Stop the NAFTA Expansion!!

Short-Sighted Trade Deal Heads U.S. Over the Edge
Democrats pave path for Bush to pass more NAFTA expansions, fast track authority?!

This is your once-in-a-decade, unique opportunity to help change the rules of the global economy and stop the race-to-the-bottom.
TAKE ACTION NOW!

Like most Americans, you probably don’t trust this Administration to have more authority over anything! Well, here’s some good news: President Bush’s grant of Fast Track authority – the un-democratic Nixon-era law that transfers Congress' constitutionally-mandated control over U.S. trade agreements to the White House – expires June 30, 2007.

And then there is the shockingly bad news – Democratic leaders recently struck a "deal" with President Bush that could pave his was to new “Fast Track” authority – and more of his devastating trade policy.

Fast Track is how we got into devastating pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). If this new "deal" takes hold, then Fast Track will be used to further NAFTA expansion to more countries instead of the needed replacement of NAFTA itself.

Watch this brand new video to learn more!
"Fast Track to Nowhere" by the IAMAW

The county is negotiating with the Building Industry Association behind closed doors and it must STOP!

Sacramento has the best affordable housing ordinance in the United States.

If it isn't broken don't fix it!

The Building Industry sued the county over their affordable housing ordinance but the lawsuit was found to be without merit and thrown out by the judge.

For absolutely no reason, the County entered into secret back room negations with the Building Industry to discuss a settlement of this meritless lawsuit!

We strongly object to any back room deals affecting the ordinance. Please help us tell the County to cease in their illogical and immoral dealings with the Building Industry!

Please visit Sacramento Housing Alliance's website: www.sachousingalliance.org and sign their open letter to the board of supervisors protesting this inappropriate behavior that threatens so much that our county has accomplished in affordable housing.

Ex-California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Ex-attorney General Bill Lockyer Have Made California a Third World Business Regulator  -- Where’s Our Eliot Spitzer?

by Andrew H. Dral

 

 

The State of California is a world class industrial power, ranking as the fifth largest economy in the world by gross domestic product (GDP).  It accounts for 1/6 of the US‘ total gross national product (GNP), but when it comes to corporate corruption and the regulation of business it has a dismal third world track record.

 

At the beginning of the decade then California Attorney General Bill Lockyer sponsored an attorney generals meeting in Los Angeles.  Eliot Spitzer, at the time, the Attorney General of New York, complained that the corporate sponsorship of the event violated his ethics code.  He warned his colleagues for participating in a free Disney event that evening.  It was an ethical violation of their office.  Lockyer told Spitzer, “you have a lot of nerve“ to criticize the group’s planning, a fight almost ensued.  Mr. Spitzer understands the ethical nature and duty of his high profile position to expose fraud and criminal behavior.  The politicians – Bill Lockyer and John Garamendi -- in California do not.  Mr. Spitzer‘s greatest weapon is to disclose industry misdeeds through large penalties and to obtain agreements to change industry business practices.

 

For the sake of its citizenry, The State of California must start acting like a world class regulator.  We need political advocates, laws, and regulations that protect the citizenry and investors in California companies.  It’s no coincidence that the energy crisis -- rolling black-outs and exorbitant energy pricing -- occurred in California and no where else.  The political system and regulatory environment in California is broken.

HRA Program for Seniors and Disabled
From Asm. Dave Jones:

Dear Friends:

The Homeowner and Renter Assistance (HRA) Program will start its 2007 filing season on July 2, 2007. It was recently brought to my attention that private organizations are already soliciting fees for assisting claimants. I wanted to inform you that the California Franchise Tax Board has volunteers to assist claimants free of charge.

The HRA Program allows a once-a-year payment from the State of California to qualified individuals who are 62 years of age or older, blind or disabled. The maximum amount of assistance to homeowners is $472.60, while the maximum amount of assistance to renters is $347.50.

The HRA volunteer site search application will be available online starting June 26, 2007. For more information about this program, please visit http://ftb.ca.gov/individuals/hra/index.html or call 800-868-4171.

Have Java installed on your PC? Click the pic for timelapse video

Via theoildrum.com KAC/UCF [University of Central Florida] and Chuck Watson are forecasting, based on their damage models, that the Qalhat (Sur) [Oman] LNG terminal will be out for 20-30 days and the Mina al Fahal [Oman] oil terminal will be down for 10-15 days--all of this assuming they are built to US standards.

