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January 25, 2006

[Party Line blog is almost there, folks. Thanks for hanging in there while we work to get it online. - Kim Stevens, Editor]

Last week The California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) released their annual legislative report cards for Senate and Assembly members and the results show that Democrats have much to be proud of. First of all, all the forty 100 percent scores given by CalPirg were for Democrats.

And although CALPIRG reported the overall average for the Senate at 64 percent and 62 percent for the Assembly, let’s set the record straight and point out that the Republicans totally brought down the curve. I don’t think the whole class should suffer because the Republicans in the room don’t do their jobs on behalf of the consumers in California.

The Republican Senate average was a paltry 18.6 percent versus the 91.9 percent for the Democrats, while the Assembly Republicans had a mere 13.8 percent average and Assembly Democrats can boast a whopping 95.1 percent average.

This is the kind of information voters need to see. Corruption might be getting all the attention these days – as well as it should – but this consumer scorecard is just as valuable. It sort of makes you wonder just what your elected official is doing (or not doing) to earn that seven percent rating from this well-respected watchdog group.

Steve Blacklegde, legislative director for CALPIRG commented, "We applaud the forty consumer champions for their perfect scores. They put the interests of consumers over special interests, whether the issue was safe medicine or stopping auto loan rip-offs, and their constituents need to know that they were well represented on consumer issues in 2005."

We couldn’t have said it any better. Congratulations to our Democratic Senate and Assembly members for setting the bar so high and continuing to do what is best for California consumers.

Click here to view CALPIRG's legislative scorecards.

FYI: CALPIRG’s mission, according to their website: "When corporate wrongdoing threatens our health or our safety, or violates fundamental principles of fairness and justice, CALPIRG stands up for California’s consumers. We conduct investigative research. We publish consumer reports and exposés. We advocate new laws and other protections at the local, state and federal levels. And when necessary, we take corporate wrongdoers to court. Our results-oriented approach has won victories for Californians on a wide range of issues, including healthcare reform, prescription drug pricing, consumer privacy and product safety."

« December 2005 | Archives | February 2006 »

January 11, 2006

NPR has done some excellent reporting on the current GOP lobbying scandals. Juan Williams’ report entitled "The K Street Project and Jack Abramoff" gives a good background on how the GOP lobbying "cartel" really got its start, going back to 1994 and the mid-term elections with key players like Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Grover Norquist, Dick Armey and Rick Santorum laying the foundation for Jack Abramoff and the pay to play politics that has become the raison d’être of the GOP.

« December 2005 | Archives | February 2006 »

January 04, 2006

Hello to all. From the comments posted, sounds like everyone survived the holidays with their angst intact. New blog is almost ready to launch, but we don't like to rush the "web techs" - must keep them happy. So, look for us next week.

Just wanted to remind everyone to watch the State of the State address on Thursday 5pm. Count how many times "new Arnold" says something that contradicts what "old Arnold" has said/done.

We'll be posting reactions from our Democratic leaders under our Party Voice section as we get them.

Let us know what you think . . .