GOTV

If there is a time when Greens need to make sure that we vote, it is now. At a time of declining registration and overall declining voter participation, it is essential to show that we are still here and still mean something.

There were a number of Green candidates this year who are clearly worthy of election. Just to name a few, Bill Paparian and Byron DeLear for Congress. Both have run very good campaigns, a cut above many which I have seen in the past. Forrest Hill is the only one of the candidates for Sec. of State that has a rational, workable plan for solving the many problems associated with voting in California. No matter what happens with his candidacy, we need to continue the work to make sure that these changes happen.

A number of candidates will end up with debts. We need to have a way to help get them paid off quickly. It is not a good example to set for future candidates.

And then we need to begin working for 2008: identifying the key races where Greens can make a difference. Identifying those issues that can help build our presence. I may be a maverick, but I want to quote from a comment posted to my Anti-Pombo diary at dailyKos (yeah, I know... a Democratic blog that does not promote democratic value):

if democrats took the latino vote seriously in the central valley, especially the san joaquin half, and aggressively worked to recruit leaders and activists as well as voters from the community over the long haul (not just the weekend before election day), the central valley could end up looking a lot different politically.

the latino vote could be a real sleeper in this election, if macpherson hasn't already purged them from the rolls. spanish speaking canvassers and phonebankers are gold; if you know the language, please come out this weekend!

I know that Clean Water Action Project burned over $50,000 registering voters in San Joaquin county, mostly in towns with a high percentage of Hispanic voters. I still believe that a heavy focus on local issues and the Hispanic voters, that the Green Party can make major gains in the San Joaquin Valley.

Now, stop reading this and go help GOTV.

Apathy is the greatest enemy.

I want to pass on an OpEd written by Pete McCloskey and distributed electronically. The campaign to get rid of Richard Pombo began in the blogosphere. I started PomboWatch in 2004. That was followed by votepomboout@yahoogroups.com. Then, another site, A Better Congress, and another blog, Say No to Pombo. It is only fitting that his last comments of this campaign end up in the blogosphere.

And if anyone questions why I would quote a Republican on a Green Party oriented blog does not know the man.

Apathy is our Greatest Enemy

The benefit of closely-contested elections cannot be better demonstrated than here in Northern California where we have been recently blessed with the visits and advocacy of not only President Bush, his lovely wife Laura, Vice President Cheney and Speaker of the House Hastert, but also by former President Bill Clinton. But now, as Rudyard Kipling once wrote: "The tumult and the shouting dies. The kings and princes do depart...."

And lest we forget, whether the powerful Richard Pombo and John Doolittle remain in office, and indeed, which party will control the House of Representatives next year, depends on the ordinary citizen who cares enough to vote. But here, unfortunately, apathy reigns supreme. It may be the greatest enemy of the democracy we are privileged to have inherited.

It is regrettable that the combination of gerrymandering, the recent Abramoff bribery, ethics and other scandals, coupled with the conduct of men like Tom DeLay, Robert Ney, Duke Cunningham and Mark Foley, all of whom have resigned in disgrace, seems to have deterred so many voters from participating in our country's greatest legacy, that of the free and secret voting process. Our various voting registrars say that we will be lucky to see a 50% voting turnout next Tuesday, despite the serious issues which face the next Congress. The turnout of our younger generation, those with the most at stake, may be less than 30%

The recent poll showing that less than a third of the people respect what Congress has been doing is not as disappointing as the fact that half of the electorate doesn't seem to care enough to try to change it. Even Iraqis participate more than Americans in the democratic process we have so proudly pioneered and have suggested is the answer to the world, enforced if necessary by the "shock and awe" firepower or other means to achieve regime change in governments we deem inimical to U. S. interests.

In part, I believe voter disinterest stems largely from the gerrymandering which has made most citizens understandably despair that their votes can make a difference. But that does not explain the widespread apathy in the 4th and 11th Districts.

