Democracy: February 2007 Archives

During her campaign, Secretary of State Deb Bowen promised to review the voting machine question carefully and update the voting process in California to assure accuracy and transparency. Given her track record of progressive and innovative leadership, we here at Speak Out California enthusiastically endorsed her in her campaign. We have recently caught up with the hyperactive Secretary and asked her to provide us with an update on what she's been doing since taking over the reigns of this important office. Not surprisingly, she's been off and running to fulfill not only her campaign promises, but to provide the same open and creative leadership to this position that she brought to her 14 years as a visionary leader in the California Legislature. Here is her report:

Dear Speak Out California readers:

I have to tell you what an amazing feeling it is to be here and I want to thank everyone who has been involved with Speak Out California for your help and support in helping me to become Claifornia's Secretary of State!

The job is fun, exciting and challenging-made even more so by the decision of some in the Legislature to push the presidential primary election up from June 2008 to February 2008.

It was only a matter of time before the shameless, Congressional Republican minority stepped forward to cry about the Dems starting to take the initiative and marginalize the Republicans as had been done to them for the past decade plus. When they started chastising Nancy Pelosi for having airplane privileges similar to Denny-Boy Hastert when he was Speaker, one could only shake his/her head and think how foolish and predictably hypocritical they were behaving. But I think we all expected and deserve more than the mainstream press picking up this non-story and making it into the news-of-the-day, giving these adolescents a platform they don't deserve.

Heavens, even the White House acknowledged that this is a non-issue; that in fact, the House Sergeant-at-Arms, who helps oversee security for the House of Representatives, is the one who suggested Pelosi should fly home to California on a non-stop basis for security reasons; that this was a "silly story and......unfair to the Speaker", according to White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Of course, many of us expect no less from a bunch of childish, means-spirited and sexist whiners who can't tie their own shoes on a good day, let alone make good public policy for the people who sent them to Washington.
Remembering Molly Ivins observation that when "Congress convenes, many a village has lost its idiot." But this little temper tantrum goes beyond stupid. Hopefully the American public thinks so too.

So why did the mainstream press see fit to print this as a story of the day--while relegating truly significant news to the backpages? Take for example, Thursday's L.A. Times. On page one is the Pelosi airplane story---chock full of Republican objections to such an outrageous notion that she fly on a bigger plane so she can actually get all the way back to her home district in San Francisco (when Denny Hastert flew on a smaller plane he needed to get only half as far, since he lived in Illinois). Now, we know those Reps hate California, but I've got to believe they DO know that California is ALL THE WAY on the other side of the country, which means a longer flight and, to get there directly and without having to stop and refuel, it means a BIGGER plane. Even they can't be that clueless.

So why did the LA Times bite on this zero and put the Libby trial on page 16? Now there's a really serious situation where the Vice President and key players in the Bush Administration may very well have committed a criminal act in publicly outing a CIA operative. This is an almost Watergate-like situation where an entire adminstration could (and for many of us should) come tumbling down. The LA Times thinks this should be relegated to page 16, while playing up the Republican's food fight behavior in D.C. by putting it on the front page---and without doing the background work which would have discovered that the initiator of this plane travel was the Sergeant-at-Arms, with mandated responsibilty for Ms. Pelosi's security and that her male predecessor had the luxury of such travel without Republican (or Democratic) objection?

Is it any wonder the public is disgusted with the quality of the mainstream news we are subjected to on a daily basis? Any wonder that newspaper readership has declined precipitously in recent years? That Americans are less and less informed about the important issues they need to know and understand in order for our democracy to work effectively and responsively to the public's needs and priorities?

Is it sexism, stupidity, laziness or ignorance that fuels this kind of nonsense? Well, tomorrow's another day--we'll have Anna Nicole Smith's death to kick around for a while. No need to learn more about the possibly illegal conduct in the White House, now is there? As Republican Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona lamented, "Next week we are going to steal their mascot and short-sheet their beds." Now that's a story worth covering.

Legislatively, February is pretty much a slow month in California. Bills are introduced with some splash in January and sit while a 30 day public notice requirement keeps them percolating before allowed to be heard in committee. Indeed as we speak, the Dems in the Assembly are off at their Caucus Retreat-this year in beautiful and grape-plentiful Napa. Although there is much "bonding" over golf and drink, it is a time when the priorities and signficant issues of the day are hashed out and discussed with less distraction and chaos than the rest of the session when the demands of lobbyists, constitutents and raising money often derail careful and thoughtful consideration of these complex and demanding public policy imperatives.

So a few thoughts on random issues for the early part of the legislative year:

Health care
Interesting how the Republicans-especially our Governor, have co-opted the phrase "universal healthcare" to describe their initiatives which do no such thing and aren't designed to, either. Why isn't there greater focus, in California or D.C., on the unholy profits of the insurance industry which takes anywhere from 25-40 cents of every premium dollar( depending on whose figures are used) and pockets it for its elephant-like bureaucracy and unsupportable profits? Take the insurance industry out of the equation, put in a single insurer -an independent government-overseen agency and voila, you've got a medicare-like system where almost all the money that goes into it goes out for medical services! But of course, check to see where all that campaign money comes from---starting right here with Governor Schwarzenegger.....and creeping beyond to willing pockets throughout the political landscape.