Moving on up… Could it be the Carl DeMaio is using the race for the Mayor’s office in San Diego as a stepping stone for bigger things? If last night’s Orange County fundraiser was any indication, the answer is yes. Let’s start with DeMaio’s own website’s description of the Newport Beach event, billed by some as a chance to show their support for the “next Scott Walker”, as in Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Governor who’s become a hero to conservatives around the country:
DeMaio has been leading the “reform movement” in San Diego for years and is the author of the groundbreaking Comprehensive Pension Reform ballot measure. After cleaning up San Diego’s fiscal crisis, DeMaio is turning his focus on job creation and state-wide reform.
Want to get reform in California? Then support Carl DeMaio as the “reformer with results” who is achieving fiscal reform and economic opportunity not only in San Diego, but articulating a vision for reform in California!!
The emailed flyer for the event billed him as “State leader to cut pensions”. His hosts included Republican National Committee member Shawn Steele, Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh, Flash Report publisher Jon Fleischman, Inland Energy honcho Buck James, and Lincoln Club Vice Chair Wayne Lindholm. It was a heavyweight group of supporters; Baugh actually brought Scott Walker to OC last year. Given that none of his hosts have any vested interests in San Diego, and are all considered big time players at the State level, it seems pretty clear that Carl DeMaio is being groomed for bigger and better things.
We have to wonder how the “swing” voters in San Diego would react if he was campaigning locally as the next Scott Walker, whose popularity with Koch/SuperPAC set might be off-putting to those who are of the less-than-true blue conservative pursuation. And these guys that hosted last night’s event are hardly shrinking violets when it comes to any hint of compromise on the ideological front. OC co-host Fleischman, who started his Flash Report newsletter while still an OC County employee, makes no bones about how he ‘abhors moderates in the Republican Party’. Scott Baugh is the author of a GOP manifesto that forbids party support for candidates that accept contributions from any flavor of organized labor.
And they think so highly of themselves that they neglected to put any of the legally required disclosures about how it’s “It is unlawful for a contributor to be reimbursed by any organization, business, or similar entity for a contribution supporting or opposing a City candidate.” on their materials announcing last night’s event. Those silly laws are just for the “little people”, as our local media mogul and wanna-be political patriarch Papa Doug Manchester has made perfectly clear many times.
Not everybody in Orange County was thrilled to see Mr. DeMaio. Here’s the OC Weekly blog’s take on his visit:
Too bad that DeMaio ain’t an OC guy, because he’d be the perfect GOP gay guy: a self-hating blowhard. He’s infamously taken money from supporters of Proposition 8 even though he’s in favor of gay marriage, which has enraged many in San Diego’s large LGBT community and endeared him to Republicans, who always love tokens who say the nasty things they can’t say’
Whatever Latino support that candidate DeMaio may have thought he had was certainly undermined yesterday with the email announcement from Pete Wilson, the former San Diego mayor turned U.S. senator turned governor that he was endorsing DeMaio’s candidacy. The email urged supporters to attend a September 27th fundraiser for the mayoral candidate at Evans Garage, an exclusive Bay Park museum that houses the automotive collection and other memorabilia belonging to the estate of the late hotelier Bill Evans, Sr. Pete Wilson is unpopular in the Latino community for his aggressive support of Proposition 187, a ballot measure that sought to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit undocumented immigrants from access to State servicers.
Coming soon, DeMaiovision… Carls’ transition to becoming a state-wide leader will be considerably more difficult should he not win the San Diego mayoral contest. So he’s been busy readying a big-time TV ad campaign against rival Bob Filner. The SDReader’s Matt Potter has been rooting around the file cabinets at local broadcast outlets and has filed a report on the coming ad campaign. Last week the DeMaio campaign contracted for $22,580 at NBC7 for a blitz starting October 1st, with spots on Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Law & Order. CBS outlet KFMBwill see $54,450 in DeMaio dollars, spread out between Good Wife, Face the Nation, 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper and CSI:NY.
Let your freak flag fly… Meanwhile, the Ocean Beach Town Council is hosting a public forum this evening with both Mayoral candidates. Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner will be given five minutes each to address OB residents with an overview of their candidacy. Then they’re going to open it up to questions from the floor. Perhaps we can find out what Carl has in mind for Ocean Beach once he goes state-wide with his ‘vision for reform in California’. The show, er, forum starts at 7pm (get there early for seats) at the Masonic Center, 1711 Sunset Cliffs. The OB Town Council has a long history of being paranoid about hippies and politicos, so this announcement in the San Diego Free Press will probably cause them to overreact; don’t be surprised if there’s a Swat Team outside.
