The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County invites you to our
"On to the Election, 83rd Annual Democratic Party Picnic"
on Saturday, September 27th from Noon until 4PM at Kennedy Grove in El Sobrante. 
Tri Tip and Corn, Watermelon, State and Local Candidates will speak.

RSVP by clicking here!         Click here to download an event flyer

In the coming November election you will receive bogus slate mailers seeming to endorse the Democratic slate, but not quite.  The best way we can counteract the effect of these bogus mailers is the official California Democratic Party door hanger with the official slate and down ticket candidates and ballot measures endorsed by the state and local Democratic Party. 

The California Democratic Party sent the Contra Costa Democratic Party has  185,000 door hangers with space to print the local down ticket endorsed candidates names along with endorsed local ballot measures.  Printing and distributing the official California Democratic Party door hangers can be costly.  That is why you should attend the picnic.

Your door hanger will look like this with the names of the endorsed local candidates that will appear on your ballot.  Take it to the poll with you.

Torlakson:

I believe in building our schools up, not tearing them down
Watch the· VIDEO

At the Democratic Party Convention, California Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson discussed his work to empower teachers, parents and communities to make their own education decisions, to help students graduate with real-world skills, and to keep children safe.

Here's the full text of his prepared remarks:

Thank you, Dean Vogel. Thank you, John Burton. Thank you, Democrats. And a special thanks to my fellow teachers, the classified school employees, the principals, school librarians, counselors and nurses. We're a great team - working together.

You are my inspiration. You - and the 6 million students we serve - make this the best job I've ever had. You are the unsung heroes of California schools. You are why graduation rates are rising, and dropout rates are dropping. You helped us stop the budget cuts - and put control over education dollars back where it belongs: in the hands of teachers, parents and schools.

You deserve our thanks. But this is an election year, which means people who have never done your job will be telling you how to do your job. Telling you our schools are failing. Telling you that you're the problem. And telling you the way to make our schools great is for you to give up your seniority, or your right to a fair hearing.

Where does that come from? It's straight out of the Wall Street playbook. It's not about making schools better - it's about making them easy pickings. It's about buying low and selling high. Hanging a "failure" sign across a school is like putting a foreclosure sign on a house - it lowers the price, and opens the door for private interests.

Now don't get me wrong. I believe in private enterprise. But public schools are no place for Wall Street speculation...and the trading desk at Salomon Brothers is no training ground for California's next superintendent.  As a teacher and a coach, I believe in building our schools up - not tearing them down.  I believe in empowering teachers, parents and communities to make their own decisions.  I believe in partnerships that bring people together - not misguided policies designed to tear us apart.  Besides, there's plenty of work to see our schools through the historic transformation that's already underway:

We've rejected top-down micro-management of our education system - whether it comes from Washington, Sacramento or Wall Street.

We've stopped the outdated bubble tests.

We've taken $13 billion earmarked for 37 separate red-tape ridden programs and turned those dollars back over to our schools and districts.

We're implementing the Governor's local control funding formula - which means more help for English learners and children in poverty - and more power over education dollars for parents, teachers and schools. More dollars with each passing year.

We're also doing more than ever to give students a taste of the working world before they graduate - because we know all students need skills they can use in the real world of careers and college.

We've got a long way to go, but we're going to bring back arts, music and drama to our schools.

We're working hard to expand early learning - because nothing helps children succeed in school like a good start.

And we're determined to keep all kids safe, with after-school programs that keep students away from gangs, drugs and guns - and laws to be sure all students are safe from bullying, protected from discrimination and afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Education takes teamwork. We know that. We know our students succeed when parents, teachers and communities come together.

We've built a strong team - we are led by a Governor dedicated to our public schools, and to standing with us to build a smarter and stronger California.

We have Democratic majorities in the Legislature - led by Speaker John Perez and Senate President Darrell Steinberg - who have put education first. And we have a new generation of rising stars, including our next Senate President, Kevin DeLeon, and our next Assembly Speaker, Toni Atkins.

Do we have a strong team? A team ready to lead California into the future? Yes, and it's a good thing we do. Take it from a teacher, Democrats. 2014 will be a test - and this is no fire drill.

The forces opposing us are real. The stakes are high. The test is whether we will stand strong together, for our values, for our public schools and for our children. That test starts now. Who's done their homework? Who's ready? And most important of all, who's with us?

