U.S. Reps Miller and Garamendi invite you to learn the truth about health care reform at Thursday

"Learn the honest truth and facts about health care reform."

So says an invitation to a forum Thursday with US Representatives George Miller and John Garamend that is hosted by a coalition of labor and community groups from Contra Costa County and nearby areas.

The forum takes place 5 p.m. Thursday at IBEW 302, 1875 Arnold Way, Martinez.

The two East Bay congressman will be talking about the health care reconciliation bill that President Obama just signed. Thursday's forum is sponsored by the Contra Costa Building & Construction Trades Council, Contra Costa Central Labor Council, Napa Solano Building and Construction Trades Council, Napa Solano Central Labor Council, Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee, League of United Latin American Citizens (LuLAc), NAACP East County Branch, and the NAACP Richmond Branch.

For more information, contact the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center, (925) 933-7850 http://www.mtdpc.org/.

East Bay Tea Party'ers protest Garamendi's support of health care reform bill outside his Walnut Creek office

With a historic health care reform vote expected in the House Sunday, a small East Bay group associated with the Tea Party protested on Thursday afternoon outside the North Broadway office of U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, who represents California's 10th congressional district. It was the second afternoon in a row the group was out in front of the Atrium building on Broadway.  

Garamendi, a Democrat, is a strong supporter of the legislation and is expected to vote yes. Rep Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton), whose office the protesters planned to rally in front of Friday, is said to be leaning yes but wants to analyze the bill before he makes a final decision. Democratic Reps. George Miller, Barbara Lee ,and Pete Stark also say they will vote yes on the heavily debated compromise bill.

"At the end of the day, this debate boils down to two questions," Garamendi says on his website. "Do we stand with the millions of people without coverage and millions more one pink slip away from health care ruin? Or do we stand with the entrenched interests who will do all they can to stop reform to maximize their profits at the expense of patients? I believe every American deserves access to affordable health care coverage, and I will do all I can to make that happen."

But Heather G., an Alamo mom and realtor who has been helping to organize Tea Party protests at various East Bay locations over the past several months, says health care reform would be disastrous for the economy, and amounts to those in power hijacking control of our country from the will of the people. "Our main concerns as Tea Partyers is the amount of spending and what that will do to the country," she said.

Republicans have attacked the $940 billion legislation as a government takeover of the health care industry financed by tax increases and higher Medicare cuts.

But Heather G. said that this particular protest wasn't just about health care reform but about the entire direction the country is headed in. She said a lot of people are fed up and angry.

"I don't know what will happen is the bill passes," she said. "It's going to get really, really ugly."

She emphasized that her group is made of people of both major political parties and that their protests are always peaceful. "We don't advocate violence."

Besides objecting to the direction the country is going in, under President Obama and the Democratic leadership, the protesters also sniffed at the idea that Garamendi doesn't even live in the 10th congressional district that he represents and is barely seen here. 

The Congressional Budget Office released a report Thursday saying that House changes to this legislation will shave $138 billion from the federal deficit over the next decade and save as much $1.2 trillion over the following decade.

Garamendi is CD-10's new rep in DC

The Associated Press and other news organizations have declared John Garamendi the winner in California's 10th congressional race. He will take Ellen Tauscher's place as our local representative for the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to KCBS: California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a Democrat, has defeated his Republican opponent in a Contra Costa congressional race to replace Ellen Tauscher.

With about a third of the votes counted in the East Bay, the Democrat and longtime player on California's political stage was ahead by nearly 16 points over David Harmer.

Associated Press calls Garamendi winner in California's 10th congressional race; so far, early results show Garamendi in the lead

UPDATE 9:20 p.m. CBS5 says the Associated Press is calling the 10th congressional race, to replace former U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher, for her fellow Democrat, state Lt. Governor John Garamendi.

As of 8:30 p.m.: Garamendi had been leading his main opponent, David Harmer, in the race for U.S. representative in California's 10th congressional district.

Garamendi was leading Harmer, a Republican and San Ramon attorney, with 56 percent of the vote. That is, with 78 of 273 precincts reporting. Harmer has nearly 40 percent of the vote.

Contra Costa Times' Lisa Vorderbrueggen's Political Blotter column reports that vote-by-mail results posted in Contra Costa County show Garamendi leading with 57percent compared with 38 percent for Republican David Harmer.

Vote Tuesday!

Yeah, 2009 is an off-year for an election, and the ballot list isn't long, but try as much as you can to vote.

We've got some vitally important local races.

There's the election to decide our next local representative in the 10th U.S. Congressional District. The main contenders are Lt. Governor John Garamendi (Democrat) and San Ramon attorney David Harmer (Republican).

For those who live in Walnut Creek, you get to decide on the future of Broadway Plaza by voting "yes" or "no" on Measure I. A "yes" vote would allow Broadway Plaza to build a new department store--effectively, a Neiman Marcus--in downtown Walnut Creek.

Then there are the measures to extend parcel taxes for our local school districts: Measure G for the Acalanes Union High School District and Measure H for the Walnut Creek School District.

Good for you if you got your mail-in ballots in. And good for you if you've marked in time in whatever calendar you use to stop by your neighborhood polling place to vote.

