California Democratic Party Launches Website Dedicated to Exposing Voting Records of Vulnerable GOP Incumbents Running for Congress in California

www.WrongForCalifornia.com features latest news stories and stat sheets on five California House Republicans

SACRAMENTO - The California Democratic Party today unveiled a new website targeting vulnerable House Republican incumbents running for re-election in California. The site www.WrongForCalifornia.com features the latest news stories and stat sheets exposing the voting records of five incumbent Republican House members seeking re-election.

All five of the House Republicans profiled on the site voted to end Medicare by siding with Paul Ryan and voting for the House Republican budget. The five House Republicans featured on the site are:

Dan Lungren (CA-07) - Lungren was first elected to Congress in 1978, and now represents the east Sacramento suburbs. A fixture in California political circles for decades, Lungren has ingratiated himself to lobbyists and developed a brazen sense of entitlement over his many years in Washington.

Jeff Denham (CA-10) - a member of the freshman Tea Party class of 2010, Denham quickly became comfortable with the trappings of power after arriving in Washington, D.C. So comfortable in fact that he threw an $80,000 lobbyist bash and fundraiser for himself a full day before he was officially sworn in as a member of the new Congress.

Mary Bono-Mack (CA-36) - Bono-Mack has been taking care of her well-connected friends  in Washington and California since she made her way to Congress in 1998. This year, she's carved out a role as Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's top female surrogatein California, defending the candidate's retrograde positions on equal pay and contraception.

Gary Miller (CA-31) - Gary Miller doesn't have many strong suits - the FBI investigated Miller for a series of land transactions he used to dodge paying capital gains taxes - and was recently caught goofing off on camera, fumbling through his campaign slogans and frequently turning to his handlers for advice on how to appear authentic. It's no surprise that Miller's new San Bernardino district will present a tough challenge for the Orange County Republican.

Brian Bilbray (CA-52) - Brian Bilbray has consistently sided with the most extreme elements of the House Republican leadership, including voting for the Paul Ryan budget to end Medicare. As a result of re-districting Bilbray finds himself in a less conservative district and will no doubt spend considerable effort masking his Tea Party credentials.

"The battle to win back the House begins and ends in California," said Tenoch Flores, communications director for the California Democratic Party. "From siding with the Tea Party, voting to end Medicare, to protecting tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires, these Republican candidates are wrong for California. House Republicans are in peril in the Golden State and we're confident 2012 will be the year voters here decide they've had enough of the extremist Republican agenda in Washington."

The site will serve as a clearinghouse for news stories and up to the minute information on the candidates with frequent updates and guest bloggers as well.

CA Democratic Party Chairman on President Obama's Opposition to Discriminatory Same-Sex Marriage Ban in North Carolina

California Democrats proudly support President Obama for taking a stand against a divisive ballot amendment that seeks to codify discrimination against same-sex couples into North Carolina's constitution.

As Democrats across the nation make plans to gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, it's imperative that we send a clear and united message against all such efforts that seek to divide Americans and enshrine discrimination. California Democrats stand ready to help and we will soon be in touch with ways that Democrats here can start getting the word out to voters in North Carolina about the need to defeat Amendment One.

Statement of CA Democratic Chairman on the Passing of Longtime Democratic Activist Gerald "Jerry" Hill

California Democrats lost a great activist and an even greater person when Jerry Hill passed away in San Rafael last week. As President of the California Democratic Council in the late 1960s, Jerry spoke out against the War in Vietnam and instantly became one of the leaders of the anti-war movement at the time. He was instrumental in the effort to draft Senator Eugene McCarthy into running for the presidency in 1968 and sadly, was present when Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles later that year.

Jerry and his wife Kathleen were married for more than 42 years and taught American government and politics together at Sonoma State University. Our condolences go out to his wife Kathleen and all of their family.

CRP Chairman Del Beccaro’s Statement on the California Democratic Party Convention

SACRAMENTO, CA – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro released the following statement Friday regarding the California Democratic Party Convention in San Diego:

 

"This weekend the Democrats are busy predicting the number of politicians in their party who will find new jobs. Noticeably absent is a discussion about how the millions of unemployed Californians will find jobs in an economy weighed down by tax increases and regulations."