Republicans continue to watch their support among women voters erode in the wake of comments by Missouri Senatorial candidate Todd Akin about rape and conception that the Atlantic magazine called the “contemporary equivalent of the early American belief that only witches float.” Despite calls from party leaders and assorted right wing pundits to drop out of the race, Akin says he’s staying it to win it, suggesting in desperate appeals for funds that the liberal media (Sean Hannity’s a liberal?) are behind moves to oust him from the contest. Party leaders are concerned that a loss in Missouri could undermine their plans to take over the US Senate this year.
Meanwhile, the GOP platform for this year’s election is now slated to include a provision that affirms the most reactionary positions taken by Akin’s anti-abortion supporters, calling for a complete ban on the procedure, including victims of incest and rape. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) quickly walked back statements yesterday that he made about incest victims not becoming pregnant. And good old boy Mike Huckabeereminded his radio listeners that sometimes good things happened as the result of women who are impregnated during rape during a program that featured (who else?) Todd Akin.
Biden trip to GOP Convention city may be perilous… Get your emergency stuff together, folks. That may have to include supplies for GOP Convention delegates in Tampa. A tropical depression is organizing out in the Atlantic is that projected to become category one Hurricane Issac and could well end up over central Florida just in time for the Republican convo. A Washington Post story quotes one forecaster as ranking Tampa-St. Petersburg the most vulnerable U.S. city to hurricanes ahead of Miami and New Orleans, noting that 125,000 people live below 6.5 feet above high tide, which a large storm surge could overwhelm. I suggest Bibles and MP3s of Rash’s programs to get delegates through, particularly if the strip clubs are forced to close. And don’t forget your ammo.
The Party Conventions will be Occupied…. Both the Republican and Democratic convention cities are facing protests led by local supporters of Occupy Wall Street. According to an article by Allison Kilkenny this week at the Nation blog:
“Occupy Tampa has stood in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street since its inception, and will function as the host occupation for the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL on August 27th–30th, 2012,” the group said in an official statement regarding the RNC, adding that ongoing preparations are being made for the convention protests, including securing sleeping arrangements for occupiers, in addition to canopies, sun screen and portable water containers for protection from the weather.
Occupy Tampa has formed a Regional General Assembly to coordinate Occupy groups throughout the bay area, including: OccupyLakeland, Occupy St. Petersburg, Occupy Bradenton, Occupy USF, Occupy Port Richey and Occupy Sarasota.
“We have tried to plan as much as possible ahead of time, but we want to leave space open to spontaneously produce additional actions by harnessing the number of people that arrive,” the group states.
Occupy Charlotte is readying for the Democratic convention and is quoted in the article as saying:
“The Democratic Party has chosen this ‘Wall Street of the South’ as its rallying city despite North Carolina being one of the most anti-union states in the country and despite Charlotte being the home of several corporate criminals, most notably Bank of America, one of the mega-banks most responsible for the 2008 economic meltdown, Charlotte holds the second largest concentration of finance capital in the United States, the East Coast headquarters of Wells Fargo, the new home of human-rights offender Chiquita, and the home of Duke Energy, which recently merged with Progress Energy, making Duke the largest energy monopoly in the country.”
“Both the Democratic and Republican Parties are controlled by moneyed interests and the 1%, and the Occupy Movement will hold both Parties accountable at the RNC in Tampa in August and at the DNC in Charlotte in September. We cannot allow this two-party system and its corporate puppeteers to determine our country’s destiny. While we recognize the historical significance of President Obama’s election, we will not sit idly by as the Administration favors corporations and the 1%, tramples civil liberties, and wages tragic wars”
Taking back the House…. Supporters of the Scott Peters candidacy in the race for Congress in District 52 against GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray are out beating the drums to get on-line votes for their man. While the votes that count won’t happen until the November elections, the California Democratic Party is running a contest to see which candidate has the most grassroots support in House contests around the State. The winner will receive direct support from the organization in the form of email solicitations that could add up to money and votes in the fall elections. To vote for Peters, go here. (No ID required)
Rite Aid’s hiring scabs… Signs have gone up in local Rite-Aid stores offering employment opportunities for people willing to work through a labor dispute. This move comes after Rite Aid workers all over Southern California voted overwhelmingly to reject the company’s proposals for concessions in their next labor contract. Leaders of seven local unions of the United Food and Commercial Workers were given the authority to call a strike, if it becomes necessary.
