Wisconsin Unemployment Agency Delivering Unhappy Holidays

 

MADISON — As the holidays approach, thousands of Wisconsinites are still waiting for their Unemployment Insurance benefits to come through months after they first applied.

Now, Gov. Tony Evers’ interim Department of Workforce Development secretary is saying she hopes to have much of the unemployment backlog cleared by the New Year.

The new goal, after the last disgraced DWD chief said the mountain of claims would be settled by last month, isn’t much consolation for claimants who have been waiting since July. Like Shelli Wodsedalek.

The Manitowoc tax professional this week posted on the Wisconsin Unemployment Facebook page that her frustration is growing.

“In my 25+ years of employment, this is my first time filing for UI. I was laid off in July, I followed all the rules (I even took the time to read EVERYTHING), and yet I’ve been in adjudication because I was unavailable for my very (as in 8 hours/month) part-time job the last week in June because I was working nearly 60-hours that week at my regular job,” she wrote.

“This is crazy. Nearly 3 decades of employers paying in to UI on my behalf, and I can’t seem to even get one penny from it. I hate this,” Wodsedalek added.

Amy Pechacek was left with the Unemployment Insurance mess when Evers asked DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman to step down in October. During Frostman’s brief tenure, the agency was buried under a backlog of unemployment claims in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in March and Evers’ statewide lockdown. DWD repeatedly failed to even answer the incoming calls from frustrated claimants, let alone settle claims in anywhere near a timely fashion.

Wisconsin Spotlight has detailed the heartbreaking stories of Wisconsinites forced to wait four, five, six months and longer to get paid.

The delays continue.

While DWD reports 93.7 percent of the 8.2 million-plus weekly jobless claims that have come in since mid March have been processed, more than 70,000 claimants are awaiting resolution. Most of those are trapped in the morass of adjudication, where claims are approved or denied.

A state audit in late September underscored the dysfunction inside DWD’s Unemployment Insurance division.

Among the alarming findings by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, 93.3 percent of the 41.1 million phone calls made to DWD’s call centers during this year’s flood of unemployment claims were blocked or received busy signals. That’s 38.3 million unanswered calls between March 15 and June 30, the height of Unemployment Insurance applications following Evers’ COVID-19 state-wide lockdown that cost hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites their jobs.

Some 6.2 percent of the calls were abandoned by claimants calling into the DWD, according to the audit. So only 0.5 percent of calls were ultimately answered.

Pechacek this week told the Wisconsin State Journal DWD’s partnership with Google will help remove 103,000 holds on backlogged claims and bring relief to 21,000 people waiting for state Unemployment Insurance. Another 50,000 claimants will receive updates to their filings as the claims move toward resolution, the news outlet reported.

The agency’s partnership with Google Cloud, launched in October, is expected provide expedited review of UI and federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims to assist in processing claim payment determinations, according to the agency.

State Sen. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) said he’s pleased to see the use of technology to assist in the backlog, but he wants to see results.

“Goals don’t mean a whole lot unless they happen,” said Jacque, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, Small Business, Tourism and Workforce Development.

He noted that Wisconsin was the last in the nation to start paying out federally funded unemployment benefits, a problem that exposed DWD’s failure to prepare.

While Evers has blamed the Republican-controlled Legislature for not providing funding to upgrade the Unemployment Insurance division’s integrated technology, the governor sought no funding for a system revamp in his first budget, and DWD did not note the need in its latest budget request.

“Wisconsin was not uniquely situated in terms of IT programming,” Jacque said. “It’s clear that it was not just a function of the IT system, it was a problem with leadership and direction in the department and in the governor’s office.

Facebook removes pro-Republican posts

 

Facebook removed my post of this picture. Harmless really.

When It Comes to Election Fraud, It's 'Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil'

With each passing day, our country's journalistic and political elite grows more and more contemptuous of claims by President Trump that widespread fraud and irregularities in this year's election call into question the legitimacy of Joe Biden's “win." The line that “no evidence” exists to support such claims has become sacred dogma to all those who pined for so long to witness Donald Trump's abasement, and who now refuse to admit that the glorious victory they have won could be marred by even the tiniest of flaws. It simply can't be, because the consequences of a bogus election are, for them, too horrible to contemplate.

This article, however, is not about the mountain of evidence that is accumulating to support the presence of fraud and malfeasance in this year's election. There is statistical evidence, there are witness statements, and there is the obvious fact of “relaxed” requirements for mail-in ballots, which just happened to favor Joe Biden.


But that isn't the question that interests me today. What I wonder, instead, is: assuming there was electoral hanky-panky in 2020, and assuming that, somewhere out there, conclusive evidence to prove it exists, the question is whether Democrats and Trump haters would even care. Would their devotion to Democratic norms and electoral integrity override their animus for all things Trump, and would they therefore concede defeat graciously, or would they instead dig in their heels, close their eyes and ears to the testimony of those who witnessed or participated in such fraud, and assert, against all reason, that Biden won, Biden won, Biden won, and — oh, by the way — BIDEN WON!!!

We all intuitively know the answer. For the Left, and for the political, cultural, and economic establishment in this country, absolutely nothing matters — nothing — more than the destruction of Donald Trump and his movement. That is why absolutely no anti-Trump narrative has been ruled out of bounds, or has even been subjected to critical analysis by Trump haters since the man descended the golden escalator in 2015. Even maligning the sitting President of the United States as a traitor, as a tool of a foreign enemy, based on the “evidence” supplied to a rival political campaign by a paid informant, is considered entirely defensible in this alternative universe where norms and values are turned on their heads.

The most depressing thing about this situation, though, is that, while we conservative patriots long ago wrote off most Democrats in Washington, D.C. as pathological Trump haters — as people who would not give President Trump the benefit of the doubt even if their lives depended on it (which, in a sense, they do, since he's the Commander-in-Chief) — the truth is that most establishment Republicans loathe the man almost as much as their liberal colleagues. As Carl Bernstein indicated recently, many GOP grandees only feign respect for Trump, because of their fear of offending rank-and-file Republicans. In reality, they despise this boorish lout, this unrepentant sexist and racist, as they see him, almost as much as a rabid Antifa street brawler would. Unlike the street brawler, however, prominent Republicans know when and how to keep their mouths shut.

If there was cheating and fraud in our recent election, therefore, the truth is that most of the establishment surely doesn't want to know about it, and, if the strongest possible evidence arose to that effect, they would disclaim and disavow it. To prevail in the present struggle, therefore, President Trump might not need Democratic support, but he certainly would need federal judges and justices appointed by Republicans to stand with him. He would need Republican state legislators to stand with him. He would need the Republican caucus in the House and the Senate to stand with him. And none of these worthless, needless to say, so far show any inclination to rally to the “lost cause” of “four more years." Most, in fact, view President Trump as they always have: as a joke and a political liability, at best, and as a walking travesty, at worst. They view Joe Biden, by contrast, as a harmless, even likable, known quantity. They furthermore look forward to a “return to normalcy” in the GOP, to a time when the news cycle won't be dominated by President Trump's intemperate tweets, and by their own moral and verbal contortions in trying to explain them away.


In short, President Trump's “allies” in Washington have always been fair weather friends. They embraced him temporarily and strategically when the political winds seemed to be blowing in his favor. They stuck with him in trying times, as when he was impeached, reluctantly, because Republican voters demanded it. Now, though, that he has seemingly been defeated and disgraced once and for all, they are ready — eager, in fact — to cut ties with him and move on. We should hardly be surprised at that.

The reality, therefore, is that, if President Trump is to prevail in this fight over the integrity of the 2020 election, if he is to to serve another four-year term, it won't be because the courts, or the state legislatures, or Congress, swoop in to save him. Trump's salvation lies, as it always has, with the one and only force in this country that has consistently stood by him: the American people (or at least a very large fraction thereof). Only they — only we — by an act of sheer will and by a show of our steadfast devotion, could possibly persuade the necessary political forces to fall into line. And even that may be a forlorn hope.

The Age of Trump, then, may end where it began: with Trump and ordinary, humble citizens on one side of a political-cultural battlefield, and with “our betters," the elitists, on the other.

That, at least, is the kind of battle that Trump is accustomed to fighting — and the kind that, much more often than one would have thought possible, he actually wins.
 

Paris Climate Treaty Puts America Last

 Here we are in the midst of the second wave of a once-in-a-half-century pandemic, with the economy flattened and millions of Americans unemployed and race riots in the streets of our major cities. And Joe Biden says that one of his highest priorities as president will be to ... reenter the Paris Climate Accord.

