LA Grassroots 4 Obama
Urgent Action -National Day of Service
NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE
Watch Buffy Wicks talk about Renewing America Together with the National Day of Service President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and their families will commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the eve of the inauguration, by performing activities in service to others. They ask you and all Americans to join them that day in making an ongoing commitment to serve your country and your fellow citizens. Here in California, volunteers like you have taken the tools and skills learned during the primary and general elections and established hundreds of community service events. Now we ask that you support these events by signing up today to give a few hours or a even a full day. Events are listed on the new website USA Service.org Local activists have also posted events to our Community Calendar.
Please check out our Grassroots Service picks for January:
Fill The Food Bank (NDOS) 1st - 19th
Soldiers' Angels 14th-21st
LA Housing Authority - Greater LA Homeless Count 27th - 29th
For those of you already hosting an event the team has compiled a terrific planning tool for you. Click here to view the National Day of Service Planning Guide
Want to have your event featured on the new website? Want to receive a phone call from Michelle Obama? Check out the guidelines below for creating and submitting a video of your service event, who knows, you could be the next YouTube star.
HOW TO ENTER THE YOU TUBE VIDEO COMPETITION And win a phone call from Michelle Obama!California Budget Town Hall With Jenny Oropeza and Deborah Bowen
Thu, January 29, 6:00pm - 7:30pm Senator Jenny Oropeza invites you to join them for an update on the California budget, Senate leadership, legislative issues and for a presentation on election issues. Come meet your elected officials and share your perspectives about local and state matters!
Westchester-Loyola Village Branch Public Library
Mary Lou Crockett Room
7114 West Manchester Ave.
Los Angeles, 90045
Light refreshments will be served.
Questions: Please call (310) 318-6994.
INAUGURATION EVENTS! LA & No Cal Events have been added!
Grassroots Links - California Official Campaign Website Barack Obama Official Website LA Grassroots 4 Obama Bay Area for Obama The Office of the President Elect LAG4O Calendar The Fierce Urgency of Now Project Valley for Obama Generation Obama LA
Keep the Change and the Movement Going.
Take action today! Yes We Did!
The Gang at LA Grassroots 4 Obama
Register for Change
May 10th, 2008 Photo by Dave Card
Hi folks: I am running on the ballot as a candidate for Assembly District Delegate in the 47th Assembly District Election this coming Sunday, January 11th - and, if you live in Culver City, Rancho Park, Baldwin Hills, Fox Hills, Ladera Hgts, Crenshaw area - you should come by and see how the process works. (To see if you are in the 47th District, look at the map here: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/speaker/District/Map/default.aspx. To see if you have other friends who are running for Delegate, check the list here: http://www.cadem.org/site/c.jrLZK2PyHmF/b.4840275/k.804C/ADEM_Candidates.htm.) The location of the Election Meeting is the Vets Memorial Building located at the corner of Overland Avenue and Culver Blvd. (catty-corner from Sony Studios.) Registration starts at 3 pm and the election starts at 5 pm. You can vote early and leave if ya want to. Veterans Memorial Complex 4117 Overland Ave. Culver City Please come by and visit! Maybe even vote. Here is a list of Assembly District candidates approved by California CAN:
Micah Scheindlin Margaret-Mary "Hope" Aguilar Panney Wei-ChenDeana IgelsrudSteven BottKian KaeniGwendolyn AustinMichael RagognaMichael Spitzer-Rubinstein
Micah Scheindlin
Margaret-Mary "Hope" Aguilar
Panney Wei-Chen
Deana Igelsrud
Steven Bott
Kian Kaeni
Gwendolyn Austin
Michael Ragogna
Michael Spitzer-Rubinstein
Read on: From: Chairman Art Torres, California Democratic Party <cdpeditor@cadem.org>
In 2008, we were resolute in our fight for change in Washington — change in our state — change in our own communities. But the fight is not over. Now, more than ever, President-Elect Barack Obama needs a strong Democratic Party behind him. That’s why my 2009 resolution is to make sure the California Democratic Party is ready to help our President whenever he needs.
