There's a lot of despair in these parts lately and it's perfectly understandable. The country is going to hell in a handbasket and the forces of corporatism and know-nothingism are dominating the political culture while the Democrats seem to be in a state of suspended animation. It's very tempting to just tune it all out and watch TV. But we can't. Not as long as there are progressive politicians like David Segal out there on the campaign trail fighting to change things every day. If don't support real progressive leaders with a track record of success, we are basically giving up.
David is running in a primary for the Democratic nomination for Patrick Kennedy's seat against two doctrinaire establishment hacks and an anti-choice zealot and he needs our help in the home stretch. (The election is September 14th.) His most formidable rival, the mayor of Providence is using his money advantage to run a deceptive ad and David needs our help to run this rebuttal to remind people who the real progressive in the race is:
I know it's hard to get excited about politics right now. But it would be foolish for us to fail to support a young, smart progressive with a proven track record in his run for congress. Unless we are prepared to simply surrender to the forces gathering around us we need to nurture future progressive leaders who understand this political environment and have ideas about how to prevail in it. David is one of those future leaders.
Here's what Howie wrote about him when Blue America endorsed him:
David Segal is one of us. He was elected to the Providence City Council in 2002 as a Green, and is now a lefty Democratic state Rep for Providence and East Providence. He has a very clear path to victory and he can win-- and if he does, he'll be among the strongest voices for progressives in the halls of the Capitol.
David's worked on the meat-and-potato issues: Jobs, the environment, housing, progressive taxes, all with success. He's successfully pushed for expanded renewable energy, more affordable housing, against predatory lending, and for foreclosure prevention measures.
But he's never shied away from the really controversial issues: He's been a vocal leader on criminal justice reform, standing up for the rights of immigrants and for gay rights, and has pushed as hard as one can from the state level against war spending. He's an ardent supporter of gay marriage, and was the sponsor of the last year's bill, which was passed over the Governor's veto, to allow gay partners to plan each other's funerals.
He's a co-sponsor of marijuana decriminalization, and just convinced the Governor-- after two years of vetoes-- to allow a bill to become law that ensures due process for people on probation.
He's sponsored the "Bring the Guard Home" legislation, and his first act on the City Council was to pass a resolution against the war in Iraq.
But, most importantly, he's an organizer at heart, who is committed to joining the Progressive Caucus-- and making it function better. Here's an excerpt from an interview with David:
"n Rhode Island I've tried to develop alternative structures for legislators to lean on when the leadership makes such threats. I am the lead organizer for our progressive caucus. I founded a political action committee to support members of our progressive caucus so that if funding from sources dries up at leadership's request because something was done to offend them, that we would have at least some, some degree of money to fall back on to help fund our campaigns nonetheless. We funded ten, twelve races relatively modestly in the last cycle and hopefully we'll be able to do something in the forthcoming cycle."
That's the kind of inside political organizing we desperately need in the US Congress. If you can help with a few dollars today the campaign can keep its ads on the air and compete. If he wins the primary, there's almost no doubt that he will win the seat. It could be one of the few progressive victories in this midterm election.
Amidst the nation's worst economic recession since the Great Depression, and continuing problems in California with health care, education funding, home foreclosures, and lack of jobs, how do you explain the disgraceful spending by candidate Meg Whitman in her campaign to buy the governor's office.
According to campaign finance reports filed yesterday, Whitman has spent $99.7 million the past two years, a figure that the Associated Press notes climbs to $100.3 million when including donated services.
Those numbers, which shatter campaign spending records in California and presumably exceed the amount any candidate running for any office in the U.S. other than President has spent, signal a campaign that is out of control and that shows little regard for the real life of most Californians.
With more than 2.2 million Californians are out of work (Employment Development Department, July 16, 2010), at least 6.4 million are uninsured (U.S. Census Bureau as of 2007), and California ranks 41st in the U.S. in per capita spending per pupil (National Education Association rankings), such massive resources could surely be put to better use.
Those are just three of the many signs of crisis in California that show the appalling contrast with the outrageous spending spree by one billionaire candidate who seems to be driven by personal ambition and little else.
If Whitman, whose main qualification for office appears to be her unlimited wealth, really wants to help the state, there are many other ways she could use those resources to add real social value to our state, and help Californians who are hurting, who are sick, or to bolster our education system.
At the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, we have calculated, with the help of our research arm, the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, other, more fruitful ways that $100 million could have been spent.
• Pay monthly unemployment benefits for 82,237 unemployed Californians. (Average unemployment benefit in California is $1,216) Source: Orange County Register, July 19, 2010
• Pay the unemployment benefits for two months for the 40,000 workers she would lay off. (The U.S. Department of Labor calculates that by its broadest measure, the U-6 rate which is defined as total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, California has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 21.9%.)
• Pay yearly health insurance premiums for 7,477 families. (Average yearly health insurance for family coverage $13,375) Source: Employer Health Benefits, Annual Survey 2009, Kaiser Family Foundation
• Fund 18,018 students at the Pell Grant maximum. (Pell Grant maximum for school year 2010-2011 is $5,550.) Source: United States Department of Education
• Pay for 11,447 pupils in California K-12. (Average expenditure per pupil in 2008-2009 school year was $8,736) Source: California Department of Education
• Pay the "fees" for 10,770 students to attend one of the University of California campuses for academic year 2009-2010. (Fees to attend UC are $9,285.) Source: University of California, Fees and Financial Aid
• By our calculations, help as many as 5,714 households avoid foreclosure The California Housing Finance Agency, the state's affordable housing bank, estimates it will help 40,000 or more households avoid foreclosure with principal write downs and other plans unveiled Wednesday. In all, the agency received $700 million for the relief programs. Source: James Wasserman, "California to help pay down homeowners' mortgage debt."
[Four out of the Top ten cities for housing foreclosures are in the Central Valley. Source: Realty Trac].
o Modesto is ranked second in the nation with 5,138 homes or 2.93 percent of all housing units in foreclosure in the first quarter
o Stockton is ranked fifth, with 6,327 homes in foreclosure, or 2.77 percent of the city's homes.
o Merced is sixth. It had 2,307 homes in foreclosure in Q1 or 2.76 of all homes.
o And Bakersfield is ninth in the nation, with 6,343 homes in foreclosure or 2.33 percent of all housing units]
• Hire as many as 1,755 new grad RNs in California for a year. Source: United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2008 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
make money from home jobs
