Our Prayer for The State Budget

The power, purpose and presence of God is all there is. It is the only truth. Everything else is a lie.
The truth of God is perfect love.
The truth of God is perfect abundance.
The truth of God is perfect peace.
The truth of God is perfect joy.
The truth of God is perfect wisdom.
This being the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth there is no way to be outside the truth.
It is the be all and the end all, the alpha and the omega, the whole enchilada.

And so I know that I am one with God, that the divine consciousness of the one Truth is accessible in, as and through me.
As I know that for me, I know that for each and every person in California. The people of California are the living embodiment of God.
As I know that for the people of California, I know that for their elected leaders: the Governor of California, each and every member of the state legislature, the Finance Director and every staff person or lobbyist connected with the State budget process.

Specifically I know that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John Perez, Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, Assembly Minority Floor Leader Martin Garrick, Senate Budget Committee Chair Denise Ducheny, Senate Budget Committee Vice Chair Bob Dutton, Assembly Budget Committee Chair Bob Blumenfield, Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chair Jim Nielsen, State Finance Director Ana Matosantos are each connected to the one Truth, the One Mind, the One living consciousness of the Divine God.

I know that each of us is an elected representative of God, a representative of love, a representative of abundance, peace, joy and health.

Elected by the people who are the living embodiment of God and being the living embodiment of God themselves, our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern. They are servants of the One Mind, the One Heart, the One Love, the only force, the only truth, the integrated whole of the universe.

There is no separation on the planet.
The lines that separate us are fictional. Republican, Democrat, left, right, lobbyists, legislators, citizens, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, the environment, labor unions, trial lawyers, oil companies, polluters, auto companies, utilities, poor people, disable, teachers, students, prisoners, guards, hospitals, doctors, patients, children, elderly, women and men, we are all one.

Humankind has worked with its own creative God-given powers to bring into seeming reality the following limitations: deficit, recession, 2/3 voting requirement but these too are artificial constraints, more easily removed than it may seem. In God, there is no deficit. In God, there is no recession. In God, there is no structural impediment to change. In God, there is no 2/3 voting requirement.
In God, there is no furlough Friday. Simply put: In God there are no limits.

All are simply appearances of the One, illusions of the human mind, powerful stories that are only stories, not the truth.

Today I relinquish my attachment to these stories.
Today I relinquish my attachment to these limits.
Today I relinquish my attachment to the parameters of the possible.

I embrace infinite creativity.
I embrace infinite change.
I embrace infinite abundance.

There is enough.
Just as there are enough stars in the sky, sand on the beach, water in the ocean, love in our hearts, there is enough food, there is enough shelter, there is enough money, there is enough ideas, time, willingness and willingness.
There is enough.

Our leaders can do this.
Our leaders have the resources, the support, the intelligence, the willingness, the creativity and the political will they need in, as and through God showing up as the people of California and them.

The water we are swimming in is the Divine Water of God. It is great, come on in!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Divine Mother-Father Spirit for blessing this state with the amazing people, beauty and treasures that it has. Thank you for our trusted public servants. Thank you for our democracy. Thank you for seeing fit to allow millions of people to come together and pool their resources to create a better life for each and every Californian and each and every person on the planet.

Thank you for the safety and health of the People of California and their leaders. Thank you for food, shelter, health care, education, security, jobs, clean air and clean waters. Thank you for balance and integrity. Thank you for everything that you have provided.

Knowing that the leaders and people are one with God and that everything we need is right here, right now already I know that this State budget is already divinely created, balanced and funded. I release my need to control the details or the outcome and simply let go and surrender to the One.

I know the great law has already said a resounding Yes!

And so it is.

Amen.

How the Prayer at the Capitol Went

On Wednesday, June 16, 2010 the Center for Spiritual Awareness, along with a rabbi, a Catholic priest, an Episcopal priest, a Lutheran minister, a (scheduled but didn't show imam) and several other new thought ministers held a prayer service at the Capitol for the state budget. Attendance was modest (maybe 20 people in addition to the clergy), but the feeling was high. Rev. Georgia Prescott, my minister, led off the event with a prayer/treatment I wrote. I think I'll post that separately so that you can read it but it doesn't muddy up this post.

The press coverage was decent though. After an interview over the phone, the New York Times wrote this cute piece which is actually not all that snide. Click here for the official link but here's the cut and paste version:

Big Budget Gap? Call In the Big Guy
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Published: June 16, 2010


LOS ANGELES — And on the first day without a state budget, the men and women of God gathered in prayer at the Capitol to beg that he guide the mortals in closing a gap of biblical proportions.

A day after California lawmakers missed the June 15 deadline to have a budget in place, leaders representing 10 faiths sought “divine wisdom” on Wednesday, offered prayers and demanded that God occupy a seat at the budget negotiating table, joining the so-called Big 5: the governor and the four ranking Senate and Assembly leaders.

