"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
Four years ago, when he was still just my wingnutty state senator, John Campbell responded to a letter of mine seeking his support in statewide healthcare reform by opining that the bill in question, SB 840, "creates an open-ended entitlement to healthcare that distances consumers even more from the financial consequences of their own decisions." Get that - if, like thousands of his constituents, you can't afford the inexorably rising costs of health insurance, if, like thousands of his constituents a year, you go bankrupt from your medical bills even though you thought you were insured, or die for lack of coverage, you are only getting what you deserve, because of your own foolish "decisions."
Slithering soon thereafter into a vacated Congressional seat, the former used car salesman took his humane policies onto the national stage. Last year, in response to my comrade Allan Beek's suggestion that the age for eligibility for Medicare be gradually lowered over the years, his legislative aide candidly admitted, "We don't want to expand Medicare. We want to eliminate Medicare." (D'OH! Once Campbell and his fellow Republicans learned that Democrats are trimming hundreds of millions in real waste and fraud from Medicare, they recast themselves as valiant defenders of the immensely popular government-run health program - this after fighting it tooth and nail since its inception. Pace Orwell, "WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH OCEANIA.")
We're big Beth Krom fans here at OC Progressive.So it was a pleasure listening to her talk last night at an event at the home of 70th AD candidate Melissa Fox.
Beth shines as a beacon for what's best in representative government, with a remarkably clear vision of what representation means. She just doesn't believe that you only represent the interests of your party, or your supporters, or the people who voted for you. Instead an elected official has a duty to all her constituents.
This stands in sharp contrast to Representative John Campbell, who never met with Irvine's leaders, attended an event, or even issued a proclamation congratulating them on anything while Beth was Mayor for four years. It's a pathological partisanship, where you refuse to engage at all with leaders who aren't members of your party, the K Street project on wingnut steroids. Campbell also lets his far-right political obsession against earmarks trump the need to bring federal money back into his district.
Last night, Beth not only articulated herr vision of representation again, but she also went deeper into talking about the right wing attack on the idea of government, the legitimacy of government, and the savage nature of right-wing political discourse, particularly on the issue of health care reform. There's a long-term campaign to sabotage political engagement and it takes a toll on representative government.
It was a great rant, passionate, articulate, and dead solid perfect in its aim, one of the rare times when you realize that you're in the presence of someone with profound integrity.
We've noted before that John Campbell has bought into the crazy base of the Republican far right, cosponsoring a birther bill. Here Chris Matthews has calls him out on it.
It's simple, I want Beth Krom to be my Congresswoman and Melissa Fox to be my Assemblywoman. That's not too much to ask is it?
Both are smart and talented woman who are progressive Democrats and both would represent my interests in Sacramento and Washington. It's time issues like single payer, marriage equality and the environment took on more meaning than pushing watered down bills around, doing nothing but appeasing corporate interests and insulting true progressive values.
I don't want to go to Netroots Nation, I'm not worried about paying my mortgage as much as I want to bet people to donate to these amazing candidates. $5? $10? That's all I ask and that it be done before midnight tonight.
The Great Park in Irvine, continues to move forward. It was announced today that the park's design won an award from the American Institute of Architects.
Great Park construction is on the horizon, but the designers are still in the spotlight, winning the accolades of their peers for recently completed plans to turn the old El Toro air base into a lush central park.
The Great Park Design Studio last week was awarded the Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design at the American Institute for Architects (AIA) National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco. Designers say the Great Park was chosen from a pool of more than 700 submissions.
"It speaks to the level of quality and ambition to create a new type of park," designer Ken Smith said.
Great Park designers spent three-years, and millions of dollars, envisioning a modern, ecologically friendly project meant to retain echoes of the area's military and agricultural past while still providing visitors the entertainment and sports amenities they have come to expect.
The city of Irvine, continues to be a national leader in urban planning, sustainability and green building and its partly due to visionary leaders such as Beth Krom.
My goodness, what a convention we had! The "mainstream" corporate media may have just seen it as a massive foodfight, but beneath the surface something amazing happened. As I saw and Calitician Robert Cruickshank noted, the "Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party" finally started to take control of the CDP.
Progressives flexed their muscle yet again at this convention, showing that they are the force to be reckoned with in the party - even if progressives did not always speak with a single voice. The refusal to endorse Propositions 1A, 1D and 1E was a sign that progressive delegates are not going to be dictated to by Democratic leaders, and that they feel empowered to say "No" when it is warranted. That's a sign of a healthy and mature progressive movement. People power is here in the California Democratic Party - and although it has yet to find sustained expression, it's only a matter of time before that power revitalizes the party.
As all of you who followed my Tweets saw, the vote was close on all the May Special Election Initiatives. And yes, debate was heated. But while the "mainstream" reporters were just focusing on how "divided!!!!" we were (like this was the first time?), they missed what the rest of us saw. They missed the progressive grassroots taking charge, speaking truth to power, and letting their voices be heard at what's supposed to be their convention.
Let me explain my thoughts some more after the flip...
Irvine City Councilwoman Beth Krom visited the California Democratic Party convention Saturday, touting her race for Congress in the 48th Congressional District.
Pictured above, Krom meets with bloggers Robert Criukshank, David Atkins and David Dayen.
Carla Marinucci reports this morning that John Campbell's District in Orange County, which President Obama carried by 2,600 votes, will be one of eight seats in California targeted by the national DCCC.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign committee has already started to spend money in Ken Calvert's Congressional District, where Bill Hedrick turned in surprisingly good results in 2008.
But it's amazing to see Beth Krom emerge as a strong candidate in a district that was 52.7% Republican in 2002, with the possibility of national support.
As Marinucci says,"Republican numbers in California are falling precipitously, even in the historically strongest bastions of GOP voters".
