Two Momentous Wins for Equal Rights Today!

June 26, 2013 will forever stand as a momentous day for equality in America.  I grew up watching network news film of black and Latino Americans getting beaten and killed for attempting to claim their constitutional rights.  Gay, lesbian and transgender Americans were publicly reviled, bullied and denigrated.  Today's Supreme Court rulings overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 denial of same-sex marriage rights are the latest crowning achievements in the nation's long struggle to fully embody its own founding credo: "we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal..." The progress I have seen over time has seemed long in coming, but is perhaps for that very reason all the more inspiring and breathtaking.  What a glorious day in American history.

Here is part of the statement released by President Barack Obama on the DOMA ruling. 

"I applaud the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it. We are a people who declared that we are all created equal -- and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

And here is part of the announcement on the California Proposition 8 decision from the office of Governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown, Jr.

From The Office of the Governor
6-26-2013

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement on the United States Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry):

“After years of struggle, the U.S. Supreme Court today has made same-sex marriage a reality in California. In light of the decision, I have directed the California Department of Public Health to advise the state’s counties that they must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California as soon as the Ninth Circuit confirms the stay is lifted,” said Governor Brown.

 

California's Budget: On Time and Balanced!

Practically lost in the shuffle of last week's news was the passage of the California state budget--balanced and on time.  The legislature met the constitutional June 15 deadline a day early on Friday, June 14, then convened a rare Saturday session on the 15th to pass the "trailer bills" needed to implement the $96 billion spending blueprint. 

This is a big deal.  The state budget had not been passed on time for thirty years before this.  For decades, state employees and many local government workers like police and teachers had not known for months whether their jobs would continue or they would be furloughed, losing indeterminate amounts of their income.  People depending on services would not know whether those services would be there for them when needed.  Businesses would twist in limbo for months, uncertain about whether things like water and transportation would be available and at what rates, or whether their contracts would be continued, reduced or cancelled. 

But this year things went swimmingly.  I'm predicting they will continue to do so most of the time from now on.  Credit for this happy state of affairs goes primarily to two deserving recipients: the voters of California and Governor Jerry Brown.  The legislature gets a little provisional credit, which is contingent on how they do next year. 

Here's the explanation:

The people get major credit for passing Proposition 25, the Majority Vote Budget Initiative, in November, 2010 by a 55%-45% margin.  The initiative made California the 48th state able to pass its budget by a majority vote of the legislature.  It had required a 2/3 vote up to then.  No longer could the Republican minority hold up the budget's passage with 30 votes out of 80 in the Assembly or 15 out of 40 in the Senate.  Prop 25 also provided the additional incentive that the legislators' paychecks would be withheld and they would be docked for every day it was late.

The voters also get big credit for helping actually balance the budget by passing Proposition 30 in November 2012.  The extra revenue made a balanced budget a realistic feasibility by raising $7-9 billion in revenue with a 1/2 cent sales tax hike and a 1% to 3% increase in upper-level income taxes.  In the past, the Republican minority would insist on tax cuts in exchange for having a couple of their legislators vote for the budget.  The resulting revenue cut would put the budget out of balance and necessitate more cuts the next year.  It actually put the minority in charge of the budget process, since they could hold the majority hostage with just a few votes. 

Governor Jerry Brown deserves a lot of credit too.  He has refused to let the legislature get away with passing on time but unbalanced budgets, as they attempted to do in 2012.  Brown refused to sign that budget and Controller John Chiang held up their paychecks until a real budget was sent to the governor's desk.  This year, thanks to his firm stand last time, the lawmakers thus knew Brown meant business and they passed a real balanced budget actually on time.  Brown's insistence on making the tough cuts necessary built not only credibility with the legislators, but trust with the voters, who then helped out by raising their own taxes to close the rest of the gap.          

It's a real success story of intelligent steps taken by the people combined with firm leadership at the top of state government.  Two thumbs up for a job well done!  

  

 

Sugar Message Getting Through: Soda Sales Falling

There's good news on the health front today.  An article in Take Part reports that soda sales in the U.S. have dropped eight years in a row.  The Wall Street Journal reports that the industry's revenues are now dropping too.  They had offset slumping sales by simply raising prices, but that started to backfire in 2012, when sales and revenues continued to fall even during the year end holiday period.  Formerly, people tended to stock up regardless of price in that period.