“We are calling for a Big 6,” said Sara Nichols of the Center for Spiritual Awareness, a former lobbyist and minister-in-training with the nondenominational religious community that organized the event. “We wanted to bless them and say, ‘They can do it.’ ”

It just may take a while; last year, the budget came in a month overdue, and the year before that, the budget was delivered a record-setting 85 days late, and the year before that — well, suffice to say it is more newsworthy when the $83 billion budget is on time.

This year, the fiscal misery befits Job: a $19 billion deficit, legislative gridlock that has defied even a governor with an action-hero past, that same governor mightily resisting the lame-duck mantle, and an election year that makes compromise — increasingly a four-letter word — harder still. All this while the state comptroller warns that it gets harder to pay bills the more the state pushes past the July 1 start of the fiscal year, just two weeks away.

Mere “human creations,” Ms. Nichols scoffed. “They don’t have to tie us down. There is room for creativity and divine intervention. What is inspiration? It draws on the other power we have.”

Representatives of the five mortals at the table said they would take whatever help they could get.

“This is going to be a tough budget,” said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “so we appreciate the support.”
A version of this article appeared in print on June 17, 2010, on page A15 of the New York edition.

The Capitol Weekly ran a photo of the collected ministers (including yours truly). Click here and scroll to page 3 of the June 24, 2010 issue to see it. I can copy the picture but can't figure out a way to put it here.

Ed Howard's Speech Is Already Making a Difference

I'd really like you to take a moment to watch my friend Ed Howard's speech on to the PTA on foster youth. Beyond being an extraordinarily powerful and moving speech it's already generated enormous interest and is moving people to make a difference in the lives of foster youths in their communities, particularly as they "age out" of the system at 18. Let me know what you think. It seems to me that if every one of our communities sponsored one of these kids, there are such a small number, we could really make a difference in their lives

PTA Speech from Children's Advocacy Institute on Vimeo.

Santa Monica 2 Sacramento--Road Trip Day 7--ex post facto

I woke up early and went for a longish walk along the palisades along with prayer and meditation amongst the bums. Returned to 3 people ready to get on the road. We mobilized, hit exactly no traffic, and got home by 5pm. It is good to be home.

Santa Monica 2 Venice--Road Trip Day 6--ex post facto

We sleep in (yay, first day to do that!). Which still means that I'm up before teens doing my meditation and prayer and going for a walk. The teens basically don't move until after we eat uninspiring sandwiches in the room.

Then it's the basic walk from Santa Monica to Venice Beach (we called it a half mile to get them moving, it's really a couple). The girls loved the street vendors and shopping. The boys got sick of it.

Eventually we go out on the beach at the northern tip of Venice and plop down. The kids get completely soaked and swim in their clothes (although we had suits with us, they couldn't be bothered to put them on a strategy in which they were ultimately vindicated as I trudged barefoot (what could I have been thinking?!) to a horrible nightmare of a bathroom with God knows what on the floor, no toilet paper, a long line, everything you imagine in a Venice bathroom ... and less...to pee and change into my suit.

Bill heads back as I join the kids for a short swim. Too cold in the breeze to wait to dry off, we do the wetsuit death march back to S.M. If they had been younger they would've been crying the whole way. At this age they were miserably catatonic.

Showers, naps and frantic Googling and Yelping produce an acceptable French restaurant on the Third Street Promenade called Monsieur Marcel--French-style service but a lovely outdoor cafe with solid food.

From their the kids headed back the Ocean View for reading and electronics. Bill and I were off to see The Arsonists at KOAN at the Odyssey in nearby West L.A. It's a recent resurrection/translation of a WWII era swiss play which is, albeit didactic, fascinating, funny and oddly applicable to the current times. I recommend it to people who really love theater, not to people who actually only like plays and movies because it's a bit contrived and stagy for that set.

Sigh, nice to sleep in the same bed twice...

Phoenix 2 LAX--Road Trip Day 5--ex post facto

(published a week and half after the real day in question)
Phoenix, Arizona For the 5th day in a row, we will wake in one place, go to sleep in another 100s of miles away, I am grateful that we have chosen to do this for only a week, not the 3 weeks we originally painstakingly planned (although I also continue to grieve for the abandoned itinerary).

I set the alarm to get up and out of Phoenix before the heat. We are rushing to meet Bill's plane at LAX some 700 miles away. The drive is smooth and fun. You know, all the drives have been fun. The kids have mostly insisted on sitting in the backseats together (so they can talk and conspire against me). It's safer that way and actually seems to give me some measure of freedom up front, plus I can pile all my junk on the seat next to me and easily multitask on the road giving me one more reason to tell the kids to do as I say, not as I do.

On the road trips they read a lot (my mother bought me a Kindle for my birthday and we each have a book on it--like all electronic devices I purchase, they use it a lot more than I do), E plays long games of solitaire on her ipod. N is more likely to occasionally talk with me or initiate one of several games we rotate (the only car games that we or even Hoyles know of: Boticelli, Third of a Ghost, and Geography). We also play a card game called Rubberneckers where you draw cards that tell you what to look for on the road and you have to spot those things to accumulate points. Don't worry, the kids draw my cards for me and tell me what to look for.

