Sonoma County Democratic Party

Statement from California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton on Budget Developments

Thursday, July 2, 2009

This week has underscored the intransigence of the governor and Legislative Republicans, who have refused Democrats’ common-sense compromise budget and resisted measures that would have shaved at least $3 billion from the deficit immediately. Their inaction has forced California to issue IOUs for the first time in 17 years.

Senator President Pro Tem Steinberg, Speaker Bass and legislative Democrats are to be commended for standing strong to preserve California’s safety net. To close the massive deficit, they proposed a mixture of program cuts and new revenue from oil companies and tobacco products.

The poor, the elderly, the disabled, school kids and college students did not cause California’s multi-billion dollar deficit. In fact, the governor’s reckless decision to slash the vehicle license fee has cost California at least $16 billion over the last four years. Additionally, the economic downturn has significantly decreased the state’s revenues.

If the thought of offending their campaign donors prevents them from considering modest new taxes on oil companies and tobacco products, then Republicans and the governor must at least tap the rainy day fund to protect the safety net. It is clear that an economic downpour is soaking California even on this sunny day.

I urge the governor and Republicans stop making my-way-or-the-highway demands, to start negotiating in good faith and to stop fiddling while California burns.
Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Monday, June 29, 2009
Please join me in thanking Assembly and Senate Democrats for passing a common-sense budget before the fiscal year ends tomorrow.

Late last night, Assembly Democrats passed a spending plan that minimizes the cruel cuts advocated by the governor by raising $2 billion in new revenue. Just a few minutes ago, Senate Democrats followed suit, passing a plan that requires Big Tobacco and Big Oil to share in the state budget sacrifice.

Speaker Karen Bass, President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and their caucuses should be commended for standing firm against the governor’s Draconian cuts.

In order to pass the plan, legislative leaders structured it to require a majority vote. That’s because Republicans have repeatedly refused to provide the handful of votes necessary to pass the plan with two-thirds support.

Disappointingly, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto the Democrats’ budget plan, preferring to play a game of chicken with the budget. He and Legislative Republicans would rather strip health care from nearly one million children and close 220 state parks than ask corporate special interests to pay their fair share.

Now, the onus is on the governor and Republican lawmakers to explain to Californians why they would rather drive the state over a cliff than agree to a budget with a mix of cuts and new revenue.

Please, call Governor Schwarzenegger’s office today at (916) 445-2841 or (213) 897-0322. Ask the governor to sign this budget plan, which minimizes the cuts by sharing the sacrifice.

Peace and friendship,

John

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Severe doesn't even begin to describe the cuts in the governor’s latest proposed state budget.

In a time when more and more people are struggling, these severe budget cuts would hurt millions of Californians by:

Stripping health insurance from two million Californians;
Ending the welfare-to-work program that helps one million women and children;
Closing more than 200 state parks; and
Axing billions of dollars from public school classrooms.
The grim list goes on.

As Democrats, we stand for protecting California’s safety net. We must do everything possible to minimize the cuts and the harm they will inflict on the most vulnerable among us.

Where is the shared sacrifice in a budget that is nearly two-thirds cuts? Where is the justice in a budget that hurts the poor, the young and the elderly but asks nothing of big corporations and the wealthy? Where is the logic in a budget that will stunt California’s economic recovery?

We must Protect All Californians, Stop the Severe Cuts and Support a Balanced Solution that includes revenue increases.

That’s why I’m asking you to take a few minutes and write a short letter to the editor of your local paper. Tell the editor that California’s budget must reflect our values of protecting the vulnerable and minimizing the harm they will suffer. And the budget must be a balanced solution that asks the wealthy and corporate interests to pay their fair share.

The California Democratic Party has set up a web page that makes it easy to write a letter to the editor about the budget. Just go to www.cadem.org/budget. We have sample letters, talking points, and some pointers to help you get started.

The California Democratic Party is committed to addressing the underlying structural problems in our budgeting process. But right now, we also need to make our voices heard about the state services we all depend upon and the need for a balanced budget solution that includes new revenue.