Whatever may be the result of the November 7th elections, let us hope that the citizenry will now rise up and demand the creation of an honorable system of drawing congressional district lines The politicians of both parties have repeatedly demonstrated their unwillingness to do more than reassure their own re-elections. The result has been that of California's 53 congressional districts, in only 3 do voters have a chance to force policy changes in the People's House. It was the Democrats, after all, under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi, that made that unholy bargain back in 2002 to assure the retention of 30 Democrat seats in return for the guarantee of 20 Republican seats. That 2 of those seats, those in the 4th and 11th Districts, are occupied by avid supporters of the Iraq War and Jack Abramoff, and are challenged with vigor by two inexperienced but patriotic commoners, has brought great attention to us throughout the nation, but alas, is still unable to get more than half of our citizens to care enough to vote. Even Presidents and former Presidents have been unable to stimulate the other half to vote. It's sad. We owe more to the fine young men and women risking their lives for us around the world, whether in combat or diplomatic and humanitarian service.

If DeToqueville were to revisit America today, he would probably conclude that Americans deserve what they get in the quality of their political leaders.

Pete McCloskey, Rumsey, California. November 4, 2006

I want to call attention to what a European Green activist, Markus Petz, has posted on the Rural Green email list.

If you want to develop red green alliances and fora why not!

The Social Fora that came out of the Port Allegre process - I never heard anything about the American (as in USA)social fora - what are you doing and are they as effective as ours are in europe, asia, africa and latin america? aimed to do just that. If you look at the ESF you can see how successful - or not that has been) in the face of entryism and attempts to push Green things off the agenda.

Similarly you can look around to some actual Green - red parties. Or even as in Russia where the Yabloko has just swallowed up the Greens (relegating Greens to "environment" and thus ignoring economic aspects (like LETS - Local Exchange Trading System), housing reforms (like co-operative housing rather than state owned) or small business policies (such as locally produced and sold food by growers directly as fair trade) to being irrelevant issues to the Green methods and messages.

Of course any union has compromises, but red green ones often sacrifice soem fundamental green principals of localization (english not french sense) and independence to solidarity and mass decsion making on behalf instead of by the peeople.

This should make an interesting discussion given the tendencies of some in the GPCA.

Why the Green Party and our priorities

Looking past this election, a review of why we need to support the Green Party. Plus what our priorities need to be.

1. Modern industrial societies, including America, are facing multiple crises (environmental unsustainability and poverty alongside wealth, etc.)

2. Only the government, not private individuals or corporations, can bring about the needed changes. American government is not responsive to the long-term needs of the majority of the population. The political parties, including the Democratic Party, are hopelessly captured by wealthy corporate and wealthy interests, which prevent the government from taking effective action to solve or even alleviate the crises. The two major Parties are part of the problem, and cannot be changed.

3. Therefore a new political Party, the Green Party, must get control of the government in order to implement solutions to the environmental and social problems. The Green Party is defined by our 10 Key Values.

4. In order for the Green Party to get elected, we need to reform the electoral system. The current rules are set up to maintain the monopoly of the Republicans and Democratic Parties.

5. A. The first electoral change needed is Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) a.k.a. Ranked Choice Voting. IRV is needed whenever there is a single winner. IRV provides a better manifestation of voter intent when there are more than two candidates in a race. In other words, IRV prevents "spoiling" where 2 candidates who share some positions divide the votes, and another candidate who represents viewpoints held by a minority of the electorate thereby gets the most votes and thus is elected under the current rules.
B. The likely path of implementation is for IRV to be approved by Cities and Counties, then by States, and finally for Federal races.

6. Proportional Representation should be used, in whole or in part, for legislative bodies with many members. Example: the German Parliament elects half its members in single-seat districts, and half by proportional representation using the Party Slate. If the Green Party got 10% of the vote, then 10% of the proportional seats would go to Green Party candidates.

7. The goal of our democracy is to reduce or eliminate the influence of money on political decisions.Other reforms to be considered are:
A. campaign financing reform, to restrict the maximum contribution from corporations and the wealthy
B. public campaign financing
C. media reform that educates voters and reduces the need for campaign spending.
D. Citizen Assembly, where legislatures are selected randomly (like a jury pool), whose recommendations are all sent to the voter for confirmation.