The most fun part of Rubberneckers is when you have to make a gesture or something to another driver in another vehicle and get a reaction back. This is surprisingly difficult to effect. N has to make the "Junior birdman" eyeglasses at 10-15 drivers before they give a response other than a hostile glare (which doesn't count). E, as a younger-looking female, has better results than a 6' 3" 15 year old male--and it isn't cute at all but vaguely insane/obscene when I, while driving the car, have to make the airhorn pumping sign to truck drivers (this makes us engage in a lot of nervous speculation and laughter).

Miraculously on this drive without even stopping for lunch, we make it to LAX and Southwest airline's gate in 7 hours on the dot to pick Bill up just as he emerges (the only hitches being a) fitting him in the car and b) weathering a scolding from a belligerent airport security agent for picking him up on the wrong side of the lane. We peel out laughing, happy and, for my part, exhausted and make our way to the Ocean View Hotel in Santa Monica.

Upon arrival we voluntarily accept a steep discount to downgrade from an ocean view room with a balcony to a back-room with neither. With two double beds and a single futon on the floor we are cramped but happy. At the risk of offending millions, I feel a little like a happy immigrant family grateful to be out of the refugee camp and into our own space. Bill Yelps us to the Iterim Cafe, a vegan-friendly wheat free eatery on Wilshire a few blocks from the hotel. The food is fresh, imaginative and delicious (although the joint is clearly more of a happening business lunch spot than dinner, we are happy to have the place to ourselves). I stagger with exhaustion down the third street promenade and shortly thereafter collapse in the room while Bill takes the kids down to the pier for a turn on the ferris wheel.

Hopi 2 Phoenix--Road Trip Day 4--ex post facto

The early light and impending heat wakes us and convinces me to convince my kids to take a run with me on the reservation land adjacent to the housing development (apparently there is a good dirt road to run on). Our 11-year old hostess leads the way as the teens and I play out an age-old Tortoise and Hare story with them, of course in the role of the Hare. The go much faster, but I am the only one to run the whole way and finish--ha!

After a fascinating chance visit with a friend of our hosts who works for the Hopi Foundation (we exchange prayers and note similarities between our traditions--mine being religious science), we head off for an official tour of a largely ceremonial but partially functional ancient village of Walpi. It is strangely familiar as if from a dream (or, more likely, I learn upon returning home to consult with my husband, he and I toured the same village about 10 years ago on our own romantic tour of the region before our friends lived on the reservation).

After making sandwiches for a large group, we hit the road early for Phoenix, our next destination. It's a long hot drive beautiful at first, then odd as we tour the recent ghost town of Two Guns and pass an extremely life-like Giant Baby that briefly convinces me I've lost my mind.

We arrive at my college friend's downtown Phoenix paradise on the hottest day of the year so far, 115 degrees as we dock. He and his partner are mixed use downtown pioneers in a city that otherwise stands as a poster child for sprawl. They have built a tiny but gorgeously detailed and thought through two-story plus building with a gallery and marketing business offices on the first floor and beautiful apartment and glorious deck on the second.

Despite the heat, we can't resist grilled chicken and veggies out on the deck with spectacular views of both of Phoenix's office clusters to the north and south and mountains to the, what, north and east? Our hosts, Russ and Mike are by turns charming, self-deprecating and awe-inspiring bringing us up to speed on the latest in their rich despite cash-poor existence. The evening ends with a full tour of the house, the highlight being the latest exhibition in their gallery: local artists' completely reworking and painting of reclaimed refrigerators--the kids are enchanted by the color and imagination, not to mention the lavish notion of taking an elevator downstairs in one's own home to one's own business and gallery--wow!

See this video for a tour by my daughter of the fridge art:


As I drift off to sleep, I am, not for the first time, moved to tears with gratitude for remaining and even growing closer to Russ over the 30 years since our escapades in the student government of Reed College. Not all my old friendships have taken this trajectory--what a blessing this is!

Grand Canyon 2 Hopi Nation--Road Trip Day 3--ex post facto

(this is the third in a series of posts put up almost two weeks after I actually went through these days).
It was a perfect starry cool night at the Grand Canyon and I slept great. The next day I awoke slightly dizzy from the altitude, N had a cold and E was grumpy and had a blister from walking miles in flip flops in Vegas. So we dubbed ourselves, "Dizzy, Cold and Toe Package" and headed off for a wimpy hike on the western part of the South Rim--which is nonetheless an amazing 12-mile section where you can hike a section, get on the bus for a section, hike a section. We only walked a little over 2 miles but were astonished how few people were actually on the trail with us--we often had the canyon to ourselves. Despite the beauty and occasional solitude, it was quite the contrast to the fantasy I have of backpacking to the floor of the Grand Canyon--still very much a goal of mine.