Stratfor.com

A Category 5 cyclone with winds of up to 195 mph is heading toward one of the world’s most productive energy basins, threatening local devastation and global disruption at a point at which oil prices are already flirting with record highs. For once, the region in question is not the Gulf of Mexico. There is cause for concern; Cyclone Gonu is headed directly for the Strait of Hormuz.

The cyclone is rotating counterclockwise — as it would in the Gulf of Mexico — meaning that, should it enter the Persian Gulf, the gulf’s west coast would suffer the most serious damage. Along the west coast, low-lying areas are the norm, and there are few barrier islands like the ones that line the Gulf of Mexico to absorb much of the storm surge that could therefore penetrate miles inland.

Like all weather phenomena, hurricanes and cyclones are notoriously fickle, so there is (thankfully) no guarantee Gonu will enter the Persian Gulf, much less wreck it. But there are two facilities that bear specific mention: the Ras Tanura and Ras al-Juaymah oil loading platforms in Saudi Arabia. So far, the chances of either of these facilities suffering a direct hit are very slim — Gonu is still 750 miles away from those export points — but they collectively pump nearly 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude. These facilities, while critical to global energy supplies and — due to their size — largely immune to terrorist attacks, are not particularly hurricane resistant. After all, they were built in an area where such storms are almost unheard of. Other (hardly insignificant) energy installations dot the region in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — most of them on the west coast. Luckily, there is little offshore production in the Persian Gulf — unlike in the Gulf of Mexico — so there is unlikely to be much permanent damage to the oil production facilities themselves.

Robin Hood in reverse

Re "Move toward privatization has investors licking chops," May 18: Surprise! Surprise! Let's privatize! That's been the GOP rallying cry since President Bush took office.

Whether it's privatization of Social Security to enrich Wall Street, privatization of Medicare plans to enrich insurance companies, privatization of a mercenary army to enrich Blackwater or privatization of military services to enrich Halliburton, the GOP continues to take from the poor to give to the rich.

Now Arnold wants to privatize the lottery. I have no particular love of the lottery since it truly is the poor who spend a disproportionate amount of their money on lottery tickets, but I don't understand why state employees have less ability to generate money than the greedy private sector.

MOYERS TO EXPLORE MEDIA COMPLICITY IN PUSHING SECRET TRADE DEAL: Following his groundbreaking documentary on the Washington press corps' complicity in pushing the country to war, PBS's Bill Moyers will be airing a piece tonight (Fri 5/18) that explores the media's similar behavior with respect to the secret trade deal announced last week. Moyers will interview John R. MacArthur, the author of the book The Selling of Free Trade, which explored how NAFTA was passed by a handful of Washington elite operatives, politicians and reporters over the opposition of most Americans. Says MacArthur in a preview of the special on PBS's website: "Take a look at who embraced [the secret deal]: the media, the pundits, the elites - the heads of banks and of investment banks, and the leadership of the two parties. That's not the people." Check your local listings to find out when this piece is airing in your area.

Friday, May 18, 7pm, Film: The 4th World War, parallels fragmented resistance movements to the World Trade Organization and the plight of the people directly affected. UC Davis, Olson 202. Day Five: Justice Week - Muslim Student Association and Students For Justice in Palestine.
Time: Friday, May 18, 2007 - 7:00pm PST

Now that Congress has passed the weak 2007 Supplemental Appropriations (pt. 1), it's time to focus on the upcoming 2008 funding for the occupation of Iraq. No rest for the weary...

The occupation of Iraq is now in it's 5th year. Why is this still a "supplemental appropriation"? Shouldn't we be raising taxes to pay for "OUR" war, instead of passing the costs on to our children & grandchildren?
--Bill

Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental Spending 2008
By Jeff Leys: Co-Coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence: jeffleys@vcnv.org
May 8, 2007

Don’t lose the forest for the trees.

Congress is now considering President Bush’s request for an additional $145 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30, 2008. The House Armed Services Committee is including these funds in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2008, which runs from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008. Of this, $142 billion will be for the military and $3 billion will be for the State Department.

President Bush submitted this request on February 5, the same date on which he requested $93 billion for the wars for this year’s budget and $482 billion for the regular baseline military budget for FY 2008 (a 62% increase over the baseline military budget in 2001).

