CRP Statement on State Supreme Court Decision to Reject Redistricting Lawsuits

SACRAMENTO – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement today in response to the decision by the California State Supreme Court to reject the legal challenges to the state's new Senate and Congressional maps:

 

"We remain committed to the efforts that will ensure the integrity of the line drawing process for the upcoming election and all elections going forward. In the absence of a written opinion, we can only speculate as to why they made this decision, but we are resolute in gathering the signatures necessary so that voters can weigh in on this matter, as contemplated by Props 11 and 20."

Source: CA GOP

Governor Brown to Release Pension Reform Plan Tomorrow in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. will unveil his proposals to reform California’s public employee pension system tomorrow in Sacramento.

 

 Press Conference

 When: Tomorrow, Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.

 Where: Governor's Press Conference Room, Room 1190, California State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814

 

 **Note: This press conference is open to credentialed media only. It will be webcast on the Governor's website at: www.gov.ca.gov.

 

 Post-Press Conference Policy Telephone Briefing

When: Tomorrow, Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.

Participants: Department of Finance Director Ana Matosantos and Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Marty Morgenstern

 

Call-In: 877-917-6902

Passcode: 8180058

 

**Note: This policy briefing is by telephone only and is open only to credentialed media.

Obama's California Misery Tour Shows Lack of Vision

SACRAMENTO — While President Obama makes another fundraising trip to California today to fill up his campaign coffers in Hollywood and San Francisco, California voters have been visibly disappointed by his lack of vision and economic policies that have failed to deliver jobs and economic relief. Their misery has been recorded in the President's rapidly falling numbers in California, where a recent Field Poll shows that, for the first time since Obama took office, fewer than half of state voters approved of his overall performance.

 

Here's Obama's California record:

 

•Since Obama Became President, California Has Lost 430,300 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Increased From 9.7 Percent To 11.9 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, as of 10/21/11)

 •The White House Predicted That The First $825 Billion Stimulus Would Save Or Create 396,000 Jobs In California. ("UPDATED: American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: State-By-State Jobs Impact," WhiteHouse.gov, 2/13/09)

 •Since The First Stimulus Was Passed, California Has Lost 304,700 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Increased From 10.1 Percent To 11.9 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, as of 10/21/11)

  

"It's bad enough that Jerry Brown and the rest of the Democrats in Sacramento have no clue about how to solve California's fiscal crisis, but now President Obama has compounded the problem by booking another Golden State fly-by," said CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro. "By proving that he's more concerned about fighting for his own job than fighting for ours, Obama has become the visionless captain of a sinking ship."

Source: CA GOP

CRP Chairman's Statement: CARB Decision Bad for California's Future

SACRAMENTO – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement tonight in response to the decision by the California Air Resources Board to approve a controversial cap-and-trade system:

 

"With this step, the California government has ensured high unemployment, low revenues and resultant deficits for years to come. At some point, with our jobless rate mired at 12 percent, Jerry Brown should consider actually helping the unemployed, not ensuring their despair."

Source: CA GOP

Governor Brown Opens New Dell Facility, Welcomes Hundreds of New Jobs to California

SANTA CLARA – In a move that will bring hundreds of new jobs to California, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today joined Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell to open the company’s newest research and development center in Santa Clara.

 

“California is the world capital of innovation and technology, so it’s only natural that Dell has chosen Santa Clara as the home for its newest Research and Development facility,” Brown said. “This new facility will create hundreds of cutting-edge technology jobs at a time when we need them most. Dell has made a sound investment by expanding in California, and I look forward to further expansions of Dell’s presence here in the Golden State.”

 

 The Dell Silicon Valley Research and Development Center will occupy approximately 240,000 square feet of space in two buildings and eventually house approximately 700 team members. The first phase of occupancy is underway and will continue through next year. Including those housed at the new campus in Santa Clara, Dell expects to have more than 1,500 employees in Silicon Valley by the end of next year.

 

 “We are making significant and thoughtful investments to develop and acquire industry-leading intellectual property,” Dell said. “Silicon Valley is a center of technological innovation and we are looking to recruit from the great talent pool here for high-level jobs in network design, storage development, cloud computing and software development. The new positions we add here are part of more than 1,500 jobs we’re creating in the U.S. this year to help expand our technology solutions portfolio.”

RNC Co-Chair Calls Out Biden's Demeaning Statements

MEMORANDUM

From:               RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day

To:                    Interested Parties

Date:                October 19, 2011

Re:                   Vice President Biden’s Demagoguery Is Demeaning To Women, Victims

 

Yesterday in Philadelphia, Vice President Biden decided to express his support for President Obama's Stimulus 2.0 plan by explaining to a crowd that he wished opponents "knew what it felt like to be robbed or raped." Nothing could be more irresponsible and mean spirited. No victim of violent crime would ever wish that others were forced to experience the same trauma they went though – especially to make a brazen political point. So why would the sitting Vice President of the United States?

 

But this isn’t the first time the Vice President has used this irresponsible argument out on the stump. He used a similar line last week in Flint, Michigan saying that if the President’s stimulus bill isn’t passed, there will be a nationwide epidemic of rape and murder.  Clearly this isn’t another case of "Joe being Joe," but a calculated messaging point from the Administration to try and gin up support for another round of failed stimulus spending. This is a familiar theme from the White House which has often resorted to over-the-top rhetoric in an attempt to generate support for its policies. So why all the silence from the media? Where is the outrage from women’s and victim’s rights groups?