For a variety of reasons, at the end of the walking day, we decide to forgo the second night on the rim and pack up to head to our next destination: Hopi Indian Reservation. With no cell phone coverage in the Park, I buy an old school calling card from a machine and use it at a pay phone. It costs about 25 cents a minute.

We called our friends who live on the reservation, "can we come earlier?" they say yes, despite a brief worry that we're being held hostage (long story).

As I hang-up, I shake off a concern that I should have asked for more precise directions. Surely I've got all I need in my compulsively assembled folder of information printed out from the computer weeks before the trip and checked the night before and morning that we left.

We break camp quickly and have a beautiful late afternoon departure from the park. No traffic on a Wednesday afternoon. Grateful for last minute advice to head out the eastern rather than southern exit (thereby avoiding a long detour that Mapquest wanted us to take through Flagstaff), we head over to the great metropolis of the drive, Tuba City, population 85 on the edge of the Hopi Reservation.

In Tuba City we chance dinner at the "Szechuan Restaurant" staffed by American Indians. It serves surprisingly tasty food--better than any Chinese I've had in Sacramento (with a huge Chinese population--a subject for a whole nother blog).

As turn onto highway 264, I reset my mileage indicator on the car, telling the kids that the only "address" we have is a milepost on this highway (something that has made me a little nervous from the start). As I check my web-aided directions I learn that in fact, I don't even have that milepost, I just have the spot that Yahoo Maps decided was the right point on the highway when I entered that milepost into the search engine. I gulp and soldier on.

The spot on the map turns out to be the Hopi Cultural Center (which I actually recognized from a previous trip with Bill). We look around nearby and see nothing remotely resembling the type of dwelling my friend (a physician working for the Hopi Nation and her family) would be likely to live in. I pull out a package of quarters and head for the payphone to call the house. Their 11 year old answers and brightly informs us that she has no idea how to tell us to get to her house from where we are, or even where we are. She vows to call her parents and call us back. She doesn't.

About to call her again, I see a group of random natives leave the cultural center. Acting on a hunch, I call out, "excuse me, do any of you know Andy and Anna Lewis?" They do. A nice pair approach me and give me flawless directions. It is another 10 miles. If we boogie, we can maybe make it before dark (fairly important as there are no lights of any kind on the highway).

We book east, finding by far the most modern development on the stretch, a small southwest style subdivision built to go with the large health center in which Anna works. We easily find their home and the adventure ends with a warm reception, 2 dogs, 3 cats and a great evening passed in conversation (for me) and reuniting with internet (for teens).

Vegas 2 Grand Canyon--Road Trip Day 2--ex post facto

(posted a week later) Waking up in Vegas, the city that never sleeps (and we were there on the Summer Solstice no less, so fitting to be somewhere completely electric light dependent on the longest day of the year!), we mobilize quickly for the 2 mile walk from our hotel room to the car in the Circus Circus parking garage. Well, first the kids ride on the roller coaster (say it's very good and big, not a tiny one like most hotels have ;)).

We drive out headed for the antithesis of Vegas, from a man-made wonder of the world to one of nature's greatest triumphs, the Grand Canyon. On the way we crawl through Hoover Dam traffic (I wondered when the concierge said "you have to go around the dam to get to the Grand Canyon" in a sort of weary voice, and now I know, you inch along for miles before the dam). On the plus side, the kids enjoyed referring to "dam traffic" and wondering if we could stop for a "dam soda" or "dam french fries"--we didn't.

The dam traffic, you'll be glad to know, is caused by keeping our nation and the Colorado River reservoir safe by requiring each car to slow down so that a couple of dumpy (I should talk) uniformed women can peer in to the vehicle for a 1/2 second to determine whether you're a terrorist likely to blow up the dam. What are they going to see? Anything short of dynamite piled on the front seat with a lighter is likely to escape their attention. That's me above in front of the Hoover Dam.

Arriving at the Grand Canyon at dusk is, of course breathtaking. E had wondered for the last few miles, "is this canyon really going to be so grand? Or is it just going to be another big canyon?" I didn't try to convince her of anything, just said, "you'll see." And she did. I had seen it twice before. First time for the kids.

Our camping spot in Mather Campground on the South Rim was wonderful--in a quiet non RV corner, right up against a large patch of no campgrounds (in which we saw an elk as we were making camp but we didn't act fast enough--see this video for details: ).

Sacramento 2 Vegas--Road Trip Day 1--ex post facto

Road trip day 1, the kids and I depart Sacramento for Las Vegas, NV. Long day, leaving at 8am arriving 6pm with few stops. We stay at Circus Circus hotel on the far end of the strip--$23 a night on expedia and worth every penny (but not more). The entire hotel common areas reek of cigarette smoke. The carpet is ancient. It takes 20-30 minutes to get from our hotel room to the front of the hotel.