While political gamesmanship will continue over war funding for this fiscal year (which ends on September 30), the substantive debate on this year’s supplemental bill is all but over. Congress will most likely approve these funds, including “benchmark” requirements placed upon Iraq’s government. These “benchmarks” are meaningless in terms of ending U.S. military action in Iraq. Most likely, not even a “goal” date for withdrawal from Iraq will be included in the final supplemental bill for this year.

The antiwar movement must quickly shift its focus to the $145 billion supplemental spending request for FY 08. If the focus doesn’t shift, the war will end up being fully funded through September 30, 2008 and beyond.

But then: What is to be done?

What's next, privatizing our National Guard? Oh yeah, that's why Blackwater is coming to CA...

Report: Schwarzenegger to propose privatizing Calif. lottery
- The Associated Press: Published 11:31 pm PDT Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to call for privatizing California's lottery in a revised budget proposal next week, according to a published report.

Under the proposal, the lottery would be leased to a private company for up to 40 years in exchange for a lump-sum payment or series of payments, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site late Wednesday.

The governor's communication's director, Adam Mendelsohn, confirmed Schwarzenegger's staff has been working with investment banks on the proposal. The governor is expected to include the plan in his revised budget Monday, the newspaper said.

Take Back America
Dr. Bob Bowman & Dave Dionisi
Presented by the Teach Peace Foundation

June 8th, 7-9 pm, Marriott Courtyard Main Ballroom at 4422 Y Street in Sacramento. Free parking and peace gift.
Tickets are $15 at www.teachpeace.com and $20 at the door.


“The Best Public Speaker in the Country” (Los Angeles Times) Dr. Bob Bowman, Lt Col, USAF, ret. (101 Combat Missions as Fighter
Pilot in Vietnam) , is bringing his Patriot Tour to Sacramento! Dr. Bowman challenges us to “Take Back America” for the people. He explains why we need a government that:
Time: Friday, June 8, 2007 - 7:00pm PST

Dissent on worker sweeps in Valley rises

Seven rural ag towns may join Mendota in condemning federal immigration raids.
By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee
03/30/07 04:40:09

Mendota's stand against federal immigration sweeps has sparked a movement among Fresno County's small farming towns.

City councils in seven Fresno County cities plan to take up the issue in weeks to come. Most of them are agricultural towns, where undocumented and legal farm laborers work, live and shop. City leaders worry the raids will upend their economies and separate or disrupt families.

Parlier Mayor Armando Lopez, whose council will consider a resolution in April opposing the raids, said farmers already complain about labor shortages. He worries that the raids will further deplete the labor pool and undermine the economy.

"Obviously, without the farm workers, the farmers will be shorthanded," Lopez said.

Click Here to download this resolution.

Resolution
Out of Iraq NOW - Stop Funding Bush’s War
March 7, 2007

Whereas, the American electorate gave a clear and unambiguous mandate to the 110th Congress to end the war and occupation of Iraq, which was started under false pretenses by the Bush Administration, and the November 2006 Election echoed what polls have said for over a year and continue to strongly reflect; and

Whereas, a vote for continued appropriations would contradict the message sent by the people and cannot be convincingly justified by any member of Congress who claims to want an end to the war and occupation or who claims to be concerned about the welfare of our troops, and would legally enable the Bush Administration to continue the

Nation's Longest Peace-In Marks Week 9
http://www.blogforamerica.com/view/20006
Published Tuesday, 03/06/07 @ 9:00 am

Karen Bernal is a member of Latinos for America:

The Nation’s longest "Peace-In" entered its 9th week on Monday. The Sacramento Coalition to End the War - a broad based and growing coalition of religious, veteran and peace groups from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, including Sacramento for Democracy, have now occupied our Congressional Representative, Doris Matsui’s office every business day from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Staffed by a continuous presence of members, our now longest-running anti-war action in the country is calling attention to how an increasing number of American soldiers and innocent civilians are being killed and maimed in Iraq every day.

We are calling on Rep. Matsui to make her mind up about what to do about it. On the one hand, she says she's opposed to the war, on the other, she has signaled an intent to continue to fund it.

PDA has provided a toll-free number to call your representatives in D.C.!!
1-888-851-1879

Please call this number EACH day until through March 13th and politely ask that they vote NO on the $93 Billion Supplemental Appropriation request to continue Bush's occupation of Iraq.

