| The Republicans have been successful because they hang together, enough so that we could barely dislodge three of them in each chamber to pass the last budget. Well, now it's our turn. Schwarzehoover wants to impose his austerity budget, balancing its full weight not merely on the backs but on the bellies and foreheads of the poor, and it's time to ask -- to find out -- who within our party majority actually has the grit to stand up to the Republicans and say "¡No Pasarán!" THEY SHALL NOT PASS! In English, the double meaning works: they shall not pass this budget!
Who will stand up for us at our time of need? Who will say "You had better get used to the idea that just as the Republicans can prevent passage of a budget, so can the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party"? How many votes do we have? Do we have 14 firm votes in the Senate? Do we have 27 firm votes in the Assembly? Do we have enough people to stand together the way Republicans do and simply demand our way?
It is not as if we do not have a proposal. Between split roll, oil extraction taxes, Steinberg maneuvers, fee increases, release of non-violent prisoners -- and, yes, marijuana legalization and taxation, if that's what it takes to make the nut -- we have the alternatives to having Mississippi-style government imposed on us. So, who are our votes? Who are our champions?
My dirty secret in politics is that for the most part I have primary campaigning. Usually, there is more than one candidate I like about equally and I've hardly ever been one to hop onto a horse and gain the benefits of being an early adopter. But this issue is different for me.
This is a test of both principles and character. For as long as I'm active in state politics, I would like to be able to look at a list of names of legislators and say "this one was willing to accommodate core principles, this one was not; I know who I will support in the primary." Let us stand for something, when everything is at stake. The Israeli peace movement had a slogan, "Yesh G'vul": "There is a limit."
Here's a list of the Democratic members of the Assembly (with Curren Price still in place):
01 Wesley Chesbro, Eureka
06 Jared Huffman, San Rafael
07 Noreen Evans, Santa Rosa
08 Mariko Yamada, Davis
09 Dave Jones, Sacramento
10 Alyson Huber, El Dorado Hills
11 Tom Torlakson, Antioch
12 Fiona Ma, San Francisco
13 Tom Ammiano, San Francisco
14 Nancy Skinner, Berkeley
15 Joan Buchanan, Alamo
16 Sandré Swanson, Oakland
17 Cathleen Galgiani, Tracy
18 Mary Hayashi, Hayward
19 Jerry Hill, San Mateo
20 Alberto Torrico, Fremont
21 Ira Ruskin, Redwood City
22 Paul Fong, Mountain View
23 Joe Coto, San Jose
24 Jim Beall, San Jose
27 Bill Monning, Carmel
28 Anna Caballero, Salinas
31 Juan Arambula, Fresno
35 Pedro Nava, Santa Barbara
39 Felipe Fuentes, Sylmar
40 Bob Blumenfield, Woodland
41 Julia Brownley, Santa Monica
42 Mike Feuer, Los Angeles
43 Paul Krekorian, Burbank
44 Anthony Portantino, Pasadena
45 Kevin de León, Los Angeles
46 John A. Pérez, Los Angeles
47 Karen Bass, Los Angeles
48 Mike Davis, Los Angeles
49 Mike Eng, Monterey Park
50 Hector De La Torre, South Gate
51 Curren Price, Jr., Inglewood
52 Isadore Hall III, Compton
53 Ted Lieu, Torrance
54 Bonnie Lowenthal, Long Beach
55 Warren Furutani, Gardena
56 Tony Mendoza, Artesia
57 Ed Hernandez, Baldwin Park
58 Charles Calderon, Whittier
61 Norma Torres, Pomona
62 Wilmer Carter, Rialto
69 Jose Solorio, Anaheim
76 Lori Saldaña, San Diego
78 Marty Block, San Diego
79 Mary Salas, Chula Vista
80 Manuel Perez, Coachella
And here is a list of the Democratic members of the Senate (with Curren Price still in the Assembly):
SD 2 Patricia Wiggins
SD 3 Mark Leno
SD 5 Lois Wolk
SD 6 Darrell Steinberg
SD 7 Mark DeSaulnier
SD 8 Leland Yee
SD 9 Loni Hancock
SD 10 Ellen Corbett
SD 11 Joe Simitian
SD 13 Elaine Alquist
SD 16 Dean Florez
SD 20 Alex Padilla
SD 21 Carol Liu
SD 22 Gilbert Cedillo
SD 23 Fran Pavley
SD 24 Gloria Romero
SD 25 Rod Wright
SD 26 (will be Cullen Price)
SD 27 Alan Lowenthal
SD 28 Jenny Oropeza
SD 30 Ronald Calderon
SD 32 Gloria Negrete McLeod
SD 34 Lou Correa
SD 39 Christine Kehoe
SD 40 Denise Moreno Ducheny
Whose votes can we count on? Do we have 14 in the Senate and/or 27 in the Assembly? |