But the room is clean and serviceable and quiet. There is no smoke detectable there. There is s large roller coaster inside the hotel. Did I mention it costs $23?

From there we run/walk a mile plus to dinner reservations at Tacqueria Canonita alongside a canal at the Venetian. The kids love the fake outdoor setting (somewhat reminiscient of the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant at Disneyland). The thing is the food is actually excellent. E's enchiladas are to die for. N's steak is fabulous. My fish and pineapple tacos are super tasty. It costs $70 for the 3 of us, considered a deal for such a meal.

From there we plow across the street to the Mirage. It's dark now and we ooh and aah as we go. None of us have ever seen the strip at night before. (no not me either, unless I was a small child and don't remember it). We watch Love the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage (totally sold out to a huge crowd at 9:30pm).

It is amazing! A must see. (:)(:)(:)(:)(:) I honestly don't know when I've seen a better show of anything ever. The combination of acrobatics, costumes, staging, dance set and most of all previously unreleased Beatles studio recordings music is unparalleled. I loved every minute of it even though I was dog tired and I'd like to see it like 10 more times.

Vegas was way too much. Too much people. Too much lights. Too much money. Too much everything. I wasn't unhappy to leave after less than 24 hours there but I also wish I had a week there (at a quiet hotel near but not on the strip). The kids loved it and I'd like to let them explore all the other things they wanted to see.

Watch out for the tiny man of Southside Park

For several months, my son and I have noticed a little man that walks around Southside Park in our neighborhood. Walking around the park is apparently this man's livelihood. It is virtually impossible to go to the park at any time of day or night and not see the tiny man.

The tiny man is very sweet and friendly. He seems to recognize us and smiles and waves and says hi. It always makes me happy to see the tiny man.

This brings me to the reason for this post: the tiny man is shrinking. When we first saw the man, he was, maybe 4' 10". He's elderly; he's from a smaller people than we are; and so his height seemed fairly within the norm. But now, a few months later, he is only about 4 feet tall. Not only that, but every day that we see him, he seems to be even shorter. My son and I theorize that he is literally walking himself into the ground.

Like the tigers in the Little Babaji story who slowly turn into butter as they chase each other around a bush, the tiny man of Southside Park may lose as much as a 1/16 of an inch for every lap we walks. At 50 laps a day, that's an alarming rate of shrinkage.

My point is that soon the tiny man of Southside Park will be so small that we will have to take care not to step on him or injure him. So please, as you walk in or near Southside Park (like if you go to our famous farmers' market on Sundays under the freeway), take care and watch out for the tiny tiny ever tinier man.

P.S. The image shown right of the woman holding the tiny man says that it is not to be used without permission, but that is exactly what I am doing. What do you think will happen to me?

My Synchronicities with Jungians

The great psychologist C. G. Jung coined the term "synchronicity" to refer to those coincidences that occur to which we attach great meaning. Deepak Chopra later wrote a book on coincidence called The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: harnessing the infinite power of coincidence which convinced me that Jung was right: paying attention to coincidence is a power clue to one's life purpose. As Chopra puts it, a coincidence isn't interesting because it occurs, a coincidence is interesting because we noticed it. The coincidence or synchronicity is a clue to what is most important to me on the level of my "non local intelligence" or what Jung would call the unconscious mind.

So I pay attention to coincidence. Recently I not only had a couple of big coincidences, they were Jungian coincidences. Not in the sense that EVERY coincidence is Jungian, but in the sense that they involved Jungians.

Coincidence 1: I stayed for 2 days at a wonderful retreat center in Lake County (above Calistoga, CA) called the Four Springs. On the last day, in a closing ceremony someone read aloud the names of the four founders, all of whom were Jungians. I audibly gasped (causing some concern with my ministerial classmates) when she read the name "Lucille Nixon." Lucille Nixon (I checked, it's the same one) was a close friend of my grandparents who ultimately willed her half of a cabin in Yosemite to my grandparents (who owned the other half). Although that cabin burned to the ground in 1990, we rebuilt in 1998 and to this day I spend many waking hours either in that cabin or wishing I was in it or helping other people get in it. What a thing!

Coincidence 2: I just finished a distance course on the gnostics taught by Dr. Stephan Hoeller of Los Angeles. Noting that he teaches from a Jungian emphasis and that he is in Hollywood and that he is of an advanced age and that he had a drawing from the Tarot on one of his materials, I wrote him a note with my first paper submission telling him about my Jungian inheritance from my grandmother Sally Nichols who worked with Jung in Zurich some and who at the end of her life wrote Jung and Tarot: an archetypal journey, a wonderful book that was translated into many languages and survived many printings (now out of print).

He wrote back that he knew my grandmother, had heard her lecture on Jung and the Tarot and had written a book himself on the tarot! He is inviting me down to visit him and see his gnostic church (in which he is a Bishop). How cool is that?