If the toll-free number is busy or if you want to call their local offices (we should really call both the local and D.C. offices), you can find that info below.

Congress contact info for Sacramento Valley area:
http://sacramentofordemocracy.org/?q=node/view/3130


HEED THE CALL FROM CINDY SHEEHAN, MEDEA BENJAMIN, TOM HAYDEN

Join the national Call-In for Peace. PDA and its allies are coordinating a unified phone campaign to get Congress to reject additional Iraq war funding – the Bush supplemental appropriations request for $93 billion more.

With the Democratic leadership signaling weakness and half-hearted amendments aimed at undermining the surge but not the war, our coalition is phoning in a loud and clear message:

NO MORE FUNDING FOR WAR. VOTE NO ON THE SUPPLEMENTAL.
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. . .AND OUT OF IRAQ’S CIVIL WAR.

PDA’s big day is Tuesday, March 6. Mobilize all PDA members and supporters to phone Congress on Tuesday. Our special number into Congress is 1-888-851-1879.

When you call your Senate and Congressional offices, politely tell them one or two of the following points:

UC Davis = last UC to have contracted out workers
By MONICA KRAUTH
Democrat staff writer

UC Davis is the last of the UC systems to contract out food service and some workers said they've have had enough.

They've met with their managers. They've met with administration. And they're still making less money per hour than their university employee counterparts. So Thursday they came out in the hundreds to garner community support.

But Rahim Reed, UCD's associate executive vice chancellor, said he was not sure what they were fighting for as he walked past the crowd that marched toward the administration building and then to the Silo Union where some of them work. The protest ended with some allowed to step into a brown bag luncheon with the university's chancellor.

March 3,, 2007, 11:30am - 1:30pm, First Saturday Protest: Tell Congress to stop funding this war and bring the troops home now! No local Congressional representatives, including Doris Matsui, have committed to vote against Bush's $100 billion request for more war funding. Let's tell to use their power-of-the-purse to end this war now! Arden & Heritage, Sac 916-448-7157
Time: Saturday, March 3, 2007 - 11:30am PST

The Brutal Policies Of The Bush Administration Wreak Havoc On America and The World
By Lynda Carson
Saturday Feb 10th, 2007

On Friday, February 9, I awoke from an afternoon nap to hear a woman screaming outside my window. "That bitch stabbed me, she stabbed me", the woman cried out in pain. Immediately afterward, her cries were followed by the screams of a young man crying out, "Call 911, someone call 911".

I peered out my window, only to see two shadowy figures standing up against the wall of a building next door in the drizzling rain, and I immediately turned around to pick up my phone to dial 911. A polite voice curtly told me that someone had already called in about the stabbing, and is giving details to an operator at that very moment. I was not asked if I saw or knew anything about the stabbing, or where I was at, and the 911 operator quickly hung up on me.

It wasn't long before the screams of a siren ushered in a parade of fire trucks, police cars and an ambulance, to haul the victim away, as the rain quietly washed her blood from the perilous streets of Oakland.

Tuesday, Feb 20, 2007, 9:15am, The Cost Of The War Informational Gathering. Speakers will address how war spending affects education, health care, senior issues, affordable housing, the environment. Federal Building, 501 I St, Sacramento, 916-448-7157; sacendthewar@yahoo.com
Time: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 9:15am PST

Please join the first ever delivery of purses in the ongoing "Peace-in" at Rep. Doris Matsui's office!
Tuesday Morning, 9:30 AM, 5th & I St.

Purses - lots of them - to be delivered Tuesday
to Rep. Doris Matsui's office to encourage her
to vote to end new funding for Iraq War

SACRAMENTO – Purses – piles of them – will be delivered Tuesday to Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, in an effort to convince the congressperson that she and Congress have the power to end the war and occupation of Iraq by yanking the purse strings and cutting off future funding.

A news conference – featuring anti-war advocates sporting and then delivering the purses – will be held at 9:30 a.m. TUESDAY, at Rep. Matsui's 501 I Street offices.

The event is designed to visually illustrate to Rep. Matsui that Congress does have the "power of the purse strings." The action is sponsored by Sacramento Coalition to End the War, the same broad-based anti-war group that has sponsored a daylong "peace-in" inside Rep. Matsui's offices since Jan. 8. The sixth week began Monday, the 25th straight day.
Time: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - 9:30am PST