However, I need your help. On January 10 and 11, 2009, California Democrats will gather to elect almost one-third of the delegates to the California Democratic Party. These delegates will decide the direction of the Party and most importantly do whatever it takes to support the Obama-Biden Administration in the coming years.
Can you join me in reorganizing the Party by coming out to vote for your Assembly District delegate representatives on January 10 or 11, 2009? www.cadem.org/ademrsvp
On January 10 and 11, 2009, twelve delegates will be elected from every Assembly District. These delegates will represent you for a two-year term in the California Democratic Party, decide what candidates and ballot initiatives get the official endorsement of the Party, elect Party officers, and write the Party platform.
Will you make sure you are being well represented in the California Democratic Party by coming out to vote on January 10 or 11, 2009?
If you were a registered Democrat as of October 20, 2008 and are still registered democratic in that same Assembly District, you are eligible to participate. Simply pre-register here and come out to your Assembly District Delegate Election on January 10 or 11, 2009 to vote. You can find your specific voting location and time, as well as candidate information on our web site at www.cadem.org/ademlocations. Remember pre-registration is not mandatory, but will save you time.
I hope you can join me in continuing to make this Party strong. It’s the one New Year’s resolution that we can all make—and keep! Pre-register now to vote in the Assembly District Meetings.
Sincerely,
Sen. Art Torres (Ret.) Chairman, California Democratic Party
Although I'll be glad when Senator Obama wins the election and the campaigning is all over, I'll miss meeting so many new, interesting, and intelligent colleagues on the trail.
While making campaign calls to Florida, I met a guy who had already stood in line four to five hours while waiting to vote. He had anticipated a wait, and thus had brought a book. But, I don't think he even made it to one page because he himself had such a great experience hanging out with other Obama voters.
Today, I walked precincts in Pasadena, California with a couple who were participating in their first campaign event. Once our volunteer service was over, we bought Obama T-shirts together and went our separate ways. But, I guess fate aligned our fortunes, because we then, ironically, ended up going to the same restaurant for lunch.
It is said that Obama has the personality and heart to bring disparate people and nations together. Seems as if his campaign has already had that effect.
John McCain has latched onto the idea of "spreading the wealth" as the worst possible thing for America. What he and his supporters don't realize:
1. The tax code is based on the idea of redistribution of wealth. We have a "progressive tax plan" in the IRS code: Folks with higher incomes pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than people with lower incomes. For people in the lowest income classes, there is no tax at all. Thus, those who are taxed are paying for the government services that everyone enjoys, whether they pay taxes or not.
2. The IRS tax code includes an "earned income credit." For working people, with or without children, who have a very low earned income, the IRS sends them a refund that is more than their federal tax withholding, even if their withholding is zero. This is also known as a "negative" income tax. For working parents with two children who make about $20,000, that federal subsidy is in the $3000 or more range. People get a refund without paying in, and this is, clearly, a redistribution of wealth.
3. The McCain supporters who boo when he mentions the redistribution of wealth don't realize that they are the ones who would benefit by having a tax cut while taxing the highest classes a little bit more. (A little bit of a lot is still a lot....so the Wall Street CEOs who are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars a year may pay a few million more in taxes...which goes a long way.)
4. John McCain actually wants to redistribute wealth to the wealthiest Americans: his tax plan benefits the super rich more than anyone else.
5. Barack Obama believes that we need to redistribute wealth to those who need it...spreading the wealth around is good for everyone. It is baffling that the McCain campaign sees this as a bad thing. But, if you look closely, Barack (God bless him), also wants to spread the wealth around from the rich nations to poorer nations. Barack recognizes that the wealth of the rich is made on the backs of the poor.
So, don't be too afraid of supporting the idea of spreading the wealth around. We do it already; and it is the right and moral thing to do.
I'm working very hard to make it to the higher income class -- over $250,000, so that I can pay more too.
It was reported today that Cindy McCain paid over 1 million dollars in federal income taxes (her income was over 4 million dollars).
We have a progressive tax system in this country. That means that, the more you make, the more you pay. Very low income people pay nothing, in fact, the Earned Income Credit, is a "negative income tax" in that people get money without paying anything in.
Middle income people are in a middle tax bracket (15% to 28%), and high income people are in a high bracket (33% or more).