Trump kept his America First promise and pulled America out of this Obama-era treaty. Biden wants us back in -- immediately.

Why? Paris is an unmitigated failure. You don't have to take my word for it. National Geographic, a supporter of climate change action, recently ran the numbers and admits in its recent headline: "Most Countries Aren't Hitting 2030 Climate Goals." That's putting it mildly. Most haven't even reached half their pledged target for emission reductions.

Robert Watson, the former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, laments: "Countries need to double and triple their 2030 reduction commitments to be aligned with the Paris target."

Gee, this sounds like a treaty we definitely should be part of and pay the bills for.

The one country making substantial progress in reducing carbon emissions is the U.S. under President Donald Trump. Even though our gross domestic product is way up over the past four years, our carbon dioxide emissions are DOWN. Our air pollution levels and emissions of lead, carbon monoxide and other pollutants are at record-low levels.


Meanwhile, Beijing is far and away the largest polluter. Year after year, it makes hollow promises to stop climate change while they build dozens of new coal plants. India and its 1 billion people are hooked on coal, too.

Here is Paris in nutshell: We put our coal miners out of their jobs and cripple our $1 trillion oil and gas industry while China and India keep polluting and laugh at us behind our back.

These nations have bigger and more immediate development priorities than worrying about climate change models and their guestimates of the global temperature in 50 years.

China has much deeper and sinister ambitions. Those don't involve cleaning up the planet. The communists in Beijing's are obsessed with seizing world superpower status away from the U.S. The China 2025 plan for technology domination doesn't involve switching to expensive and unreliable energy sources. Their plan is to goad the U.S. into doing that.

The tragedy of all this is that we have a clean and efficient source of energy. Thanks to the shale oil and gas revolution, the cost of fossil fuels has fallen by 70% to 80% -- and the costs will continue to fall, thanks to the superabundance of these energy sources. The U.S. has more fossil fuel energy than virtually any other nation. We are technologically ahead of the rest of the world in drilling productivity and have become a net exporter.


Gas is the planet's wonder-fuel. It should be the 21st-century power source. It makes no sense economically or ecologically to switch to windmills and solar panels, unless you are an investor in these expensive 19th-century energy sources.

Across the globe, world leaders are overjoyed that under a Biden administration, the U.S. will reenter the Paris Accord. Why wouldn't they be? We pay the bills. We hang our booming free market economy on a cross of climate change regulation. We pretend that the world is complying -- when their actions speak much louder than their words. We trust, but we don't verify.

If Paris is one of Biden's first official acts as president, he will be announcing to the world that putting America First has been replaced with putting America Last.

Hey Conservative Billionaires, Step Up Already

 

The idea of complaining about the people funding the conservative movement seems a bit odd, after all, they cut a lot of big checks. They fund think tanks and websites, the very heart of the conservative movement, and those organizations have done some great work in the past. The only problem is it’s not the past anymore, and the old model no longer works. The people funding the left have out-flanked the right, and it is long past time for the right to catch up.

Yes, it was a good year for Republican House candidates, and depending on how Georgia goes, it could be a good year in the Senate too. It was also a good year for those of us who despise what the media has become – an appendage of the Democrat Party (you can pick whichever one you prefer to think of for it) – as Americans hold those left-wing, narcissistic blowhards in lower esteem than ever before. But there is a lot more work that needs to be done.

Take a look at any major Democrat-controlled city and what do you see? Aside from the crime and unemployment, or perhaps behind it, are local elected officials actively engaging in thwarting the law. 

Leftist billionaires, led by George Soros, have bankrolled local political races, particularly for district attorneys and prosecutors, to fundamentally change the country locally. Winning Washington is great, but serious changes, and real damage, are happening across the country locally.

What good does passing laws to protect people do if the people charged with enforcing them refuse to do so? All the legislative victories in the world add up to nothing if they’re ignored. 

The difference between Democrat and Republicans is Democrats play the long con – they’re out to get your bank account, your IRA, the title to your car, the deed to your house, they are working the system to get everything. Republicans play the short con – they’re happy if they get your watch, and even if they don’t they don’t really care because they already have a watch. 

Election day is not a finish line, it’s a checkpoint. Democrats have understood this my entire life, Republicans never have. Republicans win or lose elections and go about their life like they’re relieved the “stressful part” is over. Elected officials breathe a sigh of relief and donors go about their lives, waiting for the next fight to start in a couple years. 

That needs to change, and change quickly, if conservatives are going to stand a fighting chance of protecting what makes American great. 

Thinking has to be different. Democrats are entrenched in places that matter and they have to be chased out. As much attention needs to be paid to this micro level of politics and has been paid to the macro-DC world. 

If conservatives are really looking for a way into these blue strongholds, this is the way. Thinking strategically, in places where these offices are partisan, and a Republican candidate is a non-starter, a conservative Democrat is better than a progressive one – think of them as the gateway drug to the concept of conservatism. Is it going to cost money? Yes. Will a lot of it be spent in losing races? You bet. But no first swing of an axe ever knocks down a tree, and you’ll never change anything by not trying.

On that front, there are stories that CNN is possibly on the market. How amazing would it be if one or a group of these rich donors cutting checks to name fellowships and rooms after themselves at think tanks with endowments so big they could choke a horse, decided to put some money toward something that wasn’t a vanity project, something that could have more impact on the country, and the world, than all the recycled ideas in papers rewritten by “experts” at those think tanks and read by no one ever, could.  

Imagine CNN doing news again, actual news. Imagine removing that tool from the left’s bag and placing it firmly on the side of honesty, something foreign to it currently. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, as some are proposing to do, when there’s a wheel factory for sale. It just needs to be retooled.

There are countless options and opportunities available for those with the means and the will. Unfortunately, it takes both, and so few people have either, let alone both. Billionaire philanthropist and businessman Charles Koch, someone who could do some of these things, is now lamenting his “partisanship,” which is wildly unproductive in pursuit of Koch’s lifelong political goals. 

The right needs people uninterested in separating their business and political interests; people willing to meld the two. Preaching to the choir has its place, and small investments in vanity websites that otherwise wouldn’t exist are all well and good, but they aren’t anything close to difference-makers. There are markets and customers being underserved or ignored that are hungry for alternatives. In other words, there is money to be made while fighting for the cause. Of course, they’d have to be willing to step up, and step out front, to actually fight for the cause – put their name on it and take the slings and arrows that come with it. 

There is no “bad publicity” in getting a room no one but other rich people will visit in a think tank headquarters named after you, but there’s also no difference to be made there. Wealthy conservatives have to step up now, if they really want to have a legacy that matters, and take the fight to the left on the only field that matters – the public square.

Trump to GOP Senator on 2020 Race: If It Doesn't Work Out, I'll Just Run Again in Four Years

 Look, folks—I know some of you don’t like when I mention that the Trump campaign is in ‘hail Mary’ territory here on this drive that is the 2020 election, but it’s the truth. Yes, the allegations of voter fraud are numerous, but the legal challenges are not a sure bet. Every legal vote should be counted, but if Trump falls short on both fronts—it’s over. I hate it. Trump sure hates it, but that’s the nature of elections. You cannot win them all. Regardless, I hope for the best and will remain a Trump Republican, but even the president seems to know that there’s a possibility he could lose.

Still, Trumpism isn’t going away. And Donald Trump remains the dominant force in the GOP. The Never Trump wing will never win. They’re too few and most have already become Democrats, so when 2024 rolls around, don’t be shocked if Donald Trump runs again. Grover Cleveland lives! Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) spoke with the president last week, where Trump admitted that losing is a possibility. No matter, he’s just run again in four years, he said to the North Dakota Republican (via Politico) [emphasis mine]:

    Kevin Cramer called Donald Trump last week to convey his support for the president’s efforts to contest the election results when Trump dropped a casual aside that snapped the North Dakota senator to attention.

    “If this doesn’t work out, I’ll just run again in four years,” Trump said.

    Cramer could only chuckle at the president musing about the next presidential race while he’s still in office. But to the lineup of Republican hopefuls with their eyes on becoming the GOP’s post-Trump standard bearer, the president’s remark was no laughing matter.

    While Trump’s loss was supposed to trigger a Republican Party reset, his flirtation with a 2024 bid ensures he’ll remain the dominant force in the party and cast a shadow over anyone looking to succeed him. Even the possibility of Trump running again will impede other Republicans from laying groundwork for their own bids — lest they upset Trump and his tens of millions of supporters, many of whom are convinced the election was stolen.

