The Race To Replace California's Worst Democrat In Congress

California is a blue state but the Republican wing of the Democratic Party is very strong in the state. There are 46 California Democrats serving in the House. Believe me, they're not all like Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Ro Khanna or Judy Chu. according to ProgressivePunch, 15 have voting records that score "A." Three more than that-- 18-- have voting records that score "F." The worst belongs to Blue Dog Jim Costa, who doesn't even have the excuse of being in a red or even a swing district. CA-17, his central Valley district has a PVI of D+9. Not even the DCCC at its most incompetent could lose a district that blue. In fact, although Democrats routinely get elected in red districts-- including strong red districts-- there is only one blue district in the entire country held by a Republican at this point-- NY-24 (D+3).





There is no conceivable reason why Democrats in Fresno, Merced, Madera, Chowchilla and Los Banos should have to put up with someone as conservative and someone as opposed to core Democratic Party values as Costa. Replacing him should be a priority for California progressives. Another conservative candidate from the party machine-- Esmeralda Soria, a long-time Costa supporter-- jumped into the race, a purely careerist move that may have inspired some anti-Costa activists because she surely wasn't going to be as bad as he is, even just because she's a woman and younger than him. But not even remotely a progressive. But then we met former Obama administration diplomat Kimberly Williams and quickly figured out that we do have a real progressive in the race-- under-financed to be sure, but someone with the values we need in Congress. Blue America endorsed her. So did the local chapter of Our Revolution. Then PDA came on board.

One trusted progressive group didn't though-- Courage Campaign. They endorsed Soria. I contacted them and told them they had made a grievous error. They told me they hadn't made an error at all. Yesterday, I introduced them to Kim Williams and sent them-- with her permission-- this letter she had sent me, a letter that was a continuation of a week's worth of correspondence. She also said it would be OK for me to share it here at DWT. Please read it and consider contributing to her campaign by clicking on the 2020 Blue America Primary A Blue Dog thermometer on the right. his isn't about personalities or just getting rid of the odious Jim Costa. It is also about Medicare-for-All, the Green New Deal, affordable housing, debt-free college, criminal justice reform and whether California is going to send another conservative Democrat to Congress like Ami Bera, Pete Aguilar, Julia Brownley, Lou Correa and Scott Peters or someone who is going to stand up with Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna and Ted Lieu. Esmeralda Soria is a Dianne Feinstein Democrat. Is that good enough? Or do you want another member of Congress who has endorsed Bernie and is running on much of his platform?



Kim Williams' Letter:

I know several other people have reached out besides Kevin [Hall] to folks with the Courage Campaign. [Soria] has a terrible track record with environmentalists and homeless advocates, and she is not known as a progressive here by any actual progressives.

Those who are progressive know that Soria came up the ranks under well known conservatives in the Valley, and from the very beginning of this race, she has identified as a centrist. In fact, at our first meeting, she told me directly that I was further left than her and she thought we could help each other. Since that time last summer, we've done several candidate forums together and I've never heard her articulate a single word of progressive policy on anything from labor to healthcare. She frequently misstates basic facts and runs from hard questions around policies considered too far left by right-leaning Democrats. If she would have come out as a progressive, I would have dropped out of the race and supported her a long time ago. She never did.

My friends and I have knocked on nearly 6,000 doors and every time we passed out literature for my campaign, we shared Bernie's literature because our platforms have aligned from the start. I also endorsed him after he was hospitalized and pundits tried to say he was done.  We've backed progressive policies when it was unheard of in the Valley and even risky to do so. And we've paid for it in several ways. I've walked out of fundraising events without one dollar because I supported Bernie for president and a Green New Deal. We've been completely ignored by the local media which won't cover 500 people at an impeachment rally but will print astonishingly sexists op-eds because they want to reflect all view points. We have gone up against an ocean of structural bias and every manner of low-grade corruption in this race, but we never wavered in our support for progressive policies.

There's a reason PDA national, you, Our Revolution's local chapter, and DSA (who is expected to announce this weekend) have all backed this policy-driven campaign. We are showing up in all the forgotten places no other candidate has visited, and we are boldly backing a progressive policy platform that she quite publicly runs from. It’s why we have the progressive volunteer base that shows up every weekend. They understand, and frequently state,that if Soria doesn’t have the backbone to support Medicare for All and a Green New Deal at a debate, then she won’t fight for it when the Washington lobbyists come calling.

What has happened is unfortunate, and I get why someone outside the district might come to the conclusion that she’s progressive, especially when she calls herself one in front of progressive groups. But if you step outside the small circle of Fresno’s political class of older Democrats who speak Republican and insiders who embrace transactional politics, you will find hundreds of thousands of people living in poverty who are in desperate need of change.

This is why I entered this race, and this is why I stayed. We knew from the beginning this would be a David and Goliath battle but I wanted to shine a light on the horrific poverty that plagues this district and demand a progressive economic solution. Party insiders, of which Soria is very much a part, may shape the public narrative which has no doubt influenced the referenced poll I've never seen, but they do not speak for the masses. They are part of the political neglect that has denied the experiences of so many struggling families and are surprised by the fact that Bernie and his “far left” policies are resonating so loudly with a base of voters that needs housing, healthcare, and jobs. Soria is not backing Bernie now because she is brave, she’s doing it because he’s rising in the polls.

I wish the Courage Campaign could have connected with Emily Brandt, who wrote three in-depth pieces on each Democratic candidate in the race. She spent hours going over policy with Soria, and she would not commit to Medicare for All. They could have also checked with James Williams and Bill Hess with PDA's local club who know her long history of rising up through the ranks under conservatives and could speak to Soria’s public remarks on healthcare. And I wished someone could have connected with the young Democrats at UCMerced when she told them Medicare for All was impossible to achieve.

From my view, and I know I speak as a competitor, the Courage Campaign did not endorse a woman of courage who will defend progressive policies. They endorsed a woman who whispers support for Medicare for All in closed rooms and then reverts to conservative talking points when she's in front of establishment Democrats. She doesn't even support it on her website. I'd also add that whatever success she's found so far has been achieved through personal connections and by catering to the establishment. If someone is hoping that she'll cross the finish line by embracing progressive polices now that the progressives have done the hard work of proving there's a appetite for such a thing, can they really be sure she'll deliver in Washington?

