Greener Pastures Meeting
Riverside County, CA Unincorporated Community of Rubidoux
Sunday, February 8, 2009
I. President Obama’s Message
a. How much will be cut from the stimulus bill, and why is it necessary to compromise with the Republicans?
i. Particular outrage exists when the Republican senator from Nevada blithely quotes the growth of jobs in fire fighting and education- no doubt part of the Dept. of Labor statistics when in CALIFORNIA most school districts have frozen hiring and will be issuing pink slips to hundreds of thousands of teachers shortly.
b. With what is being out of the stimulus package, how many jobs can be directly started? It seems that most start-up jobs will take a year to a year and a half to get going.
II. Governor Tim Kaine’s Message
a. What is meant by “a balanced plan?” Compromise for what purpose?
b. Why are so many concessions needed to the ultra-wealthy?
III. Share Your Stories
a. Class sizes are becoming huge- in San Diego secondary schools they are up to 39 students in a class.
b. How dare schools eliminate class size reduction when it’s been responsible for growth over the past 15 years!
c. Cessna closed its plants and moved to Arizona.
d. Nearby city of Riverside Mayor Loveridge speaks of a green local economy, but in what form?
e. Carlos has seen his hours cut as a writing tutor at Riverside Community College.
f. We are excited that these house meetings will make change accountable.
g. How do we get our ideas and stories out?
IV. Brainstorm
a. Andrew shared his business proposal for moving companies from fluorescent bulbs to using LEDs that would save thousands of dollars in electric bills and create jobs. He’s frustrated that the private sector is unwilling to meet with him. Andrew shared that fluorescent bulbs contain a great amount of toxicity. A child runs the danger of mercury exposure when inhaling the fumes around a broken bulb. (A hard copy of Andrew’s proposal will be mailed to Organizing for America.)
b. Some expressed concern about the effectiveness of tax cuts for the middleclass rather than putting money immediately into people’s pockets.
c. Combine alternative energy solutions with maintaining infrastructure. It’s been said that the Imperial Valley is slated to be the cednter of alternative energy development.
d. What about environmental damage and damage to the people of China where we send most of our recycled electronic waste?
e. It takes 8,000 gallons of water to provide for one pound of beef. How about cutting back on beef intake?
f. It’s been noted that a local community paper, The Riverside County Record, has been lambasting Assemblyperson Jeffries for contributing to gridlock in Sacramento because of his no raising taxes philosophy. We support this critique.
g. We are willing to make out-of-state phone calls- like some of us did on behalf of President Obama- to others who have uncooperative representatives and senators.
h. We are willing to work for Bill Hedrick when he runs again in 2010 against Ken Calvert. It’s estimated that Bill lost by less than 2% in 2008.
i. We are looking forward to the banks and stock market movers and shakers being held accountable under the Obama administration. We’ve appreciated the house Democrats scolding the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Please add this consideration to your house parties on December 13th and 14th!!!
As we come together all across the country, we need to reflect on ways of rebuilding our economy. It is possible in our globalized world today to help create jobs here that also creates jobs in developing countries.
Maximum attention should be given to reaching key decision makers for building the Peace Corps up to 16,000 volunteers by FY2011. Peace Corps administration has to change to allow American citizens to actively support volunteers serving abroad to create opportunities to create jobs in health care, education, and overall community development.
Doubling the size of Peace Corps is possible and must be prioritized. Several thousand new PCVs could be sent to Cuba when the American boycott of Cuba is finally lifted (discussion point). The strategy of the Obama Administation towards bringing back a more human face on American foreign policy is vital.
Sign the MorePeaceCorps campaign http://www.petitiononline.com/morepc/petition.html
Thank you for being a part of this movement! There are many important causes out there but we thank you for devoting your time to MorePeaceCorps. Please direct any questions to me or my colleague, Jonathan Pearson (Micronesia 87-89), Advocacy Coordinator for the NPCA. Email: jonathan@rpcv.org.
Have you seen the emails from MY Barrack Obama group members over the last 2 days not wishing to let the movement slip away now that the election has been won.
Take a look at the petition on the attached link to see whether you would be willing to add your name to the list….
this morning after calling all my conservative leaning relatives urging them to get out to vote tomorrow, I opened a magazine to read.
The Foreign Policy Magazine provided what I was searching for – experts providing input about identifying the next cabinet. While I generally like Leslie Gelb’s selections out of the numerous experts that provided replies, it is the hundreds of lower level policy makers that will implement the visions of the President and the respective Secretaries that most concern me.
