as has been used elsewhere. Why would there be six separate labor organizations fighting this one project so intensely ? The United Food and Commercial Workers ( Von's etc. ), Tri-Counties Labor Found'n, Stop Ventura Walmart Coalition, Livable Ventura, Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy ( what a load ), Ventura County Working People's Alliance. Check out www.seui721.org - it's about the anti-walmart program as sustained and supported by Camille Harris. CAUSE has also promoted a "living wage" ordinance in the past - a Marxist concept. CAUSE has particularly strong ties with SEIU local 998, which supports "immigrant rights" and "universal healthcare". That's the Ventura city union.
Juandeveras:
SEIU fighting against Wal-Mart???
That's so Old School...
Where have you been during the last few months, Brother Juandeveras??
Didn't you know that in addition to Billy Tauzin, Chief Lobbyist for the American Pharmaceutical Giants, the American Medical Association, and SEIU, Wal-Mart has joined the Kumbaya Coalition in strong support of the President's Health Care Reform Initiative.. (Check out the URL above).
You know, the one with sketchy details, but chock-full of grand promises such as: (1) increased coverage, (2) elimination of pre-existing conditions exclusions, (3) lower health care costs, (4) preservation of physician's choice, (5) cheaper drugs, and (6) deficit neutrality....
You gotta hand it to the President, (or more precisely, David Axelrod, Rahm Emmanuel and Robert Gibbs) who've orchestrated one hell of prime-time show in the center ring of this big-top political circus...Remember Mr. Emmanuel’s choice quote, “..Never let a good crisis go to waste..”
Big Labor, joins with Big Medicine, Big Pharmaceuticals, and Big Retail (Wal-Mart is the 2nd Largest Company in the Whole Wide World!!!) to bring us health care nirvana. But as Scripture pointedly reminds us, Lucifer tempted Christ when he said, “..All this I will give to you, if you but worship me.”
Never mind that the price of such consumer worship could very well be a future of low-paying service jobs for our children equivalent to the 21st Century version of "indentured salary servitude" experienced by coal miners throughout the 19th and early parts of the 20th century..
Then, they lived in substandard company houses, paid for by company script, redeemable only at company stores. Today, the market-choice fiction is embellished with stores as big as canyons, featuring the sexiest marketing schemes possible, designed ever so effectively and painlessly to prompt you to reach into your pocket and buy things that you don’t really need, but absolutely have to have to keep-up-with the Joneses.. And very little of those things are made here in the Good Ol U.S.ofA., but that’s a subject of whole different blog entry..
And besides, who could resist the ever present customer assistance provided by avuncular, smiling greeters, who usually supplement their meager social security checks through the personal beneficence of Sam Walton and his business minions..
Not to mention the smiling faces of all those newly found Captains’ of Global Industry, the Capitalist Comrade Generals of the People’s Liberation Army. Why they are only too happy to take dollars by the billions from all of us hard-working American consumers to fatten their wallets and increase the balance of trade surplus held in foreign reserve accounts by the People’s Republic of China.. Long live the Glorious Socialist (oopps..that’s Capitalist) Revolution!!....
As Lech Walesa, used to remind his Solidarnosc colleagues, “..In capitalism, man exploits man.. In socialism, it’s the other way around…”
So, Brother Juandeveras..there you have it.. As they say, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” You just have check, every now and then, who your latest coalition partner is under all those less than transparent political bed sheets..
NostraDemus
How can you automatically lump the 7,000 + signers and supporters of Measure C into a smear basket by aligning them with any or all of the organizations who are against Walmart? These independent citizens and candidates are not necessarily members of those organizations. 10's of thousands of Venturans don't think we need a Walmart, They are Republicans, libertarians,Independents and Democrats. It is not a political decision for them, but a quality of life decision. Some of the candidates support Measure C for practical reasons, not ideological. Certainly candidates who support Measure C do not see themselves as pawns of the unions, but rather as practical, independent thinkers who do not make knee jerk decisions on either the right or the left.
The TriCounties Labor Council doesn't have a clenched fist logo. Alger is gone. Juandeveras is still catching up.
Go to this website: Ventura "Tri-Counties Labor Foundation"
Click: VCWP - "Ventura County Working People's Alliance"
Scroll to the bottom and you will be greeted with a logo with not one but three clenched fists with the words "United in Purpose" written in the middle over a veiled copy of the words "we the poeple" as written at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence. This term "Tri-Counties" is used in many locations around the country as a generic labor organizing group name.
PS - the above three-fisted "Tri-Counties Labor Foundation" logo is a triangle shape - on one side is "Tri-Counties", on the second is "Labor" and on the third is "Foundation". Pretty explicit, wouldn't you say, "correcto" ? Am I catching up fast enough ?
PPS - There is a difference between the Tri-Counties Foundation and the Tri-Counties Labor Council. The latter is AFC-CIO. Instead of a clenched fist logo as is the case with the former, they have a photo of a group of clenched fist "workers" on the title portion of each page of their "Solidarity Center" site - a promo for AFC-CIO's hope for covering the entire world someday. The comments on the site concerning Honduras, which Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Obama and Hillary are encouraging to be overthrown, by the AFL-CIO reps on the scene, Glasdys Cisneros and Stephen Wishart are claiming falsely that ousted president-who-wants-to-be-dictator-like-Hugo-Chavez Manuel Zelaya's failure to overthrow the duly-elected existing government and to defy the legislative and judicial branch, is "dashing the hopes of the Honduran people for a restoration to democracy and constitutional order. In the midst of this infuriating and heartbreaking situation, the courage and spirit of the Honduran
people is remarkable and inspiring". This is pue Marxist propaganda on the part of the AFL-CIO representatives.
I have nothing to do with any grocery/labor unions. I am going to vote "Yes" on C simply because I just came from Trader Joe's and the parking and traffic was a nightmare! People were complaining about the crowding there, several in line were saying "Vote Yes On C" or this will get worse if WalMart comes in. Put a WalMart down where the Mervyns was, as there is plenty of space for it. Preferrably, just drive the couple minutes to Oxnard. Target has better prices nowadays anyway....
I go to Trader Joe's all the time and there are never more than six rows of spaces taken up.
Today on KVTA the DRC chair stated, among other things, that Walmart wanted to redirect the angle of the parking stripes from 45 degrees to 90 degrees. The DRC said "no", but allowed Target to do the same thing when they proposed to remodel their Ventura stores. He also stated the DRC wanted Walmart to visually "connect" the Walmart store to the street somehow ? In Ventura the DRC chair is also on the Planning Commission - and the Planning Commission / Planning Department is staffed by the S.E.I.U.
Today we received a mailer from the grocery store workers union with their microscopic return address next to the freeway in Camarillo telling us that any store on Victoria ( except Ralph's, of course, across the street ) would cause endless traffic jams - unless, of course, they were unionized and of course traffic problems would miraculously disappear.
There is a certain underlying deceit to the campaign being waged by the grocery store workers' union. It is almost despicable. The money behind this campaign certainly must be on the backs of the union grocery store workers. Trader Joe's, sharing the same parking lot as the proposed Walmart on Victoria, is also non-union, but there is no outrage from the union on that. I would like these union goons to come forward publicly, show their grubby mugs to the citizens of this community and publicly justify all these outrageous claims and expensive mailers to their members and to the public, mailed from their offices in Suite G at the bottom of the Camarillo grade. It's enough to make one not want to shop at Vons or Ralphs.