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El Dorado County

Items that affect the El Dorado County area.

Snow Water Content 107% of Normal - But the "Drought" Continues?

Submitted by Dan Bacher on Sun, 03/07/2010 - 8:18am

Just when will the Department of Water Resources (DWR) declare that the "drought" is over? Will they wait until vast tracks of land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley are inundated with muddy, swirling flood waters so Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can stage a photo opportunity in a boat as he declares a flood disaster for the besieged "farmers" - and proclaims that the only way to stop disastrous flooding is to build a peripheral canal and new dams and vote for the water bond?"

Governor Schwarzenegger managed to take a break from his relentless war on Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations and fishing jobs and his campaign to build a peripheral canal and new dams to engage in yet another shameless photo opportunity to divert people's attention from his abysmal record on fish and the environment.

CA-03: Dan Lungren Health Care Townhall

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 2:44pm

From his email

    Health care reform remains at the forefront of the national debate as Members of Congress return home for the district work period. The task before Congress requires a lot of heavy lifting and it is vital that we invest time to properly address the complex issue of fixing health care. I believe nothing should come between you and your doctor. Bureaucrats in Washington should not be making medical decisions for you and your family. I am eager to hear what you have to say as I return home to Gold River.

    In light of the many calls, e-mails, and letters I have received from you regarding health care reform, I want to continue our discussion so that I can be better equipped when I return to Washington to participate in the debate surrounding health care reform.

I wonder if he'll mention what I've put in bold. What he fails to mention is that the insurance companies currently have a policy where the insurance companies own bureaucracy does exactly what he's demagoging. It's called rescission. There is only one plan which eliminates this problem.

Million Boat Float Will Arrive Before Delta Bill Hearing

Submitted by Dan Bacher on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 10:46am

Million Boat Float Will Arrive Before Delta Bill Hearing
By Dan Bacher

On the day before the California Legislature will hold an informational hearing on a package of water bills that provide a road map to the construction of the peripheral canal, boaters from throughout the Delta will converge on Sacramento in the first-ever Million Boat Float.

The massive two-day flotilla from August 16-17 is being organized to show that boaters and their allies are united in the defense of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta against plans by the Governor and Legislators to build the peripheral canal and destroy the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. The proposed canal would approximate the Panama Canal in width and length.

Congress Narrowly Defeats Nunes Salmon Extinction Amendment

Submitted by Dan Bacher on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 1:52pm

Congress Narrowly Defeats Nunes Salmon Extinction Amendment
by Dan Bacher

The Nunes amendment to HR 2847, a measure that would have removed funding for court-mandated protections for Central Valley salmon, was defeated in a close vote of 208 ayes to 218 nos in Congress on June 19.

A Gathering for Change in El Dorado County

Submitted by billl on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 11:20am

A Gathering for Change in El Dorado County

You are invited to the first annual “Gathering for Change” here in El Dorado County. The Gathering for Change allows local Democrats like you and me to personally meet and exchange Ideas with federal, state, and local leaders. You’re invited because you have a solid record of turning out to vote. You are welcome to bring friends.

There will be music, a no-host bar, a silent auction, and an opportunity to meet Senator Tom Torlakson, Lt. Col. Charlie Brown (USAF retired), Alyson Huber -- our Assembly candidate, and Barbara Smiley. We will be there exchanging ideas about how we can improve education and the economy here in EDC. We hope that you can be a part of the fun and the excitement that change is generating here.

The event will be held at the Sogno Winery (located at 3046 Ponderosa Rd. in Shingle Springs) on July 25 at 7 p.m.

Admission to the event is $25 if paid in advance, $35 at the door, and $50 for premium admission (which includes an additional commemorative thank you gift).

AD 10 candidate Alyson Huber gets key endorsement

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Thu, 02/07/2008 - 2:35pm

Alyson Huber:

I hope you will share my excitement to learn that the California State chapter of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) has endorsed my campaign. NWPC's early endorsement demonstrates their understanding that in order to win this Republican leaning seat we need to start now!

The National Women's Political Caucus is a nationwide non-partisan organization that recruits, trains and supports pro-choice women for elected office

Shady Dan Lungren doesn't like questions from constituents; abruptly shuts down Townhall Meeting

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Fri, 11/30/2007 - 3:50pm

Town hall abruptly ended when Lungren tires of answering hard questions

by Randy Bayne

    The town hall meeting Wednesday night with Congressman Dan Lungren (CA-3) was not his typical town hall gathering, especially for Folsom. Lungren usually has plenty of supporters in attendance making sure he gets what must be a predetermined number of softball questions for which he has what seem to be canned answers. It is always interesting to watch as he keeps his eyes on the thick binder he has at the podium. Rarely does he make any direct eye contact with the audience. He maintains contact with his binder like a small child reaching for his security blanket, and stares at the walls as if he will find his answers scratched into them somewhere.

    Lungren's supporters seemed to be a rare commodity at this particular town hall. This became evident when most of the questions were off the predetermined topics Lungren presented at the beginning of his show. He flashed slides on a screen of what his chosen topics; the Folsom Dam road, "working to prevent another terroist attack," and illegal immigration were to be. These were things that he said constituents were interested in, and they probably are, but there is more, much more that he would rather avoid. He doesn't like to be confronted with hard questions, tough real life questions.

Klamath River Tribes: "Warren Buffett missed the point"

Submitted by Dan Bacher on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 8:50pm

Three Klamath River tribes, commercial fishermen and conservationists demonstrated today at the Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders meeting to ask Warren Buffett to remove four Klamath River dams. The week's events included a traditional salmon bake and brush dance, preceded by press conferences in San Francisco, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.

