Burbank Democratic Club

If we Prop 98 passes, the advocates say, the old tenants will be grandfathered in. That's true, but only so long as they stay in the house. In addition to permanent vacancy decontrol, Prop 98 eliminates much of the protections against evictions. So, landlords can just evict long-standing tenants and rent the unit at the higher market rents and poof there goes rent control for those renters. We can see how this traumatizes a community, just for the sake of a few landlords.

The Waxman-Berman machine (as it is known) went to Levine and promised their support if he would fire Waldman, renounce his previous endorsement of his own COS and endorse Blumenfield. Spineless to the core, that's exactly what Levine did. Waldman continues in the race and his fundraising and endorsements have out-paced Blumenfield's, but the June primary is still 10 weeks away so it's anyone's ballgame.

To learn about Proposition 98’s agenda, look no further than Dan Faller, President and Founder of the American Owner’s Association (AOA) – the largest landlord group in California. In a nine-page essay published in the association’s magazine, Faller complains heatedly about rent control, calls pro-tenant elected officials “terrorists” and “suicide bombers,” compares the effort to pass Prop 98 with World War II, says that renters “choose not to provide for themselves,” and – with rhetoric that channels George Bush – tells landlords: “you are either for us or against us in this fight for your freedom and property rights.” We cannot dismiss Faller as just another right-wing kook, for his organization has already contributed $325,000 to the “Yes on 98” cause – and the AOA has plans to raise even more money in the coming weeks. And with voter turnout in June expected to be very low, Faller's fringe beliefs might actually become public policy in California – if we don't act now.

It is also possible, though perhaps unlikely, that enough strategically minded Republicans voted for Clinton in Texas to give her a crucial primary victory there: Clinton received roughly 119,000 GOP votes in Texas, according to exit polls, and she beat Obama by about 101,000 votes.

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Wilkerson added, "We have not experienced any crossover of this magnitude since I can remember."

In
the Mississippi primary last Tuesday, Republicans made up 12 percent of
voters who took a Democratic ballot - their biggest proportion in any
state yet - and they went for Clinton over Obama by a 3-to-1 margin.

After a long battle to block the building of Blackwater's base, the people of Potrero (population: 899) are rejoicing. Blackwater is gone. Gone from this pristine area of East San Diego County. Gone from California. It's a modern-day story of David vs. Goliath -- a grassroots victory of monumental proportions.

Jan Hedlun is one of many amazing "accidental activists" -- residents of Potrero who didn't expect to devote over a year of their lives to fighting with Blackwater.

Jan has written a heartfelt letter of thanks to Courage Campaign members, posted below. Read Jan's letter, watch the short YouTube video about Carl Meyer -- one of her fellow community leaders battling Blackwater -- and write a note of congratulations to the people of Potrero.

Under Núñez's proposal, the state would impose a 6 percent tax on all oil extracted from its land to generate an estimated $970 million in the next fiscal year. It would apply a 2 percent surcharge tax on oil companies that earn more than $10 million.

In an amazing upset, the Democrats have won the special election for the House seat of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), a district that has long been in Republican hands and voted 55%-44% for President Bush in 2004.

Six city departments, including the fire and police departments and Burbank Water and Power, set up tables in the room where residents were encouraged to take souvenirs, such as a pen made of recycled materials from the Recycling Center.

State Sen. Tom McClintock has scheduled a Tuesday morning news conference in Placer County to announce his decision on whether he will run for the 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. John Doolittle.