8. Once our government has established the above reforms, then the democratic process would implement the goals of the Green Party, primarily by the voters electing candidates of the Green Party. Once Greens start getting elected, other Parties will start agreeing with our policies.

9. The highest priority of the Green Party should be promoting these electoral reforms, by education and by lobbying politicians.

10. The other high priority should be working on the local, nonpartisan, level to elect people who agree with our values and goals. Electing people on the local level will make possible in the future electing people to partisan state and federal offices.

+Orval Osborne

" ___ makes cowards of us all. "

So many people have played off this line from Hamlet:

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.

Vince Lombardi used it as "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." Tim Canvanaugh changed it to "Cartoons make cowards of us all." when discussing editorial policy and the (in)famous Danish cartoons on the intafada.

Maybe it shoud be paraphrased again about political debate where anyone with something to lose will refrain from meeting bright, well prepared challengers with nothing to lose. So it happened with Dr. Forrest Hill and the advertised "debate" with candidates for Secretary of State that was to be held in San Diego.

Unfortunately, such debate is now going to be a seminar on electoral reform. For the one candidate with significant new ideas to not have a chance to debate them with Bowen and McPherson indicates that neither is really interested in changing the status quo.

The session will still be held, same time, same location and Hill will be a speaker. It just lacks the abilty to make it into major media.

Good News

While still a long way from where we want to be, there are signs that the GPCA is making progress in its ability to get into the media and to participate in the interplay of ideas and values that should make up politicl discourse in this state. The evidence is there and includes:

Dr. Forrest Hill has gotten incuded in at least one debate between candidates for Secretary of State. That debate focuses on electoral reform, Hill's signature issue. As the one candidate with a practical solution to our problems, he should more than hold his own.

Byron De Lear (28th CD) is getting getting into the press and is running an Ad (along with Peter Thottam, Candidate for Assembly) in the L. A. Weekly.

Bill Paparian (29th CD) has garnered the endorsement of Danny Bakewell, owner of the largest African American owned newspaper in the state and also that of Bob McCloskey, who lost the Democratic Primary to incumbent Adam Schiff. Schiff is now making trumped up charges, not against the Republican Candidate, but against Paparian and uses the Nader effect as a scare tactic.

In general, Green Candidates have become more sophisticated in the manner in which they use the media to extend their reach and attract more voters. Some of this direction is coming from the Media Committee and from the GPCA Press Secretary, Cress Velucci.

As a blogger, one area where I know we can improve is the use of the internet and blogs as a tool for increasing the community of users and motivating grassroots support. In the campaign where I am most active, that in the 11th Congressional District, the staff of the Democratic Candidate, Jerry McNerney, has learned how to utilize this community (PomboWatch, SayNoToPombo, CA-11, Progressive 11) to help the campaign. The bloggers have played a major role in organizing activists from the Bay Area to participate in door-to-door canvassing, show up for rally's, protest at Pombo events. They have been effective enough at this that Pombo even complained about it to a local (Manteca Bulletin) reporter.

At the same time, they have used the diaries in DailyKos to encourage participation and to help manage the perception that McNerney can win. In this case, the target was really the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who was so sure that McNerney could NOT win that they backed someone else in the primary.

In a TV interview for NBC 11 (San Jose) McNerney gave credit saying that "the grassroots are on fire." The final result is a late campaign addition of DCCC produced television ads in the district, already up on You Tube and SayNoToPombo concurrent with being shown on TV in the district.

The key is to not lose what we have learned, not to let those media contacts be lost, but to carry this forward, past this election, aiming to use the media credibility we have established and to be in a position to define the next big story.

Forrest Hill Joins Debate

If there is a single issue that separates Forrest Hill from the other candidates for Sec. of State (Bowen and McPherson) it is that of electoral reform. When a pre-election debate is going to focus on that one issue, he needs to be in the debate and, for once, a major paper recognizes that fact.

Forrest to join Bowen and McPherson at Elections Debate

Dr. Forrest Hill is scheduled to debate Debra Bowen (D) and Bruce McPherson (R) at a Town Hall meeting in San Diego on the issue of election integrity. The meeting is scheduled to be covered by local TV and news outlets.

Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Location: San Diego County Office of Education
Address: 6401 Linda Vista Road, CA 92111
Time: 5:50 p.m.

View Map of debate location

For more information contact Sherry at sherry@califelectprotect.net or call Jim at 760 500-1927.

From early on, I have supported Forrest and urge S. Cal. Greens to follow the debate, or better yet, attend it.

Truth in Advertising

If politics had a truth in advertising law, there are a lot of politicians who would find themselves fined or behind bars. Let me give you a case in point.

It appears that the "Republican Angst" in this election does have a few bright spots, and one of them may be in LA County. Here, Democratic Incumbent Adam Schiff is pulling out all of the stops in his bid for re-election. In particular, he is playing the Nader card.

In a campaign with three acive candidates, Schiff seems to be so worried about losing that he is attacking not the Reublican candidate, but rather the Green Party Candidate Bill Paparian. The fear, that because of Paparian, a Republican might win, plays to the old Democratic phobia of all things Green.

Still, Schiff gives a very good example of why he should not be trusted by anyone, especially his Democratic constituents. He sent out a fundraising letter that stated "But this year, I also have a former elected official from my district running as a third party candidate who is outspending the Republican and has so far outspent me."

Well, truth never brought in any money, so why not try bullshit. If you want truth, you have only to look at the real data for expenditures in this race as reported to the Federal Elections Commission. When it comes to fundraising, truth might hurt.

We should get Bill a bit more money.

Clean Water and Dolores Huerta

There is a very real chance that the 11th CD race (Pombo vs. McNerney) will turn on an unexpected (especially by Pombo) series of events. There were a lot of things happening right now and some indicators show the race to be a tossup. A recent poll showed, given the right conditions, McNerney had a 10 point advantage. The "right conditions" were that these questions were asked after the poll taker read a positive statement on both candidates.

I was surprised when I head the results, because I happened to one who respoded to a poll that was structured exactly in that manner.

So, if it is that close, what are those difference makers? It is not the $650,000 + that the National Republican Campaign Comittee has thrown into the race. It is not the very large amounts spent by the Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club. Actually it starts with Proyecto las Voces del Valle, working in conjunction with Clean Water Fund, have registered 10,592 voters, including 5,946 Latinos in just San Juaquin County. This represents a radical change in voters when the overall voter registration has gone down. I discussed this in an earlier post on another blog.

The second major event was the fact the Dolores Huerta, still active and passionate at age 76, has been stumping the district to campaign for the Democratic Candidate, Jerry McNerney. This was very well described by columnist Marty Cheek in the Morgan Hill Times last Tuesday. (subscription required).

The 76-year-old woman, who worked closely with Cesar Chávez fighting for farm workers in the 1960s, told a crowd of about 50 people outside the club's Main Street headquarters that Latino voters must support McNerney in his race against incumbent Rep. Richard Pombo, a Republican. McNerney is a better choice, she said, because he stands for human rights, improving public education, and dealing wisely with immigration issues.

Huerta also reminded people that Pombo is Portuguese, not Hispanic, and in the Centeral Valley that is a distinction of class as much as it is of national origin.

As the population of California shifts, this change will play out in district after district. People with the charisma of Dolores Huerta will inevitably influence the manner in which these new voters enter the political spectrum. I wonder exactly what the Green Party is doing about it, because this is absolutely one area where we have made a lot of noise, but probably have not registered 5,946 Latinos.

For some more background. La Proyecto de los Voces del Valle is headed by Angel Picon. Picon is a SEIU activist and the past president of the Stockton Chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

From Santa Clara County to you.

The team in Santa Clara County managed to get fantastic coverage of a candidate's forum out of the Fox affiliate in Oakland, KTVU, Channel 2. You got that right, a FOX affiliate. I watche it when it ran, but now, thanks to the work of "jamboi" and also our Sec. of State candidate, Forrest Hill, we have the segment up on You Tube.

You can watch it here.