It seems the health message is definitely starting to get through.  The link between excessive sugar, including high fructose corn syrup, obesity and diabetes is becoming ever clearer, and even the launching of hundreds of millions of dollars in ad campaigns, including $50 million at the last Super Bowl alone, and endorsement contracts by such mega stars such as Beyonce Knowles have been unable to turn the tide.  The Journal offers the assessment that this may be "the new normal" for the soda pop industry.  It's amazing what a trickle of facts can sometimes do against an avalanche of propaganda.

Baby boomers are aging and getting more health conscious, and the primary target group, young people, are gravitating toward waters, energy drinks and coffee rather than sugary sodas these days.  Still, don't expect the three biggest players, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Snapple to ride off quietly into the sunset.  They continue to work on low-calorie sweeteners and have diversified into more types of drinks.  Finally, they are playing their ace in the whole: a new emphasis on "opening new markets," or, in other words, expanding aggressively into places like China and Brazil, where they can repeat their former American success by hooking hundreds of millions of new and less informed customers, thereby creating an obesity and diabetes crisis there that they won't have to deal with for perhaps another couple of decades. 

Summer School is Back!

I am enjoying the start of the 2013 summer session at College of the Sequoias.  I have two classes this year.  History 4, Western Civilization to 1648, has 40 students and History 17, the U.S. to 1877, has 60.  The session lasts 6 weeks, running Monday through Thursday from June 10 through July 18, except for the Fourth of July.  Each class meets two hours and five minutes per session.

The first two days have been a lot of fun for me.  Summer classes in general tend to draw a more dedicated clientele of students than are typical of the regular fall and spring semesters.  The start of these classes has been no exception, with good discussions already underway in both classes on topics like the reliability of historical sources and the diversity of settler experiences in the early American colonies.  I am reminded how much I like teaching history and how fortunate I am to be able to make a living doing what I love.

The summer session fills a number of needs.  University students home for the summer are able to meet some of their requirements at a fraction of the cost.  Recent high school graduates are able to get a head start on their programs.  Students who haven't been able to get into all the classes they need in fall and spring semesters can keep their program on schedule rather than having to spend extra semesters to graduate.  We even have some current high school students getting a jump on their college careers.

The entire summer program has been cancelled at COS the past two years due to budget cuts.  The weak economy has reduced the entire state budget, including that for community colleges, significantly over that time.  Thanks to the improving economy and the voters' passage of Proposition 30 last November, which hiked the sales and income taxes in California, some of those cuts have been restored.  Some more good news came this morning, as May state revenues came in 12% over projections for the month.  The signs are multiplying that the economy is indeed on the rebound, and that is welcome news for everyone, including not only job seekers and investors but students needing classes and their teachers as well!

 

California Disclose Act, SB 52

There's good news for the cause of cleaner, more transparent politics in California.  The State Senate just passed the Disclose Act, Senate Bill (SB) 52.  Now it goes to the Assembly for its consideration.  I urge everyone reading to communicate your support for this positive legislation to your State Assembly representative.  

The Disclose Act would require what its name implies, that the real backers of campaign advertising reveal who they are.  The disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision of 2010 has opened up the political process to unlimited and secret corporate and other spending on campaigns.  In the absence of laws making specific requirements, voters may have no idea of who is trying to influence elections and the political process for their own special interests.  Last year $475 million was spent in the state on advertising for ballot propositions alone, most of it unrevealed or under the misleading guise of euphemistic-sounding committee names. 

The Disclose Act mandates that political ads in California have to prominently identify the top three contributors, and do so on the ads themselves.  "Follow the money" requirements would make it illegal to hide the real funder or funders behind innocuous sounding front groups like "Citizens for a Wonderful Future," and would force disclosure of the original sources.  There would be no more shell games.  It applies to all types of political advertising, whether television, radio, print or web-based.    

SB 52 was introduced by Senators Mark Leno and Jerry Hill. and is sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign.  Go to their website here.  You can sign the petition urging support here.  After passing the Senate by an overwhelming 28-11 vote, it now goes to the 80-member Assembly.  The Disclose Act is endorsed by a host of bipartisan and nonpartisan groups such as the League of Women Voters.  To find your State Assembly representative to let them know of your support, click here.