Swing State Project: CA-Ballot: SUSA Poll is Bad News for Arnie Opponents

By the look of these polls, Governor Schwarzenegger isn't doing to well with his initiatives.

The synopsis that I've gathered is that most of these proposition will be defeated easily, unless a large turn out of voters fails to show up.

Most of the iniatives will bring anti-abortion, anti-union, and hard core Republicans to the polls. But, they are in the state minority. Whereas, Democrats have Engergy Regulation, and healthcare reform. All Democratic voters will turn out to oppose rather then vote in favor of most propositions.

If the Democrats fail to get out the vote. This could make some changes.

Randy's civil sue to block... failed.

It looks like Randy's attempt to block his federal investigation has failed for the time being. This actually may have been a bit of a plan. Sell the house we just got, claim the government investigation is preventing the home from selling, allow our attorneys to question government witnesses. This means Randy gets a better idea of who said what before the trial begins.

Sneaky stuff....

[...]
A judge has ordered a temporary halt in the federal government's civil suit against U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, ruling that allowing the case to continue could jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation of the congressman.

U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw ruled that the U.S. attorney's office has shown that allowing Cunningham's attorneys to question government witnesses could "compromise the ongoing criminal investigation."

The suit seeks to stop the congressman and his wife, Nancy, from selling their gated, five-bedroom Rancho Santa Fe estate and using the proceeds as they wish.
[...]

Also here is sneak peak about what is or is NOT happening.

[...]
At the congressman's Capitol Hill offices, spokesman Mark Olson wrote in an e-mail Tuesday that Cunningham will soon sit as co-chairman of a joint subcommittee meeting discussing homeland security and the role of the chief intelligence officer.

Cunningham also will be involved in ironing out the differences in House and Senate defense appropriations bills, and will probably participate in addressing differences between the chambers' measures on labor, health and human services and education spending, according to Olson.

Federal authorities have consistently refused comment on the grand jury's criminal investigation or when it is likely to conclude.

Last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern spoke with a reporter about the civil suit. But when asked about the grand jury's work, Halpern quipped, "What grand jury investigation?"
[...]

Phillip Halpern - (619) 557-5165... Ask this dude.. What is up?!!?

Bill Morrow's Mess...

I arrived around 7:00 as the flyers and radio ads had announced. Unknown to me, local right wing radio host - Roger Hedgecock - had urged his audience to arrive early and pack the seats. As not to allow other groups to sit in the arena and voice other opinions. Again, this event was extremely well coordinated. Bill Morrow was to set the stage for a "community forum". Hedgecock gathered the audience, and Tom Tancredo as well as Jim Gilchrist were the big names. They also, brought the short attention span media peddlers, The MinuteMan Project, as well as the Center for Immigration Studies. CIS is a right leaning anti-immigration group that provides stats for local wing-nuts. Not to be confused with CIS, Citizenship and Immigration Services. http://uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm Odd how that name matches up, huh?

When I arrived, Carlsbad police - in conjunction with several other police departments from around North County - had cornered off Lancer Way from Chestnut Ave. Most of the parking lots were full, forcing many local residents to park far away from there homes. I myself had to park a block away from Magnolia Ave, totalling a good quarter mile away from the High School.

There were bullhorns, chanting, clapping and booing. Insults were slung from both sides, which made the event ugly. From what I could tell, most people on both sides of the picket line outside the packed Cultural Arts Center were not locals to Carlsbad. I saw some unaffiliated shaved-head individuals that roamed about the crowd of anti-immigration supporters. I believe them to be skinheads of some nature. Some of the pro-immigration groups that follow the MinuteMan Project appearances, his is fairly common. Some people came from Vista, which just recently had a local shooting spree due to gang violence. I believe they came to support a resolution for our Tri-county area, but they didn't find any. They found a pep rally for hate.

I was not able to get inside due to the packing of the event, and police presence was EXTREMELY strong. I hear it was fairly represented in the audience at the event, the stage on the other hand was heavy handed conservatism and race-baiting.

From what I can tell, this was a coalition of hate and vitriolic political hatred. Formed by Bill Morrow, in order to take the seat of the disgraced and dishonored Randy "DUKE" Cunningham. Bill Morrow has put forth big bucks in order to beat out any other Republican candidates. Hoping that Jim Gilchrist and his fanatical freaks will push Bill Morrow into the spotlight and sweep a new anti-immigration candidate into office.

Now that some of the flack has blown over from California Senator Bill Morrow's Anti- Immigration Forum, I have some photos to post. I'll try and get some of the video, once I get a spot to host it. Too bad Bill Morrow still refuses to pay for it. This is his $62,072.41 dollar pep-rally for hate. He should at least pay for his fair share.


Lancer Way and Chestnut under police protection.


the scene is set...


The crowd have galvanized and is cornered off...


Plenty of protesters and advocate on both sides...


That is serious business...