 

To link well-justified, bipartisan opposition to the President’s latest stimulus proposal to violent crime is intellectually dishonest and reeks of the kind of gutter politics that the Obama Administration purports to be above. This is the kind of demagoguery one might expect from backbench bombthrowers not a constitutional officer of the United States who is second in line to the presidency and who at any minute could be called upon to lead the free world. Not only is this rhetoric beneath the office of our nation’s second highest constitutional office, it undermines serious policy discussions taking place about how to put Americans back to work.

 

Our economy is hurting and the Obama Administration’s policies have only prolonged the pain, but that is no excuse for Vice President Biden to wish his political opponents to be subjected to rape or have a gun held to their head. Victims of violent crime should not to be used for political gain. The office he holds demands that what he says be treated with a level of importance. It’s time for the media and women’s groups to step up and hold the Vice President accountable for his irresponsible and insensitive choice of words.

CRP "California Speaks Out" Tour Presents First-Ever High School Town Hall

SACRAMENTO — The California Republican Party's "California Speaks Out" Tour resumes Tuesday in Lafayette with its first-ever town hall for high school students, part of its groundbreaking interactive town hall series that talks with people where they live, in terms they understand. This tour stop is designed to bring tomorrow’s leaders from all political views together to connect with them on a personal level and discuss the issues that affect their lives and their futures.

 

The town hall, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:00PM Tuesday night at the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette, and is hosted by CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro. The event is co-hosted by KSFO-AM morning radio show host Brian Sussman and will feature Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho, UC Berkeley College Republicans President Shawn Lewis, and Ivy Allen from the Monte Vista High School Republican Club. 

 

"We’re keeping our promise to engage new communities and give a voice to people who haven’t had the opportunity to connect directly with Republican leaders," said CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro. "Reaching out to high school students through town hall events like this, no matter what their political background, is just the beginning of what we hope will be a lifelong interest in the civic process."

 

The CRP’s first-ever high school town hall event is co-sponsored by the Monte Vista High School Republicans, the UC Berkeley College Republicans, St. Mary’s College Republicans, the East Bay Young Republicans, and the Contra Costa County Republican Party. RSVP is required to highschool@cagop.org.

 

For more information on the "California Speaks Out" Tour, contact the California Republican Party at 916-448-9496.

Man Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Violations in Connection with Arson at Planned Parenthood and Vandalism of Mosque in Madera

WASHINGTON—Donny Eugene Mower, 38, of Madera, Calif., pleaded guilty in federal court today to one count of arson, one count of damaging religious property and one count of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which makes it a federal crime to damage the property of a reproductive health services facility. These charges stem from Mower’s lighting a fire inside a Planned Parenthood clinic and throwing a brick at a mosque in Madera.

During his plea, Mower admitted that in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2010, he constructed a Molotov cocktail by stuffing a fuel-soaked cloth into a beer bottle. He then drove to Madera Planned Parenthood Clinic, lit the Molotov cocktail, and threw it through a ground-floor window of the clinic. As a result of the ensuing fire, the clinic sustained more than $26,000 of damage and had to close for two days.

Mower also acknowledged that on Aug. 20, 2010, two days after placing a sign in front of Masjid Madera, a local mosque, that read “No temple for the god of terrorism at ground zero. ANB,” he threw a brick at the front of the mosque and damaged its facade. On Aug. 24, 2010, Mower left additional signs at the mosque, stating “Wake up America, the enemy is here” and “American Nationalist Brotherhood.” Mower admitted that he threw the brick at Masjid Madera because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of the individuals associated with the mosque.

“Interference with the lawful work of reproductive health clinics will not be tolerated; nor will attacks directed at places of worship because of the perceived ethnicity of those who worship there,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute those who carry out these acts.”

“We will vigorously safeguard the right of Muslim Americans to practice their religion free from the fear of intimidation, and the right of reproductive health centers to conduct their activities free from violence,” said U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner for the Eastern District of California. “Donny Mower’s campaign of hate and intimidation is over, but the work of the U.S. Justice Department in protecting constitutional rights is unending.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2012. Mower faces a prison sentence of five to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the arson charge. He also faces sentences of up to one year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, or both, on the damaging religious property and FACE Act charges.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Madera Police Department and the Madera County Sheriff’s Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elana Landau for the Eastern District of California and Trial Attorney Chiraag Bains from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Governor Brown Issues Statement on the Death of Steve Jobs

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the death of former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.

"Steve Jobs was a great California innovator who demonstrated what a totally independent and creative mind can accomplish. Few people have made such a powerful and elegant imprint on our lives. Anne and I wish to express our deepest sympathy to Steve’s wife, Laurene, and their entire family."

Statement by Republican Leader Conway on Governor Brown's Veto of Unionized Family Child Care Bill

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, of Tulare, today issued the following statement following Governor Brown’s veto of Assembly Bill 101, the unionized family child care bill passed by legislative Democrats:

"Today’s veto preserves affordable child care options for California’s families during these tough economic times.  Higher costs due to unionization would have resulted in fewer services for working families who desperately need child care.

"Instead of passing new ‘job killer’ laws, it’s time for the Legislature to get back to what matters most – improving our economic climate so we can create more private sector jobs, which will generate the revenue required to support essential services.  Until we do, our state will continue to struggle with high unemployment and severe budget deficits well into the future."