Since 2002, Republican registration in the 48th Congressional district has slipped by 7.81%.
Of the 85,897 net new voters, only 12.8% have been Republicans, with 37.1% Democrats, and a whopping 50.5% registering as decline to state or independent. Those independents voted for Obama, and may be disinclined to support an obstructionist like Campbell, who votes consistently against the interests of the overwhelmingly middle-class constituents in his district. (See scorecard in the left column, where Campbell gets an F!)
The shibboleth that businesses are leaving California in droves, repeated ad nauseum by Republicans, is just so much b.s.
In fact, an Orange County city was named by Business Week as one of the best cities in the country to start a new business.
"Irvine is small business-friendly. There are quite a few office spaces and office parks. It's very easy to find talented employees and resources. The quality of life of having literally perfect weather 95% of the days of the year is an incredible luxury. You have a lot of physically active people wanting to work in a nice climate."
-Vic Liu, CEO of Web development agency Web Advanced
All the more reason to get behind Irvine City Councilwoman Beth Krom's run for Congress in the 48th district. Under the direction of Krom, Larry Agran and Sukhee Kang, Irvine has been one of the best run cities in the nation. Not to mention the quality of life.
Let's put to rest the notion that businesses are leaving California. It's never really been true.
Our local fishwrap, the Orange County Register, constantly touts their signature columnist. Today Frank Mickadeit demonstrates that his artistic talents are on a par with his critical thinking. He continues the Register's long term war against the Irvine City Council with this map of the Great Pork, which he apparently plans to turn into a week-long multimedia extravaganza.
He asks for suggestions to put into a blank spot on his cartoon, and we humbly suggest a monument to the brief but shoddy register tabloid,the "OC POST, "a groundbreaking, quick-read newspaper, ... "cut to fit" today's busy lifestyle." This apparently lost its 15 million dollar investment in 16 months.
The Great Park Corporation has invested in an expensive planning process for what will be a multi-billion dollar, multi-generational process to combine one of the world's great urban parks with new sustainable communities on the former Marine military base at El Toro.
Part of its planning should include a memorial to what happens when you have incompetent plans, poor execution, and a management completely out of touch with its market - Mickadeit's employers.
In a sign that Democrats are changing the playing field in Orange County, the Register's Dena Bunis reports on the upcoming Congressional races in the county. I'm not quite used to reading articles like this in the Reg. This is quite a sea change in reporting.
Orange County Democrats have become so emboldened by how well President Barack Obama did here on election night that as far as they're concerned they can compete for any seat in this Republican rich environment.
Case in point: Irvine Councilwoman and former Mayor Beth Krom. She made it official this week that she is going to take on Republican Rep. John Campbell.
Doesn't Krom know that the 48th Congressional District is not only one of the most Republican in California, it's one of the most solid GOP districts in the nation?
She does. But she says she also knows that Obama carried that Republican stronghold and believes she's got a chance there as well.
She goes on to report that Bill Hedrick's close call in CA-44 and Debbie Cook's race in CA-46, showed that Democrats are beginning to be taken a lot more seriously in Orange County.
As Beth Krom launches her Congressional Bid, it's worth recalling the signature issue that Beth first ran on, the belief that converting the El Toro Air Station into an international airport was wrong from every perspective.
At one level the battle over El Toro was between NIMBY's. Residents of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa wanted to rid thmeselves of John Wayne Airport. South County Residents didn't want to take it.
On another level, there were very serious questions about the traffic forecasts and the financial analysis. Len Kransner continues to maintain the The El Toro Info Site and you can get into the Wayback Machine and look at the history.
The bottom line is that the skeptics were dead right. John Wayne and Long Beach continue to meet our demand, and the caps on their level of operations and hours of operation make them particularly efficient.
An airport at El Toro would have been a fiscal disaster.
Beth Krom goes up with her interim website and invites folks to her first fund-raiser on March 22nd.
The current Congressman, has been a national laughingstock for his comments about Atlas Shrugged finally coming true, but Beth Krom's opening email also includes one amazing fact about John Campbell.
In four years as Mayor, I was never once contacted by Congressman Campbell to express interest in, or offer assistance on our community priorities. He never attended a single city event, nor did he ever contact me to commend the city on any of our achievements. If the largest city in the 48th District is not being served, what hope is there for the other cities in the district?
What can you say about the arrogance of a Congressman who never once shows up or talks to the Mayor of the largest city in the district? At least Rohrabacher occasionally shows up at stuff to rant about immigrants and deny the science of climate change.
"People are starting to feel like we're living through the scenario that happened in 'Atlas Shrugged,'" said Campbell. "The achievers, the people who create all the things that benefit rest of us, are going on strike. I'm seeing, at a small level, a kind of protest from the people who create jobs, the people who create wealth, who are pulling back from their ambitions because they see how they'll be punished for them."
Steve Benen puts this into context.
Right, the character John Galt, the hero of the novel ... convinces corporate leaders to give up their jobs in order to spite society. As the story goes, these captains of industry were repressed by heavy-handed government, so they walked away and, when society crumbled, taught everyone a valuable lesson about making sure wealthy, white, blond-haired guys don't feel unduly put upon.
Some very strange conservatives, faced with the prospect of a modest increase in the marginal top rate, see us creating real-life John Galts. We're supposed to find that terrifying, of course, since the same Wall Street titans who destroyed our economy might be tempted to leave their jobs and take up menial labor.
Easy Street Republicans seem to base their political philosophy on fiction. What constantly amazes me is that they choose such bad fiction, like Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein. For a tremendous laugh, read Atlas Shrugged Updated for the Current Financial Crisis.
Four years ago, when he was still just my wingnutty state senator, John Campbell responded to a letter of mine seeking his support in statewide healthcare reform by 