That's the way its been for many years, maybe since the inception of the Internal Revenue Service. In this way, wealth gets spread around.
Now, the Republicans are critical of Barack's comments to Joe the Plumber about spreading the wealth around (as if it is some sort of odious socialism, ignoring the fact that under the Bush administration the federal government has just invested a trillion dollars in insurance and banking businesses).
But the tax code is and always has been one of spreading the wealth around by taxing high income people at a higher rate.
So, thanks, Cindy, for spreading the wealth.
Joe Biden questioned whether his encounter with Sarah Palin was really a "debate." I can understand where he was coming from: she brushed aside the questions of the moderator, and the points of view of Biden, to give snippets of her stump speech, regardless of the topic or question.
So, too, McCain was a "broken record" in his critique of higher taxes and of Barack's character.
But, then, this a.m. I awoke to an email from a friend and colleague whose missive gave me goosebumps and a renewed sense of commitment. And here it is:
And in that place, I think about America and those who built it...And all the faceless, nameless men and women, slaves and soldiers and tailors and butchers, constructing lives for themselves and their children and grandchildren, brick by brick, rail by rail, calloused hand by calloused hand, to fill the landscape of our collective dreams.It is that process I wish to be a part of.My heart is filled with love for this country.--Barack Obama
I praise Barack Obama for his strength of character and integrity. He hasn't done what I've done: I created a little YouTube Video that details the dirt on John McCain, some of it, anyway. (My video is entitled, "John McCain: War Hero? Or Collaborator?") (The video isn't all that great, so don't expect too much.)
But the story is this: While a POW in Vietnam, McCain caved in to the torture, and signed a confession of war crimes. He gave operational details to his captors that led to improved air defenses and the deaths of U.S. airmen. He collaborated with the enemy. Some of this is detailed in McCain's own autobiography (search for "John McCain, Prisoner of War: A first-Person Account," published in U.S. News and World Report).
According to some accounts, there was NO TORTURE at the prison camp where McCain was interred. I don't know, myself. But I do know that more than a few POWs succumbed to the "brain washing" techniques used in No. Vietnamese torture camps, but MOST DID NOT! John McCain caved in. Or, maybe he did it more willingly. In his autobiography, he says, "They took me up into one of the interrogation rooms, and for the next 12 hours we wrote and rewrote." WE wrote and rewrote.
Don't take my word for it: see the actual declassified U.S. documents on this matter at www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com. According to that website, McCain gave approximately 20 interviews with his captors, when he was supposed to just give name, rank and serial number.
Other dirt: he cheated on his wife (or wives), and he his a hothead. He has cursed in the halls of Congress (search YouTube for "John McCain anger temper."
Now then, I am feeling confident about Barack's chances. But I'm a little scared, too. The McCain has gotten down and dirty. Maybe some of us need to get down and dirty too.
WHY WE MUST CONTINUE TO WORK HARD IN THE CAMPAIGN:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27098739#27098739
PLEASE PHONE BANK WHENEVER YOU CAN!
Hi Friends,
Here's my road trip, I'd like to share our experience with you. Thing's are moving fast. How exciting!
http://www.gigiinc.net/family_adventure_road_trip_to_vote.html
I'll see many of you this weekend at the Culver City phone bank.
See you there!
Gigi Iam
I did it! I went and voted early today (10-8-08)! I had my family with me. I made my voice heard and I am very excited about the enormous beneficial results it will bring about for all of us. This is a monumental moment in time and I am... to put it simply, thrilled!
Barack Obama excites me! I am very happy I Voted Early, it is an awesome feeling and I am floating. I am free to call and assist others to the polls and get them to vote early too. I'm making my calls and you'll find me at the Head Quaters office and this weekend in Culver City at the Culver City Studios making phone calls and doing data entry. What a ride! I encourage you to join me.
Barack Obama...Yes!
GigiIam.com
A new world is coming. One in-which we will all truly thrive in; including the African American woman. Let's be clear, we all need love. With change, I believe negative stereotypical attitudes will breakdown and acceptance will become wide spread allowing a raise in success for many. This new world will allow many to become successful, paving the way for the true American Dream to be reality.
