A weekly update on the goings-on in Sacramento
For the week ending January 12, 2008
Key bills and issues we've been following during the
Past week and beyond
With the Presidential Primary and an assortment of ballot measures coming to the fore between now and Election Day, February 5, 2008, Speak Out California is pleased to announce its highly acclaimed one-stop voter guide will be posted on our site within the next few days. We'll be sending it out to our regular subscribers so watch for it in your email!
With seven ballot measures to evaluate and decide, the electioneering is well under-way. Let Speak Out California help you sift through all the hype and conflicting claims of what they do and don't do. We'll provide the progressive perspective on the propositions and give you the key links to all the information you'll need to decide for yourselves, regardless of the millions of dollars being spent by those selling their positions on each of the measures. It's democracy without the dollars, just as it should be. So watch for the Voter Guide coming to you this week!
So what's happening in Sacramento?
As predicted, the proverbial fiscal mess has hit-the-fan in Sacramento. With the convergence of a dysfunctional tax and budget process coupled with the collapse of a greed-driven sub-prime mortgage lending scheme, the uncontrolled and unconscionable profiteering by the oil industry and other greed-driven policies, condoned and supported by the Bush administration and its multi-national corporate owners, the State of California is now among the first states to experience the full impact of this federal administration's failed approach to governance. Although the budget mess has many sources, the state has an enormous task ahead to fix the latest in a series of budget messes fed by economic failures in combination with unworkable structural constraints.
While the Governor is chanting the Right-wing mantra of no new taxes, no matter what, the Dems are calling for all options to be on the table. The Governor has unveiled his promised 10% across the board cuts which have both sides howling about the dangers and inequities of such serious action. Of course, that's the point.
With the two major Democratic presidential candidates starting to create at least a partial California presence as they head into Super Tuesday, Hillary and Barack have each carved out a role in two of the key issues so important to progressives.
As mentioned, the television and media campaigns have started to heat up with the Proposition proponents and opponents starting to burn the TV markets with their 30 second sound bites on what's good and bad about the measures they'll be voting on between now and Super Tuesday. And again, Californians won't be disappointed at the hype and confusion each claim seems to generate.
We here at Speak Out California hope to be able to keep you up-to-date on all of this in the weeks and months ahead, so
If you like the work we've been doing at Speak Out California, with our regular weekly updates which provide inside commentary and analysis on what is going on in our state capital, we hope you'll support our work by making a contribution to Speak Out California. To contribute, just click here for our website so we can keep providing this unique and important perspective on our state and its future.
At Speak Out California we provide the facts and the commentary that keeps you informed on what is really happening in our state. We don't accept any advertising or corporate sponsorships, so you know that we are not beholden to any group or special interest. Our commitment is simply to provide uncompromising reporting and analysis of what is happening in our state from the progressive perspective.
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