Regardless of how this email is taken, I care about nothing more than lifting our families out of poverty. From the day I arrived, I knew I could leave. But I stayed because I knew there were thousands of families here that could not escape countless neighborhoods that literally resembled third world counties. I didn't care one bit about who moved the policies forward, I just wanted change no one else was calling for. Soria is part of the insider club that has helped maintain the status quo and I have no faith that she will deliver on any promise she might make now. 

Please feel free to pass my number along if anyone would like to discuss this race further.

All my best,

Kim

Heroes And Villains-- Inside The California State Legislature

I don't follow the California state legislature as closely as I should. My excuse is that I'm too busy watching Congress and don't have the time. Luckily, here in California we have the Courage Campaign doing to job for us. This week they released their latest assessment of how the individual members of the state legislature are doing. When they sent it out yesterday, they noted that "Throughout their time in office, legislators are faced with so many issues that directly affect the well-being of all California communities: from criminal justice to workplace safety to the environment and more. As your representative, it’s their job to vote in line with your interests on issues to make our state a safe and happy home for everyone. Especially with a elected Democratic, veto-proof supermajority in the Legislature and a Governor who ran on a bold, progressive agenda, we must lead the nation forward and show that progressive policies work for all of us. We'll never address the challenges Californians face-- including skyrocketing housing costs, a health care system that puts profits over patients, gross overspending in our broken mass incarceration system, and a deeply underfunded education system-- unless elected officials are truly held accountable to the people in the nation's most progressive state."

Let's look at the Assembly first. There are only 18 Republicans left. One is too new to be rated and the other 17 have all been scored with "F." Among the Democrats six have A+ scores-- Ash Kalra (eastern San Jose), David Chiu (eastern San Francisco), Kevin McCarty (Sacramento), Mark Stone (Santa Cruz, Monterey), Reggie Jones-Sawyer (South L.A.), Rob Bonta (Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro) and Wendy Carrillo (Highland Park, East L.A.). Those are the best members of the Assembly. How about the worst ones-- the ones who are, in all but name, Republicans? 15 Democrats-- the so-called "mod squad"-- have the same "F" grades as the Republicans do, generally a corrupt bunch of worthless conservatives who take money from big oil, charter schools and other special interests (bolden names are in the Hall of Shame, the legislators who are the biggest bribe-takers in Sacramento):

• Tom Daly- Anaheim, Santa Ana
• Tim Grayson- Vallejo, Concord, Martinez
• Sharon Quirk-Silva- Fullerton, Buena Park, Cypress
• Sabrina Cervantes- Jurupa Valley, Norco, Corona, El Cerrito
• Rudy Salas- Hanford, Wasco, Bakersfield
• Patrick O'Donnell- Long Beach
• Melissa Melendez- Lake Elsinore, Marieta, Wildomar
• Ken Cooley- Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Carmichael
• Joaquin Arambula- Fresno
• Jim Frazier- Vacaville, Antioch
• Jim Cooper- Elk Grove, Lodi
• Freddie Rodriguez- Ontario, Pomona, Chino
• Brian Maienschien- Rancho Santa Fe, Poway, Carmel Valley
• Al Muratsuchi- Torrance, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach
• Adam Gray- Modesto, Merced, Los Banos

Now the state Senate, where there are only 11 Republicans still standing. Two are too new to be rated and the other 9 have "F." Among the Democrats four have A+ scores-- Bill Monning (San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Paso Robles), Hanna-Beth Jackson (Santa Barbara), Holly Mitchell (Culver City, Madera Height, DTLA, South L.A.), Mike McGuire (Arcata, Eureka, Fort Bragg, Santa Rosa, Marin County) and Toni Atkins (San Diego, La Jolla, Solano Beach)-- the best members of the Senate. And now the worst, the bribe-taking DINOs-- if fact Steve Glazer is generally considered the overall worst and most corrupt member of the state legislature:

Steve Glazer (feh!)

• Steve Glazer- Concord, Walnut Creek, Livermore
• Richard Roth- Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona
• Cathleen Galgiani- Stockton, Tracy, Lodi, Manteca
• Anna Caballero- Merced, Madera, Los Banos, Salinas, Coalinga

Something good to keep in mind if any of your legislators happen to be among the very best or the very worst.

The Best And The Worst Members Of The California Legislature

Overall, Jim Frazier is the worst Democrat in the California Assembly

Yesterday, the Courage Campaign released their annual ratings of California legislators. I don't follow the state legislature as carefully as I follow Congress, so I find the Courage Campaign's work invaluable... even if I don't agree with everything. I'm guessing they base their ratings strictly on votes-- as ProgressivePunch does. That excuses bad behavior and poor leadership. Example Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon killed the Senate-passed single payer healthcare bill, but his votes are good so he got an "A." That's misleading. I'd give him an "F," or maybe a "D." (Courage Campaign told me they docked him a few points for wreck single payer.)

The score card got off to a good start every single Republican in the Assembly and every single Republican in the Senate scored an "F." Perfect.

The Democrats with the really high scores-- A+ and the very high "A" scores. In the Assembly:

• Ash Kalra- eastern San Jose
• David Chiu- eastern San Francisco
• Laura Friedman- Glendale, Burbank, Los Feliz
• Mark Stone- Monterey Bay
• Monique Limón- Santa Barbara
• Shirley Weber- San Diego
• Tony Thurmond- Berkely, Oakland, Richmond, Pinole, El Cerrito, Albany
• Eloise Gómez Reyes- San Bernardino, Fontana, Colton
• Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher- Chula Vista, San Diego, National City
• Phil Ting- San Francisco, San Mateo
• Reggie Jones-Sawyer- South Central L.A.