Wikipedia - stereotype:
A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression") is a generalized perception of first impressions: behaviors presumed by a group of people judging with the eyes/criticizing ones outer appearance (or a population in general) to be associated with another specific group. Stereotypes, therefore, can instigate prejudice and false assumptions about entire groups of people, including the members of different ethnic groups, social classes, religious orders, the opposite sex, etc.
Merriam - success
1 obsolete: outcome, result 2 a: degree or measure of succeeding b: favorable or desired outcome; also: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence 3: one that succeeds
Dictionary - Successful
1. achieving or having achieved success.
2. having attained wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3. resulting in or attended with success.
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The problem with being caught in a lie is that you can't ever be trusted to speak the truth. One has to doubt the veracity of the person caught in a lie. Hillary had this problem with her Bosnia war story.
McCain has this problem when he told David Letterman that he had to cancel his appearance because he was running to the airport (in truth, he was at another station taping an interview).
Palin has this problem when she says that she's been listening to Joe Biden since she was in second grade. Wait a minute. Second grade?
The question of "victory" in Iraq, particularly following the "surge" seems to have flummoxed our hero. Instead of capitulating to the "success" of the surge, Barack should point out the number of lives that have been lost since the "surge" last year, both American and Iraqi (hundreds of Americans have died since the "surge" and uncounted thousands of innocents have perished as a result of the enhancement in the unlawful invasion of Iraq).
How does one measure "victory" in war? In WWII, I suppose, it was clear: Germany was defeated, and Japan surrendered, but millions died.
The only victory possible in Iraq is a pyrrhic one: At some point, we must cut our losses and leave the country to its rightful owners to restore and govern.
In an unlawful war, "victory" is an anathema: it is not possible, and not palatable to even talk about.
The economy is in the pits. Why?
Those of us on a variable interest rate mortgage will surely remember when the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate over the past few years. In 2003, the rate was low, like it is now (1-2%). From 2004 through about 2007, the Federal Reserve seemed to rejoice in raising the discount rate (on which all other interest rates are based), a quarter point every couple of months. Remember?
Google it: Look for the Federal Reserve Interest rate, and you'll see it climb from under 2% to over 5% in just a couple of years.
What that did to my mortgage payment is that it doubled it. Fortunately, I could afford it. But not many people can DOUBLE their housing costs in just a couple of years.
So, people started losing their homes....they're still losing their homes. The cascade of home foreclosures, then has threatened EVERYTHING.
So, what is the cause? It's the Federal Reserve Bank, who, under the Bush Administration, created this financial disaster.
Wow! According to the BBC, Obama is loved across the world!
All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama to be US president, ahead of his Republican rival John McCain.
Mr Obama was favoured by a four-to-one margin across the 22,500 people polled.
In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view was that America's relations with the rest of the world would improve under a President Obama.
If Mr McCain were elected, the most common view in 19 countries was that relations would remain about the same.
The poll was conducted before the Democratic and Republican parties held their conventions and before the headline-grabbing nomination of Sarah Palin as Mr McCain's running mate.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the results could therefore be a reflection of the greater media focus on Mr Obama as he competed for the presidential candidacy against Hillary Clinton.
International ties
The margin of those in favour of Mr Obama winning November's US election ranged from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya, which is the birthplace of the Illinois senator's father.
On average 49% preferred Mr Obama to 12% in favour of Mr McCain. Nearly four in 10 of those polled did not take a view.
On average 46% thought US relations with the world would improve with Mr Obama in the White House, 22% that ties would stay the same, while seven per cent expected relations to worsen.
Only 20% thought ties would get better if Mr McCain were in the Oval Office.
The expectation that a McCain presidency would improve US relations with the world was the most common view, by a modest margin, only in China, India and Nigeria.
But across the board, the largest number - 37% - thought relations under a president McCain would stay the same, while 16% expected them to deteriorate.
In no country did most people think that a McCain presidency would worsen relations.
US poll
Oddly, in Turkey more people thought US relations would worsen with an Obama presidency than under Mr McCain, even though most Turks polled preferred Mr Obama to win.
In Egypt, Lebanon, Russia and Singapore, the predominant expectation was that relations would remain the same if Mr Obama won the election.