My Recommendations for Candidates--Statewide

I am a "Decline to State" voter who likes to vote on the Democratic ballot so as to influence the Democratic primary outcomes, so that's what I will be doing this time. Here are my picks for voting:

Lieutenant Governor:
I plan to vote for Gavin Newsom, current Mayor of San Francisco (aka "Mayor McHotty"). The Lt. Governor job is largely ceremonial and unimportant but the officeholder does sit on several boards and commissions, providing the swing vote on what I think is called the State Public Lands Commission, a key environmental body. The Sierra Club gave its endorsement to Gavin Newsom after interviewing him and considering his record. That's good enough for me.

In the spectrum of San Francisco politics, Newsom is considered a centrist and a sellout. After years of seeing San Francisco "centrists" elected to the State legislature and end up being some of the most leftwing and effective members up here, I have come to love them: send us your tired, your poor, your San Francisco centrists. It takes a San Francisco "centrist" to go cowboy renegade and issue marriage licenses for gays and lesbians against state law. Wow what would a truly leftwing San Francisco mayor have done? Probably seize and redistribute downtown real estate to recently married gays as wedding presents!

Attorney General:
This is a tough race to decide in because there are so many people running. I definitely would not vote for Alberto Torrico or Rocky Delgadillo who are both more conservative Democrats that have not been there for the people. Kamala Harris, the San Francisco DA is the only woman running in a crowded field so there is some pull towards her (and she'll probably win the primary) but her department is under an investigation right now that casts some doubt upon her respect for civil liberties and she has not displayed the depth of knowledge on some issues that are important to me.

Even though he's a longshot, I'll vote for Pedro Nava, current assemblymember, ethical and nice and smart, the only candidate for A.G. endorsed by the Sierra Club and latino from southern california who may have a better chance against the Republicans in the fall.

Insurance Commissioner:
Dave Jones. See my previous post on this. Both are good assemblymembers and men. Dave will just be the tougher, harder working regulator and I think he'll win.

Member, State Board of Equalization, District 2:
Chris Parker. This is a huge district stretching all the way down the state so even if you're not in Sacramento you may have to vote in it. Parker was recommended to me by a former top staff member of the State Board of Equalization whom I trust.

United States Senator:
Barbara Boxer is doing a great job and will face a tough race in the fall.

Governor:
Although there are 7 candidates listed on the ballot, Attorney General (and former Governor) Jerry Brown is effectively running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. I am not wild about Jerry Brown. I'll probably vote for him in November, but I haven't decided yet. In the meantime, since it will have no effect on the outcome, I'll write in my husband Bill Magavern for Governor since he would be better than Jerry.

Secretary of State:
Debra Bowen, the incumbent, is running unopposed and is doing a good job. I'll vote for her.

Controller:
John Chiang, ditto above.

Treasurer:
Bill Lockyer, ditto above.

Bill Magavern's Personal Ballot Prop Rx

Prop 13 – YES

Would remove an obstacle to seismic retrofits by exempting them from property tax reassessment. Of course, what we really need is wholesale reform of the bad old Prop 13 that has distorted property tax assessments, but that will have to wait for another day.

Prop 14 – NO

The hype is that doing away with party primaries and going to a “Top 2” runoff system would decrease nasty partisanship. The truth is that this system would increase the importance of special-interest money, since all candidates would have to fund 2 elections. The Top 2 system would also virtually eliminate the already-slim prospects that smaller parties have for breaking the 2-party duopoly. It’s not popular to say it, but strong parties are actually healthy for democracy, and parties should be able to decide who votes in their own primaries. The problem with state government is not too much partisanship, it’s the anti-democratic 2/3 requirement for passing budgets and taxes that empowers a dwindling minority to hold the state’s treasury hostage.

Prop 15 - YES

The Fair Elections Act would create a pilot project to make voluntary public financing available to Secretary of State candidates in 2014 and 2018. It would also repeal the current prohibition on public financing.

Public financing is a way to get politicians out of the fundraising game and back to solving California’s problems. Replacing special-interest money with clean money would ensure elected officials are accountable to voters, not donors, and open up the political process so the best candidates, not just the wealthiest candidates, can pursue elected office.

Go to http://www.yesfairelection.org/ for more information and to volunteer or contribute to the campaign.

Prop 16 – NO

This is an outrageous attempt by Pacific Gas & Electric to lock out competitors who could supply cleaner electricity at lower prices. PG&E is spending almost $50 million at last count to deceive Californians into granting them full monopoly status. The measure would require a 2/3 vote on any new or expanded public power effort. Why should 1/3 of voters be able to overrule the majority?

To help, go to http://noprop16.org/

Prop 17 – NO

The second of this election’s special-interest initiatives, this one is Mercury Insurance’s attempt to put a loophole into 1988’s consumer-protection Prop 103. It may sound reasonable to allow an insurer to lure customers by offering discounts to the continuously insured, but insurance is a zero-sum game, so the result is that other people – like students, military personnel, and the poor -- would have to pay more.

Yes on Prop 15!