Secretary of State - Richard Holbrooke ; Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates ; Secretary of the Treasury - Roger Altman; Director of National Intelligence - Jamie Gorelick; National Security Advisor - Dennis Ross; Ambassador to the United Nations - Susan Rice They have to be selected rapidly and get in place as soon as possible after 20 January to ensure that the first 100 days of the next administration start churning out course changes that brings hope and stability to America and the world. It would be great to hear from the President-elect as soon as possible after the results are confirmed to inform the American public (and the world as a whole) criteria that will be going into making the selections:
We've all seen the callous political smears put forward by John McCain and his cronies this week. We know it's only going to get worse in the days ahead, and unless we act, we risk surrendering this election to the fear-mongering and divisive Bush/McCain politics of the past. That's why hundreds of people throughout your community are standing up this week to say, "Not this time, not this election." Together, we're reaching out to voters in battlegroud states to let them know the truth. But with only days left, and with thousands of voters left to contact, we can't do it alone; we need your help. Will you join us?Don't worry, making a difference is easy. All you need to do is come to the nearest Call for Changeevent (listed below) with your cell phone and charger. Our team will welcome you at the door, and set you up with everything else you need to be a force for change in this election.
Please find phone banks labeled "Phone Bank for Change" or "Big Phone Bank for Change" on your group MyBo pages. We are hosting these in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Redlands and Rancho Cucamonga. In your area, we are hosting these events Saturday the 1st of November through election day, the 4th. Please use the following Mybarackobama.com links below to sign up:
San Bernardino County Democratic HQ - 136 Carousel Mall (lower level) San Bernardino, CA 92402
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gprzsb
Electrical Workers Union Hall (Riverside, CA) - 1405 Spruce St. Suite H Riverside, CA 92507
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs5y3s
UFCW Local 1428 - 705 W Arrow Highway Claremont, CA 91711
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/phonebank/gprwf4
Redlands, CA 92373
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gprzh9
Making a difference is easy, and you can do it right in your own neighborhood. All you need to do is come to the nearest Call for Change event (listed below) with your cell phone and charger. Feel free to bring with your friends, family or anyone else that is willing to make calls. If you would like to bring potluck style food for everyone to share, that would also be much appreciated. Our team will welcome you at the door, and set you up with everything else you need to be a force for change in this election.
We hope you will join us. With only days to go, this is our last chance to make a difference in this election and to turn the tide against the Bush/McCain politics of division. Together, yes we can.
Best Always,
Rick Sheinin
Deputy Field Director, Region 7 California (volunteer)
I remember coming of age in the late 1960s. I served my country during that era, and was convinced that our leaders have done us wrong. I remember American people taking to the streets to stop the war in SE Asia.
Now many years older, I have seen the American people in the streets protesting our war in the Middle East today. In both eras, Americans have answered the call to serve their country. Many of our young people, both then and now, have suffered to defend our country’s interests. The big gainers in both eras were the military-defense establishment that wasted so much of America’s budget.
The anti-Vietnam-era anti-war militancy wasn’t only the radical Weathermen; it was composed of American men and women from every segment of our society, and in its closing days included many veterans of that war. Lies, secrecy, and half-truths characterized Peace with Honor was an often-heard cry as America disengaged. But I know American veterans from that era who are still suffering the results of what they faced in SE Asia.
While I was studying abroad in Sweden in 1976-77, I met quite a number of Americans who had disserted from the military, mostly while on leave, and somehow ended up in Sweden. I was happy when an amnesty was granted that finally allowed them to return to their homes and families.
These days, I am meeting young American veterans who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan, and paid dearly for listening to the call of their leaders who brought them into war without really understanding what we were doing.
The McCain campaign appears to have confused differing definitions of the word ‘radical’. Many of us were radicals during the Vietnam era because we wanted a departure from what was going on there. We wanted change to end the war. Most of us did not advocate extreme measures to end the war.
I know America just can’t take 4 more years of the same stupidity that surrounds our foreign wars today. Urge everyone to go to the polls and elect Obama.
Today’s vote defeating the 700 Billion Dollar bail-out package was shocking. But no one on Wall Street has been jumping out of windows like in the 1930’s. N’est pas? Let’s be clear, a FAILURE OF POLITICAL LEADERSHIP. We should be clear, no one expects much out of the Bush Administration. Certainly no one trusts it. But where have Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama been? These men and their campaigns should be cranking out potential solutions and giving Americans hope.
The stock market not unexpectedly tanked. Imagine losing 1.1 TRILLION Dollars in value. But don’t panic! We will get past this current crisis, America will be around here for at least another 232 more years.
