DEMOCRATIC DIRECTIONS

CITY OF ALAMEDA DEMOCRATIC CLUB FEBRUARY 2011

Our club is recommending a YES vote on Measure A. Election Day is March 8

FEBRUARY MEETING
Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 7pm – 9pm
Alameda Hospital (2070 Clinton Avenue, Alameda)

GUEST SPEAKER : JOE TUMAN

Oakland Mayoral Candidate, Professor of Political and Legal Communications in the Department of
Communication Studies at San Francisco State University CBS-5 political analyst

Professor Tuman will speak on Ranked Choice Voting and politics As a candidate who ran for office
in an election where ranked choice voting determined the outcome, he will offer a first hand
perspective on the experience

MARCH MEETING: MARCH 9th

Continuing in our exploration of California finance, the impact of Prop 13 on California,
particularly our schools or guest will be Danny Wan. Danny is currently the City Attorney for the
city of Morgan Hill. He is a former member of the EBMUD Board.and the Oakland City Council

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME

Our annual dues are:

* Individual: $20
* Two in same household: $30
* Seniors/students: $15
* Senior couples: $25
No person shall be denied membership in the club due to inability to pay membership dues
Please send your check to P.O. Box 2723 Alameda California 94501
If you are a new member, please include a note with the following information:
First Name, Last Name Address Home Telephone Email Address
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 Democratic Directions February 2011 Page 2

We have just come through a tough fought local election. An election for a parcel tax is upon us. We may be holding
another Special Election in June, if the state legislature can finally agree on something. With all this behind and ahead of
us, we have to focus on 2012, when President Obama will be up for reelection. PAY YOUR DUES, FOLKS!!!!!

Michelle Obama emailed the following wake up call 22012 is coming ,

Charlotte, North Carolina, will host the 46th Democratic National Convention in 2012.

Charlotte is a city marked by its southern charm, warm hospitality, and an "up by the bootstraps" mentality that has
propelled the city forward as one of the fastest-growing in the South. Vibrant, diverse, and full of opportunity, the
Queen City is home to innovative, hardworking folks with big hearts and open minds. And of course, great
barbecue.

And my very first trip outside of Washington as First Lady was to Fort Bragg, where I started my effort to do
all we can to help our heroic military families.

All the contending cities were places that Barack and I have grown to know and love, so it was a hard choice.
But we are thrilled to be bringing the convention to Charlotte.

We hope many of you can join us in Charlotte the week of September 3rd, 2012. But if you can't, we intend to
bring the spirit of the convention -- as well as actual, related events to your community and even your own
backyard.

More than anything else, we want this to be a grassroots convention for the people. We will finance this
convention differently than it's been done in the past, and we will make sure everyone feels closely tied in to
what is happening in Charlotte. This will be a different convention, for a different time.

To help us make sure this is a grassroots convention -- The People's Convention -- we need to hear from you.
We want to know what you'd like to see at next year's convention, how and where you plan on watching it --
and the very best way we can engage your friends and neighbors.

As I looked out at a sea of thousands of supporters that night, I spoke about my husband -- the man whom this
country would go on to elect as the 44th President of the United States. I spoke about his fundamental belief -- a
conviction at the very core of his life's work -- that each of us has something to contribute to the spirit of our
nation.

That's also the belief at the core of The People's Convention. That the table we sit at together ought to be big
enough for everyone. That the thread that binds us -- a belief in the promise of this country -- is strong enough
to sustain us through good times and bad.

Barack talked at the State of the Union of his vision for how America can win the future. That must be the focus
now, and I know so many of you will help talk about our plans with your neighbors -- that through innovation,
education, reform, and responsibility we can make sure America realizes this vision.

WANT TO BE A DELEGATE? Jim Oddie, our club president was a delegate to the convention in 2008.
The selection process is open, and we will be pblicizing the process when the time comes. Our club
meanwhile has to begin raising funds for an office, and making plans so that Alameda stays as blue as it
has been in the past,
 Democratic Directions February 2011 Page 3

The Battle For The Judiciary

White House Counsel Bob Bauer said during an American Constitution Society panel that judicial nominees are caught in
a "cold war" of obstructionism. If there is a war over the judiciary, the Constitution and other laws designed to protect
ordinary Americans have too often been the casualties. Ever since President Bush turned corporate America's top Supreme
Court litigator into the Chief Justice, the Court has transformed into a wasteland where only the rich and the powerful can
receive a fair hearing. In recent years, the Supreme Court stripped thousands of women and older workers of their right to
be free from workplace discrimination. It has slammed the courthouse doors on millions of consumers and workers, and
has given corporations a free pass to buy elections. Yet, for all his disregard of the law, Chief Justice John Roberts pales
in comparison to the many radicals on the lower courts.
, Tea Party Judge Roger Vinson handed down a massively overreaching health care decision which wrote out an
entire provision of the Constitution, butchered constitutional history, heavily relied on a brief filed by an anti-gay hate
group, and somehow determined that the Boston Tea Party renders the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. While
Vinson's tea partying opinion clearly places him at odds with the Constitution, he is not an extreme outlier. Last year, a
Republican judge in DC declared all federal stem cell funding illegal -- a position which even George W. Bush rejected.
When a volcano of oil erupted in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, conservative judges were much more concerned with
protecting the oil industry from regulation than they were with preventing another disaster from occurring. Three sitting
U.S. Court of Appeals judges currently serve on the board of an infamous "junkets for judges" organization that treats
federal judges to free trips to western resorts if they also attend seminars on how to decide cases in ways that corporations
want. DC Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown once compared liberalism to "slavery" and Social Security to a "socialist
revolution." Fifth Circuit Judge Priscilla Owen took thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Enron and then
wrote a key opinion reducing Enron's taxes by $15 million when she sat on the Texas Supreme Court. In other words,
Judge Vinson does not need to look far to find colleagues who share his twisted vision of the law, and these black-robed
tea partiers are all working hard to write their agenda into the law.