Thank you, Democrats!                    Source

Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Cohn writes in A Great Divide: The Election Fight for California’s Schools  “The 40-year-old Tuck is a Harvard Business School graduate who has worked as an investment banker for Salomon Brothers” …“Tuck’s candidacy is supported by the same mix of wealthy education privatizers, Silicon Valley and entertainment money, hedge fund and real estate interests that backed privatization candidates”…“Tuck supports using student test scores as a way of evaluating individual teachers’ performances. Critics of this policy, which is favored by school privatizers, claim that it forces classroom instructors to “teach to the test” and scrap curriculum that is not seen as reaping high student test scores.”…“Tuck also believes in the contentious Parent Trigger law, which has opened the door for charter schools to take over public schools and is strongly supported by conservatives and school privatizers. Torlakson voted against the law in 2009 when he was a member of the state Assembly.”

If Wall Street bankers can succeed in privatizing California public school, they will repeat the strategy all over the country.  The Republican strategy has been to vastly underfund public education to the point where California ranks amongst the lowest states in the country by test score and funding per sudent.  Republicans then prescribe charter schools that may sometimes and sometimes not deliver quality education but are exempt from many of the requirements that public schools and teachers have to meet.  Corporations set up charter schools based on business principles that make them profitable.  Frequently profit is more important than educating.  Tuck was President of Green Dot Public Schools a corporation with 19 charter schools in Los Angeles.  It isn’t difficult to figure out what his plan for California schools looks like.

After years of fiscal starvation at the hands of the Republican obstructionist, education is getting better in California.  Thanks to the fiscal strategies of Governor Brown, the Democratic majority in the legislature, Tom Torlakson and Proposition 30; California has stopped short-changing our kids. 

Save Public Education,
tell your friends and neighbors why re-electing
California Schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson is so important.

Truth Bytes

Did You Know

PUC Chief of staff found in bed with PG&E Execs

In an effort to reduce the financial downside to being judged by an unfriendly PUC judge, PG&E Executives convinced Carol Brown, Chief of staff to PUC President Michael Peevey to intervene on PG&E’s behalf.   PG&E wanted to make sure the judge chosen to determine the penalties for the San Bruno fire, would be PG&E friendly. 

As a result of e-mail revelations, 3 PG&E Vice Presidents have resigned, and Ms. Brown has taken a paid leave of absence and if she resigns, she can go back to her old job as an administrative judge at the PUC.  Mr. Peevey has removed himself from further dealings with the situation.  Activist groups are calling for his removal. 

Meanwhile PG&E has been running full-page ads in local newspapers saying how they are working hard to make us safer.  The are also running TV ads showing how local PG&E workers are dedicated to the community.  This while PG&E execs worked behind the scenes to undermine their regulatory agency.

Reports indicate that the judgment says PG&E will be penalized $1.4B, not to be paid for by ratepayers (us).  In order for that to happen the fines have to be paid by the stockholders.  The way that can be done is for PG&E to issue additional shares of stock thereby diluting the value of current shares.  Details

PG&E bills are expected to rise 4-5% next month due to a rate increase – surprise.  A cherry on top of obstruction of justice.

Who the Democratic Party endorses locally

The Democratic Party of Contra Costa County Endorsement Committee spent over 60 hours on 6 weekends to interview more than seventy Democratic candidates for local offices in Contra Costa County.  One of the most important jobs of the DPCCC is to vet candidates and decide which are worthy of endorsement.  The committee members are commended for their efforts.

The names of candidates endorsed by the party will appear on door hanger slate cards that is frequently taken into the voting booth for reference.  Candidates or their campaign will deliver many of the cards.  Endorsement by the party with the name on the card improves candidate credibility.

The DPCCC has made the following fifty endorsements for the November 2014 General Election: Candidates stated the three most important reasons to vote for them, click the links to see who was endorsed & why you should vote for them.

• City Races
• School Board Races
• Special District Races

Endorsements by the California Democratic Party

·         Statewide candidates, state legislators, congress & ballot measures

Door hangers with the above slate should arrive at your home before the vote by mail ballots.  Your door hanger will have the names of the candidates on your ballot.