But the American public was pleased with the results by and large. Many Americans are saying; let Wall Street do it without Congressional and American peoples help. The free-marketers are saying do-nothing, and let the market correct itself, even if it might be in a painful way.
Congress is taking time off for a religious holiday, so folks it is time to write your congresspersons and the President, and give them your ‘two cents’.
But how many of you are in debt from home mortgages, from college loans, from credit cards, even from giant gas-guzzlers, or generally from being over-extended that has thrown you for a loop. Don’t worry that was ‘the American way’. Frankly this crisis is because we have been living beyond our means for too many years.
We have to take control on our financial system (including our own finances), AND our political system. No plan, no discipline! Each of us must take a hard look at our own personal finances. Take responsibility for your own financial well-being.
Next year, we need to see action on the American health care system, on America’s Social Security system, on our environment, and definitely what I can give personal witness – on our American foreign policy establishment…..
I have been busy over the last few days, preparing for a trip to Jigjiga, Ethiopia. Blogging would have been a luxury.
This post will attempt to provide specific details about the numerous humanitarian issues that American citizens need to be aware of, AND be bringing up during this campaign.
The first debate on foreign policy and issues was not as helpful as it should have been to identify issues of importance to all Americans. Not one word was spoken in reference Peace Corps or to the good that America can do in the next administration.
The human costs of wars – clearly in both Iraq and Afghanistan, not to speak of a score of other countries around the globe today where poverty is leading to violence CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING!
I am urging Mr Obama to assign a staff member to reviewing this report, and incorporating some of the recommendations into his campaign in the days left before the election, AND then to assemble a strong team to link American people , perhaps through his support of MORE PEACE CORPS to better addressing the needs of children in conflict.
I am sitting on my balcony this morning continuing to read American-Made by Nick Taylor. My colleagues are chuckling about my blogging about post-election planning prematurely. But in order to guarantee a fast start, preparation is required.
During this campaign, bloggers on hundreds of Obama groups have put together scores of excellent ideas for Mr. Obama for handling problems confronting Americans today from health care, jobs, education, energy through foreign affairs, poverty reduction, ending a failed war on terror, and bringing back our troops in dignity.
Making a fast start in the next administration is vital. The new administration must use the time wisely from the moment that the election results are known to inauguration day.
I find so many comparisons to make between the hand-over from Hoover to Roosevelt Administrations to what will be for the Bush to Obama Administrations (that won’t be the same if it is McCain). Discussion of the first 100 days of a new Presidential administration is worthy of comment.
The first 100 days of the FDR administration included the signing of 15 major pieces of legislation that helped get American employed, especially in public works projects, and set up humane practices in the private industry as well. This rapid start helped to break the back of the ‘Depression Era’, and marked an economic turn-around for America.
The challenge for the Obama Administration will be to get off to a rapid start (which means key appointments made early and projects clearly outlined) in making the changes required in America today. I feel he should aim his remarks in the remaining days of this long campaign towards engaging Americans and bring us together. He has the able experience of Mr. Biden to be able to ramrod legislation through the two houses of our Congress. He will need to be very quick in appointing his Cabinet and pushing forward with action steps.
Under FDR, America used the ‘blue eagle’ as visible solidarity symbol that “We Do Our Part”. What could be the symbol under the Obama Administration to rally Americans, bringing us together without the labels of Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal?
I was wondering how many other Americans are wondering about who is making money from the Fanny and Freddie take-overs?
Don't Like Bailouts? Consider the Alternatives. By Steven PearlsteinWednesday, September 10, 2008; Page D01
The major question for me is whether the American public has leadership that will take a stand on this issue.
PACHANGA LATINA w/ EVA LONGORIA & ADAM RODRIGUEZ & DJ DAZ of LATINO 96.3An Evening in Support of the Obama Victory FundThursday, September 4, 2008 8:30PM-2:00AMThe Highlands6801 Hollywood Blvd. Ste 433 (21 & over), Student: $50 Guest: $100 VIP: $1000 Host: $5000RSVP http://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/PachangaLatinaor contact Courtney Weisman at nlc.rsvp@gmail.com or 202-863-7191
We encourage online rsvp's as The Highlands will reach capacity!!!!
In a currently running ad, John McCain says that Washington is broken…that people are worse off than they were four years ago. HE IS RIGHT!
However….John McCain has been a part of ‘broken’ government for 25+ years, and…John McCain SUPPORTED the current administration that has made us worse off.
Did McCain vote for John Kerry in 2004? I think not! So, I guess he is part of the problem….
This year we will vote for change and GOOD JUDGMENT so that we will be BETTER off four years from now.
