by chuck nasmith [courtesy of Blog for America]

8000 parents of U.S. military sons and daughters have lost their children because of the lies from Bush and Cheney.  Cheney knows the people are against the war. " So" is his response.    Whats yours?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Hilda Morales

These days the price of gasoline is about the only thing that rises as fast as the price of tuition.

With mandatory student fees at UC and Cal State almost double what they were just six years ago, students and parents simply cannot afford these hikes. And California's economy--which relies on an educated workforce for the success of its high tech and bio tech industries--can't afford the fee hikes either.

So this week, students in the UC and CSU systems filed a ballot initiative with the Attorney General, the first step in our attempt to qualify for the November 2008 ballot.

The initiative would freeze tuition for 5 years, prevent any future increases from exceeding the inflation index, place a small income surtax on income over $1 million to raise revenue specifically to educate students, and set up an accountability process for UC and CSU administrators to report how the new revenue is spent.

Putting a fee freeze measure on the ballot will also help turn out record numbers of young voters.

by Fiona Ma [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Dick Price
Northeast Democratic Club of Los Angeles

For those of us of a certain age, the image is forever seared in our minds of Governor Orville Faubus blocking the doorway to Little Rock’s Central High School, flanked by members of the Arkansas National Guard, denying entrance to a group of nine black students. It was 1957 and the beginning of the Television Age. The drama played out before our eyes on the nightly news that we were just coming to know.

Ten, shortly afterwards, President Dwight Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division—the same unit occupying Baghdad today—to enforce the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court school integration decision. Who can forget that 15-year-old black girl—Elizabeth Eckford was her name—striding bravely and alone through the crowd of cursing, jeering, spitting white students and their parents toward the schoolhouse door, determined to get her chance at an equal education?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In the Democratic weekly radio address Assemblymembers Mary Hayashi (English) and Tony Mendoza (Espanol) talk about Assembly Bill 834, which will help thousands of California’s children and their parents smile--but will do a lot more.

AB 834, authored by Assemblymember Hayashi, was approved by the State Legislature on bipartisan votes and is currently on the Governor’s desk. If the Governor signs the legislation, thousands of children will get better preventative dental care, saving them from potentially expenses medical problems. In the radio address Assemblymembers Hayashi and Mendoza say, quote, “AB 834 protects children’s health, saves the state money and increases school attendance while successfully enabling thousands of children to smile proudly with a set of clean teeth. I suspect that would make a lot of teachers, parents, and the public smile, too."

For more information regarding AB 834 click here. Complete transcripts are below.

You may listen in English or Spanish.

Hello, this is Assemblymember Mary Hayashi.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Tonight's YouTube debate of Democratic presidential candidates promises to be interesting. Onething to note, however: doesn't making the question selection processsecret undermine the whole idea of getting questions straight from thepeople?

Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) addresses the issue of gang violence in California in aradio address. Mendoza is the author of AB 1291, which would requirethe parents of first-time juvenile offenders who commit gang-relatedcrimes to take parenting classes. The classes aim to teach parents howto get their kids to cut gang ties.

A cheeky post on the LA Times' blog predicts that Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign is doomed.Why, you ask? Is it because evangelical voters will reject his pro-lifestance and personal history? Is it the cross-dressing? No, because hisname is too long.

There's more...

Image courtesy of YouTube. 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Assemblymember Mark Leno

Most of us will never know the desperation parents must feel when trying to feed their family nutritious foods using food stamps. But for two million Californians on food stamps, and for the two million Californians who are financially eligible for food stamps but don’t receive them, that desperation is an every day reality.

On Tuesday, June 5th, National Hunger Awareness Day, the California State Assembly will vote on AB 1382, which I am authoring this year, that will help families access food stamps and recover hundreds of millions in lost federal dollars.

Additionally, in an effort to increase awareness about hunger in California and get first-hand experience of the many challenges those who live on food stamps face everyday, I am taking the California Association of Food Banks up on their “Food Stamp Challenge.” This week, I am living on the national average food stamp budget of $21 for the week. That works out to $3 per day or $1 per meal.

The Food Stamp Program helps feed more than 2 million low-income Californians, two-thirds of whom are children who need nutritious foods to fuel their growing bodies. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering the Food Stamp Program, the nationwide average monthly benefit is $94.05.