    Those who’ve worked for Trump — Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley — are in perhaps the toughest spot of all. Each would have to maneuver around the soon-to-be-former president after spending the last four years aligning themselves with him.

    But some argue the three would benefit from the president freezing the 2024 field. Pence, Pompeo and Haley have used their roles in the administration to establish national profiles, build donor networks and deepen their ties to conservative activists. In the event Trump eventually decides not to run, they would start out a primary with advantages over others who are further behind organizationally.

Yet, the writing is on the wall here. If Trump fails to secure a second term in 2020, he’ll run again in 2024 and his mere announcement around that time is the end of the 2024 GOP primaries. The man commands the base. Period.  Yes, I like Nikki Haley. I think she could be president, sure. But if Trump runs again after all else has failed this cycle—count me in for a 2024 rematch.

It Looks Like House Democrats Retain Majority, But Pelosi May Have to Give Up the Speaker's Gavel

 

Here we go. We have drama over the Speaker of the House again. Yes, it’s fun to ponder who will wrest the gavel away from Speaker Pelosi, but there’s always a lot of hype and then a rather anti-climactic ending that usually ends with the California liberal keeping her residency in that office. 

House Democrats did not have the best election cycle. The so-called experts said they were on track to gain 10-15 seats. They ended up losing races. Conservative women dominated. Period. Reagan noted that earlier this week and Katie wrote about the latest round of Republican pick-ups. The House Democratic majority has been whittled down. Can the GOP retake the House? It doesn’t look that way, as some have already said the Democrats will retain the majority, albeit a very slim one. And remember there are 20 or so moderate Democrats who really cannot get on board with the more far-left and insane elements that are peddled by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her squad.

House Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that a) Pelosi doesn’t have the votes to keep her gavel, and b) the GOP could steer the ship in the lower chamber with the help of those moderate Democrats in vulnerable districts (via Newsweek):

BREAKING: @GOPLeader says Nancy Pelosi does not have the votes to remain as Speaker of the House.

— Blair Brandt (@BlairBrandt) November 10, 2020

The House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said the Republican Party could "control the floor" of the House if a small number of Democrats were to join them on votes after the party gained seats in the lower chamber on Election Day.

Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, the California representative added that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could lose her role if 10 of the 15 Democrats who voted against her bid in January 2019 did so again at the start of next year.

He also warned that "internal fights" in the Democratic Party were emerging after the party failed to build on its House majority despite President-Elect Joe Biden's victory in the presidential contest.

[…]

"If those 10 vote against her again, she will not be speaker of the House, because she won't have 218 because of the gains of the Republicans. We are close enough now that we can control the floor with a few Democrats joining with us."

Bold prediction. But we’ve heard these tales before about internal issues between Pelosi and her caucus and every time they always back her. The latest challenge to her speakership in the elections fizzled quickly. And she’ll remain in a strong position to get the votes needed. After all, a good share of the House Democratic majority hails from three very liberal states, California, New York, and Massachusetts. We’ll see what happens. For now, let’s focus on making sure every legal vote is counted in the 2020 election. And let’s prepare for the Georgia runoffs.

Biden calls Pelosi the "minority leader in the House"

— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) November 10, 2020

Joe Biden refers to Pelosi by the position she held when he was VP, because his brain is stuck in the past! https://t.co/vzyJVlvtE8

— Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) November 10, 2020

The Democrats' Guide to Losing Gracefully

 

Here are the times Democrats have conceded a presidential election with grace and dignity:

OK, now on to my column.

I hope someone is recording the media’s demands that Trump supporters ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION! inasmuch as the Democrats refuse to accept the results of any presidential election they lose, unless it’s a landslide, and sometimes even then.

After George W. Bush won the 2000 election — despite the media depressing Bush turnout in Florida by calling the state for Gore when polls were still open in the conservative panhandle — Gore contested the election until Dec. 13, the day after the Supreme Court called off the endless recounts (in only certain Florida counties) demanded by Gore.

The night of the court’s ruling, Laurence Tribe, the Harvard law professor who’d argued one of Gore’s cases before the court, and Ed Rendell, general chairman of the Democratic National Committee, went on TV and said it was time for Gore to concede.

Both were immediately attacked by their fellow Democrats and forced to retract their statements. Gore’s deputy campaign manager, Mark Fabiani, for example, told The New York Times that Rendell “seems to be more interested in getting his mug on TV than in loyalty.”

The next day, Gore conceded, telling his supporters he had “congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States,” adding, “while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it.”

CARTOONS | Lisa Benson

View Cartoon

But that still wasn’t the end of it! Weeks later, the Congressional Black Caucus tried to prevent congressional certification of the Electoral College for Bush, raising objection after objection on the House floor.

Over the course of the next year, the Florida ballots were painstakingly recounted by an independent investigative firm at a cost of nearly a million dollars, paid for by the same media outlets currently telling you to shut up and accept the results — including The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post and the Associated Press, along with several others.

The year-long, million-dollar recount led to this shocking conclusion: Bush still won. As the Times put it, contrary to the claims of Gore partisans, “the United States Supreme Court did not award an election to Mr. Bush that otherwise would have been won by Mr. Gore.”

And yet, to this day, Democrats claim Bush was “selected, not elected,” as so wittily put by Hillary Clinton.

Hillary was still harping on Bush’s stolen election when she ran for president in the 2008 cycle. At a 2007 primary presidential debate, she delighted the Democratic audience by remarking, “Well, I think it is a problem that Bush was elected in 2000. (APPLAUSE) I actually thought somebody else was elected in that election, but … (APPLAUSE).”

At a subsequent primary debate in 2008, Hillary said that she and President Clinton had been making great progress “until, unfortunately, the Supreme Court handed the presidency to George Bush.”

In 2006, Michael Kinsley claimed in The New York Times that the 2000 election was “actually stolen.”

And so on.

When Bush was reelected in 2004, Democrats again refused to accept the results of the election, and again attempted to block Congress’ counting of electoral votes, this time with the connivance of Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Their smoking gun? The election results in Ohio didn’t match the exit polls! If that’s not enough proof for you, and I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t be, the voting machines were manufactured by Diebold, and Diebold’s CEO was a Bush supporter. Yes, apparently, the voting machines in Ohio were rigged to flip votes for Kerry to Bush.

This crackpot theory was pushed assiduously by Vanity Fair (Michael Shnayerson in the April 2004 issue, and Christopher Hitchens in the March 2005 issue), Rolling Stone magazine (Robert F. Kennedy Jr., June 15, 2006), and in books: John Conyers’ “What Went Wrong in Ohio” — introduction by Gore Vidal — and “Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?” by Steven F. Freeman and Joel Bleifuss. (You’ll have to read it to find out!)

I haven’t even mentioned the craziest of the Democrat media complex’s attacks on the results of an election: Reagan’s 489-49 electoral landslide against Jimmy Carter in 1980. (Stay tuned!)

Election results, according to Democrats:

— 1960: Kennedy wins a razor-thin victory after a surprisingly high turnout of dead voters in Texas and Illinois — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 1964: Landslide election for Lyndon Johnson — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 1968: Nixon won with his racist (and mythical) “Southern strategy.”

— 1972: Nixon landslide — no provable cheating.

— 1976: Carter won — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 1980: Reagan won by traitorously colluding with Iran to prevent the release of American hostages before the election!

— 1984: Reagan landslide — no provable cheating.

— 1988: Bush 41 won in a landslide because of his racist Willie Horton ads.

— 1992: Clinton won with 43% of the vote — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 1996: Clinton won with 49% of the vote — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 2000: Bush 43 was “selected, not elected” after the Supreme Court stole it for him.

— 2004: Bush won because of Diebold hacking the voting machines in Ohio.

— 2008: Obama won — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 2012: Obama won — FAIR ELECTION, CLEAN AS A WHISTLE!!

— 2016: Trump won after colluding with Russia to persuade them to purchase $200,000 in Facebook ads.

If that’s how we’re supposed to “accept the results of the election,” then WOW — game on!

Clyburn Believes the 'Integrity' of Our 'Democracy' Can Be Saved... By the GOP

 House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) on Sunday called for President Donald Trump to concede to former Vice President Joe Biden. According to Clyburn, the Republican Party has a responsibility to get Trump to accept the election's results, despite a number of lawsuits that are currently being litigated.