Statement of CA Democratic Party African-American Caucus Chair on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

As we reflect on America's incredible advancements in democracy, civil rights and social justice, we must still acknowledge that we are a nation that struggles to sustain and uplift social values that benefit all Americans. We honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by pushing on and continuing to work together, no matter how frustrating or slow the process may seem to be, and always with the belief that we can forge a better union. The words of Dr. King serve as both reminder and inspiration on this day: "Almost always the creative dedicated minority has made the world better."

ICYMI: Redistricting Bombshell - Just the Tip of the Iceberg

By CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro (as seen in FlashReport)

 

Yesterday’s bombshell report released by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism website, entitled "How Democrats Fooled California's Redistricting Commission," systematically lays out the Democrats' manipulation of what should have been an open and transparent process, It also demonstrated exactly how the redistricting maps were corrupted by partisan activists working in cooperation with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

 

Here's what the San Jose Mercury News reported about the redistricting scandal:

 

"California's congressional Democrats ran a secret effort earlier this year to manipulate the work of the independent citizen's panel that drew the state's new political districts, foiling the intent of reformers who sought to remove the redistricting process from the control of party bosses.

 

"Democrats met behind closed doors at the party's Washington, D.C. headquarters, hired consultants, drew their ideal districts and presented maps to the panel through proxies who never disclosed their party ties or "public interest" groups created specifically for the purpose. In many cases, the panel responded by doing just what the Democrats wanted."

 

The ProPublica report vindicates my repeated contention that the redistricting process was hijacked. That report, however, is just the tip of the iceberg and the problems were not limited to the Congressional maps.

 

If you’re a regular Flash Report reader, you know that I've been petitioning the Redistricting Commission from the very beginning to conduct itself with openness and fairness, just like California voters asked when they voted in favor of Prop 11 and 20. In March, I recommended that the commission hire bi-partisan line drawing experts and Voting Rights Act counsel to assist them with re-drawing legislative lines to avoid the commission being cast as a partisan one. Instead, they chose to ignore my advice and hired Q2 Data and Research, a firm widely known for its ties to Democrats.

 

I chronicled the commission proceedings with a Flash Report exclusive, "The Redistricting Commission – Worse Than I Could Possibly Imagine." If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, the road signs to Hell point directly to the partisanship showed by the DCCC and its Democrat operatives in California.

 

I called for Dr. Gabianno Aguirre to step down as his involvement compromised the commission's integrity because he failed to disclose his advisory role and donations to a group that presented to the so-called Citizens Commission and then ensured that corrupted lines were used. Those calls fell on deaf ears, and Dr. Aguirre was allowed to maintain his position on the Commission.

 

In the Sacramento Bee, I stated that the Citizens Redistricting Commission 'failed to consistently apply the criteria mandated by law when drawing the Assembly, Senate, congressional, and Board of Equalization maps. And so on. Thankfully, a well-respected investigative team has finally exposed the depths to which Democrats have gone to leverage a loaded outcome.

 

However, the corruption of the process went far beyond what was disclosed in the ProPublica investigation. No fair minded person can now say the process or the result was fair. I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation, by Congressional and State authorities, to get to the bottom of this obviously corrupted process. Beyond that, the Congressional and Senate lines as drawn by the Commission should not be used in any way for the upcoming elections. Enough should be enough.

 

Source: CA GOP

Statement of CA Democratic Chairman in Response to Unsubstantiated Pro Publica Report Charging Democratic Manipulation of Redistricting Commission

The article charging California Democrats with manipulating California's Redistricting Commission is pure fantasy. I've never had a single conversation about redistricting with any of the Commission's members and frankly I wouldn't recognize a single member of the Commission if I ran into one on the street.

 

Sadly, Pro Publica chose to recycle talking points from the Republican-funded Rose Institute without checking with the Democratic Party. The Rose Institute, which was knocked out of the redistricting process earlier this year because of its explicit ties to the Republican Party, tried to make these charges at beginning of the Commission's deliberations where they were clearly rejected. If the Rose Institute and the Republican Party believed the Democratic Party controlled the independent Commission, one would think they would have challenged all three redistricting plans in court, instead of just one.

CRP Statement in Response to Governor Brown's Call for Massive Tax Increases

SACRAMENTO — California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro today issued the following statement in response to Governor Brown's latest call for massive new tax increases:

 

"For more than a decade, Sacramento Democrats have been coming up with one tax raising scheme or another - none of which have worked.  The answer to our budget and revenue problems lies not in taking more money from those already working but in finding work for those that are not.

