California: Democratic Party

Fresno Assemblyman Juan Arambula, who quit the Democratic Party recently to become an independent in frustration over Democratic lawmakers' indifference to the agony of the Central Valley, isn't the only Latino lawmaker who has figured out that state Dems' agenda...

In 1978 we passed Prop. 13, elected lots of Republicans to the legislature, saved homes and set the stage to take back Washington.  May 19, 2009 could be another June, 1978 election--it could be the start of another voter revolt.

Even Democrats have learned from the 1978 lesson.  "Even Democratic activists are keeping the tax hikes on the ballot at arm's length. At the state's Democratic Party convention last month, delegates voted against endorsing several of the initiatives, notwithstanding pressure from party leaders to get in line behind the budget deal. Commentators of all political stripes are mocking the measures as buck-passing frauds."

People are angry, they want to stop the business as usual, tax to cover out of control spending, attitude.

Get angry or get poor.  Vote on Tuesday--vote No on measure.

The morning after he was forced into a runoff election for city attorney, City Councilman Jack Weiss said his first-place finish gave him a "flattering feeling."

But outside City Hall, a number of political experts were surprised by Weiss' 36% showing citywide -- given that he began running long before the other candidates, spent $1.7 million and had a nearly 2-to-1 cash advantage over his runoff opponent, Harbor City defense attorney Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich.

"It's a blow -- there's no way around that. He had the most money, the most mailers and definitely the most TV time," said Jaime A. Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G.

As we draw closer to March 3, I wanted to discuss some of the important things that are on the Los Angeles Municipal ballot.  Obviously, the Mayoral race is getting some attention, but it seems pretty obvious that Antonio will win that one in a cakewalk.  But there's a lot of other stuff going on that I'd like to focus on--like local measures that can make a huge difference, as well as local races that will determine who gets to be the Democratic Party bench in the Los Angeles area.

I'd like to start with Measure B, a measure which, if passed, will end up generating 400MW of solar power within the L.