And these are the best-scoring state Senators:

• Holly Mitchell- Culver City, Crenshaw
• Connie Leyva- Pomona, Chino, Ontario
• Jerry Hill- San Mateo, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View
• Jim Beall- Cupertino, Los Gatos, San Jose, Saratoga
• Toni Atkins- San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach

These are the Democrats who would be called Blue Dogs or New Dems if they were in Congress. They like to call themselves "the Mod Squad," because "moderate" is such an admired word but not one of them is a moderate. Every one of them is a right-wing imbecile who is an opportunistic Democrat but who is really just a Republican in disguise. Assembly first. Each of these was rated "F," just like the Republicans. They're ordered from worst to less worse:

• Jim Frazier- Vacaville, Fairfield, Antioch, Pittsburg
• Adam Gray- Merced, Modesto
• Jim Cooper- Sacramento, Lodi
• Sabrina Cervantes- Riverside, Norco, Corona
• Sharon Quirk-Silva- Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton
• Joaquin Arambula- Fresno
• Ken Cooley- Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Rosemont
• Rudy Salas- Bakersfield, Delano, Hanford
• Tim Grayson- Concord, Martinez, Walnut Creek, Vallejo
• Anna Caballero- San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga
• Tim Daly- Santa Ana, Orange
• Freddie Rodriguez- Pomona, Ontario, Chino
• Al Muratuchi- Gardena, Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach
• Jacqui Irwin- Westlake Village, Moorpark, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo

That's the list of horrible assemblymembers. Frazier, Gray, Cooper and Cervantes are so bad that I can't understand how they don't have primaries. But they're all just terrible excuses for Democrats. These are the state senators in the same category, again, listed from worst to less worse. But each was graded "F."

• Steve Glazer- Contra Costa, Dublin, Livermore
• Josh Newman- Diamond Bar, West Covina, Anaheim, Brea, La Habra, Yorba Linda
• Richard Roth- Riverside, Corona, Norco, Perris, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley

From the folks at the Courage Campaign: "[W]hen Corporate Democrats get elected from deep blue districts simply because of their party affiliation, they block the progress that our state must achieve for the good of the country. Progressives will never build the power we need to pass health care for all, end the failed War on Drugs, or address our historic housing crisis unless elected officials are truly held accountable to the needs of the people in the nation's most populous state. That’s why, for the first time in 2018, Courage Campaign will endorse progressive candidates in primary elections in key races. By endorsing progressive candidates in primary races using Courage Scores as our guiding light, we can strengthen the rewards for courageous service to a legislator's constituents-- and also the consequences for bowing to special interests. Put simply: when legislators represent their districts well, we’ll celebrate them. And when they fail to represent their districts, we won’t just put them in the Hall of Shame-- we’ll work to defeat them... We’ve built a “Hall of Shame” to feature the worst of the worst-- the legislators who represent deep blue, progressive districts, but are throwing their constituents under the bus. They kill vital legislation that supports clean air and water, economic opportunity for all, and racial justice, while gobbling up contributions from corporate lobbyists."

We're with 'em on that.

Blue, Blue California... Has Plenty Of Grotesquely Corrupt Republican-Lite Dems In The State Legislature

California needs more progressives like Senate President Kevin de León and fewer shady corporate shills like Gavin Newsom

Wonderful blue California, right? Well... yes, at least compared to the country as a whole. Hillary won the state's 55 electoral votes 8,753,788 (61.73%) to 4,483,810 (31.62%). She won the dozen most populous counties in the state; the only population center Trump won was the Bakersfield area. But California's legislature... well, that's another story. On paper, the legislature looks as blue as Texas' is red. The 80-member Assembly has 55 Democrats and 25 Republicans and the 40-member state Senate has 27 Democrats and 13 Republicans, giving the Democrats supermajorities in both chambers. Combine that with a Democratic governor and...

Yes, "and" hasn't been quite what it could be. Once again, the Courage Campaign has launched it's state legislative scorecard to help explain why California isn't the progressive powerhouse it ought to be-- not even with a dedicated progressive like Kevin De León heading the Senate and a progressive-enough-sounding Anthony Rendon in charge of the Assembly. The problem is that certain Democrats, the mis-named ultra-corrupt and conservative "mods," habitually team up with the Republican rump to defeat legislation that makes it to a floor vote-- like one bill that would have created common sense protections for people in bankruptcy, or another that would have outlawed the sexist and exploitative practice of charging more for women's products than for men's. These corrupt corporate Dems have delayed the California Values Act, which will protect immigrants from Trump's indiscriminate wave of deportations. They could sink efforts to eliminate our state's unjust, discriminatory money bail system. And they could once again stand in the way of introducing real transparency and accountability for police officers who may abuse their power.

So which Democrats have been failing us in Sacramento? The worst of the lot-- the ones with scores of "F" are Assemblymembers:

• Adam Gray (Modesto, Merced, Los Banos)
• Jacqui Irwin (Oxnard, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks)
• Jim Cooper (Elk Grove, Lodi)
• Jim Frazier (Vacaville, Fairfield, Antioch)
• Joaquin Arambula (Fresno, Coalinga)
• Rudy Salas (Bakersfield, Delano, Wasco, Hanford)
• Tom Daly (Anaheim, Santa Ana)

And Senators:

• Bill Dodd (Davis, Vacaville, Fairfield, Vallejo, Napa, Sonoma, Petaluma)
• Cathleen Galgiani (Modesto, Manteca, Stockton, Lodi)
• Richard Roth (Riverside, Corona, Moreno Valley)
• Steve Glazer (Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Livermore, Antioch)

And that doesn't even get into the Democrats with D and C scores or into the new members who haven't amassed enough votes yet for meaningful ratings, including reactionary Republican-lite types like Laura Friedman (Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Los Feliz), the worthless charter school hack hoping to run for Adam Schiff's congressional seat if he gives it up to run for the U.S. Senate. As the Courage Campaign warned, "Some of our allies are shocked that we’re calling out these Democrats, since-- occasionally-- they do the right thing. But we’re the Courage Campaign. We believe that our leaders must be COURAGEOUS, standing up to big monied interests and putting their constituents first, in order to create real solutions to the many problems we face. If we use our strength to drive progressive policy forward in California-- the world's sixth largest economy-- we can help power national or even global change."

Patrick Murphy's Out Of Control Corruption-- A Perfect Symbol For Reid's Clouded Departure And Schumer's Ominous Arrival

I only ever had one argument with Keith Ellison. He wanted the Congressional Progressive Caucus to endorse Patrick Murphy when Murphy first ran for Congress against war criminal Allen West in 2012. I pointed out that Murphy was a rich, spoiled, drunken Republican without a single Democratic value-- let alone progressive value-- in his simple, fogged little mind. Ellison didn't dispute the obvious but claimed that Murphy would take direction from him. Fortunately, not enough CPC members agreed and they didn't endorse Murphy. Many Democrats did however. The DCCC loved everything bad about Murphy and spent $548,517 on the election, coordinated with a $2,375,691 expenditure from Nancy Pelosi's House Majority PAC, some of that money coming from the powerful Al-Rashid family from Saudi Arabia, which has taken a gigantic role in financing Murphy's political career. (Murphy managed to get himself assigned to the House Intelligence Committee, which is exactly what the Saudis wanted of him.)