I can't imagine what has taken me so long to write this endorsement. I have been supporting and highly involved (until now) in pursuing public financing of elections in California for years. This is a no brainer. This initiative creates full funding from a fee imposed on lobbyists to pay for elections for the office of Secretary of State. It also repeals a current ban on local areas creating public financing of elections--in and of itself needed.

The only people opposed are lobbyists, but fortunately they don't have any political clout. It's endorsed by almost every newspaper in the state (which the notable exception of the Sacramento Bee. I'm chalking this major mistake up to the existence of Ginger Rutland on the editorial board, who has never met a campaign finance reform measure that she liked.)

Public financing of elections is different from campaign limits mostly because it works. Instead of trying to restrict the flow of money (you can't, it will flow), you match it with public dollars rendering it unable to buy elections. In states like Arizona, Maine and Connecticut the experiment with public financing of elections has largely been successful. Voters have higher confidence in their elected officials in those states because they owe their election to the people who voted for them, rather than the people who financed their campaign. Well, to put that another way, now they're the same people.

Politicians are freed up from dialing for dollars and actually do their work. Vote for this initiative and click on this link to see how you can help in these last two weeks.

The Gnostic Christians

Well, you know I'm in ministerial school, so sometimes all I have in my head is what I'm reading. I'm taking a great course on the Gnostic Christians--fascinating. For those who don't know, the Gnostic Christians were an early Christian sect who co-existed for the first two centuries of the common era with what we now think of as Orthodox Christians. Gnostics believed that Jesus was more of a spiritual than a human being and that Jesus taught how to have a direct spiritual experience, an unmediated "knowing" of the Truth (gnosis in Greek means knowing).

For centuries most of what we knew about the Gnostics was from their orthodox detractors who worked hard to squash them and eliminate all their writings from Christiandom. They were considered heretics and a great threat to the Orthodoxy because they believed in this unmediated relationship with Jesus and the Truth he represented, obviating the need for priests and bishops. They were very egalitarian and women were fully involved in all levels of gnostic worship. They believed Mary Magdalene was the most important apostle and closest to Jesus.

In the late 19th century and mid 20th century scores of authenticated gnostic texts, including new gospels from the apostles Thomas and Peter were found reasonably well-preserved in urns in or around Egypt. This has set the Orthodox Christian world into another round of trying to squash interest in Gnosticism, but it turns out it's harder to do that in the era of the internet and without frequent burnings at the stake.

Dave Jones for State Insurance Commissioner

The race for insurance commissioner may not capture your attention the way it does mine. Having worked as a consumer advocate on health care and other insurance issues, I pay attention to it. The position was created as an elected position by initiative back in the 80's--a stunning upset for the insurance industry who was counting on keeping the commissioner a captured tool of the industry. Since then, we've had a mixed bag of insurance commissioners with the nadir probably being the reign of corrupt politician Chuck Quackenbush from 1995 to 2000. Quackenbush fled in scandal after it was revealed that he allowed insurance companies to radically under-compensate victims of the massive Northridge earthquake.

With the reality of climate change causing massive risks of flooding, wildfire and other disasters rendered "natural" by human greed and waste, I want to know that my insurance company will actually have to compensate me for any losses I sustain.

The guy to do that is Dave Jones, currently our Assemblyman in Sacramento, running in the Democratic primary. Initially for a lot of people who knew them both, this was a tough race to decide in. Jones' opponent, Hector de la Torre is also a smart, effective liberal Democratic assemblyman. And he's from Los Angeles, where most of the votes in the live. And he's latino.

If Hector de la Torre were running in virtually any other contest, I'd almost certainly vote for him, but in this race, against this candidate, the choice is clear, it has to be Dave. The reason? Dave Jones will run the insurance commission the way he has run his campaign, relentlessly. He is a tireless campaigner, a tireless advocate for consumers. His personality is absolutely that of a tough, never say die regulator. And he really doesn't care who he pisses off. You might not want Dave being a mayor or a governor (you might, but you might not), but you definitely want him for this job (and then for Attorney General).

Ella Baker Center for Human Rights June 2010 Voter Guide

This is the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights June 2010 Voter Guide. I agree with their recommendations on the propositions. I will put something out soon with my recommendations on candidates--Sara

Ella Baker Center June 2010 Voter Guide

Every time there is an election, it's important that we make informed choices on each candidate and proposition on the ballot. Here are the Ella Baker Center recommendations for the propositions on the June 2010 election.

