[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

CMR is saddened to learn that Bay Area Rep. Tom Lantos, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the only Holocaust survivor in Congress, passed away today. He was 80 years old. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. 

AP:

"Flags were lowered to half-staff at the White House and U.S. Capitol.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "Tom Lantos was a true American hero. He was the embodiment of what it meant to have one's freedom denied and then to find it and to insist that America stand for spreading freedom and prosperity to others."

Speaking to reporters at the State Department, she said, "He was also a dear, dear friend and I am personally quite devastated by his loss."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that Lantos "used his chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee to empower the powerless and give voice to the voiceless throughout the world."

The timing of Lantos' diagnosis was a particular blow because he had assumed his committee chairmanship just a year earlier, when Democrats retook control of Congress. He said then that in a sense his whole life had been a preparation for the job -- and it was. ..."

Image courtesy AP.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Last night, the Sacramento Stonewall Democrats, the largest Democratic club in the Sacramento area, held their Presidential Primary endorsement meeting at which they attempted to endorse a Democratic Presidential candidate as well as "yes" or "no" positions on the February ballot initiatives. While no Presidential candidate received the necessary 60% vote to receive the club's endorsement, the Yes on Proposition 93 and No on Propositions 94-97 were able to get the club's endorsement.Assemblymember Dave Jones spoke in favor of Prop. 93 saying that the initiative "strikes a balance" and allows for legislators to gain the expertise necessary to be effective in their committees. Mr. Jones cited the great loss the Legislature will experience when Assemblymember John Laird is forced from his Assembly seat and Budget Committee Chairmanship, as Mr. Laird is widely regarded as an exceptional expert on the state's budget process and therefore a very effective Budget Committee Chair. One Club Member stood to speak in favor of the measure saying that term limits were first enacted solely as a means to oust former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, and the narrowly focused policy has hurt our legislature ever since. Another member stood and said that she has worked in many facets of state government for years and expressed her dissatisfaction with the status quo saying that it caused far too much staff turnover and reliance on special interests.There's more...