 

"The fact that Governor Brown refused to present his tax hike to the press today demonstrates that he knows it is an unworthy proposal. Rather than simply sending Californians invoices for his spending sprees, he should go about reducing the size of the California government."

An Open Letter to the People of California

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following open letter to the people of California:

 

December 5, 2011

 

When I became Governor again—28 years after my last term ended in 1983—California was facing a $26.6 billion budget deficit. It was the result of years of failing to match spending with tax revenues as budget gimmicks instead of honest budgeting became the norm.

 

In January, I proposed a budget that combined deep cuts with a temporary extension of some existing taxes. It was a balanced approach that would have finally closed our budget gap.

 

I asked the legislature to enact this plan and to allow you, the people of California, to vote on it. I believed that you had the right to weigh in on this important choice: should we decently fund our schools or lower our taxes? I don’t know how you would have voted, but we will never know. The Republicans refused to provide the four votes needed to put this measure on the ballot.

 

 Forced to act alone, Democrats went ahead and enacted massive cuts and the first honest, on-time budget in a decade. But without the tax extensions, it was simply not possible to eliminate the state’s structural deficit.

 

The good news is that our financial condition is much better than a year ago. We cut the ongoing budget deficit by more than half, reduced the state’s workforce by about 5,500 positions and cut unnecessary expenses like cell phones and state cars. We actually cut state expenses by over $10 billion. Spending is now at levels not seen since the seventies. Our state’s credit rating has moved from “negative” to “stable,” laying the foundation for job creation and a stronger economic recovery.

 

 Unfortunately, the deep cuts we made came at a huge cost. Schools have been hurt and state funding for our universities has been reduced by 25%. Support for the elderly and the disabled has fallen to where it was in 1983. Our courts suffered debilitating reductions.

 

The stark truth is that without new tax revenues, we will have no other choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts.

 

That is why I am filing today an initiative with the Attorney General’s office that would generate nearly $7 billion in dedicated funding to protect education and public safety. I am going directly to the voters because I don’t want to get bogged down in partisan gridlock as happened this year. The stakes are too high.

 

 My proposal is straightforward and fair. It proposes a temporary tax increase on the wealthy, a modest and temporary increase in the sales tax, and guarantees that the new revenues be spent only on education. Here are the details:

 

• Millionaires and high-income earners will pay up to 2% higher income taxes for five years. No family making less than $500,000 a year will see their income taxes rise. In fact, fewer than 2% of California taxpayers will be affected by this increase.

• There will be a temporary ½ cent increase in the sales tax. Even with this temporary increase, sales taxes will still be lower than what they were less than six months ago.

• This initiative dedicates funding only to education and public safety—not on other programs that we simply cannot afford.

 

This initiative will not solve all of our fiscal problems. But it will stop further cuts to education and public safety.

 

I ask you to join with me to get our state back on track.

A PDF version of the letter can be found here.

 

Jerry Brown

Statement of California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton Thanking Senator Feinstein for Defending Due Process for American Citizens

Senator Feinstein is right to fight for the removal of onerous provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the government to imprison American citizens indefinitely and without trial if they are suspected of terrorism.

 

The National Defense Authorization Act, as it currently stands, would not only weaken our nation's ability to fight terrorism by taking interrogation and prosecutorial functions out of the hands of the F.B.I., federal prosecutors, and the federal courts and transferring that authority to the military; it would also overturn one of the basic tenets of American jurisprudence: that all citizens have the right to trial.

 

Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Leahy (D-VT), the chairs of the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees respectively, both oppose the National Defense Authorization Act as it currently stands, as do the Department of Justice and President Obama. An amendment to the act that would have removed the provisions allowing for indefinite detention of citizens without trial was defeated yesterday and as such, President Obama has promised to veto the bill.

 

California Democrats are proud to have Senator Feinstein leading this fight.

Governor Brown Acts to Protect Budget and Strengthen State's Finances

SACRAMENTO – Moving swiftly to keep California’s fiscal house in order, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed two bills that will help maintain the state’s balanced budget and vetoed a third bill that would have undermined investor confidence in California’s bonds.

“Job number one is protecting the integrity of our balanced budget, because it directly impacts California’s financial stability,” said Governor Brown. “The two bills I signed today provide critical revenues that will keep our budget balanced, and I thank the Legislature—both Republicans and Democrats—for working together to pass them.”