Murphy went on to beat a stunned West, who remarked during the campaign that Murphy "doesn’t want to be in front of the public, he has no ideas, he does not address any of the issues, he is the emptiest of an empty suit-- I think he’s just a name on the ballot." That was a perfectly accurate description. And as soon as Murphy took his seat, he joined the New Dems and started amassing an incredibly reactionary voting record-- the 4th worst of any Democrat in the House, featuring votes to remove President Obama from the Keystone XL Pipeline decision-- he wasn't following Ellison on that one-- and joining the Republicans to establish an anti-Clinton witch-hunt called the Benghazi Committee-- again, not following Ellison.

In 2013, the Shark Tank reported that Murphy "Boehner granted Patrick Murphy’s request to a private meeting to discuss Murphy’s possible defecting to the Republican Party" and then turned down his conditions and told him to stay with the Democratic Party. Friday I confirmed this story with a former Boehner staffer who told me he had first had knowledge of the meeting.

Now Murphy is being heavily pushed by Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, the Wall Street banksters and, of course, the Al-Rashids for the open Florida Senate seat Marco Rubio is giving up. His Democratic primary opponent is independent-minded progressive champion Alan Grayson, who is loathed by corruptionists on Wall Street and their Beltway puppets-- namely Schumer and Reid. When Reid publicly announced he wanted Grayson to lose, Mitch McConnell chimed in that he agrees and that he also wants Grayson to lose. Steven Law, the CEO of McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund said. Grayson's "Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders agenda of more government may appeal to uncompromising liberals, but it's the wrong direction for our country." Last week, Josh Holmes, McConnell's former chief of staff talked about the Florida Senate race with the media and said he "can envision a scenario where the balance of the Senate tips to the Democrats with the election of Alan Grayson. And I'm not the least bit kidding about that...Grayson could beat that entire field of Republicans."

Friday, the Courage Campaign noted that Wasserman Schultz, like Murphy a corrupt New Dem, was getting too much of the blame for the pay day lender scandal. Sure, she took massive amounts of money from the finance sector and she "is pushing to gut a rule by Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to crack down on predatory payday lenders" BUT "it turns out she's far from the only corporate Democrat attacking the CFPB while cashing in on Wall Street. Representative Patrick Murphy, the lead Democrat sponsoring the bill, received $1.4 million from the financial sector this year alone, the fifth-most of anyone in the entire House of Representatives... Wall Street is stuffing millions into the pockets of corporate Democrats who are attacking Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."

Writing for the Washington Post last week, Jennifer Rubin, gave more "credit" for the disaster that Murphy has turned into to Reid than to the real culprit, Chuck Schumer, who has vowed to the Wall Street banksters that he can "deliver" Murphy as a way of "balancing" Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Jeff Merkley and other progressives. Rubin, writing that the Dems will find it nearly impossible to take back the Senate without winning Florida, asserted that Reid "set out to crush" Grayson on behalf of Patrick Murphy.

Reid’s handpicked candidate turned out to be a nightmare. One GOP operative gleefully said, “Murphy has had the worst month of any Senate candidate.” That could well be true, considering the stream of revelations and stumbles that suggest Reid and the Democratic establishment did not vet Murphy very well.

Murphy was caught embellishing his academic record. In and of itself, that might not raise concerns, but it comes amid a slew of other issues.

Local media have seized on a swirl of controversies about his wealthy father’s campaign support:

The Democrat has seen an avalanche of news headlines and political attacks in the last week surrounding: money his family-owned company and father gave to a super PAC that supports him; donations he received from an admitted felon; and a House bill he co-sponsored that would have benefitted political donors and his family business.

Most of these facts aren’t new, but Republican groups and primary opponent U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson have latched onto them.

Two Federal Election Commission complaints have already been filed concerning allegations about illegal coordination between his campaign and his super PAC. One of his donors was Ibrahim al-Rashid, who is the son of a shady adviser to the Saudi royal family and who pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-wife. (Murphy was compelled to return the donation from Rashid, whose father has given huge amounts to the Clinton Foundation.)

That’s not the only fishy donor, according to local press accounts:

Murphy also played down questions about his support for the EB-5 visa program. His campaigns have received contributions from Florida developers who tap into the funding source. Foreigners who invest at least $500,000 are given green cards; many participants are from China. The program has enjoyed broad support but also come under scrutiny for fraud and a perception it sends the wrong message about the country’s immigration system.

Nicholas A. Mastroianni II, a major EB-5 player based in Florida, has along with family members given Murphy about $25,000 and he has used companies to give at least $50,000 to the pro-Murphy super PAC. Another EB-5 developer and Murphy donor is Jeffrey Berkowitz, who is developing SkyRise Miami, a $430 million entertainment and observation tower... Murphy said Mastroianni and Berkowitz are friends and he gives them regular updates on the campaign. But he said he did not recall specific conversations with them about legislation he sponsored in 2014 to make the EB-5 program permanent. He also did not recall meeting with Liu Yu, a New York based lawyer who specializes in the field. The two appeared in a 2014 article on a Chinese-language website.

As if that were not enough, yesterday the Tampa Bay Times reported:

“Immediately following the BP oil spill, Congressman Murphy spent six months in the Gulf of Mexico leading cleanup efforts with his small business, Coastal Environmental Services,” reads his official House website.

But a review raises questions of whether Murphy exaggerated his role in the catastrophe... His campaign refuses to make public contracts he says he secured to clean up oil, or to characterize how much oil the company’s skimmers cleaned up and how much the firm earned.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the records from Murphy’s first congressional race is pouring through the money trail of maxed-out donors to determine whether there are irregularities. (Patterns of low-income voters related to or employed by the candidate or candidate’s close associates and family can raise the issue of so-called “straw” donors.)

One wonders whether Reid could have benefited from a cursory Google search about Murphy before going out on a limb and going to war with Grayson. The primary is now turning into a lose-lose for the Democrats. If Grayson wins, Reid is humiliated and is stuck with a gadfly candidate. If Murphy wins, he’s a sitting duck for Republicans in the general election. Maybe Reid needs a new handpicked candidate to take out his first handpicked candidate.

