Commentary

Fast Tracking My Bill to Increase Higher Education Funding

While California is preparing to go into special session next month to consider legislation to help it receive millions in federal Race to the Top Kindergarten-12 education funds, I’m asking the state to also fast track my bill to provide the community colleges and public universities with more than $1.3 billion.

The right to a great public education

We’ve got to stop cutting public education.
To ease the budget crisis, one state after another is taking an ax to higher education.
This is cruel and shortsighted.
Cruel because it denies students the right to a decent education. Shortsighted because how will this generation of students get prepared to compete globally or even to clean up the financial mess brought about by Wall Street?

Thanksgiving

El Día de Acción de Gracias es un feriado netamente norteamericano. Un día dedicado a dar gracias por las bendciones recibidas durante el año. Es el único feriado en el calendario que no se ha comercializado, que no tiene raíces paganas y el cual lo pueden celebrar todas las religiones que conviven en esta gran nación.

It’s shameful that millions go hungry in the land of plenty

We need to wipe out hunger in America. It’s a sin that it not only exists but is actually increasing in the richest nation on Earth.
 Tens of millions of Americans are unable to feed their families. Because of widespread poverty, they simply cannot afford adequate nutrition. With the current recession and crippling joblessness, this is a crisis that requires our immediate attention.

Keep Religion Out of Health Care Reform

Elected officials’ religious views should be their own private affair, neither imposed by them upon the nation, nor imposed by the nation as condition to holding public office. This means their private religious views should not be imposed via the current debate over health care reform.

State Regulation Stifles Local Small Business and Economic Growth

A recent study released by the State of California tallies the total cost of regulation to business in the State of California at almost 493 billion dollars per year—“almost five times the State’s general fund budget, and almost a third of the State’s gross product.” The result: a loss of approximately 3.8 million jobs due to overregulation, contributing to California’s 10.5 percent unemployment rate which as of early November 2009 became equivalent to federal levels.

The Fall of Dobbs and the Immigrants

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Stop the vendetta against ACORN

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 The double standard on ACORN exposes the real underside of American politics: Our democracy is skewed against the voices of the poor.
 Some of my best friends have worked for ACORN. They are honest, dedicated and moral individuals who appreciated the mission of this group, which has done so much good for some of our poorest citizens.

Law Enforcement Officials Call for Immigration Reform

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America’s Voice
 “Americans want a solution to our immigration dilemma, as do law enforcement officials across this nation. But the solution isn’t turning every local police department into an arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
 That isn’t a quote from a pro-immigration activist. It’s from an editorial that the former Chief of Police of Los Angeles, William J. Bratton, wrote in the .

Latinos Must Think Before Boycotting the Census

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 Less than six months from the 2010 census, there is a rising movement in the Latino community to boycott the survey. Not only is this a terribly irresponsible and narrow-minded idea for Latinos, but it would be a detrimental decision that would affect all people that live in their communities.

Commentary