Subject: CCMC Newsletter: Senate Sweep Begins

From: California Clean Money Campaign <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 16:33:21 -0400 (EDT)

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May 2006

This Month's News
* Supporters Pack Senate Elections Committee Hearing
* CA Dems Add Clean Money to Party Platform
* Bestselling Author Kevin Phillips talks about new book and Clean Money
* CCMC Hosts Event with DailyKos and MyDD Blog Stars
* Clean Money Activists Swarm Earth Day Events and Candidate Forums
* CCMC’s Position Regarding CNA's Clean Money Initiative
* Mark Your Calendar:  Upcoming Clean Money Events in LA!
* Welcome to Our Newest Coalition Partners
* New Working Groups in the OC and Ventura!
* Upcoming Clean Money Working Group Meetings

“I think there is nothing more important… to a 
fully 
functioning democracy than having the people fund 
the 
electoral process.  Let’s put democracy back on 
track by 
supporting (AB 583).”  – actor (Commander in 
Chief) and 
activist Peter Coyote at the hearing for AB 
583 on 
April 19th, 2006.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Supporters Pack Senate Elections Committee Hearing

The first Senate hearing on our Clean Money bill, AB 583, 
was held in the Senate Elections Committee on April 19th. 
There was a fabulous turnout from Clean Money supporters, 
with nearly 100 people from around the state packing the 
hearing room and even the hall outside.

Testifying in favor of AB 583 were Assemblymember 
Loni 
Hancock (D-East Bay), author of AB 583;  Marc 
Spitzer (R-
Arizona), the cleanly- elected Corporations Commissioner 
from Arizona;  Susan Lerner, the executive director 
of CCMC;  
Paul Turner of the Greenlining Institute;  Peter 
Coyote, the 
actor and activist;  and Willie Pelote of AFSCME.  
Representatives from a large number of other organizations 
also voiced their support of the bill.

Senators on the committee did raise a number of different 
concerns about the bill, which Assemblymember Hancock and 
the California Clean Money Campaign will be working to 
address both with amendments and by providing more 
research results before AB 583 comes back for a vote in the 
committee. This sort of feedback from engaged legislators is 
one of the major benefits of going through the legislature and 
has already led to significant improvements in the 
bill.

Stay tuned for our next steps. When we find out when the 
actual Elections Committee vote is we'll let you know, 
because we'll want to pack the hearing room again!

To see key clips from the panel members, visit: - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.vak4evbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.CAclean.org%2Finspiration%2Fsenateelections_20060419.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CA Dems Add Clean Money to Party Platform

The California Democratic party voted at their April 28-30th 
convention to include Clean Money as part of the California 
Democratic Party platform.  Their 2006 platform statement 
now says:

"California Democrats believe that a healthy democracy 
is based on clean
elections: public financing of political campaigns at all levels 
of
government, campaign spending limits, restoration of the 
fairness doctrine
and a strong role for political parties."

"Support and implement clean money legislation."

We are excited that the California Democratic Party believes 
Clean Money is important enough to be part of their party 
platform.  The California Green Party also strongly supports 
Clean Money and has endorsed AB 583.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bestselling Author Kevin Phillips talks about new book and Clean Money

In early April, CCMC was honored to host political 
commentator Kevin Phillips, author of "Wealth and 
Democracy and American Dynasty"  as he traveled the state 
talking about his latest book, "American Theocracy: The Peril 
and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in 
the 21st Century". 

“I urge you to do what you can to help drive the money out 
of politics,” Mr. Phillips told CCMC guests gathered at the 
Santa Clara home of Gloria Duffy and Rod Diridon on April 
2nd. 
“Money is now the biggest industry in the United States and it 
will only get worse unless something can uncouple it from 
our democratic process.” 

Kevin Phillips also spoke on how the money culture has come 
to dominate American politics at an April 6th breakfast with 
Clean Money supporters at the Beverly Hills home of CCMC 
Advisory Board Member Elaine Attias. Our sincere thanks to 
our hostesses, Gloria and Elaine, for their wonderful 
hospitality!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CCMC Hosts Event with DailyKos and MyDD Blog Stars

On April 21st, 100+ politically engaged folks attended 
a 
CCMC-convened happy hour in Santa Monica 
featuring two of 
the nation’s hottest political bloggers: Markos 
Moulitas Zuniga 
(dailykos.com) and Jerome Armstrong (MyDD.com). 

Markos and Jerome talked about their new book 
Crashing 
the 
Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-
Powered 
Politics, answered questions, and inspired guests 
with 
their 
vision of how people and technology are reshaping 
our 
democracy. The crowd also got to hear about how 
Clean 
Money will reshape democracy in California by 
leveling the 
playing field for all voters.  