“I am vetoing a third bill that would have undermined investor confidence in California by altering the budget’s mechanisms for automatic trigger cuts. The trigger mechanisms were adopted when I signed the budget and were essential to improving our credit standing. Indeed, our no-gimmick, on-time budget was the reason S&P assigned its highest rating to the short-term notes sold this past week—the first time that’s happened since 2007,” said Governor Brown.

The Governor signed SB 335 by Senator Ed Hernandez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). This law will provide additional funds to hospitals and protect health care services for low-income, vulnerable patients and children by extending the Hospital Quality Insurance Fee. SB 335 will raise $7 billion in revenue, bring in an additional $6.1 billion in new federal funds and will save the state’s General Fund more than $850 million over a 30-month period. This amounts to over $500 million more in savings to the State General Fund than previously estimated.

Governor Brown also signed ABX1 21 by Assemblymember Robert Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys), which extends a tax on Medi-Cal managed health care plans for an additional year. This law will help maintain health coverage for thousands of children and teenagers through the Healthy Families Program. It will raise more than $200 million in new revenue, bring in an additional $300 million in federal funds, and save the General Fund $103 million this year.

“These bills represent a solid partnership between private business and the state to fund vital healthcare services while continuing to live within our means during these difficult economic times,” said Governor Brown. “They also show what the legislators can accomplish when they work together as Californians, not mere party members.”

The Governor vetoed SBX1 6 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, which alters the trigger cuts mechanism in the 2011-2012 state budget. The bill would have required the Director of the Department of Finance to consult with legislative leaders on alternatives to the cuts outlined in the budget and thereby raise questions that could affect the sales of Revenue Anticipation Notes and General Obligation bonds.

Statement of California Democratic Chairman John Burton on Tea Party Republicans Refusing to Attend Presidential Address Before Joint Session of Congress

We understand these Tea Party Republicans do not like President Obama and they've been crystal clear in their commitment to destroy his presidency. The fact remains, he is the President of the United States of America and he should be awarded the respect that the office commands. As President Harry Truman once said to General Douglass MacArthur: "you may insult [me] but don't you ever insult the President of the United States."

By engaging in this disrespectful display, the Tea Party has further demonstrated they aren't interested in solutions that will get Americans working again. They should quit acting like spoiled brats and attend the President's address before Congress.

Governor Brown Issues Legislative Update

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that he has signed the following bill:

• AB 110 by Assemblymember Robert Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys) – Courts.

For full text of the bill, visit: http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

Statement of California Democratic Party Women's Caucus Chair Christine Pelosi on Women's Equality Day

Today on Women's Equality Day as America celebrates the 91st birthday of the 19th Amendment, California Democratic Women celebrate having our voices heard at the ballot box and our seats at the leadership table. We are proud that California led the way by passing women's voting rights laws 100 years ago -- nine years before the 19th Amendment. Over 8.8 million women in California are able to cast our votes today because legions of women -- and men -- fought, marched, even suffered for the right to vote. The suffragettes of yesteryear, the activists of today, and the rising stars of tomorrow are connected in our commitment to the principle that women and men are equal.

Today over 4 million California Democratic women voters are making history. We are choosing presidents, transforming society, and electing outstanding national leaders including the first woman Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and United States Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

Inspired by the suffragette spirit, we will continue to promote the vote and fight to protect the vote. We encourage all citizens 18 and over to register and vote. We oppose ill-conceived attempts to drown out our voices with corporate cash or voter suppression that would stop women from participating in America's civic sacrament.

We believe that best way to honor the 19th Amendment is to lift the voices of all voters, ensure that every voter who can vote does vote, and that every ballot is counted as cast. We will never take our votes for granted.

CRP Statement in Response to Governor Jerry Brown's "Jobs Plan"

SACRAMENTO, CA – CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro issued the following statement regarding Governor Jerry Brown’s "job’s plan":

"In violation of his pledge of 'no new taxes without voter approval,' Jerry Brown is proposing tax increases at the same time that he is proposing tax breaks. With one hand he proposes to hit businesses with a stick for doing business in this state and with the other hand offers a carrot.  If tax and regulatory decreases work for some they will work for all. Instead of leading the national recovery, we're holding it back and the clock is ticking. Two million Californians remain out of work but Democrats keep fiddling with mixed messages and tax increases while California burns."