These are some of the anti-illegal immigrant proponents...


It's local Carlsbad HS Film Crew to record the mayhem for posterity. Award winning material, no doubt!


The mayhem unfolds where culture and art collide.


The police motorcade winding things up.


The event winds down...with flashing lights and shouting.


A touching moment of peaceful sentiment as human rights advocates pray for Tom Tancredo.

Three North County Republicans eye 74th District Assembly seat North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News

This is why it is critical, that the local Democratic party start building up canididates and working to support people at the local level. We have the 74th assembly and the 38th district seats UNopposed by Democrats in any public fashion. These seats become Republican hand me downs and effectively "Give up" the fight - before it has had a chance to begin. Howard Dean's message is extremely clear on this - build a party, start locally.

[...]
Three North County Republicans eye 74th District Assembly seat North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News: "With the 2006 primary elections more than eight months away, three North County residents are making preparations to run for the 74th District seat held by state Assemblyman Mark Wyland, an Escondido Republican whose six-year tenure will end next year because of term limits.

In recent months, Encinitas City Councilman Jerome Stocks, Escondido City Councilwoman Marie Waldron and former Reagan campaign official Martin Garrick have all filed paperwork with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters to establish fund-raising committees for the race. All are Republicans.

The 74th District covers much of North County, including the cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, Encinitas and Del Mar.

With 101,822 registered Republicans and 63,781 registered Democrats, the district has long been considered a safe seat for the GOP. Republicans have held the seat for more than two decades.

Thus far, no Democrats have filed paperwork with the registrar's office to set up campaign finance committees ---- a move that generally leads to formal declarations of candidacy."

[...]

North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists

North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists: "Even politics made an appearance. Francine Busby, a educator and Democrat from Cardiff running to fill Randy Cunningham's 50th Congressional district seat, introduced herself to passersby, shaking hands and smiling warmly.

'I'm here to meet the voters and let them know that I'm here to bring honesty and integrity back to representation of the district and the congress,' Busby said."

[...]
It's good to see some coverage of the candidates - not just the scandal once in a while!

Local Mayhem...

Found this nugget....

About Marie Waldron, she maybe running for Mark Wyland's spot in the 74th Assembly District. Of course, he's just as bad... and incumbent. She popped up at La Tapatia Restaurant & Cantina, in Escondido. She held a a fundraiser - oddly enough she was asking the Latino community to support her campaign.

But this is what is not funny...

I care about illegal immigration. I do. I don't want illegal immigration. But, I know what the facts are I know what the difference is. Most people do not. But, this website upsets me. Lots of numbers? yes! References to where the numbers come from and how they arrive at that information? NO! The references to news articles, from what group? The Center for Immigration Studies. Who are the Center for Immigration Studies and what do they do?

They are currently located here, on K Street in Washington, D.C. known for its influence peddling and partisan think tanks. Notice how similar its acronym is to the government agency,Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and the right-wing think-tank, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). Odd!

They have been the talking points for Fox News, Roger Hedgecock, and Rick Roberts in our local area. The Republican groups can not get enough of this outfit and the great statistics they cook up.

But what they really do is cover up the facts, and position with rhetoric. Let me explain more.

People that cross the border fall into a few catagories that the INS/CIS keep track of.

• Naturalized Citizen (From a foriegn country, years of service, testing, and naturalized)
• Legal Permanent Resident (From a foriegn country, years of service, no testing - limited rights)
• Migrant Worker (From a foriegn country, years of service, VISA work program - limited rights)
• Temporary Admission (From a foriegn country, years of service, limited stay or naturalized)
• Refugee/Asylee (From a foriegn country, no years of service, threatened with death by homeland)
• Illegal Immigrant (From a foriegn country, years of service, no testing - not legal to be in US)

As you can see, there is quite a bit of strata to dig through. We have the big problem to deal with. How do you count legal or illegal immigration when you can't see it? It would be great to stamp people on the head and know if they are legal or illegal, but that is not going to happen. Cards can be faked, people lie on applications. We must accept there is a certain amount of unknown to deal with. Just like business know that they will lose money to incomptence and theft - it's built into the equation.

This is why scare-mongering works with illegal immigration. It's based on a visable race difference, coupled with a language and culture barrier. As well as a physical focal point... The border. The line in the sand is what matters as far as citizenship and rights. Unfortunately, its a easy issue to confuse due to the fact statistics are easy to make up, when you don't have something to count. It's like asking "How many cookies were eaten from the cookie jar?" - when you aren't even sure how many you started with. It's called a Universal Negative.

What are we supposed to do, take our California census and find the difference from our population and the population of Mexico? Then kick out that many brown people?

We are the 3rd largest state in the United States of America, directly next to the largest City in the World... MEXICO D.F.

Chances are we will inherit some people from that region. But, baseless accusations with out facts, figures, and points of reference are quite the draw when it comes to this issue.