"I think Trump should concede but I also think that the Republican Party has a responsibility here. This country is bigger than any one person. This democracy is teetering, as he called it, an 'inflection point.' We are in a very dire set of consequences here and we better get ahold of ourselves and this country and stop catering to [the] whims of one person," Clyburn explained on CNN's "State of the Union."

"It doesn't matter to me whether or not he concedes. What matters to me is whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy," he said.

Clyburn then went on to mention Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I don't understand how Republicans can allow Putin to dictate the fortunes of this country. And that's what's happening," he said.

    House Majority Whip James Clyburn: “I think Trump should concede but I also think that the Republican Party has a responsibility here … what matters to me is whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/I9j6VQruC4
    — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 8, 2020

What does Vladimir Putin have to do with anything? Didn't Democrats learn anything about making these Russia claims? They had an entire investigation about supposed Russia collusion. Special Counsel Robert Mueller eventually revealed no collusion took place.


For whatever reason Democrats can't seem to fathom why Republicans have so many questions about the results of this election. Ballot glitches and concerns, poll watchers not being able to observe, dead people are allegedly voting, The list goes on and on.

Why are careers in information technology unfulfilling?

 

I hate working in tech

I know this may sound dramatic, but it’s true. I hate working in tech. While the tech world seems to be a boundless, relatively uncharted territory for creation and problem-solving, my personal experience working within it led to see that it is almost the exact opposite. IT lacks the freedom and sociability I crave. The framework most developers are forced to work within is highly limited and impersonal. While having to perform highly robotic and mind numbing functions for the bulk of the work day, I found myself losing sight and understanding of basic human qualities and how to think more creatively.

Not only that, the majority of my challenges were caused by the fact that tech is constantly breaking and/or versioning. The smallest thing can be coded incorrectly or be out-of-date, and the entire system will breakdown. Having to identify the error and provide solutions to a group of people who for the most part have no foundational knowledge of IT is very labor intensive, stress inducing and serve a major time suck.

What does an information technology person do?

As the U.S. and the rest of the world become more reliant on a digital economy, there is an increasing demand for talent that specializes in technology. Despite these radical changes in the way the world operates, many people in tech have a way less glamorous life while working to support these technological efforts. They would not consider themselves a part of the lofty “innovation sector” that I was once very attracted to. Rather your average IT person is thinking in basic 0’s and 1’s and trying to help anachronistic systems communicate better and more efficiently.

These roles could fall into any of the following categories: software development, computer system analysis, IT security, web development, network architecture, IT management, database administration and support. While there are a few other categories that exist, much of the foundation of these jobs are built on what I’d call “basic computing” functions which in my opinion can be pretty boring stuff.

Information Technology isn't about people

The large majority of us humans feed on the enthusiasm and interaction with people. Even the most introverted among us need people in our lives to feel like we're connected. People enable very organic relationships that most of us intuitively understand. With people, we aren't dealing with the 1s and 0s of computer languages where every damn decision is computationally determined based on a series of predetermined variables that aren't governed by emotion or external factors. Computers aren't organic.

Careers in information technology and software development are about systems, not people. We work with inanimate objects. Machines. We don't get to converse with them and establish relationships like we do with people. It's just code, or hardware, or networks, or machinery. So impersonal.We don't get to "change a computer's life" like we could with another human being.

Connections like those simply do not exist in technology very often, and that absence of an organic relationship while working at various tech companies can, over time, begin to drain our sense of purpose. All we do is work with machines. Dumb terminals. And at the most basic level, they are all pretty much exactly the same. Over time, this becomes relentlessly tedious.

Information Technology is full of stress and pressure

Technology is everywhere. We depend on it in virtually every facet of our lives, and when it works, it's great. Everything seems to be tied into "the system". All things are connected. Cities can monitor every stop light through a series of cameras accessed from a central location. Internet providers can pinpoint sources of congestion and bottlenecks through sophisticated network monitoring apps. Schools uses technology to connect students to the world outside. Businesses rely on technology for their livelihoods.

When everything works, life is good. But, almost nothing always works in information technology. Tech systems are connected in weird and complicated ways. Variables change. Insanely tight deadlines encourage even the most knowledgeable or talented software engineer to cut corners. And, people interact with systems in ways that we didn't (or couldn't) anticipate. In some cases, hackers and other nefarious entities intentionally screw with the systems that we've put together. In other words, things go wrong...all the time.

Here's the larger problem: When our entire world runs on the collective hum of technology, problems are instantly magnified. Businesses lose money every second that the network is down (imagine if Visa couldn't process credit card transactions for 10 minutes - they'd lose millions). What if stop lights in your city suddenly went dark? Or the power grid collapses?

Technology problems have profound consequences, and those who work in information technology feel that pressure. Pressure leads to stress, and that stress builds over time. It becomes a nearly constant strain on our lives. And, those of us who work in tech support or have program management jobs feel it the most. Managers want to look good by keeping their systems operational and often put pressure on their staff to do whatever it takes to keep everything humming along.

We might be able to keep up with this pressure for a few years after landing a new job. Eventually, the pressure of technology begins to break us down. We fix one problem only so we can move on to another. Problem after problem, we keep churning through "the system", fixing this, enhancing that, developing a new cool feature that we hope never breaks. And around and around we go.

Tech salaries keep the golden handcuffs cinched tight

If information technology is so unfulfilling, why do so many people work those jobs? We work them primarily for the money. Tech jobs pay well. In fact, they have to pay well or most of us simply wouldn't do them.

We use those higher salaries to help ignore the stress of the job. We buy things to make us feel better and relax. Our expectations change over the years and we soon begin to depend on that money to fund our lifestyles that become more and more expensive as we earn more and more money.

The golden handcuffs keep us working stressful IT jobs because the alternatives seem dire. If we bring in $150,000 a year working a highly stressful tech job at Amazon, there aren't many who would entertain a $75,000 accounting job at a local firm, even if that job is far less stressful.

We want the money, and our careers in technology keep us wanting that money. It happened to me. It happens to a lot of us.

The longer we work unfulfilling jobs, the more frustrated we become. Until, one day, something finally breaks and we just can't take it any longer. We decide on another path. Maybe a different career. Or, at least in my case, that path was early retirement from full-time work.

Technology jobs can suck because...

It comes down to three primary factors: Technology jobs are about machines, not people. Those jobs are typically highly stressful and pressure-packed because our entire society relies on those systems working harmoniously together. And lastly, money keeps so many of us working jobs that we don't enjoy. Pulling the plug on lucrative careers can be tough.

Too tough for many of us.

Sometimes, society can dismiss a lot of early retirement talk by chalking it up to highly paid tech workers. "So, Steve made a ton of money in technology and then retired early? Yeah, just like every other early retiree. Go figure!"

The reality is it's a lot harder to escape highly paid jobs than people realize. After all, this is what we've all worked so hard to achieve. We all want a high paying job, right? Once we have them, it's tough to give them up!

All that work we put into getting our college degrees (and racking up student loans), reading books, working incredibly long hours, putting up with insanely complicated layers of management that expect miracles...all that finally comes together into a highly-paid job that probably comes attached with "success".

To give all that up - even with a lot of money in the bank, isn't easy. Though high incomes can make it easier to retire early, they also make it tougher for many of us to stomach the stark difference in cash flow. To go from $150 Gs a year to zero (minus capital gains, of course)?

Don't take that for granted. Believe it or not, it's much easier said than done.

Why I left information technology

To further substantiate why I want to leave the world of tech, I’d like to share more in my experience and the positive upshots of my vocational departure.

First, I was experiencing an overwhelming amount of stress for the majority of my waking life. My day-to-day was spent fighting a multitude of uphill battles where I was committed to insane deadlines to fix or troubleshoot problems that affected tons and tons of people. It’s nice not having that kind of pressure anymore.

My work-life balance was also very much partial towards the work side of the paradox. I wanted to be able to focus on activities I actually enjoyed doing like exploring nature and photography, and be able to spend more time with my family.

And lastly, the subject matter of my work became extremely drab. I was no longer excited by 0s and 1s. I wanted to free myself to explore ideas and concepts that were not bound purely to binary systems. I can now think more out-of-the-box as I am less confined to a prescriptive set of code.

Xavier Becerra

 

38. Xavier Becerra is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 31st district of California.

    Background

    Rep. Becerra is the son of working-class parents and was the first in his family to graduate from college. His mother was born in Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States after marrying his father. In 1980, Rep. Becerra earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University. He was awarded his Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 1984.