Better idea: maybe Reid-- and, more important, Schumer-- should stop interfering with Democratic primaries outside of their own states. Contributors to the DSCC have been furious that Schumer and Reid have directed Jon Tester to spend immense sums against progressive Democrats and in favor of the kinds of corrupt conservatives Schumer and Reid prefer. Please consider contributing to Grayson's Senate campaign here:

Can California Democrats Clean Their Own Sacramento Pigsty? Will Doug Kriegel Replace Matt Dababneh

- by Dorothy Reik,
President, Progressive Democrats if the Santa Monica Mountains

"You even spelled my name wrong!" Matt Dababneh’s voice echoed from my cell phone speaker as a crowd of Democrats gathered around while we waited to check into our hotel for the E-Board meeting. They were listening to Matt raging about one of my diatribes, one that called him out. I can’t even remember what he had done because his litany of bad votes and crooked donors are both so long.

How he got my number I don’t know. From Eli Broad? Yes, the evil emperor of charter schools who wants 50% of LA schools privatized is a big donor, as are pay day lenders, oil companies, big pharma, big liquor (which helps explain why we haven’t legalized pot yet), debt collectors, and on and on. Right now he is pushing a bill, AB 2806, to weaken inspection of charter schools! Get the connection? Here’s another one-- Dababneh signed on to a letter asking that oil companies be exempt from AB 32! This is too easy and too sad!

But wait! There is hope! Here comes intrepid reporter Doug Kriegel to the rescue. He has jumped into the race for Assembly District 45, disgusted as we all are at Matt’s F rating from the Courage Campaign: where he resides in the Hall of Shame:

Assemblyman Matt Dababneh is failing his constituents with the 36th most progressive voting record in the Assembly (Courage Score = 56), despite his district’s clear preference for progressive policies. He voted against AB 1017, which instituted policies to help secure equal pay for women, and AB 67, which would require double-time pay for workers on Thanksgiving Day-- an important step to better compensate workers who are forced to miss time with their families as more stores stay open.

Assemblyman Dababneh was also absent for a vote on SB 7, a bill that improves water conservation and consumer protections for renters and commercial tenants. Do you think his absence had anything to do with the $57,430.18 he received from an independent expenditure that is largely backed by the California real estate and construction/development industry?

Assemblyman Dababneh also did not support two important healthcare bills-- SB 260, which would have expanded Medi-Cal managed care protections, and AB 533, which would have protected healthcare recipients from unexpected out-of-network bills. He also received financial backing from the medical industry.

Assemblyman Dababneh did not support AB 1352 (Preventing Unintended Deportations), and SB 308 (Debtor Protections).

Doug Kriegel, on the other hand, favors Jerry Brown’s whole climate bill, especially the part Dababneh voted against. Doug was the last Sacramento bureau chief that any Los Angeles station had in the Capital. He saw how the system works to benefit special interests instead of the voters. Doug did the only five part series ever done about lobbyists’ power and influence and the huge amount of money that special interests contribute to creeps like Matt. Doug is calling upon Matt, as the chair of the Banking Committee, to return all the campaign contributions has gotten from financial institutions so he can eliminate any conflicts of interests-- but hopefully this won’t be necessary when Doug defeats Matt and Matt returns to private life-- no doubt as a lobbyist!

If Doug’s sister hadn’t had a car emergency forcing him to go rescue her instead of coming to the meeting he very well might have gotten the DP/SFV endorsement last night! Matt didn’t get it-- that was for sure! You can read more about Doug on his website. Spread the word! We only have 32 days left! If you'd like to contribute to her campaign, you can do it here on a special Blue America page for the best state legislative candidates running for seats around the country:

Electing Democrats Isn't The Solution-- Electing Progressives Is... Take California, For Example

Bad news for conservative Democrat Cheryl Brown and her lobbyist buddies

Yesterday the Courage Campaign released its report card for the California legislature-- and if you're laboring under the delusion that a Democratic majority and a Democratic governor means everything's going to be hunky-dory... a look at the scores will soon disillusion you. There are too few Republicans in the legislature to matter-- although if you guessed that every single Republican was a failure... you would be exactly right. Of the 28 Republicans in the Assembly, all 28 scored an "F." And of the 14 Republicans in the state Senate, ever single one of 'em also managed to get an "F." OK, what you'd expect.

What you might not expect, however, is that of the 52 Democrats in the Assembly, 21 also got "F" grades and of the 25 Democrats in the state Senate there were 3 with an "F" grade. Courage Campaign defines its scores as measuring "how well they stand up for their constituents over corporations or special interest groups that seek to exploit Californians, particularly those who are poor, people of color, or disadvantaged. It conveys to what extent your California state representatives have backed the interests of corporations (leading to a lower score) vs. the interests of their constituents (leading to a higher score) on critical votes."

The three Senate Democrats who voted with the Republicans against the interests of their own constituents frequently enough to get "F" grades were Cathleen Galgiani (Stockton, Lodi, Modesto, Tracy, Mateca), Steve Glazer (East Bay, including Livermore, Dublin, Walnut Creek, Orinda, Antioch, Concord, Lafayette and San Ramon) and Richard Roth (northwestern Riverside County). Just so you know, Democrats Obama, Dianne Feinstein and Jerry Brown won all three districts in their most recent races and Democrats have a registraion advantage in each district.

These were the 21 Assembly Democrats with the "F"s.

• Jim Wood (the North Coast)
• Bill Dodd (Napa, Yolo, Lake counties)
• Ken Cooley (eastern Sacramento suburbs)
• Jim Cooper (part of Scaramento and the southern Sacramento suburbs)
• Jim Frazier (Vacaville, Fairfield, Brentwood)
• Adam Gray (Merced Co. and part of Stanislaus County)
• Luis Alejo (inland Monterey, Watsonville, San Benito County)
• Henry Perea (half of Fresno County)
• Rudy Salas (Kings County, part of Kern Co.)
• Tom Lackey (Lancaster, Palmdale, Mojave)
• Jacqui Irwin (Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Oxnard)
• Matt Dababneh (Encino, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Canoga Park)
• Cheryl Brown (Colton, Fontana, Rialto, part of San Bernardino)
• Freddie Rodriguez (Pomona, Chino, Ontario)
• Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (Culver City, West L.A., Westwood, Inglewood, Ladera Hts, Crenshaw, Mar Vista)
• Eduardo Garcia (Imperial County, Blythe, Cathedral City, Indio, Coachella)
• Ian Calderon (Hacienda Heights, Whittier, Norwalk, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs)
• Jose Medina (most of Riverside, Perris, Moreno Valley)
• Mike Gipson (Compton, Carson, Watts, Willowbrook)
• Tom Daly (most of Santa Ana, part of Anaheim)
• Patrick O'Donnell (most of Long Beach, San Pedro, Avalon)

The legislators were rated on issues like fracking, over-time pay, racial profiling, equal pay for women, consumer protections, climate change, gun control, paid family leave, health insurance, etc. Few of the Democrats with "F" scores will have to worry about accountability. The two corrupt parties so dominate the politics of the state that there are virtually no primaries. One exception is down in San Bernardino where Blue America has endorsed Eloise Gomez Reyes for the Assembly seat from which Cheryl Brown sells her vote to lobbyists. Brown's record is so at odds with the interests of her district and has so pissed off the unions that Eloise has a good chance to beat her, hopefully sending a message to other Republican-lite fake Dems in the legislature.