Thank you Club 310 for letting us take over your 
great 
restaurant space, and thank you to our partners, 
Young 
Progressive Majority.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clean Money Activists Swarm Earth Day Events and Candidate Forums

Letting people know that, the way to clean air and 
clean 
water is through Clean Money, our activists tabled at 
Earth 
Day festivals in San Diego, Manhattan Beach, Santa 
Monica, 
Encino, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, and 
Sacramento.  
In the process, hundreds of Californians signed our 
petition in 
support of our Clean Money bill, AB 583. 

Additionally, and virtually simultaneously, our 
activists also 
tabled and attended three candidate forums in 
Southern 
California proudly displaying their Clean Money 
buttons and 
submitting Clean Money questions to the 
candidates.  Thank 
you to everybody who helped make all our Earth Day 
and 
Candidate Forum efforts a huge success.

You can help too by joining our other enthusiastic 
tablers at 
future events (find out at one of the upcoming 
working group 
meetings in your area below) and by being sure to 
ask 
candidates and elected officials whether they 
support AB 583, 
the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, 
whenever 
you see them at forums and elsewhere.

Find a Clean Money group near you! - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.wcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2F

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CCMC’s Position Regarding CNA's Clean Money Initiative

As many of you may have seen, the California Nurses 
Association is in the process of collecting signatures 
to 
qualify a ballot initiative which includes Clean Money 
full 
public funding of campaigns.  

The California Nurses Association (CNA) is a vital and 
active 
part of the statewide coalition which is working to 
bring 
Clean Money to California.  The California Clean 
Money 
Campaign (CCMC) has worked, and continues to 
work, 
closely with CNA to ensure passage of AB 583, the 
Clean 
Money and Fair Elections bill. The Clean Money 
provisions of 
AB 583, as currently amended, and the CNA initiative 
are 
very similar.

The CNA initiative contains provisions that go beyond 
voluntary "Clean Money" full public funding of election 
campaigns. Because  CCMC is a single focus, non 
partisan 
organization, it is maintaining neutrality on the 
initiative at 
this point. Our organization is instead focused on 
helping 
move AB 583 through the legislature.

We encourage all interested individuals and groups to 
become familiar with the provisions of the CNA 
initiative, as 
well as AB 583, and to make their own independent 
determination regarding their involvement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Your Calendar:  Upcoming Clean Money Events in LA!

LOS ANGELES TOWN HALLS 

The California Clean Money Campaign is proud to 
invite all 
Angelenos to attend the first in a series of Town Hall 
events 
sponsored by Los Angeles City Council Members Bill 
Rosendahl, Eric Garcetti, and Wendy Greuel at Colfax 
Elementary School in Valley Village the evening of 
Tuesday, 
May 9 at 6:30pm.   The forum will feature a 
panel 
discussion 
moderated by Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times 
and 
featuring CCMC Executive Director Susan Lerner, Bill 
Boyarsky of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, 
Bob 
Stern of the Center for Governmental Studies, and 
Cary 
Davidson of Reed & Davidson.

For more details and to RSVP, go to:

http://www.caclean.org/events/200605
09_LATownHall.php (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.wak4evbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2F20060509_LATownHall.php)

This is the first in a series of forums designed to raise 
public 
awareness and understanding of Clean Money 
programs, 
inform the public about efforts to bring Clean Money 
to the 
city of Los Angeles and statewide, and to allow 
people to 
weigh in with their thoughts and ideas.   The second 
forum 
will be at Venice High School on Tuesday, May 
30th.

BOOK LAUNCH FOR DAVID SIROTA

The West Coast launch of political commentator and 
journalist David Sirota’s new book Hostile Takeover is 
happening in Santa Monica! Join us Thursday, May 
18th from 
7:00 – 9:00 PM at Berman/Turner Galleries for a 
reception, 
discussion and book-signing with David, co-
sponsored by 
CCMC, Brave New Films, and Courage Campaign. This 
event 
is free and space will be limited. For more information 
or to 
RSVP, contact Moira Brennan at 310-481-0814 or at 
[email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to Our Newest Coalition Partners

We would like to welcome to our growing coalition a 
number 
of new members including the Latino Issues Forum, 
the 
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund 
(MALDEF), California ACORN, AFSCME, the Mexican 
American 
Bar Association (MABA) of Los Angeles County and 
the 
California Coalition for Civil Rights.

AFSCME, the American Federation of State, 
County, and 
Municipal Employees, is one of California's largest 
labor 
unions. Willie Pelote, AFSCME’s California Political 
Director, 
testified for AB 583 at the recent Senate Elections 
Committee 
hearing.