Rep. Becerra is married to Dr. Carolina Reyes.^[1]

    MEChA

    Getting people of the Chicano community to gether is one of the major goals of the Barrio Systems Project, one of the many MEChA-based programs organized on campus.

    "We try to provide some important services that these people otherwise wouldn't receive," said Xavier Becerra, a sophomore from Sacramento, one of the four program coordinators of the Barrios Systems Project.

    The project reaches youngsters, teen-agers and adults in the East Palo Alto community. Each coordinator organizes activities for his respec tive group. Becerra is coordinator of the chil dren's group.

    Every Saturday about 20 Stanford students act as tutors to pre-schoolers and youngsters 6 to 13 years old, helping with reading, math, and English skills. Becerra and others drive to East Palo Alto, pick up the kids, and hold about a four hour learning session at Ravenswood Recrea tional Center in East Palo Alto.

    "We try to keep the program on a one-to-one basis, and find out what each child needs help in," said Becerra. "They may bring their homework with them and we'll try to help solve any problems."

    The Barrio Systems Project has an annual Thanksgiving food drive and a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

    "Our goal is to encourage high school Chicano students to apply to colleges and universities in California said project director Elmer Aragon, a sophomore from New Mexico.

    Another section of Project Motivation works with students at Sequoia High School in Red wood City. Evelia Rodriguez, one of three counselors who work with Latino students at the school.

    Setting up the program at Sequoia took about two months. The counselors had to introduce themselves to the teachers and let students know why they were there.

    "There was a tremendous amount of resistance," said Adrian Ortega, a freshman from Los Angeles. "The school, teachers, and students were very conservative, and there were some misunderstandings.^[2]

    Relationship to Ed Roybal

    Congressman Ed Roybal represented the people of California’s 30th Congressional District from 1963 to 1993. Upon his retirement, Roybal supported then-Assemblymember Xavier Becerra for election to the 30th Congressional District seat. "The two have been close ever since, the elder statesman serving as both friend and mentor to his successor".^[3]

    Career

    Prior to his election to Congress in 1992, with the endorsement of Ed Roybal, Rep. Becerra served one term in the California Legislature as the representative of the 59th Assembly District in Los Angeles County. He is a former Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice. The congressman began his legal career in 1984 working in a legal services office representing the mentally ill.^[4]

    Born and raised in Sacramento, educated at Stanford, Becerra did not move to L.A. until 1989, when, as a staffer for state Senator Art Torres, he split his time between Torres’ Capitol and district offices. In 1990, at Torres‘ suggestion, he ran for and won a state Assembly seat. In 1992, at the urging of other Latino power brokers, including Supervisor Gloria Molina, he ran for and won a congressional seat just north and east of downtown. In the years since, Becerra has been a conscientious liberal member of Congress -- immersed in the House Ways and Means Committee and in addressing constituent concerns, and otherwise invisible not only to Angelenos generally but to the city’s political elites as well.^[5]

    Fred Ross award campaign

    In early 2013, mainly Democratic Socialists of America aligned activists, together with many elected officials across the United States came together to urge President Barack Obama to award posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the legendary organizer, Fred Ross, Sr.. The Saul Alinsky trained radical was the first to organize people through house meetings, a mentor to both Cesar Chavez and DSAer Dolores Huerta, and a pioneer in Latino voter outreach since 1949 when he helped elect Communist Party USA affiliate Ed Roybal as Los Angeles’s first Latino council member, "Ross’ influence on social change movements remains strong two decades after his death in 1992".

    Congressional endorsers of the proposal included Xavier Becerra.^[6]

    MAPA endorsement

    Over 130 delegates to the Mexican American Retro Region Primary Endorsing Convention in Los Angeles April 25, 1992 voted to endorse those Congressional, State Senate, Assembly, and county supervisor candidates who took the strongest pro labor and pro immigrant stands.

    Guest speakers were Maria Elena Durazo, President of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 11, Gilbert Cedillo of Service Employees Local 660, and Alfredo Pascoy of the Mexico's Revolutionary Democratic Party.

    State Assemblyman Xavier Becerra won the Mexican American Political Association's support to be the Democratic candidate for the 30th District after he pledged support for extending unemployment benefits for the full length of joblessness.^[7]

    Martinez Jobs Bill

    In 1994, the Communist Party USA backed Martinez Jobs Bill (HR-4708), was co-sponsored by Democratic Party California Reps Howard Berman, Xavier Becerra, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Robert Scott (Va), Tom Foglietta (Pa), Bennie Thompson (Miss), John Lewis (Ga) and Ed Pastor (Az). Maxine Waters of California was a principal co-sponsor. ^[8]

    Supported communist "peace" activists

    In October 2002, the Communist Party USA infiltrated Chicano Coalition for Peace and Social Justice gained the support of several members of Congress;^[9]

    Friends of the Chicano Coalition for Peace and Social Justice:

    I have good news that members of Congress: Grace Napolitano, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Loretta Sanchez, Helda Solis, Xavier Becerra and our California State Senator Richard Polanco have joined us in opposition and support of our open letter/petition. A "No" vote to the war with Iraq.

    Abrazos

    Guillermo Bejarano

    Latinos for Peace

    From a statement by Latinos for Peace, an anti Iraq War front for the Communist Party USA: ^[10]

    Washington DC Sept 24 Rally and Sept 26 Lobby Day

    On Monday September 26 we participated in the peace movement lobby day at the capitol. We met with Rep Raul Grijalva who said he would work to help build our campaign. We spoke to the staff of Rep Luis Gutierrez and Rep. Xavier Becerra who were supportive of our efforts. We also spoke to the staff of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the district staff of Rep Grace Napolitano the current caucus chair.

    PDA contact

    In 2013 Progressive Democrats of America assigned activists to deliver their material to almost every US Congressman and Senator, Joseph Hancock, was signed as the contact for Rep. Becerra.^[11]

    DSA endorsement

    In July 1996, the Democratic Socialists of America Political Action Committee endorsed Xavier Becerra, California 30, in that year's Congressional elections.^[12]

    Cuba trip/controversy

    Becerra's trip to Cuba in January 1997 caused such a furor last week that Florida's two Republican Cuban-American Congress members from Dade County-Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen-quit the House Hispanic Caucus in protest.

    It left the caucus, which is chaired by California Democrat Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Los Angeles Latino, bereft of Republican representation.

    Diaz-Balart said the congressman's trip "to meet with the Cuban tyrant while Becerra was campaigning for caucus chairman "manifested a gross insensitivity toward the pain of all who have been victims of the Cuban tyranny.

    Becerra wrote in his disclosure form of his Dec. 5-10 trip that he had gone there ``to study the impact of Helms-Burton and the effects of the embargo on supplies of food and medicine.

    The trip was sponsored by a Los Angeles-based pro-democracy group called the Southwest Voter Research Institute, which picked up his $1,800 tab.

    So controversial was the trip that Becerra's offices in both Washington and Los Angeles refused to return telephone calls discussing his motives in making it.

    Becerra traveled with fellow California Democrat Esteban Torres, whose spokesman said the congressman was going to not comment on the trip for a while. ^[13]

    Socialists organize to "challenge for power" in Los Angeles

    

    On March 11, 1998, Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America leader Steve Tarzynski wrote an email to another Los Angeles DSA leader Harold Meyerson.

    Tarzynski listed 25 people he thought should be on an "A-list" of "25 or so leaders/activists/intellectuals and/or "eminent persons" who would gather periodically to theorize/strategize about how to rebuild a progressive movement in our metropolitan area that could challenge for power."

    Tarzynski listed himself, Harold Meyerson, Karen Bass, Sylvia Castillo, Gary Phillips, Joe Hicks, Richard Rothstein, Steve Cancian, Larry Frank, Torie Osborn, Rudy Acuna, Aris Anagnos, Abby Arnold, Carl Boggs, Blase Bonpane, Rick Brown, Stanley Sheinbaum, Alice Callahan, Jim Conn, Peter Dreier, Maria Elena Durazo, Miguel Contreras, Mike Davis, Bill Gallegos, Bob Gottlieb, Kent Wong, Russell Jacoby, Bong Hwan Kim, Paula Litt (and Barry Litt, with a question mark), Peter Olney, Derek Shearer, Clancy Sigal and Anthony Thigpenn.

    Included in a suggested elected officials sub-group were Mark Ridley-Thomas, Gloria Romero, Jackie Goldberg, Gil Cedillo, Tom Hayden, Antonio Villaraigosa, Paul Rosenstein and Congressmen Xavier Becerra, Henry Waxman and Maxine Waters.