The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve ties were US Nato allies - Canada (69%), Italy (64%), France (62%), Germany (61%), and the UK (54%) - as well as Australia (62%), along with Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).
When asked whether the election as president of the African-American Mr Obama would "fundamentally change" their perception of the US, 46% said it would while 27% said it would not.
The US public was polled separately and Americans also believed an Obama presidency would improve US ties with the world more than a McCain presidency.
Forty-six per cent of Americans expected relations to get better if Mr Obama were elected and 30% if Mr McCain won the White House.
A similar poll conducted for BBC World Service ahead of the 2004 US presidential election found most countries would have preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry beat the incumbent George W Bush.
At the time, the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland were among the few countries to favour Mr Bush's re-election. All three now favour Mr Obama over Mr McCain.
In total 22,531 citizens were polled in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE and the UK. A parallel survey was conducted with 1,000 US adults.
Polling firm GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes carried out the survey between July and August.
Here is a link to an interview with Barack in August 1995. You'll have to suffer through a couple of PSAs.
http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/cmt&CISOPTR=1&CISOBOX=1
I just finished watching the McCain acceptance speech, and am struck by his SURRENDER to the issue of this election: Change. His surrender is seen in the plagiarism of the central idea of the Obama campaign. "Change."
What a joke! McCain is proclaiming that he will bring "change" to Washington! "Change" is OUR word. If McCain would be true to his party's platform, and his own beliefs, he would say, "We must STAY the course!" But, no. Now he is the "change" candidate. Ain't that somethin'?
The good news is that he is incapable of being the candidate of change. As he tries on Obama's robes, the fit will be way too tight. McCain's campaign of "change" will make him look ridiculous.
This is nothing new. The uninspired Republican campaign has repeatedly plagiarized the brilliance of Barack Obama. You may recall McCain saying, shortly after securing his party's nomination last Spring, "I'm fired up, and ready to go!" (You Tube it.)
Well, what are we to do?
We gotta get fired up! I mean, really fired up! And get going! This campaign is no cake walk. Barack is in it to win, but he will win it through our daily commitment, sacrifice, money, talent, and will.
Yes.
We.
Can.
Sarah Palin electrified the Republican National Convention with her acceptance speech last night. It was a well-written, well-delivered speech. It made me shudder--because now the McCain campaign has some life in it. The struggle to elect Barack Obama is now more difficult.
Although I found Palin's delivery impressive, and the speech well done, it was also full of sarcasm, cynicism, and lies. The unfortunate thing is that the majority of American people care more about style, than substance.
The mocking sarcasm came in a few places, for example, when she said that her being mayor of a small town was sort of like being a community organizer, but with "real responsibilities." (Her town was the size of two urban high schools; her state, with a population of 650,000 or so, is the size of a small city.) The lie in the speech had to do with Obama allegedly raising taxes, when in fact he proposes to cut taxes for 95% of American workers.
Palin, nevertheless, is an impressive woman, make no mistake about it.
But she is an anti-American, anti-woman ideologue. She supports the Alaska Independence Party, which proposes that Alaska secede from the United States (Alaska, then, would become a foreign country). She is staunchly pro-Life, which takes women's choices away regarding their reproductive behavior. (The irony is that she exercised that choice when deciding to have her Down Syndrome child, and her daughter exercised that choice when she decided to keep her baby as a 17-year old.)
Bottom line? We must dig deep, work hard, and understand that we're in a fight to the finish. This election is no gimme. It must be taken.
What I'm trying to figure out: Sarah Palin had a baby four months ago. She's been Governor of Alaska for 20 months. So she got pregnant seven months into her governorship. (the baby is four months old, the pregnancy was for about 9 months, 9 plus 4 is 13, subtracted from 20, leaves 7).
So, how do you imagine a woman who is elected state governor, is in her 40s and already has 4 children, is seven months into a very important job (governor of Alaska), and then she decides to get pregnant? What kind of judgement is that?
Was the pregnancy unplanned? What kind of judgement is that?
And as I asked in my last post, who's taking care of her special needs baby now? A four month old baby needs almost constant attention from his mother, especially a special needs baby.
What kind of judgement does John McCain have to have picked Palin as his running mate?