According to the UFCW, Rite Aid is seeking 34 concessions from the workers. The proposals include, among other takeaways:
• effective elimination of health care for workers’ spouses and children
• out-of-pocket costs for health care benefits of up to $10,000 a year
• virtual elimination of all accumulated sick leave pay
• reduction of the number of hours workers are allowed to work
• elimination of the 40-hour workweek and 24-hour guarantee for part-time employees
In the meantime, a spokesman for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, confirmed that his office has been called in to attempt to bring the two sides together, and says that UFCW and the pharmacy chain have scheduled more meetings going into September.
Feed your mind… Supporters of Proposition 37, which would require labeling on foods contacting genetically modified organisms (GMOs), are facing an uphill battle. Despite polling that shows overwhelming public support for their position, they’re bracing for an expected onslaught of misleading and misinformed advertising as Monsanto, Pepsi and other Big Food companies pour millions of dollars into a war chest to defeat the measure. Running the campaign will be some of the same names that the tobacco industry has used over the years to defend their industry. You can expect to see lots of “astro-turf” citizens’ groups making the case for these industrial mega-corporations.
So advocates for GMO labeling are campaigning throughout the State of California in conjunction with the Institute for Responsible Technology to educate the public about the real concerns and dangers associated with this practice. International best selling author and GMO expertJeffery Smith along with environmental activist Tom Newmark will be making an appearance at the Central Library in downtown San Diego (820 E Street) on Thursday, August 23rd from 12;15 to 2pm to talk about risks and impacts on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, as well as the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting. There’s great FAQ maintained by the Institute here.
Sick cow meat on the market… The Food and Drug administration has closed the Central Valley Meat Company in Hanford, Calif. After avideo (warning: it’s pretty gross), shot by an undercover member of Compassion Over Killing, surfaced that showed sick (downer) cows unable to walk being shot, shocked and kicked to get them to slaughter. Under federal regulations, sick animals cannot be slaughtered for human consumption. The plant, which processed dairy cattle that were no longer considered productive, provided about 6% of the beef supply for the In and Out burger chain. (The fast food company which promptly severed all ties with the company.) The rest of the plants’ production was being sold to processing plants and school programs.
Prop 32 advocates’ dirty tricks... Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa is demanding that his name be removed from campaign literature in support of California Proposition 32, which restricts union involvement in campaign finance while allowing unrestricted freedom for corporate SuperPAC’s. Villaraigosa demanded that the pro-32 camp “immediately remove my name and words from existing and future voter communications” as the use of his name “creates a misleading impression for voters that I support Prop 32. This is patently false.”
Tweet of the Day:
Tom Hall @TomHall Mark Twain’s Todd #Akin Quote: Suppose you were an #Idiot. And suppose you were a Member of #Congress. But I Repeat Myself. #p2
On This Day… In 1775 the American colonies were proclaimed to be in a state of open rebellion by England’s King George III. In 1964 Martha & The Vandellas’ “Dancing In The Streets” was released. In 1986 Kerr-McGee Corp. agreed to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood $1.38 million to settle a 10-year-old nuclear contamination lawsuit.
Eat Fresh! Today’s Farmers’ Markets: Carlsbad (Roosevelt St. btw Grand Ave. & Carlsbad Village Dr.) 1 – 5 pm, Encinitas Station (Corner of E Street & Vulcan in parking lot B) 5 – 8 pm, Mission Hills (Falcon St. btw West Washington & Ft. Stockton) 3 – 7 pm, North San Diego at Sikes Adobe Farmstead (I-15 at Via Rancho Parkway. 12655 Sunset Dr., Escondido.) 11 am – 2 pm, Ocean Beach (4900 block of Newport Ave. btw Cable & Bacon Sts.) 4 – 8 pm, San Marcos – Cal State San Marcos (333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd., Parking Lot B) 3 – 7 pm,Santee (10445 Mission Gorge Rd. abandoned school parking lot) 3 –7 pm, Temecula (40820 Winchester Rd. Promenade Mall, parking lot btw Macy’s & Penny’s) 9 am – 1 pm
I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to… Catch “the Starting Line” Monday thru Friday right here at San Diego Free Press (dot) org. Send your hate mail and ideas to DougPorter@SanDiegoFreePress.
Doug Porter
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Doug- kudos for the ground you covered today. Mitt Romney- show us your taxes!
Nice work on the Starting Line Doug – local and national news in a nutshell. Great way to start my day.
This Orange County Fundraiser for Carl DeMaio indicates that he is championing the right wing agenda, not only for San Diego, but for the State of California! Let’s turn out at the Ocean Beach Town Council Wed. Nite, at 7 p.m., to question him, carefully, about this.
Who is Johnathan Hale, aka John Wyckoff, aka Johnathan Hackett?