Don't make the poor choice I made in last May's special election, when I didn't vote. Don't pull a Meg Whitman.

Come on, there's something very cool about getting to vote tomorrow. Those of us in the 10th congressional district get to decide on whom we want to send to Washington to represent us. Walnut Creek-ans get to decide on the enormously fateful question of whether they want a new luxury department store in town, and, we hope, put this whole Neiman Marcus controversy behind us. And property owners who live within two school district boundaries get to decide whether they think the schools need their financial help, via permanent parcel tax extensions.

Look, there is not a lot we can control in what's going on in the world, in this country, or even in this state. But we can make these local decisions that, especially with the school measures, affect us in an almost day-to-day way.

David Harmer thinks he has a chance to upset John Garamendi for Ellen Tauscher’s seat

The 10th congressional district is solidly Democrat, but Republican attorney David Harmer thinks he has a good shot at defeating the more experienced politician, his Democratic rival Lt. Governor John Garamendi.

Wall Street Journal writer John Fund says that a recent poll “using conventional turnout models” by Wilson Research Strategies shows Garamendi with a 41% to 34% lead in the district, where 47 percent of registered voters are Democrat, and 28 percent are Republican.

“Harmer has had no trouble portraying Mr. Garamendi as a big part of the state's fiscal mess," Fund writes. "Mr. Garamendi, a true-blue liberal who has held various offices for 30 years, clearly relishes the old tax-and-spend formula that got California into its current fiscal hole.”

While Fund proclaims that an upset is definitely possible on November 3, Contra Costa Times political writer Lisa Vorderbrueggen is not so sure:

“The lieutenant governor has overwhelming name identification in a congressional district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 18 percentage points. Harmer is a political unknown likely to raise just a fraction of the money that his opponent will collect.”

Bill, Al urging us to vote for Garamendi for Congress

Two letters, one from William Jefferson Clinton--with his presidential seal--and one from the Honorable Al Gore arrived in the mail today, urging our family to vote for Lt. Governor John Garamendi for congress.

Garamendi is one of 14 candidates running in a September 1 special election to replace Ellen Tauscher as the U.S. representative in the 10th congressional district. Here's a round-up of the candidates in this red hot race.

President Clinton's letter, printed with a Courier-esque font that looks like it was just rolled out of an old-fashioned typewriter, extolls Garamendi as a "proven environmental leader and first-rate public servant." Gore, Mr. Nobel Prize-winning Inconvenient Truth, also praises Garamendi's environmental record: "As a life-long rancher ... John served at the U.S. Department of the Interior helping to protect our nation's natural heritage. He worked shoulder to shoulder with President Clinton and me to design programs to protect and preserve our National Parks for generations to come."

Both laud Garamendi's advocacy as state Insurance Commissioner on behalf of consumers, and for his overall experience in government at the local, state, and national level.

The San Francisco Chronicle has also endorsed Garamendi, saying he stands out in the crowd of contenders"because his vast portfolio of experience is so well aligned with the issues of the times and the big concerns of the district." (Here is Garamendi with his wife, Patti; both were long-time volunteers with the Peace Corps.)

"The 64-year-old Garamendi has the confidence and depth of knowledge that would allow him to hit the ground running in Congress --and his history sggests he would be unabashed in doing so," the Chronicle says.

If you want to do the horse race thing, these sorts of endorsements are probably helping to give Garamendi a double-digit lead in recent polls, according to the Contra Costa Times Lisa Vorderbrueggen. Whether you're happy about that or not--personally, I haven't decided whom I'll vote for--Garamendi is also leading the pack in fundraising, Vorderbrueggen says. He has raised $517,368 since he launched his campaign and $216,655 in the last reporting period between July 1 and Aug. 12."

State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, Garamendi's chief rival and the candidate who seemed to be the early frontrunner for the seat, has been unable to keep up with Garamendi, fundraising-wise. "He has raised $378,028 during the election cycle and $168,249 in the most recent reporting period. His lag behind Garamendi may reflect the two recent polls that show Garamendi with a double-digit lead," Vorderbrueggen says.

I wonder how much DeSaulnier's campaign was hurt by the U.S. State Department, Ellen Tauscher's new employer, asking DeSaulnier to stop advertising her early endorsement in his campaign materials.

DeSaulnier is fighting back, with a new mailer that explains why Garamendi would not choose to run in District 3--where "he actually lives"--because it would pit him against Republican Dan Lungren in a Republican leaning district, Vorderbrueggen writes in her blog on Friday.

Back to that Chronicle endorsement of Garamendi: It also offers a favorable assessment of the other candidates, including DeSaulnier, Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, and the leading Republican in the race, San Ramon attorney David Harmer.

Notably, the Chronicle agreed with my prediction of which politician to keep an eye on for the future. That would be Democrat Anthony Woods, the 29-year-old Iraq war vet with degrees from West Point and Harvard. Actually, he's the "gay Iraq war vet," who defied the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell " policy. He also is the son of a single mother who pulled himself up by those proverbial bootstraps. Bottom line: He's got the great made-for-movies biography. The Chronicle editorial board was impressed with the "depth and energy" he displayed in his interview. "He has a bright future in politics, if he stays with it. He should."