CA Senators Voting NO on Fracking Moratorium Received 14x More $$$ from Oil & Gas Industry

On May 29, 2014 the California State Senate rejected a bill, SB 1132, that would have placed a moratorium on oil and gas well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic and acid fracturing, until the government completes a scientific study of the practices' impacts on human and environmental health.

Senators voting 'NO' on the moratorium bill have received 14 times as much money from the oil and gas industry, on average ($24,981), as senators voting 'YES' ($1,772).
Source: MAPLIGHT

How much does a seat in the CA legislature cost?

On average over $700K, for a job paying about $100K/year.  The most expensive seat cost over $4M in campaign contributions.  Maplight has an interesting chart showing how much was spent for each legislators seat in the 2012 election. 

Fracking Frontline Action

A  small county in New Mexico successfully fought off The Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, three private landowners and a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to prevent fracking.  The community is gearing up to defend their local ban on fracking against another onslaught by energy companies who want to explore natural gas extraction through fracking.   The area’s traditional livelihoods are farming and ranching, which rely on clean, healthy rivers and streams.   Millions of gallons of water are used to frack and water contamination and earthquakes are increasingly paired with fracking.    Water is less available in New Mexico as they have suffered severe droughts.  Full story: YES! Magazine

TriValley Democrats Oppose Two
CA Supreme Court Confirmations

At a September 15, 2014 meeting of the TriValley Democratic Club the membership voted to oppose the confirmation of two California Supreme Court justices and endorse a slate of statewide & local candidates and positions on two statewide ballot measures.  The two confirmation votes are of particular importance. The 2 Justices were appointed by the governor and must be confirmed by the voters in the next gubernatorial election in November. These Justices both decided to not allow Proposition 49 on the ballot. Mary Linton the TVDC Secretary explained the reason to not confirm the Justices to club members.

See why Diddo Clark disagrees and would confirm Goodwin Liu.

Minimum Wage Myth

Ten years ago, San Francisco raised it minimum wage from $6.75 to $8.50 an hour, a 26 percent increase.  Since then, it has gone up at regular intervals to its current $10.74 per hour, the highest big-city starting wage in the country.  The city has slapped other mandates on businesses, including paid sick leave and a requirement to provide health-care coverage or pay into a pool for uninsured residents.  What have the effects been on employment

Almost none, according to economists at the University of California, Berkeley, who studied San Francisco, eight other cities that raised their minimum wages in the past decade, and 21 states with higher base pay than the federal minimum. “Our data show that an increase up to $13..00 an hour has no measurable effect on employment”, said Michael Reich, a Berkeley Economics professor with The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.

Read the full story: The Seattle Times

Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)

If you're not behind on your mortgage payments but have been unable to get traditional refinancing because the value of your home has declined, you may be eligible to refinance through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).  HARP is designed to help you get a new, more affordable, more stable mortgage. HARP refinance loans require a loan application and underwriting process, and refinance fees will apply.  Get info

Hillary Clinton Argues For “Inclusive Prosperity,” John Boehner Ignores His Past

The Center for American Progress was honored to host a dynamic panel of women leaders featuring Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Patty Murray, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro to discuss why women’s economic security matters for everyone. Clinton spoke forcefully about the need for workplace policies that work for women and families. “The number one thing we can do to make our economy grow is to tap into the full potential of women who want to be in the workforce”, she said.  FULL STORY

Tim Sbranti supports The Disclose Act

Tim Sbranti told THE LOOP:

”I wanted to let you know that I fully support the Disclose Act and have stated so on numerous occasions in public forums and at events.

In fact, I even supplied literature from my own campaign to activists who were fighting for the Disclose Act's passage from my own race as evidence as to why this bill is needed*. 

If the bill does not pass this session, this will be one of the first bills I will try to get passed if I am elected to the State Assembly.  Transparency is a critical part of our political process, and the Disclose Act would play an important role in improving our system.”

*Tim Sbranti was talking about a 16 page full color mailer sent after the primary to voters in the assembly district, as an example of how big money influences politics.  The mailer slamming Tim cost between $400,000 & $1M. ”

The Powell Memo by Gordon Miller

We have disparate phenomena in today’s politics: Failure of the press to cover news. Think tanks spouting gibberish. Prestigious universities involved in financial wrongdoing. Torrents of lobbyists and money infest DC and Sacramento. Politics responds only to the rich. Middle class decline.