UPDATE: Arambula Elected To Replace Perea

While everyone was watching returns from Wisconsin last night, Fresno had an election too. One of the most corrupt of the conservative Democrats in the Assembly, F-rated Henry Perea, who had been threatening to primary F-rated congressional Blue Dog, Jim Costa, resigned last December and promptly became a lobbyist for Big Pharma. Perea was the leader of the right-wing caucus of the Democrats in Sacramento which works with the GOP to sabotage progressive legislation. He was widely considered the most corrupt Democrat in the Assembly and there was general rejoicing when he resigned.

I don't know much about, Joaquin Arambula, the Democrat who won last night-- and won big (no run-off!)-- but I do know he was endorsed by all the worst of the Sacramento corporate shills-- from Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, state Senator Ricardo Lara and Assemblymen Luis Alejo and Rudy Sala (a bunch of F-rated crooked pols) to Blue Dog congressman Jim Costa, the worst, most right-wing California Democrat in Congress. Arambula, however, can't be worse than Perea and he had a lot of labor backing, including from trustworthy unions like the nurses union. Next year we'll see when the Courage Campaign puts out their next score card-- although that won't be in time for Arambula reelection campaign for a full term in 8 months.

In the days leading up to the 31st Assembly District’s 2004 election, then-Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield made a prediction: “Someday, this will be our seat.”

That day may never come.


...Republicans always like their chances in special elections, which historically have low turnouts. Because of that, the GOP saw this as its best chance to steal the seat away from the rival Democrats, who have held it for 40 years.


With all precincts reporting but some absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted, however, Arambula, an emergency room physician, had 52 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Olivier, a Fresno City Council member. Caruthers Democrat Ted Miller, an engineer and the third person in the race, had 5.7 percent of the vote.


...Democrats were well aware of the political realities of special elections, and responded accordingly. Arambula has raised more than $930,000 for the special election, including more than $405,000 from the state Democratic Party.

Special interest groups spent another $700,000 to help Arambula, a possible bad sign. During the campaign the other Democrat in the race, Ted Miller, gave anyone who cares about the rightward-drift of the Sacramento Democrats reason to pause. "The politicians who call themselves Democrats in Fresno are voting against the Democrats; they're voting in favor of money and power... There's three people that convinced me to get into the race: my Democratic opponent, my Republican opponent and Bernie Sanders. My political philosophy reflects Bernie Sanders."


UPDATE TWO: California Labor Federation Endorsements

The California Labor Federation is way too influenced by the Democratic Party bosses and they endorsed plenty of garbage candidates. However, a move in the right direction saw them refusing to endorse right-wing, anti-worker Democratic members of Congress-- Jim Costa (Blue Dog), Ami Bera (New Dem), Scott Peters (New Dem) and Susan Davis (New Dem). The Labor Federation also told some of-- though not all of-- the most corrupt of the conservative Democrats in Sacramento, including Cheryl Brown, Matt Dababneh, Tom Daly and Steve Glazer, to take a hike.

Courage Campaign Exposes The Rot In California's Democratic Party

Nanette Barragán and HUD Secretary Julián Castro talking about bringing federal resources to California

The other day I heard KPCC interviewing California's new Assembly Speaker, Anthony Rendon. He sounded great, especially on the environment.

KPCC: Please tell us about your district. It’s strung together by the 710 Freeway. There's a refinery and an aircraft parts manufacturer not far from your office.

Rendon: We still have one of the few steel plants left. In addition to the manufacturing presence that we have here, we are also bisected by the 710, the 105 and the 91 freeways. The Alameda Corridor project goes by the district as well. We are exceptionally close to the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles. So a lot of the attendant environmental problems related to the proximity to all those things very much impacts the district, and the residents of the district.

KPCC: You've made your mark as an environmentalist. What took you there?

Rendon: I ran a series of nonprofit organizations here in the district that I now represent. We found that a lot of the problems that we had, whether they were problems relating to health or even problems relating to learning and education, were linked to the environment. Some problems relating to groundwater contamination, a tremendous amount of problems relating to asthma and air pollution. So those types of environmental problems led to problems that I had to address as a nonprofit executive director.

KPCC: When you went into the Assembly, did you come with an environmental agenda in mind? What this something you wanted to tackle having already worked in this area?

Rendon: Yes, certainly. Environmental issues, environmental justice were things I was interested in. But I also spent about 15 years in early-childhood education, so that was important. I think what is important is the intersection between all these issues, and how they all relate.

KPCC: The perception of the environmental movement in Southern California has typically been that it's more of a Westside movement, typically white, based in places like Santa Monica. You’ve done some bridging of the two. Can you tell us about that?

Rendon: I like to think of myself as a bridge between a lot of the Westside environmental organizations and the Eastside or Southeast Los Angeles County environmental justice folks, and environmental justice groups.

What's interesting about that perception is that if you look at public opinion polls, for example, the recent PPIC (Public Policy Institute of California) poll on climate change, you find that communities of color are more concerned about these issues that the general public is, statistically speaking. So there is a disconnect between the formal environmental organizations and the communities on the Eastside. But the people themselves on the Eastside are very much affected by these issues, and very much concerned about that.

I got so excited I wanted to call him immediately and talk to him about Nanette Barragán, the progressive, pro-environment congressional candidate in his part of town (and a Blue America endorsee). But then I checked to see if he had already endorsed her anti-environmental opponent, California's most corrupt legislator, Isadore Hall. They served together, so Rendon endorsed the guy who is likely to do the most harm--as he already has-- on the issues Rendon says he cares about most.