Canada has a plan, what about California

I have been reading the Green Party of Canada document, GP2. Green Party, Green Plan. They consider it a "greenprint" for the future. There are two features of this plan that I think notable.

The very opening statement frames the entire document very well. "The Green Party of Canada plan for a sustainable future grounded in fiscal responsibility, ecological sanity and social justice is set out in its policies and in its 2006 federal election platform." It is not the whole nine yards of Green theory. It is a simple statement that there are three areas that must be considered together and without which no government can govern.

Still, on the first page, they signal the fact that they are willing to work with other parties on items of mutual interest.

The Green Party is committed to supporting other political parties who put forward substantial measures to improve environmental health, reducing health threats to our children and other vulnerable members of society – pregnant women, the unborn, the elderly, the sick and the poor – while averting global crises, particularly increasing climatic instability caused by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Both of these seem to be anti-thetical to the rhetoric that dominates the discourse from some Greens including the top of our ticket, Peter Camejo. The rhetoric that says there is no difference between the two parties is only partly accurate. Yes, it is true in the political sense that they are both dependent on corporate money. It is not true in terms of policies. Greens, especially here in California, must learn that they can play a role as the difference maker, supporting some Democratic proposals, even supporting some Republican proposals and holding out for that which we all know is right when no one else gets it.

Read the Canadian Plan and tell me if I am wrong. As the Green Party of CA (California, not Canada) sturggles to put together a two year plan, they could not go very wrong in using the Canadian plan as a model.

Nancy Pelosi vs. Bill Moyers

I sent the following note this AM to Krissy Keefer this AM. Keefer is running agains Nancy Pelosi for Congress in San Francisco.

The Sacrament Bee today has a story on Pelosi. They talk of her plan for her 1st 100 hrs. as Madam Speaker. Accoring to the AP reporter, D. Aspo,

Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation."

However according to Bill Moyers on his Oct. 4 program, Capitol Crimes:

I saw the other day a very powerful House member, Democrat, saying, you know, "We're going after some uncharted sources of money in the financial community. And we're telling them that the next majority leader might be a Democrat.

Is "Madam Speaker" for real, or is she Tom Delay in a skirt?

Capital Crimes

I am not sure how many of you might have watched Bill Moyers program last night, Capitol Crimes. If you didn't, I suggest that you spend some time on the PBS site at the link above.

Moyers does his normally thorough job of disecting the issues surrounding Jack Abramoff and everything that he managed to accomplish to line his own bank account and consolidate his power. Some very specific points became abundantly clear.

Ralph Reed was a hypocrit of the highest order. For someone to stand up as a leader of the "Christian Coalition" and fund his lying efforts from gambling money while using an anti-gambling message to help keep down the competition is pure hypocrisy.

The power driven excesses of Tom DeLay, feeding a lavish life style and a retirement plan for Mrs. Delay (among other things) in exchange for passing (or killing) legislation is bad. Then, to stand there and refer to people seeing Christ in his posture as he resigned from the House puts DeLay ahead of even Reed in being a hypocrit.

Then, to come to Ed Buckham, who made his money building up a Christian non-profit that acted to launder money for the Abramoff / Delay machine, all the while praying with his pastor whom he had duped into heading the US Family Network. Thank you, Pastor Gleeson. for having the will to appear on Moyers's program.

After watching this, I went to the PBS site and find that they ask a simple question: After Abramoff, do you trust your Rep? Most people do.

The conslusion was interesting. A simple discussion with Moyers, historian Thomas Frank and journalist Norman Ornstein, both of who have recent books on the subject and both of whom a pessimistic about short range solutions to the problem because BOTH PARTIES (Nader was right on this) have a vested interest in the status quo. Moyers even cited on Democratic Fund raiser who was going to financial institutions to solicit money on the basis of the fact that "Democrats may control the new congress."

Ornstein probably hit the nail on the head. "We will get the reform when they (Congress) believe that we will have the tar cooking and the feathers waiting if they don't do reform."

The current Administration has lost it's moral authority to lead in world politics. The current Congress has lost it's moral authority to lead in American politics.