    Tarzynski went on to write "I think we should limit the group to 25 max, otherwise group dynamics begins to break down....As i said, I would like this to take place in a nice place with good food and drink...it should properly be an all day event."

    Congressional Progressive Caucus

    In 1998 Xavier Becerra Democrat was listed as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.^[14]

    As of February 20 2009 Xavier Becerra was listed as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.^[15]

    2003 NCRR Day of Remembrance

    The Day of Remembrance was commemorated 2003 in Little Tokyo with a program entitled “Race Prejudice, War Hysteria, Failure of Political Leadership: Then & Now,” presented by Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress (NCRR), Japanese American Citizens League/Pacific Southwest District (JACL), and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), at JANM’s George & Sakaye Aratani Central Hall.

    The NCRR Fighting Spirit Award was given to Janice Yen, community redress activist and a founding member of NCRR, and Los Angeles Human Relations Commission Executive Director Robin Toma was honored with the JACL Community Achievement Award. Rep. Mike Honda (D-San Jose) delivered the keynote address at the event emphasizing on importance of passing on the story of the Japanese American internment experiences to the future generations and criticizing the anti-Muslim American hysteria after the 9/11.

    “Today, we are here at this museum because it is a depository of all the information. We have to ask ourselves why we are here. For me the answer is to pass on the information.

    Guest speakers included Congressman Xavier Becerra and Omar Ricci of Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), touched on recent comments by Rep. Howard Coble and comparing the Nikkei World War ll experience with what many of the Muslim Americans have been going through since 9/11.

    Becerra disagreed with Coble’s comments declaring that what happened 60 years ago to Japanese Americans was wrong.” However, he claimed that Coble would listen and acknowledge injustice of the internment if he had a right information. “I won’t give up on anyone just like Issei who believed in hope, justice and finally got a citizenship after all those years,” Becerra stated.^[16]

    Voted against cutting funding for ACORN

    In September 2009, following the lead of their Senate colleagues, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to cut off funds to ACORN. the vote was 345-75. All of the 75 were democrats, and included Xavier Becerra. ^[17]

    Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

    In May 2013, Xavier Becerra was listed as a member the Executive Board of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.^[18]

    Congressional Hispanic Caucus

    In 2013 Xavier Becerra was a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

    2nd Int'l Islamic Unity Conference/influencing public policy

    Speakers from around the globe gathered at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC Aug. 7-9 1998, to discuss Muslim issues at the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference. Under the auspices of the Islamic Supreme Council of America and its founder, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, religious and political leaders alike gathered to address concerns facing the Islamic community and to "condemn the oppression of Muslims worldwide".

    Muslims involved in the process of U.S. policymaking gathered for a panel entitled “How to Create Public Policy.” Arshi Siddiqui, legislative aide to Congressman Xavier Becerra, stressed that Muslim Americans should not only form relationships with congressmen, but with congressional staff members as well.

    Khalil Munir, executive director of Telecommunication Advocacy Projects who worked on Capitol Hill for 12 years, asserted that “policy is affected by ideology.” Each member of Congress possesses core values which influence decision making, and it is important for constituents to be aware of their representatives’ views. Munir supported coalitions as an important factor in policymaking. “You can definitely affect public policy, but it is a slow, painstaking process,” he concluded.

    Religious leaders and scholars addressed “Islam—The Fastest Growing Religion in the West.” Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, asked rhetorically, “Why is Islam spreading so fast in the West?” He reasoned that Islam presents a simple message which “offers an alternative to the modern world.” Shaykh Hisham Kabbani added that freedom in the United States allows Islam to grow.

    Richard H. Curtiss, executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, participated in a panel on “Forming Constructive and Resourceful Relationships with the Media.” Mr. Curtiss expressed regret at the suspicion much of the U.S. media display toward Islam. According to Curtiss, U.S. media outlets are “deathly afraid” of saying anything offensive to Israel, thus angering advertisers, readers and viewers. This fear explains their reluctance to report positively on Islamic developments.

    Curtiss encouraged Muslims to take an active role with the media. By taking the initiative to form positive relationships with the local media in American communities, Muslims can help educate the public.

    Curtiss recommended that Muslims play an active political role as well. He suggested that members of local Islamic centers join forces to invite political candidates to “get-acquainted meetings” to express Islamic concerns, and that individual Muslim groups invite politicians to speak at Islamic events. This should help Muslims in major Islamic centers like Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York City, northern New Jersey, Detroit and Chicago to agree on recommendations for bloc endorsements of candidates in cases where one candidate clearly is preferable to rivals in terms of Islamic concerns. Such endorsements can be decisive in any of the metropolitan centers mentioned, Curtiss said.^[19]

    MPAC

    In August 2010, a delegation from the the Muslim Public Affairs Council met with Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA). A seasoned politician, and influential leader in our nation's capitol, the Congressman began the meeting by expressing interest in Muslim concerns around the recent political wedge issue created by the opposition to the Park-51 community center. MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati stressed the significance of local reverberations of Park-51 in Temecula, CA as well as across the United States.

    Al-Marayati also linked the many cases of bigotry against Muslims with bigoted commentary on immigrant communities in general. In addition to the tense political climate around Islam, the delegation requested the Congressman's support on:

    • International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)
    • Work Place Religious Freedom Act

    At the conclusion of the meeting, Congressman Becerra reaffirmed his support for the Muslim American community during this difficult time and agreed to look into both the International Violence Against Women Act and the Work Place Religious Freedom Act. Others in the delegation included MPAC member and volunteer Kiran Parwez, the Islamic Center of Southern California's Director of Religious Affairs Jihad Turk and Aziza Hasan Southern California Government Relations Director.^[20]

    Clinton/Chile letter

    February 24, 2000, 31 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a letter to President Clinton requesting full U.S. cooperation with the Spanish case against former Chilean General Augusto Pinochet, a thorough investigation into the car-bomb assassination of Orlando Letelier and American citizen Ronni Moffitt, and the release of all U.S. documents pertaining to human rights abuses in Chile.

    Dear President Clinton,

    We would like to take this opportunity to commend your Administration's recent activity concerning the ongoing investigation into former Chilean General Augusto Pinochet's role in the 1976 car bombing of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt in Washington D.C. We also appreciate your efforts to release documents pertaining to human rights abuses in Chile.

    Signatories were George Miller (D-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sam Gejdenson (D-CT), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), John Conyers (D-MI), Barney Frank (D-MA), Pete Stark (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Tim Roemer (D- IN), Howard Berman (D-CA), John Olver (D-MA), Mel Watt (D- NC), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Marcy Kaptur (D- OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Tierney (D-MA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Martin Sabo (D-MN), and Bob Filner (D-CA).^[21]

    Supported "single payer"

    The movement for universal single-payer healthcare is growing, announced Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare in December 2005. Six new co-sponsors added their names to John Conyers' "single payer" bill HR 676: Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Michael Capuano (D-Mass.). The total number of co-sponsors was now 57.^[22]

    Woolsey/Sheinbaum fund raiser

    Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the first Member of Congress to call on the President to bring our troops home, was be in Los Angeles on Saturday February 4th 2006, for a 'very exciting but critical fundraiser against the most well-known, well-financed challenger she's ever faced". Woolsey was facing a primary challenge from a termed-out Assemblyman Joe Nation, a moderate Democrat who has been critical of her stand on the war and on bringing home our troops. He is raising money from people who have given money to Tom DeLay and Bush-Cheney and his legislative district covers 60+% of Congresswoman Woolsey's district. Congresswoman Woolsey is a "champion of equal rights, civil liberties, protecting the environment and fighting for single payer healthcare. Congresswoman Woolsey must be re-elected by the same victory margin she has had in the past to send a message to progressives everywhere that's it IS OK to be courageous, and to not back down on issues that matter."

    The Host Committee for this fundraiser includes:

    Ben Affleck; Ed Asner; Warren Beatty; Jodie Evans; James Cromwell; Matt Damon; Tom Hayden; Wendy Herzog; Mimi Kennedy; Norman Lear; Stephen Rohde; Susie Shannon; Stanley Sheinbaum & Betty Sheinbaum; Lorraine Sheinberg; Kathy Spillar; Gloria A. Totten; Peg Yorkin; Senator Barbara Boxer; Congressman Joe Baca; Congressman Xavier Becerra; Congresswoman Lois Capps; Congresswoman Jane Harman; Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald; Congresswoman Grace Napolitano; Congresswoman; Lucille Roybal-Allard; Congresswoman Linda Sanchez; Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez; Congressman Adam Schiff; Congresswoman Hilda Solis; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; Congresswoman Diane Watson; Senator Sheila Kuehl and Assemblywoman Karen Bass.

