Archive for March, 2007

JOIN SENATOR BOXER IN FIGHTING GLOBAL WARMING - AS A CO-SPONSOR

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007

FROM SENATOR BARBARA BOXER

Dear Democrat,

Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer global warming bill!

Today I am asking you to put yourselves in my shoes for a minute and do something we Senators do — co-sponsor a bill.

To be exact, I am asking you to be a citizen co-sponsor of the strongest global warming bill in the Senate — the Sanders/Boxer bill, S.309, which has twelve Senate sponsors so far.

By signing on as a citizen co-sponsor, you will help me show my colleagues in Congress — and all Americans — the kind of support that exists for ground-breaking legislation that will really fight global warming. Can I count on your support, right now?

Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer global warming bill now!

Over the coming weeks, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will continue to hold hearings on legislative approaches to combat global warming.

An increase in temperature of just 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit from today’s levels could eventually mean widespread flooding of coastal areas in our country, Europe, Asia, and all over the globe. It also will mean more frequent extreme weather conditions like hurricanes, heat waves, and droughts, evidence of which we’re already starting to see. What’s more, global warming left unchecked could become a major cause of unrest and war, with hungry refugees adding to the nightmarish scenarios that come with water shortages, floods, food insecurity, and increased disease.

The time to act is now. As Al Gore has pointed out, global warming may be an inconvenient truth, but nonetheless it is the truth. Now we must do what Americans have always done when faced with a broad challenge — face it and act. And I say act with hope not fear.

Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer bill now!

The Sanders/Boxer bill addresses the global warming challenge head-on. Sanders/Boxer is the only bill that will truly work economy-wide, and it’s been endorsed by a huge coalition of environmental organizations.

Here are just a few of the many critical things that our bill will do:

Reduce U.S. emissions to meet a worldwide greenhouse gas stabilization goal of 450 parts per million

Allow for a “cap and trade” program

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars by 30% by 2016

Create a research & development program on global warming

Require utilities to generate or purchase an increasing amount of renewable energy
Now we need to get moving. There are several alternative bills in the Senate, but none of them go as far as the Sanders/Boxer legislation does. So we need more Senate co-sponsors — and to do that, I need to get as many citizen co-sponsors (you and everyone you know!) to sign on.

One week before Earth Day, which comes on April 22nd, I will announce the number of citizen co-sponsors we have gathered, giving me a huge push forward as I approach my colleagues and enlist their support for Sanders/Boxer over the other measures.

As Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, I’ve been doing all I can through the hearing process to work with my colleagues on detailing the facts. But now it is up to all of us to keep the pressure on to pass the strongest, most effective global warming bill possible — and to ensure that this will be a major issue in the next presidential election.

By becoming a citizen co-sponsor you will be the wind at my back and give me the momentum I need to get more Senate sponsors for S.309. And that will keep this whole issue moving forward.

So please help. Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer bill now!

Thank you for always being there for me.

In Friendship,

Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator

P.S. It will only take a minute, but it will really make a huge difference. Please sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer global warming bill now. I need your support as I lobby the rest of my Senate colleagues for their support.

Paid for by Friends of Barbara Boxer. - Contributions to Friends of Barbara Boxer are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes. FEC #C00279315
Redistributed without authorization by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party

County Committee Meeting Tuesday March 13

Sunday, March 11th, 2007

The March meeting is this Tuesday at UTLA- 3303 Wilshire Blvd in L.A. (corner of Berendo and Wilshire.) The meeting starts at 7PM. Call Gloria for more info: 213-382-0063.

FOX ATTACKS: OBAMA

Friday, March 9th, 2007

Here’s the link to the Robert Greenwald/Brave New Films video FOX ATTACKS OBAMA

or Click Here to Watch

FAIR AND BALANCED? YOU DECIDE

L.A. County Local Election Results

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Click here to view LACDP ENDORSEMENTS.

Winners are now listed in bold type. Run-Off Candidates are in italics.

In Memoriam: Bob Hattoy 1950 - 2007

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

Long-time LA Democrat and environmental activist Bob Hattoy has left us. For those who knew him, no obituary can do him justice, for those who didn’t, no obituary can describe him.

Suffice it to say that Bob was among the sharpest wits our Party has ever possessed. He had no fear in speaking truth to power, even at the risk of great personal expense. His was a passionate, sharp-witted honesty that made us all proud, if at times a bit uncomfortable. Bob was a truly committed Democrat, the ultimate environmentalist, a fearless advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS and an uncompromising activist for equality for LGBT Americans.

Here is a portion of what author/activist David Mixner (www.davidmixner.com) had to say this morning:

Bob Hattoy passed away Saturday night and with his passing another giant of the LGBT and AIDS community has died. Bob was a charismatic and exciting leader who was almost impossible to describe. I once said to Bob that he was “the best outsider on the inside” that I knew.

Bob was an avid environmentalist, an advocate for the LGBT community, a powerful activist who lived with HIV/AIDS and a member of the Clinton Administration. Those who loved him cherished his cutting wit and his ability to make our enemies - and even weak allies - look like fools within a sentence or two.

But history, most of all, will remember Bob for being the first person with HIV/AIDS to ever address a national political convention in 1992. For those at Madison Square Garden or watching on television, it was a moment that we will never forget. I wrote in my journal and later in my book Stranger Among Friends what that night was like:

Finally Congressperson Pat Schroeder came to the microphone and began the introduction of the two AIDS speeches. The hall was in the usual hubbub that passes for normal even while speakers are addressing the convention. But as Bob Hattoy mounted the podium, stillness fell over the entire place. One by one, the delegates stood up, until all five thousand people were on their feet in respect. The hush was palpable. When he paused, and said as he looked out over the crowd, “This is difficult,” he won the hearts of a nation.

‘I am a gay man with AIDS. If there is any honor in having this disease, it is the honor of being part of the gay and lesbian community in America. We have watched our friends and lovers die but we have not given up. Gay men and lesbians created community health clinics, provided education materials, opened food kitchens, and held the hands of the dying in hospices. The gay and lesbian community is a family in the best sense of the word.’

There was not a dry eye in the nation that night. Those of us in the hall had black arm bands to honor those we knew who had died of AIDS and held unto each other as he spoke. It was as if at last we were finally being heard after a decade of horror, death and abandonment. Bob did us all proud that night.

Bob was viewed by many on the inside of the Clinton Administration as reckless and by those of us on the outside as fearless. He walked a fine line between representing President Clinton and advocating the truth for the LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities. He knew that the Clinton Administration had help create his visibility for political reasons and that he could get away with more than others. He did not hesitate to use that advantage for the good of the community.

Click here to read the full post