Greens in California should be taking this message to the people and offering themselves as an alternative. There is no organization so dedicated to the principles of grassroots advocacy and so much against the power of corporate money. As Green Alex Walker frequently complains, where is the outrage?

Too long gone

I have been gone too long from this venue. But, it has been worth it. Having Bush doing a fund raiser for my favorite target, Richard Pombo, is one indication of how exciting this race is getting. Hank Shaw of the Stockton Record provides the another with this story on the latest polling. Jerry McNerney 48%, Richard Pombo 46%. Undecided 6%. That is a low undecided number for this time in an election cycle.

As Hank wrote me in an email today, "This is shaping up to be a good one. Hang on!" I can't imagine anything that excites a political reporter more than a good, tight race, one that has tinges of sex scandals, charges of corruption, vast differences in policies, quickly changing demographics in the district and a lot of lazy media dealing us the conventional wisdom without looking at the facts.

In all of this, I have learned a lot about how to run a campaign and I can't wait to get started on the next one. It is great watching some masters (Pete McCloskey for one) at work.

Global Warming / Local Action

I just received a post re: last night's session of the Pasadena, CA City Council. The City Council established Global Warming Standard for Pasadena. According to Pasadena City Utility Commissioner, Roger Gray (also a Green blogger) they changed the name of that commission to "the Environmental Commission and tasked with Enviro oversight in Pasadena.

If this can happen in a City supposedly known to be arch conservative, it can happen anywhere.

Tie this to Al Gore's speech at NYU yesterday and you have coast-to-coast action re Global Warming.

Of rights, risks and relocation

Yesterday, I posted a quotation (George Kennan) that came to me from Helen McCloskey. I would like to amplify the issue today with a reference to the August 30 column of Mike Fitzgerald in the Stockton Record. He takes the essence of Kennan's quotation and shows us that it is something that we need to be concerned about right now, today, as the war on terror begets our unique brand of xenophobic terrorism.

Where Kennan warns us about becoming "intolerant, secretive, suspicious, cruel, and terrified of internal dissension because we have lost our own belief in ourselves and in the power of our ideals" Fitzgerald tells us that we already have. He is writing about the issue of suspected Islamic "fascist" terrorism in Lodi, CA.

The latest wrinkle: Federal authorities won't allow two Pakistani-Americans related to Lodi terror convict Hamid Hayat to come home from an extended stay in Pakistan until they take a lie-detector test.

Muhammad Ismail, 45, and his son, Jaber Ismail, 18, are U.S. citizens. They are charged with no crime. No U.S. official publicly has alleged any wrongdoing on their part.

But their constitutional rights seem to have done a Houdini.

Fitzgerald asks whether we have learned anything. "The people with badges got the Japanese relocation tragically wrong. What have we learned? How are we better?" I think that the answer is clear. Those in power will use any means possible to retain power and the easiest method is to unite against a common enemy. "We have met the enemy and he is us. "

I think that I would like to see out Senatorial Candidate in Lodi, holding a news conference. If anyone is going to speak out on this issue, it should be Chretien.

The power of our ideals

Helen McCloskey, wife of one time Congressman Pete McCloskey, sent out a short, but very pertinent email this AM. I would like to pass it on because it is so appropriate in America today.

Fifty years ago, George Kennan, one of the keenest strategists against the Communist threat, hastened to warn that "something may occur in our own minds and souls which will make us no longer like the persons by whose efforts this republic was founded and held together, but rather like representatives of that very power we are trying to combat: intolerant, secretive, suspicious, cruel, and terrified of internal dissension because we have lost our own belief in ourselves and in the power of our ideals."

Careless GMO use cost rice farmers big bucks

The following is from a blog entry by Carl Pope today.

For years the Sierra Club, biologists, and government analysts have warned that the rules regulating genetically modified crops were too weak, that the idea that these varieties could be as controlled in the field as they can in the laboratory was reckless in the extreme, and that genetic contamination was the almost certain outcome. Now, genetically modified rice, produced by Bayer CropScience, has contaminated America's rice crop, in spite of the fact that it has never been approved for human consumption! In response, Japan suspended imports of long-grained rice from the U.S. a week ago, and the European Union followed suit Wednesday. Yesterday, rice farmers in California, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas sued for loss of the export opportunities for the $1.81 billion rice crop.