Download the printable version to take to the polls or use with your mail in ballot.
Prop 13
YES Prop 13 makes sure tax incentives for seismic retrofitting are available for all types of buildings. This encourages owners to make their buildings more quake-resistant without facing a tax reassessment.
Prop 14
NO While touted as an "open primary" bill, Prop 14 will allow candidates to conceal their party affiliation during primary elections. Only the top two candidates from the primary will be listed on the general election ballot (potentially from the same party), and no write-in candidates will be allowed. It will become virtually impossible for small party or independent candidates to run for state-wide offices. Prop 14 would add pressure on non-incumbents and/or nonfrontrunners to drop out, lest they "split the vote" of their party's voters, giving more power to party insiders, and less to voters. Ranked Choice Voting would be a more more equitable way of implementing the type of change that Proposition 14 claims to support.
Prop 15
YES Prop 15 is a step towards public funding for state campaigns. It will repeal the current ban on public funding for campaigns, and institute a pilot program where qualifying candidates for the office of Secretary of State could choose to receive public funds to pay for their campaign costs. Ella Baker Center recommends a YES vote because Prop 15 is an important first step towards elections where candidates are judged on the merit of their platforms rather than the amount of corporate money they are able to amass.
Prop 16
NO PG&E has introduced this bill to protect its monopoly and profits. If passed, Prop 16 would kill innovation in local and state alternative energy planning and employment as well as eliminating public power and community choice. This Prop is against everything we stand for. It's Anti-Green Jobs and Anti-community-empowerment. Watch and share a video about Prop 16.
Prop 17
NO This initiative is the insurance industry's attempt increase industry profits by manipulating voters into voting against their own interests. It ends hard fought consumer protections won through Prop 103 and court decisions. Prop 17 allows auto insurance companies in CA to surcharge drivers who cancel their insurance and then restart it, penalizing low and middle income Californians who may not have continual access to vehicles and therefore don't need ongoing coverage.


Key Election Dates

Early Voting Begins: Monday, May 10th
Last Day to Register to Vote: Monday, May 24th
Last Day to Request a Mail-In Ballot: Tuesday, June 1st
Election Day: Tuesday, June 8th

For more details about voting, to register to vote, or to request your mail-in ballot, visit www.sos.ca.gov

The Rich get Savings and the Poor get Bupkis

Just returned from a weekend in Yosemite with my husband (celebrating 20 years of marriage thank you very much!) so I'm tired and will keep this brief but lately I've just been noticing how many ways you can save money if you have it, but not if you don't. What set me off was noticing that you can buy an annual pass to Yosemite for $40 twice the one time entry fee)--it's a great deal, but if you're choosing between food and a pass on a given day, you'd pay the one time fee and buy the food.

Other examples abound, if you can afford to pay off your credit cards every month, you can get frequent flier miles and dollars back. If you can afford to become a member of the co-op, you can get your 10% discounts. If you fly enough, you can get free trips. The list goes on and on.

Of course the grand-daddy of all rich get richer schemes are tax deductions which benefit people in the top tax brackets way more than the people at the bottom.

I've noticed that some people with money avoid taking advantage of these little savings, feeling, I guess, that having so many dollars it is beneath them to watch the pennies. But studies show that people with money who keep money over decades are immensely careful with every penny.

I'll never forget when I worked in coalition in Washington, DC with a bunch of discount kings, self-made men who created successful discount furniture, clothing and other retail stores. When I would go out to lunch with these guys, they would haggle with the waitress over the price of cottage cheese and not one of them would offer to pick up the check. It would always be the trial lawyers, notorious for losing their money as quickly as they win it.

P.S. "Bupkis" is Yiddish for goat droppings.

Kagan and the Supremes

So it's Kagan. All in all, I'm pleased and optimistic. When I speculated on an appointment, I said that we needed someone who could surprise us; someone who hadn't already locked in her positions. That someone could be Kagan. Since she's never served on a court before even though much is known about her she's a bit of a wild card. She's also certainly female, apparently jewish, only 50 (a spring chicken in supreme court terms) and possibly lesbian.

My husband informs me that if she's sworn in (and she probably will be), it'll mark the first time we've had not a single protestant on the court (mostly catholic, a coupla other jews)--wild!

The single best thing I've heard about Kagan is probably that she clerked for the late great Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and considered him her hero. He's one of mine too, and she couldn't have picked a better one. He "did more to promote justice over the course of his legal career than did any lawyer in his lifetime," Kagan said earlier this week.

I think it's a good pick by Obama. Especially if she turns out to be a lesbian (sources tell me she's widely believed to be--maybe not quite actor David Hyde Pierce who was known to live with and go everywhere with a handsome man on his arm. When asked if he was gay, he replied, "my life's an open book but I'm not going to read it to anyone"). The right was going to throw a fit anyway. Might as well put someone on who really rattles their cages.

I also think it's an advantage that as a prior legislative, executive and judicial staffer and dean of Harvard Law School she's obviously developed serious political skills. Maybe Kagan is basically who Obama would pick if he were lucky enough to nominate a Chief Justice to the court. In a small body of 9, one person who really knows how to create consensus can make all the difference. Look for young energetic Kagan to forge unlikely majority or plurality opinions on key issues (which is about as good as we're going to get with this bunch).

Now we can hold our breaths and pray for her to be confirmed, and for her to come out as an avowed lesbian communist. In that order...