Category: Politics

Vote & Vax comes to Sacramento (maybe)

The national Vote & Vax campaign will be offering up flu vaccinations at two Sacramento locations on Tuesday, November 4th. These are sponsored by the Sacramento County Immunization Program.

Sounds all well and good, right? Sure, unless you want more information or some details…

Update: The Sacramento Bee reports that the second clinic (Capital Christian Center) is being sponsored by the “local NBC affiliate” and that the charge there is $30 (it’s $10 at the Rancho Cordova City Hall location). Still not showing up on the Vote & Vax site.

Continue reading “Vote & Vax comes to Sacramento (maybe)”

Brilliant “No on 8” Campaign Stunt

Tip o’ the hat to the “No on 8” campaigners for their brilliant stunt today on the corner of Watt and El Camino.  A great deal of though obviously went into the planning for today’s protest and it totally paid off.  For those of you that missed it, here’s a brief rundown.

First, the No on 8 folks went to the nearby Wal-Mart and found the absolute craziest looking folks they could find.  We’re talking gap-toothed, elephantized-buttocksed, sloth-jawed creatures who were trotted out to the busy intersection and (here’s where it gets deliciously devious) given “Yes on 8” and “Protect Marriage” signs.  The best was the guy with the radioactive sign tattoo on his shaved dome shouting about the sanctity of marriage. If any rational person were to see this circus sideshow, they’d immediately vote against whatever these sign-wavers were campaigning for in a heartbeat.

Well done, No on 8 campaign.  Your skills in the political arena are formidable.

Sign of the times

My wife snapped this in East Sac today across from McKinley Park. Is this a custom sign by Realtor Mike Heede or are these popping up elsewhere these days?

For some reason it always rubs me the wrong way when people I don’t know command me to vote. I don’t think it is anything to do with the act of voting being a personal thing between me and my voting booth, I think it is just a personal aversion to Anybody telling me to Do Anything.

Fargo NOT using issue of KJ’s federal funds misuse

Press release today from the Fargo campaign:

SACRAMENTO–Mayor Heather Fargo today released the following statement regarding the recent radio advertisements about Kevin Johnson having been investigated for misusing federal funds:

“Kevin Johnson was banned by the federal government from all access to federal grants and contracts after investigators said he misused AmeriCorps funds.

“My campaign material does not use this issue against Kevin Johnson; however, an independent committee has.

“In light of the Sacramento Bee story this morning, I hope the independent committee would stick to the facts in their advertising.

“Sacramentans can make their own judgment about federal authorities’ investigation into Kevin Johnson’s misuse of federal funds.”

You got the point, right? She definitely does NOT want to remind people twice in about 200 words about the federal authorities investigation into Kevin Johnson’s misuse of federal funds. Don’t you dare imply that she does.

Double talk on ARC recall flyers

Some well-played investigative work by Kel Munger turns up different text on the English-language and Russian-language versions of an information card being passed out to ARC students urging them to vote No on the proposed recall of 9 ARC Student Association officers. The board passed a resolution in support of Proposition 8 on the November ballot, which inserts a hetero-only marriage definition into the California Constitution. Kel has some great posts up about the scandal.

My initial reaction was that a recall was a bit of an anti-democratic play from a group advocating for treating people with fairness, as no rule-breaking or misdeeds are alleged on the part of the officers as far as I know. But these officers are probably elected to terms of less than a year, and letting democracy do its thing and voting them out after their term would be pointless. Who would have ever thought that American River College would become a hotbed of democracy in action?

Mayoral Debate on Monday

I’ll be attending the Sacramento Mayoral Debate between Mayor Heather Fargo and Kevin Johnson on Monday at CSUS. It will be broadcast on KCRA-3 and Capital Public Radio 90.9 from 6:30-8:00 pm. Walt Gray, Pamela Wu and Jeffery Callison will moderate.

Most of the audience will be college students, who will also present most of the questions.

What questions would you like to ask the candidates?

“Breakfast At Tiffany’s” invades, thousands flee

Mickey Rooney as Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Russia caught a break this weekend in its quest to start World War Three (Four?) when it was eclipsed by the most important news story to hit Sacramento in decades: Breakfast at Tiffany’s — Racist?

The Bee’s Stephen Magagnini sure made the most of having to work the weekend.

Continue reading ““Breakfast At Tiffany’s” invades, thousands flee”

Bee to Voters: Budget Woes Are Your Fault

In a front page story today, the Bee chastises voters (presumably some of whom, you know, work at the Bee) for making the state “ungovernable” with our insistence on both mandatory spending and no tax increases.

Only 4 percent [of voters], according to a recent poll, have a “great deal” of confidence that lawmakers can do the right thing on the overdue spending plan.

But the same voters have passed laws that virtually guarantee annual spending increases for education, severely restrict what can be cut from transportation and local governments and make it virtually impossible to raise taxes.

The research that must have gone into pinpointing the voting records of every single California voter boggles the mind. Especially since nobody born after 1960 can be blamed for the passage of Prop 13 in 1978.

Continue reading “Bee to Voters: Budget Woes Are Your Fault”