    The fundraiser was at the Stanley & Betty Sheinbaum residence in Brentwood. Both Sheinbaums have been members of Democratic Socialists of America.^[23]

    Staffer's trip to Venezuela

    Rep. Becerra sent Henry Truong, to Venezuela for 3 days in February 2010. The trip was courtesy of a $2,219.70 grant from the Institute for Policy Studies connected Center for Democracy in the Americas... "A fact-finding trip in Venzuela and other Latin American countries with the mission of fostering dialogue and improving U.S. policy and bilateral relations" .^[24]

    Obama's Latino Advisory Council

    In August 2008 the Obama Campaign announced^[25]the formation of its National Latino Advisory Council, highlighting the continued growth of support Senator Obama is receiving in the Latino community nationwide.

    According to the campaign, the advisory council is made up of key labor, faith, community leaders, and elected officials from across the country and will serve as an advisory council for the campaign on issues important to the Latino community as well as play an active role reaching out and organizing Latinos in their communities and across the country.

    Its members included;

    Federico Pena, Chair, National Hispanic Advisory Council, Former Mayor of Denver and Former Secretary of Transportation, National Obama Campaign Co-Chair; 
Geoconda Arguello-Kline, President, Nevada Culinary Workers Union
; Congressman Xavier Becerra; Adolfo Carrion, Bronx Borough President; 
Henry Cisneros, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; 
Bishop Wilfredo De Jesus, Vice President of Social Justice, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; 
Congressman Charlie Gonzalez;
 Congressman Raul Grijalva
; Congressman Luis Gutierrez; 
Ambassador Luis Lauredo, Former Ambassador to the Organization of American States; 
Patricia Madrid, Former Attorney General of New Mexico; 
Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President, SEIU 
; Congresswoman Linda Sanchez; Congresswoman Hilda Solis; 
 Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez

    "Progressives' on "Ways & Means" committee

    In 2008, the U.S. Congress' most powerful committee, "Ways & Means" was heavily influenced by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus including Chairman Charles Rangel, Pete Stark, John Lewis, Xavier Becerra and Jim McDermott.

    Congressional Progressive CaucusVice Chairman Raul Grijalva and Danny Davis, joined "Ways & Means" late in the year.

    America's Future Now!

    

    Xavier Becerra spoke at America's Future Now! 2010.

    Campaign to Make Immigration Reform a Top Issue in 2010

    On October 13 2010 , immigration activists from around the country gathered to join in a vigil and rally in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC., where Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez and other elected officials launched a new push for comprehensive immigration reform, building to the opening months of 2010. their banners read “Reform Immigration FOR Families” and “Family Unity Cannot Wait.”

    More than 750 people traveled to Washington on buses from up and down the Eastern seaboard and as far away as Texas, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota, and Michigan. They spent Tuesday morning meeting with Congressional offices before being joined by thousands of people from the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, who gathered on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol to listen to testimonies from families, veterans, and children who face family disintegration because of immigration laws and deportation.

    Religious leaders from a diverse array of faith traditions around the country, some organized through Familias Unidas, added their voices.

    At the event Congressman Gutierrez outlined a set of principles for progressive immigration reform that needs to include a rational and humane approach to legalize the undocumented population, to protect workers’ rights, to allocate sufficient visas, to establish a smarter and more humane border enforcement policy, to promote integration of immigrant communities, to include the DREAM Act and AgJOBS bills, to protect rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and to keep families together.

    The lawmakers who joined Rep. Gutierrez on stage, and addressed the gathering included Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairman Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairs Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Congressional Black Caucus Member, Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Michael Quigley (D-IL), and Delegate Gregorio Sablan (Northern Mariana Islands).^[26]

    The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First

    Xavier Becerra is on the list of Congressional Representatives who have participated in hearings/briefings since 1998, with the very radical Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First, founded by Frances Moore Lappe (Democratic Socialists of America, Institute for Policy Studies) and Joseph Collins (Institute for Policy Studies), authors of the book "Food First".^[27]

    ARA Social Security 75th birthday party

    

    Alliance for Retired Americans Los Angeles: Social Security 75th birthday party with Congressman Xavier Becerra, August 28, 2010.

    ARA Legislative conference

    

    September 14, 2011, Nancy Pelosi and Xavier Becerra addressed the Alliance for Retired Americans 10th anniversary legislative conference.

    2012 Cuba visit

    Senior senators met February 2012 in Havana with President Raúl Castro of Cuba and with an imprisoned American aid worker, but they reported no immediate breakthrough on Friday on winning the American’s freedom. Related

    The Caucus: Senior Senators Meet With Raúl Castro (February 24, 2012) Senators Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, and Richard C. Shelby, Republican of Alabama, met with Mr. Castro for more than two hours, the first high-level meeting between the two countries in nearly two years. The senators offered to take the aid worker, Alan Gross, home with them.

    Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who along with Mr. Leahy met with Mr. Gross at a military prison hospital in Havana, the capital, said prison conditions “are not great.” But he said Mr. Gross appeared to be treated better than a typical Cuban prisoner.

    The senators were part of a group of six lawmakers traveling to Cuba, Haiti and Colombia to widen agricultural trade with Cuba, inspect recovery efforts from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and discuss antidrug efforts in South America. Also in the group were Senator Kent Conrad, of North Dakota, and Representatives Xavier Becerra, of California, and Peter Welch, of Vermont.^[28]

    Labor Council for Latin American Advancement

    

    Congressman Xavier Becerra delivered opening remarks at the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement's 2013 National Latino Labor Summit.^[29]

    Farmworker Justice Los Angeles Reception

    Wednesday, November 6, 2013, 6:30pm to 8:00pm, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP, 333 South Hope Street, 43rd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90071.

    HONORARY HOST COMMITTEE

    • Congressman Tony Cardenas
    • Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard
    • Congressman Xavier Becerra
    • Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D.

    HOST COMMITTEE:

    • Tony Salazar, West Coast President, McCormack Baron Salazar, Event Co-Chair
    • Alfred Fraijo, Jr., Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, LLP, Event Co-Chair
    • The Honorable Rocky J. Delgadillo, CEO, Los Angeles County Medical Association
    • Raul F. Salinas, Shareholder, AlvaradoSmith
    • Gil Vasquez, Managing Partner, Vasquez & Company, LLP
    • Monique Chavoya, Project Manager, McCormack Baron Salazar
    • Denise De La Rosa Salazar^[30]

    Honorary Board Asian American Action Fund

    Circa 2013, Xavier Becerra served on the Honorary Board of the Asian American Action Fund;^[31]

    Congressional Letter for Neutrality, 2014 Salvadoran Elections

    On Monday December 16, 2014 Reps. Juan Vargas (D-CA), Mike Honda (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) sent a letter to Sec. of State John Kerry – signed by 51 Members of Congress – calling for a public statement of neutrality by the State Department before the first round of El Salvador’s presidential elections on February 2, 2014.

    The letter, , highlighted several “important steps” that the current government has taken to “strengthen its democratic system and expand the right to vote to all citizens,” including those living outside of the country, who will be voting by absentee ballot for the first time in February. Since the election of Mauricio Funes, the first President from the Marxist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party, the government has increased the number of polling places four-fold to increase accessibility, especially in rural areas.

    “We’re glad to see so many Members of Congress expressing respect for the right of the Salvadoran people to determine their own future. That’s an attitude that’s sorely lacking in much of the US’ policy in Central America, especially with regard to economic policy,” said Alexis Stoumbelis, Executive Director for the pro-communist Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), in Washington, DC, which has observed every post-war election in El Salvador, starting in 1994.

    Signatories included Rep. Becerra .^[32].

    ARA Medicare birthday

    

    Alliance for Retired Americans Medicare Birthday on Capitol Hill, July 30, 2014.