Make no mistake: We may win this fight, we may lose this fight, but we will make this fight.

If you agree, please take a few minutes to speak up about these unconscionable cuts. We have made it easy for you to do so. Just Go to: www.cadem.org/ltl-budget

Peace and friendship,

John

P.S. In last month’s special election, California voters sent the message that they want lawmakers and the governor to work together toward a budget that realistically looks at the services we all need and how to pay for them. We didn’t vote for cuts that hurt all Californians.

Please take a minute to write a short letter to the editor.

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Monday, June 15, 2009

In the coming weeks, our state legislators will face stark choices about our state budget – choices that will touch the lives of nearly all Californians.

If our legislators do as Governor Schwarzenegger asks, California will slash billions from public schools and community colleges, eliminate health care for nearly two million people (half of them children), end the grants that allow high-achieving middle-class and poor students to attend college and close more than 200 of our state parks. AIDS patients will be denied medicine. Domestic violence shelters will lose funding.

What the governor's budget doesn't do is ask big corporations, oil and tobacco companies or the very wealthy to share in the sacrifice. That's just wrong. As our lawmakers make critical budget decisions to fill the shortfall, we must tell them what's important to California's residents and the future of our state.

The current budget year ends June 30, so we may only have a week or two to make a difference. Please take a minute right now to send a message to your legislators about the budget – before it's too late. Tell them that we must have a budget that includes new revenue to pay for the services we all need.

As Democrats, we stand firmly against the severity of the proposed cuts. We will do everything possible to minimize the cuts and the harm they will inflict. That's why we're urging legislators to Protect All Californians by passing a balanced, sensible budget that includes new revenue.

Our budget ought to reflect our values – but right now, it doesn't. California has tremendous oil reserves, yet the governor isn't asking oil companies to pay the same extraction fees imposed in other states. Corporations reap billions from tax loopholes that are left intact. And the wealthiest Californians aren’t asked to pitch in more – in fact, the most affluent Californians currently pay a lower income tax rate than they did when Republican Pete Wilson was governor.

Adding revenue from any of those sources would help minimize some of the devastating cuts looming for education and social services. Yet Republicans so far would rather protect a few elite special interests instead of millions of average Californians. We must help them see the error of their ways! And Democratic lawmakers need our support and thanks as they strive to minimize the harm inflicted in this brutal budget year.

The only way to ensure our elected representatives make the right choices is to speak up now and to keep speaking out until the budget has been passed.

Please take a moment to send a letter to your legislators asking them to pass a budget that will Protect All Californians, not just the privileged few. We will continue to give you ways to stay involved in the budget battle in the days and weeks to come.

Please join me in standing up for our Democratic values and fighting to Protect All Californians.

Peace and friendship,

John

P.S. The budget fight is upon us and the cuts proposed by the governor would devastate millions of poor and middle-class Californians – and affect us all. If you believe as I do that California must find a balanced budget solution that includes new revenues, please take a minute to send that message to your legislators today. Go to www.cadem.org/ltl-budget

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A message from Chairman John Burton to PDA members

I know that, as a member of PDA, you support efforts to align our budgets with our values. Perhaps nothing so clearly shows this commitment as your work on the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign. I want to thank and congratulate you for participating in that vital effort and for your support of a single-payer system, which would prevent drastic health care cuts by raising revenue from the wealthy and corporate interests.

Here in California, the governor and Republican legislators aim to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class. Their budget proposal would strip health insurance from two million Californians -- nearly half of them children. It would deprive AIDS patients of life-sustaining medicine. It would take away homecare from the frail elderly, thereby forcing them into institutions. The grim list goes on.

I need your help. The people who would be most hurt by these cuts need your help. Please take one minute to e-mail your legislators telling asking them to minimize the severity of the cuts by raising revenue to pay for the services we all need.

As a former legislator, I know how difficult budget choices are in a dire economic downturn. But the choice to prioritize children's healthcare over corporate welfare is really not that tough.

