Here's what Craig Christensen, Chair of the Progressive Caucus Resolutions Committee had to say about the meeting this weekend...

"The greatest cause for optimism for grassroots progressives was to be found inside the meeting room where the Progressive Caucus held its first meeting as a fully-approved party entity.  More than one hundred of the 600+ delegates who have signed up as members of the party’s newest caucus made the trek to Manhattan Beach to advance the progressive agenda.  The meeting was every bit as contentious as one would expect (and hope) when a spirited group of the party’s left comes together.  What was clear from the meeting is that this caucus has the potential to organize itself to wield real influence in shaping the direction of the party.  There is no reason progressives cannot significantly influence the party to take more progressive positions on issues of public policy—both in its resolutions and in shaping and the promoting the party platform.  Plans are already beginning to take shape about the means whereby the caucus will flex its collective muscle in the days ahead.  Even more encouraging was the beginning of substantive dialogue about the policy issues themselves.  It has become fashionable o! f late t o complain that the Democratic Party has ceased to be the party of bold ideas, and too often it seems fair to say there’s some truth to that.  But to listen to the discussions this weekend in Manhattan Beach—as, for example, in the ideas coming out of the caucus’ fledgling international relations and anti-war committees about a serious detailed plan for getting out of Iraq ASAP,  I think it’s worth staying tuned for future installments. "

- Craig Christensen- One lone “senior citizen, fresh horse” observer from Ventura.

DR. KEN MATSUMURA'S RECALL PETITION

RECALL SCHWARZENEGGER!

We are embarked on a remarkable journey to secure the signature of over a million registered voters to rescue the 2006 legislative session and save our state from a catastrophe.

TO THE HONORABLE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: Pursuant to Section 11020, California Election Code, the undersigned registered qualified voters of the State of California, hereby give notice that we are the proponents of a recall petition and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from the office of Governor of the State of California, and to demand election of a successor in that office.  The grounds for the recall are as follows: threatening public safety and welfare by grabbing funds from local governments and demoralizing public workers, failing in general to deal with state's major problems as they near crisis proportions, and dismantling public education in California by starving schools of necessary funds while protecting special interest groups of wealthy taxpayers.  California should not be known as the state with poor schools, poor healthcare, and poor disaster readiness, all caused by a governor serving only the rich... 

Very few governors in American history have alienated so many groups of people in their state, in such a short time. Schwarzenegger promised to protect California's educational system from budget cuts. In fact, in 1999, voters had decisively mandated that the public education budget be protected from economic upturns and downturns and be guaranteed a certain minimum. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, upon taking office, took two billion dollars away from California schools and has stubbornly refused to return the money. Public schools have been forced to layoff experienced and dedicated teachers, close classrooms, and eliminate vital curricula.  More and more parents are forced to consider removing better students from public schools in favor to private schools. Public education is on the brink of extinction here in California.

Healthcare in the United States had been in general turmoil for over a decade due to a number of factors.   Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived on the scene at a critical juncture. Lacking knowledge and experience and motivated only to protect his special interest group of wealthy taxpayers who funded his election, Arnold Schwazenegger grabbed billions of dollars from municipalities, starving public hospitals of funds  they desperately needed to care for the poor. Schwarzenegger recklessly and unilaterally decided that overworked nurses can take care of more patients, ignoring well-respected research showing that forcing nurses to care for too many patients leads to patient injuries and deaths.

In times of an economic downturn, history shows that the poor suffer disproportionately. Public policy must be carefully crafted to shelter the poor by taxing the rich whose welfare is least affected by taxation. In fact, just a few years ago, during its economic boom, California gave the wealthy taxpayers a substantial tax break. It would have been natural to rescind the tax break and restore the former rates, when the economy took a downturn.

Instead, Arnold Schwarzenegger steadfastly refused to raise taxes,  insisting on reducing motor vehicle license fees. Cities lost a huge amount of revenue and Schwarzenegger single-handedly created a crisis. Cities have been forced to drasically cut services to the poor, the sick, and the aged. Many cities have even closed down vital programs that shielded the disadvantaged from a catastrophe. Schwarzenegger's reckless budget planning has affected services to the middle class as well.  Libraries have been forced to close on weekends, and fire stations have been forced into rotating shut-downs. Everyone is in danger since California's disaster readiness has been drastically reduced.

When the economy is slow, public workers, like firefighters and police officers, are asked to reduce their pay demands. It is  the time when the public must show their appreciation to those who protect our safety and welfare. Instead,

Arnold Schwarzenegger recklessly proposed that pensions be reduced for widows of firefighters and police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in serving the public. He has caused an unprecedented uproar, demoralizing the front-line defenders we need when disaster strikes.  Completely insensitive Arnold Schwarzenegger's totally insensitive response to worker's protest is to now attack their unions of public workers, trying to silence them, in order to gain an unfair advantage over them.

The foregoing is just a small sample of the unbelievable behavior of this man whose only previous experience is as a Hollywood actor in movies in which he portrays mostly reckless and insensitive characters. The state of California is not his movie set. We need a bright, sensitive leader who is truly mature. With our state on the brink of disaster, courageous men and women reluctantly came to the conclusion that they have no choice but to recall this governor and set our state once again on the proper and safe course. 

We are embarked on a remarkable journey to secure the signature of over a million registered voters so that this man can be made to face the people in time to rescue the 2006 legislative session. Ousting him in November of 2006 would be too late, making us lose one whole year of legislation. By then, our illustrious, world-class university will be irretrievably lost, our public hospitals dismantled, and many of our poor will be homeless and in the streets. By then our experienced public school teachers will have been forced to take enticing jobs in the private sector, forever sealing the fate of our children. The timing of this recall is crucial. Let us all work together to make it happen!

We will need 30,000 volunteers to commit to securing 40 signatures apiece from at least five California counties. Our early experience has shown that if we carefully choose where we collect the signatures, people are eager to sign and are grateful to the volunteers.  We also need people to serve on organizing boards and sub-boards, and to make phone calls.  Please write volunteer@saveCALnow.com with the subject line TABLE (if you want to collect signatures), BOARDS, or MAKE CALLS. Please include your phone number and the best time to reach you. Thank you!

Kenneth Matsumura, M.D., Proponent of Recall               

 knm@saveCALnow.com  TEL (510) 548 1516

INFUSING THE PARTY PLATFORM WITH PROGRESSIVE VALUES

We have a rare opportunity in California to shape the platform of the CDP, with two of our Progressive Caucus members on the Platform Committee. Together with the help of the local PDA chapters, (Progressive Democrats of America) we are hoping to gather testimonty from our Progressive constituents that we can bring to the Platform committee. Please take the next few days to read the platform of the CDP. It is available on the CDP website at www.ca-dem.org. It is actually quite progressive, but long. This year the Platform Committee made a decision to adopt a one page "core values" sheet, and a ten page platform. What this means is we need to adequately represent the Democratic vision of California in a concise, clear and effective manner. Last month the CDP sent out an appeal to California Democrats asking us to complete the paragraph beginning with "I am a California Democrat because....." Please take some time to finish that sentence, that paragraph, that page. The more testimony we get, the better we can represent you. Please feel free to comment on any of the planks discussed int he platform, or anything new you feel is important to include. Send testimony to Jo Olson, at chocojo@sbcglobal.net