While the industry in the US will swear that there is no harm to humans from consumption of this rice, there is a great deal of harm to the US rice industry.

This comes just when California State Senate is deciding on what to do with SB 1056. I can not think of any greater reason to let this bill die a quiet death.

This is not going to make the US media, consumed as it is with Jon Benet Ramsey. However, it did make it on to Reuters..
Call a Senator today and tell them to stop this bill. It is bad for American Agriculture, as well as our health.

Other links on this story:

• 
  Organic Consumers Association
  
• Californians for GE-Free Agriculture
  
• City of Santa Cruz
  

SB 1056

I wrote before about the insidious nature of SB 1056. In some circles, it is called the "Monsanto Bill." Now, it has passed the Assembly and the hope is that we can stop it in the State Senate.

I had another good link for further information on SB 1056. It is at a site called Environmental Commons and makes the flat statement that "SB1056 is "stealing a fundamental right of our communities to protect our families' health and shape our own future."

I need to thank Jean Comfort for sending this and also for sending out an alert on SB 1056, contacting your State Senators and voice a strong opposition to the bill. I called mine today, Abel Maldonado (Rep. Dist 15), whom I really expect to be a strong supporter of the bill. I did make the point that I write for a local paper in his district and that this will come up in my writing.

Among all of the other things that we have to take a position on, I urge Greens to stand up for the right of local government to make their own decisions on how best to protect their citizens.

Things are not what they seem.

That admonition is especially true in the wild west world of California Initiatives. One only has to watch the advertisements for or against any given initiative to gain that understanding.

Probably the most insidious of the current set of Propositions is Prop. 90.

Bars state and local governments from condemning or damaging private property to promote other private projects, uses. Limits government’s authority to adopt certain land use, housing, consumer, environmental and workplace laws and regulations, except when necessary to preserve public health or safety. Voids unpublished eminent domain court decisions. Defines “just compensation.” Government must occupy condemned property or lease property for public use. Condemned private property must be offered for resale to prior owner or owner’s heir at current fair market value if government abandons condemnation’s objective. Exempts certain governmental actions. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unknown, but potentially significant major future costs for state and local governments to pay damages and/or modify regulatory or other policies to conform to the measure’s provisions. Unknown, potentially major changes in governmental costs to acquire property for public purposes. (SA2005RF0146.)

This will probably be advertised as a method to end abuses of the eminent domain processes made famous in the Kelo v. New London case recently decided by the Supreme Court. That case expands the use of eminent domain to cover cases where the property will be given back to private enterprise and the only benefit to the local government would be additional tax revenue. The July 24, 2006 edition of High Country News reveals that this is just a cover for a well funded, major effort in which "property-rights advocated have exploited Kelo to advance a broader anti-government agenda."

California's Proposition 90 would have serious consequences for all environmental regulation, all restrictive zoning regulation, even on home owners associations who collectively may attempt to restrict the nature of development.

I urge everyone to read High Country News' feature article by Ray King. Taking Liberties does more than outline the scope of this Grover Norquist - Wise Use Movement effort. King provides insights from lengthy interview with one of the signature gatherers who considers himself a "proud libertarian." He also shows both sides of the ongoing discussion in Oregon, where Measure 37 was approved by the voters in 2004 and has resulted in a bonanza for land use lawyers and almost none of the promised benefits.

If you think that it is great for California that over 30,000 new homes have been built in the flood plain of the San Joaquin River since the last major flood (1997) and that the levee system has been labeled a disaster waiting to happen that could surpass Katrina's flooding of New Orleans in scope, this is what Proposition 90 would encourage. If, on the other hand, you think that government should restrict development in flood plains and ensure that the average tax payer is not saddled with the financial obligation to bail out this un-wise use of the land, then Greens all over the state should be strongly opposing Proposition 90.