Yesterday the Courage Campaign sent out an e-mail that mentions neither Rendon, Hall nor Barragán, but that goes a long way towards explaining this kind of bizarre endorsement. "The world, they wrote, "was hoping California would set a new global standard with bold action to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. But in one fell swoop, Big Oil-- backed by its corporate Democratic cronies-- forced California Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon to gut his historic bill and remove its call for a 50 percent reduction of our petroleum use by 2030." We covered this in a couple of posts in August and September. The Courage campaign was even clearer:

The other two parts of Senate Bill 350-- a 50 percent increase in our investment in clean energy and a 50 percent increase in buildings’ energy efficiency-- made it through thanks to the activism of Courage Campaign members. However, we cannot claim this as a full victory until we hold the morally bankrupt, corporate Democrats accountable for blocking the policies necessary to protect our children from the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

If we expose the corporate Democrats for ALL their constituents to see, we will change their selfish political calculations and pass this critically important legislation next summer. If we don't, nothing will change.

SB 350 had a wide range of support from elected officials such as President Barack Obama; top scientists including Nobel Prize winner Mario Molina; celebrities like Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Halle Berry; and notable businesses including The North Face. A representative from the United Nations even visited Sacramento to support California's climate change bills!

Despite the outpouring of support, a group of twenty renegade Assemblymembers calling themselves “moderate” Democrats, led by Assemblymember Henry Perea (D-Fresno), held the bill hostage. The Sacramento Bee explains, “the definition of moderate has less to do with wavering on social issues and more to do with owing one’s elections to campaign spending by big business interests including oil.”

The pressure from Big Oil and the group of "moderate" Democrats worked. Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins delayed the vote on SB 350 until it was gutted-- “an indecision [that] gave the bill’s opponents the cover of not having to cast votes that would have defined [moderate Democrats] as siding with the oil industry."

Even more outrageous, after the defeat on the Assembly floor, R.L. Miller, Chair of the CA Democratic Party’s Environmental Caucus, caught a Chevron lobbyist writing thank a you note to a Democrat who voted against the bill.

...But the biggest and most problematic twist from all of this is that many of these Democrats represent progressive districts-- some of the most polluted areas in our state-- and districts with constituents most impacted by climate change. The asthma rate in Fresno, Assemblymember Henry Perea's district, is 38% higher than the state average.

Prior to the vote, when we simply asked Assemblymember Perea to see if he would stand up to Big Oil to protect the health and well-being of his constituents-- Assemblymember Perea blocked us on Twitter! 

For years, Big Oil has dominated the political dialogue in California. While this certainly isn’t news, there is a growing trend of Democrats voting in favor of corporate interests over the people they represent.

For example, since 2011, Assemblymember Adam Gray (D-Merced) has received over $160,000 in contributions from Big Oil.

As the Sacramento Bee revealed, "One of Gray’s amendments was, word for word, the same as what [his corporate donor] proposed.”

And corporate Democrats not only get their campaign donations from Big Oil, but they raise “twice as much from alcohol and tobacco interests [when compared to] other Assembly Democrats.”

Anthony Rendon is NOT one of those kinds of Democrats. But by endorsing state Senator Isadore Hall, who certainly is, he is betraying everything he stands for and believes in. It makes me as sick to my stomach as the environmental catastrophes he fights against and Hall fights for. If you're in a fighting mood, you can help Nanette Barragán beat Hall here.

Courage Campaign… Reborn

I was so happy to see that Paul Song had been elected to a non-profit board I serve on. Friday was our annual meeting and I got to meet him in person. He's done an incredible job as Executive Chairman of another organization, Courage Campaign. He started running Courage when Rick Jacobs, the founder, became Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles. I was thrilled to learn that Paul has expanded the scope of the organization and that the main focus has shifted in a direction which has them spending more time and energy fighting against economic inequality.

During the lunch break, he actually started talking with me about how corporations are financing conservative politicians to run as Democrats. It's a topic DWT is always up for. And Paul started quoting Orinda shithead Steve Glazer-- exactly what we were looking at Thursday: Trying To Redefine What It Means To Be A Democrat… In A Bad Way. Glazer, like many of the worst excuses for Democrats, is a complete whore for Big Business-- but good with gay marriage and other social issues.

One possible addition to the Blue Dog ranks this year might be Steve Glazer, until last year a top advisor to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who later worked as a consultant to the chamber. Glazer, an Orinda city councilman, now seeks an Alameda County seat in the Assembly.

"I am trying to redefine what it means to be a Democrat," Glazer told one reporter.

For sure, Glazer has parted company with the labor unions that support most Democratic campaigns. But that doesn't make him any less liberal on issues from gay rights to gun control and abortion, areas of relatively little interest to business.

This is how Paul put it in a recent letter to Courage Campaign members:

Something weird is going on in California. Maybe you've noticed.

In 2012, millions of Californians voted for common sense when we passed Prop 30. We raised taxes on the wealthiest Californians because schools and safety net services-- like childcare, healthcare, nutrition, and housing-- had been cut to the bone.

Fast forward to 2014 and billions in cuts to the safety net still haven't been restored. Prop 30 funds are earmarked for a rainy-day, even though the economic storm is still pouring down on 25% of Californians who live in poverty. That's more than 9 million people! Fracking is poisoning our water because a corporate friendly bill was jammed through the Legislature, and passing an oil extraction tax is an epic struggle, even though 75% of Californians support one. I could go on and cite a dozen more examples that impact our healthcare, environment, and civil liberties.

So what happened? As voters, we turned out in record numbers and did our part to fix a "broken" California. We voted to fix a crazy budget process through a simple majority vote. We won electoral reforms to reduce the power of political parties and insure top two vote getters-- regardless of party-- move on to the general election. And the best part was that the people voting began to look more like the actual people who live in California, thanks to more diverse participation. TOGETHER WE VOTED FOR A MORE PROGRESSIVE CALIFORNIA.

But instead of listening to what Californians wanted, corporations and Big Business had a different plan-- they changed their tactics and are now gaming the system. And we need your help to stop them.

Big Business special interests don't care about political parties. The Chamber of Commerce now funds as many Democrats as Republicans. And with corporate lobbyists funding more and more so-called "moderate" legislators, corporations like Walmart and Chevron are accepting the state's increasingly progressive demographics while maintaining and even expanding their political influence. Recent scandals involving State Senators Leland Yee and Ron Calderon have only made it clearer that some of our elected officials are the puppets of corporate interests, while other politicians who honestly believe in doing their best for Californians are limited by their colleagues' allegiance to corporate power.