Something ties all of this together the way plate tectonics unifies geology and evolution unifies biology. Back in 1971, at the behest of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, a tobacco company lawyer named Lewis Powell wrote a battle plan for big business to defend itself from the progressive tide and government regulation. The memo called for: 

• Creating persuasive arguments & positions leading to the formation of conservative think tanks
• Increased lobbying
• Monitoring what is said in the press & academia to be sure pro-business information is presented

The Chamber formed a task force of 40 executives of America’s biggest businesses to implement the “Powell memo” battle plan including executives from CBS and ABC.

Then things happened fast. Network news became a profit center rather than a public service. People magazine ushered in the era of infotainment. Middle class compensation began its long stagnation and decline in the later 1970s.

Powell’s defensive language and intent became an offensive that made business supreme ruler of the USA using big money in politics and a controlled press that infotains and propagandizes rather than informs and investigates. These events make the Powell memo, written and initially executed in near-secrecy, the most important document in American history since the end of World War 2.

What happened to Lewis Powell? Nixon appointed him to the Supreme Court where he participated in the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision that declared money counts as speech and the 1978 First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti decision that struck down state laws banning corporate donations to political campaigns.

Find out more about the Powell memo. The Powell memo is Attachment 4 in the article.

Alameda Labor weighs in on Community Choice Aggregation

On September 15th Victor Uno the Business Manager of IBEW 595 spoke to the TriValley Democrats concerning Community Choice Aggregation - CCA.  Alameda County Supervisors voted to spend $1.3M to study the feasibility of CCA in Alameda.  IBEW has a big stake in how the CCA is implemented, specifically in consideration of Marin County’s CCA experience.  A resolution adopted by the Alameda Labor Council Executive Committee 07/11/14 & Delegates 07/14/14 supporting a CCA that will create green jobs in California, will sell real clean energy not greenwashed energy from out of state.  

The resolution is called RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A LABOR FRIENDLY COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROPOSAL FOR ALAMEDA COUNTY.   Full text with “where as” paragraphs included

Principles for Implementation of Labor Friendly Community Choice Aggregation

1. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) from union generating companies/agencies: The power procured by the CCA must be sourced from generators who employ union workers. Such generators should also be located in State. Today, dozens of utilities in California generate and purchase electricity generated here and California generates nearly 80% of all the electricity that it uses. This increases the buying power of the customers while using the Utilities’ infrastructure and power generated and delivered by union workers.
2. PLAs Covering Renewable Energy Generation: The CCA shall purchase renewable power from generating plants that have been built under a Project Labor Agreement or from plants that will be built under the CURE model.  Currently, this is universal in California, where Utilities who generate and purchase green power do so from generating facilities that have been built under a CURE PLA. But funding for these new renewable generation projects must be in place before Alameda County launches its CCA because no funding means no construction and no work. Instead, the new CCA will contract for out of state power and use Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to greenwash dirty, fossil fuel power.
3. PLAs Covering Energy Efficiency Work: The Alameda CCA shall agree upfront to perform necessary energy efficient work on their customers' building under a Building Trades PLA. This work must create sufficient energy savings to pay for these improvements and the energy efficiency work must performed under a Project Labor Agreement. A wide variety of financing strategies are available from Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). The work is performed by trained union workers ensuring high wage and benefits to the workforce; and
4. Community Benefits Agreements. CCA projects that have community benefits provisions requiring local construction and local hiring should have priority over projects without such commitments. The Alameda CCA shall agree upfront to Community Benefit Agreements with provisions requiring local construction and local hiring have priority over projects without such commitments prioritize projects to assure workers residing in Alameda County will benefit from the CCA: and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that upon adoption of these principles by Alameda Board of Supervisors, including identified financing for local renewable generation development in Alameda County and throughout the State of California, the Alameda Labor Council will support fully the implementation of the Alameda CCA; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, all participating Cities and other entities should also endorse the principles for CCA creation to ensure that the jobs created will be the good, green jobs long promised by the green economy.

THE LOOP is distributed through Democratic clubs and members who send it to friends and family. We hope you enjoy, learn and value THE LOOP.  PLEASE forward THE LOOP to your list.

Submit articles, Truth Bites or Did You Know items to Marie McDonald or Ellis Goldberg.  Please include source links. All items are reviewed and approved by an editorial board of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County.  Thanks to all of you who have contributed to THE LOOP.