Metropolitan Greater Oakland Democratic Club

STATE BUDGET UPDATE:
IOUs, BANKRUPTCY AND FURLOUGHS

GUEST SPEAKER DON PERATA, Ret.
President Pro Tem, State Senate

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Program starts at 8:00 pm
Preceded by MGO Democratic Club business
starting at 7:30 pm

“Will California will be paying its bills with IOUs?” (The state has only issued IOUs to pay its bills once since the Great Depression: in 1992.)

“Is California headed for bankruptcy court?”

“Do we need a balanced budget?”

“How many more furlough will the state employees have to take?”,

“Should the strategy focus on partial efforts to fix the finances?” and

“What is preventing the lawmakers from finding common ground to close the state's latest budget gap.

Our guest speaker Don Perata, Ret. Senate President Pro Tem will provide answers, insight and more.

Where's the Meeting?

DIMOND LIBRARY, 3565 FRUITVALE AVENUE, OAKLAND;

Directions: BY CAR-580 East to the Fruitvale Avenue exit. Turn left onto Fruitvale Avenue. 580 West to Coolidge Ave/Fruitvale Ave exit, merge onto Montana St and turn right at Fruitvale Ave. AC Transit 53, 57 or NL to Fruitvale and MacArthur. BART to the Fruitvale station. AC line 53 up Fruitvale to MacArthur. Walk East (toward the hills) one block. Library is on the left across from Safeway.

And non-members are always welcome to attend
at no cost!

Judy Cox, President

May 2009 - Darrell Steinberg, Karen Bass and many other party leaders urge us to vote for the measures appearing on the May 19th budget, to keep the state staggering along for one more year.

Others, like a majority of us in MGO, feel that these measures ask us to give up too much for too little in return—one more sorry year of trying to function within a broken and useless system that makes it almost im-possible to adequately govern the state of California.

Those of us who are opting out of supporting these propositions which placate our political opponents while betraying the people of California are also fearful. What will happen if these measures don’t pass? Will the state close up, with total chaos following?

Those are big fears and big consequences. However, it seems to me that there are very big consequences if we do pass these propositions. Are we not now at the point where we have to stop placating our political opponents and start thinking about our Democratic values: are we willing to abandon the mentally ill?
 

Keep our schools on a roller coaster ride for funding? Leave the poor and those out of work without the social ser-vices they need to survive in this brutal economy? Are we willing to say “yes” to all of that so that the wealthier of our citizens do not face additional taxes that they can well afford to pay?

I firmly believe that if these distorted and disgraceful propositions fail that our legislators will NOT simply throw up their hands and quit. Instead, I think they will—finally—have to begin the work that should have been done long ago, to forge compromises that serve the people of this state, to do what is right for all of us, not pleasant for a few of us.

And, that thought gives me hope for the longer future of our state.
Judy Cox, MGO President

Judy Cox, MGO President





 

Next Executive Board Meeting
 
July 20, 2009
 

• Piedmont Gardens-Crestmont Building
  Main floor-Small Dining Room
  At 41st Street (off Piedmont)

Please sign in at the 41st Street Desk

• Death Penalty Abolition
  (adopted Oct. 23, 2008)
   
• Proposition 13 Fairness Resolution
  (adopted February 15, 2008)
  
  www.prop13reformtaskforce.org/
   
• Government Integrity in Oakland
  (adopted Oct. 23, 2008)
   
• All Past Resolutions and Actions