ACORN, the Association of Community 
Organizations for 
Reform Now, is the nation's largest community 
organization 
of low- and moderate-income families, working 
together for 
social justice and stronger communities.

The Latino Issues Forum is a statewide 
organization 
dedicated to improving the lives of Latinos through 
conducting community education forums, coalition 
building, 
serving as a resource to media, and hard hitting 
advocacy.  
We would like to especially thank the Latino Issues 
Forum for 
hosting our most recent Campaign Finance Reform 
Summit. 

MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal 
Defense and Education 
Fund, is the leading nonprofit Latino litigation, 
advocacy and 
educational outreach institution in the United 
States.  Special 
thanks to Francisco Estrada, the Director of Public 
Policy for 
MALDEF for testifying at the recent Senate Elections 
hearing.

The Mexican American Bar Association 
(MABA) of Los Angeles 
County is one of the most prominent and largest 
Latino bar 
associations in Southern California and the nation. 
We are 
also pleased to announce that MABA¹s president, 
Claire 
Cifuentes, has accepted an invitation to become an 
Advisory 
Board member of CCMC.   

The California Coalition for Civil Rights is an 
umbrella 
organization comprised of civil rights groups 
throughout the 
state.  Special thanks to Rico Oyola of the Equal 
Justice 
Society for working with us to enlist the support of 
this large 
and powerful coalition.

View our full list of endorsing organizations! - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.45c8msbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Faboutus%2Fsupporters.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Working Groups in the OC and Ventura!

We are extraordinarily proud to announce the 
creation of two 
new Clean Money Working Groups.  Our activist 
teams 
around the state are the heart, soul, and body of our 
grassroots movement to make politics about people 
and not 
money.  Our working groups are a major part of the 
reason 
the Clean Money movement has grown so 
significantly in 
California over the past several years.  

April 23rd marked the kickoff meeting for the new 
Orange 
County Clean Money Working Group at the Duck Club 
in 
Irvine.  Special thanks to Steve Spanier and Elaine 
Booth for 
helping organize this gathering and to everybody who 
came 
to learn more and get involved.  The next meeting for 
the 
Orange County group will be Sunday, May 21st.  For 
more 
details, go here:

http://www.caclean.org/events/orange.php (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.xak4evbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Forange.php)

We are also very excited about the creation of a new 
working 
group in Ventura.  The kickoff for that group will be 
May 
13th.  For more information or to RSVP, email ventura-
[email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked])

Learn more about these and other upcoming Clean Money events - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.wcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2F

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upcoming Clean Money Working Group Meetings

Come a working group meeting in your area to find 
out what 
other volunteers are doing and how you can get 
involved 
too.

San 
Fernando Area Working Group Meeting  (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.kcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fsfv.php)(normally 
meets 
every 1st Sat. of the month)
Saturday, 5/6 in Northridge

L.A. Beach Cities (Southbay) Meeting  (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.lcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Flabeachcities.php)
(normally meets every 
2nd Mon. of the month)
Monday, 5/8 in El Segundo

Sacramento Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.mcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fsacramento.php)
Tuesday, 5/9 in Sacramento

Westside LA Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.ncxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fwestside.php) (meets 
every 2nd 
Wed. of the month)
Wednesday, 5/10 in Westside LA 

NEW! 
Ventura County Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.yak4evbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fventura.php)
Saturday, May 13th in TBD

Pasadena Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.ocxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fpasadena.php) (meets 
every 2nd 
Sun. of the month)
Sunday, 5/14 in Pasadena 

Monterey Bay Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.pcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fmontereybay.php) 
(normally meets 
every 3rd Wed. of the month)
Tuesday,5/17 in Aptos 

South Bay Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.qcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fsouthbayarea.php) 
(meets every 3rd 
Thurs. of the month)
Thursday, 5/18 in Cupertino

East Bay Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.rcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Feastbayarea.php) (meets 
every 3rd Sat. 
of the month)
Saturday, 5/20 in Oakland

Marin Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.tcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fmarin.php)
Saturday, 5/20 in San Rafael

San 
Francisco Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.scxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fsf.php) (meets 
every 3rd 
Sat. of the month)
Saturday, 5/20 in San Francisco

San Diego Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.ucxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fsandiego.php) (meets 
every 3rd 
Sat. of the month)
Saturday, 5/20 in San Diego 

NEW! 
Orange County Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.xak4evbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Forange.php)
Sunday, 5/21 in Irvine

North Bay Area Working Group Meeting (http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.vcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2Fnorthbayarea.php) 
(normally meets 
every 4th Thurs. of the month)
Thursday, 5/25 in Petaluma 

More info on these and other events can be found here. - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=qdcudvbab.0.wcxgwtbab.kenmtrbab.10855&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caclean.org%2Fevents%2F

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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web: http://www.CAclean.org

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