    ARA endorsements

    The Alliance for Retired Americans Political Action Fund endorsed Xavier Becerra in 2012, 2014.^[33]

    On CAIR

    “[CAIR-LA’s] work of promoting justice and mutual understanding is a testament of your values of justice and equality.” (November 2016).^[34]

    Condemning Criticism of Islam legislation

    On December 17, 2015, Rep. Don Beyer, Jr. introduced legislation condemning "violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States." The legislation is based on unsourced claims that there is a "rise of hateful and anti-Muslim speech, violence, and cultural ignorance," and a "disproportionate targeting" of "Muslim women who wear hijabs, headscarves, or other religious articles of clothing...because of their religious clothing, articles, or observances." The resolution, H.Res.569 - Condemning violence, bigotry, and hateful rhetoric towards Muslims in the United States ^[35]

    The legislation was cosponsored by Rep. Michael Honda, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Joseph Crowley, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Betty McCollum, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Dan Kildee, Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Scott Peters, Rep. Brad Ashford, Rep. Alan Grayson, Rep. Mark Takai, Rep. Brian Higgins, Rep. William Keating, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Rep. Ruben Gallego, Rep. Cheri Bustos, Rep. John Delaney, Rep. Kathy Castor, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Michael Quigley, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, Rep. Robin Kelly, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Rep. Grace Meng, Rep. Al Green, Rep. Katherine Clark, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Alcee Hastings, Rep. Sam Farr, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Donna Edwards, Rep. Robert Brady, Rep. Frederica Wilson, Rep. Michael Doyle, Rep. Albio Sires, Rep. Suzan DelBene, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. David Loebsack, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, Rep. John Yarmuth, Rep. Niki Tsongas, Rep. Jim Langevin, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Mark Takano, Rep. Timothy J. Ryan, Rep. Jose Serrano, Rep. Hank Johnson, Rep. Paul Tonko, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. Lois Capps, Rep. David Price, Rep. Doris Matsui, Rep. Gwen Moore, Rep. Denny Heck, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Rep. John Carney, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Rep. John B. Larson, Rep. Dina Titus, Rep. Peter Welch, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Jim Himes, Rep. Matt Cartwright.

    2016 Cuba visit

    Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and 16 other House Democrats will join President Barack Obama on his historic trip to Cuba March 20-22.

    Obama will be the first president to visit Cuba in 88 years, and the trip is a symbolic next chapter in his attempts to normalize relations with the country.

    The House members will attend along with several senators who previously announced they will make the trip.

    The House delegation includes Reps. Karen Bass, Cheri Bustos, Sam Farr, Rosa DeLauro, Barbara Lee, Charles Rangel, Kathy Castor, David Cicilline, Steve Cohen, Jan Schakowsky, Peter Welch, Alan Lowenthal, Jim McGovern and Lucille Roybal-Allard. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California will also travel to Cuba along with Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

    Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Tom Udall of New Mexico are slated to join the trip. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has been a leading advocate for normalizing relations with Cuba, will also attend. Additional House Republicans may also join.

    Pelosi previously led the first official House delegation trip to the country after Obama announced the change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in 2014.^[36]

    C100 Annual Conference 2016

    The list of "official supporters of the Committee of 100 National Conference in April 16 2016, in Beverly Hills included;

    
    • Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor of the State of California
    • Eric Garcetti, Mayor of the City of Los Angeles
    • Cui Tiankai, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States
    • Penny Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
    • Cory Gardner, United States Senator
    • Mark Kirk, United States Senator
    • Ed Royce, Member of Congress, Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee
    • Charles Boustany, Member of Congress
    • Adam Schiff, Member of Congress
    • Xavier Becerra, Member of Congress
    • Mike Honda, Member of Congress
    • Ted Lieu, Member of Congress
    • Judy Chu, Member of Congress
    • Liu Jian, Council General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles
    • Anthony Rendon, speaker of the California State Assembly
    • Ed Chau, member of California State Assembly
    • Betty Yee, California State Controller

    Most Favored Nation status for China

    Robert Matsui and Xavier Becerra voted to grant Most Favored Nation (MFN) status & Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to China -- which moved more union jobs out of America than NAFTA & other trade agreements combined.

    Progressive Alliance Voter Guide

    Sacramento Progressive Alliance, Saturday, May 26, 2018 Progressive Alliance Voter Guide - Updated.

    
    • U.S. Senate - Kevin de Leon
    • Governor - Gavin Newsom
    • Attorney General - Xavier Becerra
    • Lt. Governor - Gayle McLaughlin
    • Superintendent of Public Instruction - Tony Thurmond
    • Congressional District 4 - Jessica Morse
    • State Senate District 4 - Phillip Kim
    • Sacramento County District Attorney - Noah Phillips
    • Sacramento County Sheriff - Milo Fitch
    • Sacramento City Council District 5 - Tamika L’Ecluse
    • Sacramento City Council District 7 - Tristan Brown
    • Sacramento County Office of Education Area 2 - Karina Talamantes
    • Sacramento County Office of Education Area 3 - Richard Launey
    • Yolo County Supervisor District 2 - Don Saylor
    • American River Flood Control District -Rachelanne Rae Vander Werf^[37]

    Staff

    The following have worked as staff members for Xavier Becerra:^[38]

    • Imelda Aguirre
    • So Ahn
    • Elva Allan
    • Laura Arciniega
    • Isidro Armenta
    • Sirat Attapit
    • Krista Atteberry
    • Imran Awan
    • Abid Awan
    • Miguel Ayala
    • Pamela Ann Barry
    • Gregory Buss
    • Russell Calleros
    • Gloria Chan
    • Elizabeth Delgado-Steo (Liz)
    • Debra Dixon
    • Norma Dominguez
    • Jeffrey Donarski
    • Cynthia Rumi Endo
    • Sergio Espinosa
    • Eva Aidee Garcia
    • Astrid Garcia
    • James Gleeson
    • Melondy Gonzales
    • Katrina Gonzales
    • Vanessa Gonzalez
    • J. William Goold
    • Gayle Greenberg
    • Teresa Gutierrez
    • Yoomee Ha
    • Keelin Haddix
    • Jessica Han
    • Steven Michael Haro
    • Michael Hastings
    • Marisa Hernandez-Stern
    • Tracy Hollingsworth
    • Matthew Kessell
    • Jiny Jee-Yeon Kim
    • Edward Kim
    • Gene Kim
    • Chandi Kumar
    • Sol Kyong Min
    • Damian Lara
    • Allyson Laughlin
    • Ricky Xuan Le
    • Stacey Leavandosky
    • Denise Lee
    • Alexis Summer Marks
    • Andrea Martin
    • Ana Mascarenas
    • Sean Edward McCluskie
    • Xavier McCombs
    • Maria Robles Meier
    • Alicia Mendoza
    • Gladis Molina
    • Elisa Montoya
    • Joel Francisco Najar
    • Michael Nielsen
    • Esther Oh
    • Christine Oh
    • Cynthia Palafox
    • Cindy Panuco
    • Lia Parada
    • Aileen You-Rha Park
    • Saul Pena
    • Humberto Peraza
    • Alejandro Perez
    • Noel Perez-Sanchez
    • Siobhan Prendergast
    • Olga Quinones
    • Angela Karina Ramirez
    • Wendy Ramirez
    • Richard Rodarte
    • Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli
    • Nicolas Rodriquez
    • Stacey Rolland
    • Vazrig Sabounjian
    • Elizabeth Saldivar
    • Carlos Sanchez
    • Arshi Siddiqui
    • Mionica Solorzano
    • Jacob Stevens
    • Melvin Tabilas
    • Patricia Lee Villareal Tamez
    • Michael Jose Torra
    • Henry Truong
    • Victoria Tung
    • Brenda Vargas
    • Edward Velasco
    • Stephanie Venegas
    • Patricia Lee Villarreal
    • John Walk
    • Magaly Rivas Wyatt

    External links

    • Becerra's website with the House of Representatives

    References

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39. Official Congressional bio, accessed July 29, 2011
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41. ["https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1978/05/31?page=3&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE12#article, Stanford Daily June 31 1978 page 3 ]
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43. Xavier Becerra, ON THE PASSING OF CONGRESSMAN ED ROYBAL , 24 October 2005
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45. Official Congressional bio, accessed July 29, 2011
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47. LA Weekly, Crunch Time The race to succeed Richard Riordan — and to reshape Los Angeles — comes down to the wire Harold Meyerson published: March 29, 2001
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71. [http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/the_75_democrats_who_are_prose.html American Thinker, September 18, 2009 The 75 Democrats who are pro-sex slave ACORN defenders By Ethel C. Fenig]
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79. US REPRESENTATIVES SEND LETTER TO CLINTON
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83. http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=6486&pst=347342 LA Event Featuring Warren Beatty, Matt Daman for Lynn Woolsey 2/4/06 January 31, 2006 3:45 PM
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105. [https://www.cair.com/images/pdf/What-They-Say-About-CAIR.pdf What They Say About CAIR (October25 2017)
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