You and I believe that our budget is a moral document. So, I ask: Where is the shared sacrifice in a budget that is nearly two-thirds cuts? Where is the justice in a budget that hurts the poor, the sick, children and the elderly but asks nothing of big corporations and the wealthy?

As a Democrat, I stand firmly against the severity of these proposed budget cuts. Please stand with me and support our Democratic lawmakers in their efforts to minimize the severity of the cuts, and tell Republicans that wealthy corporations must pay their fair share.

Thank you again for your work on "Healthcare NOT Warfare." And thank you in advance for your advocacy on behalf of the Californians who need your help in this budget fight.
Go to www.cadem.org/ltl-budget.

Peace and friendship,

John Burton
Chairman, California Democratic Party

Chairman John Burton, California Democratic Party
Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Dear fellow activists,

I oppose any statute that would make it easier to approve oil-drilling leases off California’s coast – opening the coastline to new drilling for the first time in 40 years.

The potential environmental damage that could be wrought by new offshore drilling isn’t worth it. And the financial benefits from it would do little to nothing to solve California’s current or systemic fiscal problems.

Putting the state’s precious coastline in jeopardy while padding the pockets of an oil company is no way for California to put its fiscal house in order. California’s coast cannot be up for sale to the oil industry.

The current proposal to drill new wells just beyond state waters off the Santa Barbara coast should appall anyone who lived through the devastating 1969 oil spill off Santa Barbara’s coast.

I urge the Legislature to reject any such proposal.

Peace and friendship,

John

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Chairman John Burton on the Proposed May Revise
Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Cruel doesn’t even begin to describe the cuts proposed in the revised May budget to eliminate California’s $24-billion budget deficit. Nearly two million Californians will lose health insurance if the Healthy Families program for children is eliminated and Medi-Cal is cut by $1 billion. More than 1 million women and children will be left without any means of subsistence if the CalWORKS program is ended. California kids and young adults will suffer if the Cal Grant program is axed and billions more dollars are cut from public education. Another 5,000 people will land on our unemployment rolls, struggling to pay rent and buy groceries, if plans go forward to lay off 5,000 state workers. The grim list goes on.

The defeat of five budget-related propositions on the May 19th special election ballot was not a mandate for a cuts-only or mostly-cuts budget that will force the aged, blind, and disabled further into poverty. Nor was it a mandate for a budget that will hurt everyone from school kids to park lovers. Rather, California voters sent the message that they want lawmakers and the governor to work together toward a budget that realistically looks at the services we all need and how to pay for them.

Last December, legislative Democrats passed an $18-billion plan to reduce the state deficit. If the governor had not vetoed that sensible package, California would have no need to even discuss the Draconian proposals now on the table.

This only underscores why it’s so critical to elect a Democratic governor in 2010. The California Democratic Party will do everything in its power to make this happen.

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Statement from California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton
on today's California Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Today's decision, while heartbreaking, doesn't end the historic struggle for marriage equality. It renews our dedication to making sure all California families can again enjoy the dignity, commitment and responsibility of marriage.

I commend the California Supreme Court for validating the rights of the 18,000 lesbian and gay couples who married last year before Proposition 8 passed. These couples and their children will continue to enjoy the full security and legal protection of marriage.

Within the next few years, I know California will restore legal, civil marriages for gay and lesbian couples. The California Democratic Party will play a leading role in ending marriage discrimination in California and I look forward to the day when that happens.

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Statement from California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton on
President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I commend President Obama’s historic nomination today of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Sotomayor’s story is one that many Californians can relate to. She is the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants raised in a housing project in the South Bronx. Judge Sotomayor’s mother, a widow, worked two jobs and scrimped to send Sonia and her brother to Catholic schools.

Sonia Sotomayor earned a scholarship to Princeton, graduating second in her class, and went on to Yale Law School where she edited the Yale Law Journal. Her legal and judicial experience is vast and varied.

When confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will be the first Latina to serve on the United States Supreme Court and only the third female justice ever.

Paid for by the California Democratic Party
1401 21st Street, Suite 200, Sacramento CA 95811
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.