BUFFETT “MISSED THE POINT”

Buffett’s Comments Reveal Poor Understanding of Klamath Issues

Omaha, NE – Members of California’s three largest Indian Tribes and allies from commercial fishing and conservation groups demonstrated today at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, known as the Woodstock of Capitalism. The group is demanding the removal of four Klamath Dams owned by Berkshire subsidiary PacifiCorp. Two members of the coalition asked questions directly to Buffett and his partner Charles Munger before a crowd of 27,000 shareholders.

Doolittle to go behind bars?

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 2:56pm

The News and Review has a great cover story that asks the question (Will Doolittle do time?), and gives reasons for the estranged feelings for the sardonic, rapacious Representative from CD-4. What follows is part of his political bio from the article ...

Avalanche of animus

    First, the personal qualities and character of Doolittle must openly and frankly be dealt with, for there is no figure currently on the California political stage who has consistently engendered
    as much overt loathing and disgust as Doolittle--as much from members of his own party as from his ideological counterparts. When he was fined by the Fair Political Practices Commission for laundering money to swing his 1984 election, his defeated opponent, former Senate Republican colleague Ray Johnson, foresaw that it would not be an adequate penalty to stop future misbehavior. “Oh God,” Johnson lamented in 1987 in the California Journal, “can’t we just drown him and get it over with?” A year after that comment, on the verge of Doolittle winning re-election based on another vicious campaign, Sacramento Bee columnist Pete Dexter couldn’t constrain his contempt. In print he pronounced Doolittle “a lying, unprincipled, crooked piece of human garbage.” Even for Dexter, this was strong stuff.

    What evoked these and other expressions of outrage was the combination of characteristics that arises with regularity in American political life: the religious hypocrite, the sanctimonious scumbag. In Doolittle’s case, it is the devout Mormon with a highly selective ethical compass, which since the very beginning of his career consistently has drawn out such a continuous avalanche of animus toward him.

    From Doolittle’s perspective, there must have been some considerable measure of spite and vengeful malice that motivated him and bridged the contradiction in his character. While many of the 1960s youth were struggling for political and cultural and personal liberation, the teen-aged Johnny Doolittle was dreaming of Richard Nixon. When he graduated as a history major from UC Santa Cruz in 1972, the town of Santa Cruz voted 96 percent for George McGovern. In the 1970s, while South America was in the throes of overcoming a century of colonialism and imperialism, Doolittle landed in Argentina as a Mormon missionary.
    Read the Doolittle-opoly.

It's kind of like Godfather II

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Thu, 03/22/2007 - 8:51pm

Grand Jury: Sacramento Breached Public Trust with Arena "Deal"

[Click the header for the report]

    Sacramento elected officials violated the public trust when they put two measures on the November 2006 ballot asking voters to approve a general sales tax with partial proceeds to fund a new sports complex without a deal in place, according to a grand jury report released Wednesday.

    The Sacramento County Grand Jury investigated a citizen's complaint that Sacramento city and county government leaders were not forthcoming with dealings they had with the Sacramento Kings organization. The complaint alleged officials withheld information about the specifics of a new sports arena proposal for the downtown area.

Say "Hello" to Mr. Housing Bubble

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 4:31pm


California Housing Defaults Double Last Year

Things are not all that rosy w/the housing market in california. the east bay business times reports that mortgage defaults are at an 8 year high:

the number of mortgage default notices filed against california homeowners jumped last quarter to the highest level in more than eight years, a real estate information service reported.

lending institutions sent homeowners 37,273 default notices during the october-to-december period. that was up by 36.9 percent from 27,218 the previous quarter, and up 145.3 percent from 15,196 for the fourth quarter 2005, according to dataquick information systems.

100 Hours: How did your Representative vote?

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Tue, 01/23/2007 - 3:09pm

Click


How did your Representative vote?

[...]

... One hundred fifty-two Republicans voted against a bill to end secrecy on earmarks. One hundred fifty-nine (and 4 misbegotten Dems!) voted against a bill to end tax breaks for oil companies.

Now, I can forgive the Reeps for voting against an increase in the minimum wage and against funding for stem cell research. I don’t agree, but those things run counter to GOP philosophy. I respect that.

But ending secrecy on earmarks? Tax breaks for oil companies? What the blazes is up with that?

The Times' article started me wondering -- how did each of our California Representatives vote on these measures?

I went on thomas.gov and copied down all the votes by the California representatives. Here they are, for your viewing pleasure.

Check it out:

Dan Lungren - NO on everything

John Doolittle - NO on everything except the 9/11 commission recommendations (forgive my erudition - huh?!? - he voted with Democrats on something?!?)

Doris Matsui voted YES on everything - THANK YOU Representative Matsui!

Breach of Contract

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Sat, 11/04/2006 - 11:13am

Congressman Do Little is in breach of contract with the voters of the 4th district of California. Don't believe me? Read his contract.

Contract with America:

10. THE CITIZEN LEGISLATURE ACT: A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators.

Further, we will instruct the House Budget Committee to report to the floor and we will work to enact additional budget savings, beyond the budget cuts specifically included in the legislation described above, to ensure that the Federal budget deficit will be less than it would have been without the enactment of these bills.

Kent Brockman: Live from the debate

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Fri, 10/13/2006 - 5:52pm

Kent Brockman here; reporting live from outside the studios of Two Tin Cans and a String cable teevee system serving a grand total of 32 homes in beautiful Rocklin Ca., for the one and only, live, or almost live, debate between Congressman (Chicken) John Do Little (unless you offer him money, then he does a lot) and his opponent Lt. Col. Charlie Brown (Ret.). The crowd outside the studios is electric with excitement. Oh, look, here's a supporter of Congressman Do Little; I'm going to do live interview with this gentleman.