CONFIRMATION CRISIS: So long as President Obama is in the White House, no more Roger Vinsons will join the
federal bench. Yet, even if Republicans can't fill the courts with even more radical jurists, they're perfectly happy to settle
for keeping Obama from confirming any judges . Presently, federal judges are retiring faster than new judges are being
confirmed -- leaving nearly one-in-nine judgeships unfilled. Worse, if present trends continue, half of the federal bench
will be vacant in less than ten years. As a result, Roberts himself even called upon the Senate to stop playing games and
start confirming judges. Make no mistake, if the GOP continues to block all but a slow trickle of nominees, the
consequences will stretch far beyond ideology. Indeed, many Americans must now wait months or years before any judge
is available to hear their case. In the one court in Illinois, three of four active judgeships are presently vacant, leaving the
court's chief judge as its only active member. Two of Obama's nominees to this court, James Shadid and Sue Myerscough,
were unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee. Yet none of the President's nominees to the Central District of
Illinois received a vote in the 111th Congress. In Arizona, where the district court's chief judge was brutally murdered as
he waited to speak with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) about how to solve his court's unmanageable caseload, 10 active
judges currently do the work of 18.

DOUBLING DOWN: As the judiciary slowly loses the manpower it needs to deliver basic justice, there's an early sign
that Republicans will double down in their efforts to ensure that no one to the left of Roger Vinson ever serves as a federal
judge. After their gains in the 2010 elections, the GOP received an additional seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and
they delivered this seat to radical tenther Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). Lee, a former clerk to ultra-conservative Justice Samuel
Alito, recently claimed that federal child labor laws, FEMA, food stamps, the FDA, Medicaid, income assistance for the
poor, and even Medicare and Social Security violate the Constitution. In other words, placing Lee on a committee that
helps shape constitutional interpretation is a bit like like putting Dick Cheney in charge of hunting and gun safety.
Nevertheless, the Senate GOP was so eager to put this tenther on the Judiciary Committee that it even waived a rule
prohibiting both of a state's senators from serving on Judiciary in order to ensure Lee's membership (Utah's other GOP
senator Orrin Hatch also serves on Judiciary). As it turns out, the GOP isn't just eager to see more judges who share
Vinson's disdain for health reform -- they appear downright giddy to see most of the 20th century declared
unconstitutional.
SOME SAD NEWS

CLARENCE HANNA, husband of Connie Hanna, passed away in January. Those of you wishing to send a
card to Connie can do so at her new address: 3157 Bali Lane, Alameda, 94502.

GRANT ROBINSON died on January 12th Grant was a very active member of our Club, helping out with
fundraisers and working at our headquarters during political campaigns.. Services for Grant will be held at 2
p.m. on Saturday February 19th at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1323 Central Avenue. If you wish to make a
donation in his name, the family asks that you send the donation to the Alameda Welfare Council, P.O. Box
2265, Alameda, 94501. If you wish to send a card to his wife Joanne, the address is: 2857 Lincoln Avenue,
Alameda 94501.

Labor lost a friend and leader with the death of Berresford “Berry” Bingham on January 25th, 2011. Berry
served both his country and his communities. He served for 20 years in the US Navy, enduring and outlasting
widespread discrimination against people of color. He was an elected member of the Alameda School District
Board, where he became known as an advocate for all children, regardless of race or background. He was a
father of three. Homegoing Celebration Monday, February 7th 2011 @ 10am Glad Tidings COGIC -
26789 Tyrrell Ave Hayward, CA 94544 . Cards and contributions for the family should be sent to Brian
Bingham, P.O. Box 18772, Oakland, Calif. 94619.

Jane Brown has the responsibility of sending cards on behalf of the Club to members who are ill or to families
of members who have died. Cards of congratulations have also been sent to members who have received
national recognition or who have been honored in any way. If you have pertinent information about our
members, please call her at 748-9433.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Some of us on the board have been discussing the goals and purpose of our Democratic club. Ideas
range from “we are primarily interested in electing Democrats” to the more nebulous social justice
concerns . If you would like to share your thinking, email barbarakahn8@gmail.com, and we will
publish your ideas in the next newsletter.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLUB ON

BEING NAMED BY THE CENTRAL
COMMITTEE AS 2010 CLUB OF THE
YEAR