  At Courage, we don't care about political parties either. We care about issues and values, and we will hold elected officials accountable for their actions, their money, and their votes.

  So, what can we do to make sure California is accountable to the people and not Big Business? Courage Campaign has a plan. We're going to expose any elected official that chooses to represent corporations rather than constituents. We will hold legislators accountable by educating our 900,000 members like you, Paul, whenever a corporate stooge is pretending to have your back, while he or she really represents AT&T, PG&E, or the Koch Brothers.

Sign me up for that one!

When You Voted For Jerry Brown, Were You Under The Impression You Were Voting For A Democrat?

Continuity

I mean, seriously, what the hell is Jerry Brown doing?

Let's set the stage. California is screwed, budget-wise. The governor just proposed yet another budget with a deficit the size of the Grand Canyon. UC tuition has gone up 300% in the last 10 years. Teachers, firefighters, county workers, police officers laid off, proposals to close our beloved parks. Foreclosure rate 2nd-highest in the nation. On and on.

But, dang! We're in the middle of the biggest movement opportunity to increase taxes on the 1% and generate more revenue than arguably ever before in California history. The Millionaires Tax of 2012, a ballot measure sponsored by Courage Campaign, California Federation of Teachers, California Nurses Assocation and ACCE that is currently circulating for signatures, polls at freaking 70% among likely voters for November-- the highest I've ever seen a tax-raising measure polled. What does the measure do? It does what it sounds like-- raises taxes by 3% on every dollar a millionaire earns over $1 million and by 5% on every dollar over $2 million. That's it. No one making less than $1 million pays a penny more. How many people does that affect? 13,000 millionaires living in California-- 0.4% of Californians. That's right, it's not even taxing the 1%, it's taxing the frigging 0.4%, not to mention all those Facebook folks about to become millionaires by virtue of the IPO. Oh, and it would also do something about people like this who don't pay enough:



How much would it generate? $6 billion a year (up to $9.5 billion in the first year alone, almost enough to close the entire goddamn budget deficit). It's permanent, and sends the money straight to counties (does not pass Go, does not let Sacramento get its hands on it) to re-hire all those laid off teachers, firefighters, police officers, staff at senior center, and fix the potholes. Oh, and it also re-funds the UCs and CSU. Easy to understand, simple, popular, good public policy, the right measure at the right time. And just in case you missed it, polls at 70% among likely voters.

So how does our experienced problem-solving governor in his third term and umpteenth elected office overall, and his merry band of establishment Sacramento Democrats, screw it up? Let us count the ways he does:

     •     Proposes their own idiotic tax ballot measure that sucks in the following ways: (1) It raises sales taxes. Regressive and wildly unpopular. (2) It raises taxes on those making over $250,000 instead of just those making over $1 million. Unpopular (a lot of Californians think they might make that much one day). (3) Sends all the new revenue straight to the General Fund in Sacramento instead of counties so they can spend it on refunding prisons or who knows what. Politically stupid and unpopular (the legislature has a lower approval rating than Congress, if you can believe it). (4) Lasts only 5 years, so we have to do this all over again when, because of Prop 13, we have no property tax revenue coming in and income/sales tax revenue drops off a cliff when we enter another recession, so more cuts on the way. Plain stupid public policy.

     •     Raises money to pay for signature-gathering and the campaign from the following entities all of whom, by the way, have business before the governor: Occidental Petroleum ($250,000), Blue Shield ($100,000), Kaiser ($250,000), American Beverage Association ($250,000) CA Hospital Association ($500,000), various casinos ($375,000), PG&E ($25,000), California Beer and Beverage Distributors ($75,000). Corrupt, scummy and not exactly good press.

     •     Gets all his buddies in the Legislature, namely Speaker Perez and Senate President Steinberg, to kow-tow to his line and decree no Legislature Democrat shall endorse the Millionaires Tax of 2012, they shall only endorse raising taxes on their own constituents by way of his stupid measure. Right, because in this Occupy/99% environment, I really want my caucus members explaining to reporters why they oppose raising taxes on greedy millionaires and want to raise them on all the poor people in my district. Politically suicidal and immoral.

     •     Has his loyal sidekick, political adviser Steve Glazer (the one with the odd homoerotic twitter handle @steve4jerry) to tweet various nasty things about the folks working to pass the Millionaires Tax of 2012, such as that they are in political denial and a circular firing squad. Divisive and obnoxious not to mention the fact that his boss is backing the less-popular measure that's more likely to fail and screw a lot of people over if it passes. If you are concerned about a firing squad, Steve, maybe you should, uh... stop firing?

     •     Goes to the CA Dem Party Convention two weekends ago in San Diego to tell a ballroom full of activists and delegates that he hasn't quite figured out all this tax measure stuff yet, but don't worry: "you'll get your marching orders soon enough." Haughty and just plain stupid. Thanks Jerry, I was waiting for you to tell me what to do.

     •     And just this week, releases a made-up poll of just 500 people that tell him what he wants to hear: multiple measures on one ballot will lead to all of them failing. Although funny enough, the same poll shows that the Millionaires Tax of 2012 is actually more popular than his, the 4th straight poll to do so. Transparent tactic.

     •     And the icing on the cake: rumors fly yesterday that he's proposing a 24% fees hike (over 4 years) for the UC system. So that's right, if you're planning on going to college this fall, you can expect to pay a quarter more than the number you're staring at today. But don't blame Jerry, he's only the one proposing a ballot measure that doesn't fund the UC to help keep fees down while attacking the one frigging ballot measure that does.

Here's one thing I know: if someone has to drop their measure, it should be Jerry dropping his regressive, 99%-taxing, Sacramento-funding, insider establishment politically stupid bullshit measure, not the coalition trying to capture the energy behind the Occupy movement and make millionaires pay their fair share.

Here's another thing I know-- if someone outside your grocery store asks you to sign to put the Millionaires Tax of 2012 on the ballot, sign. Then download a signature petition and ask all the friends who live in your county to sign, and mail it in.

I don't know what the hell Jerry Brown is doing, or what kind of political genius Jerry Brown thinks he is, but I ain't waiting around for his marching orders, and neither should you.