Silicon Valley Republican Women Federated

President: Doris Whitney – 408-997-0581 * 1^st VP & Program: Ellen Longworth * 2^nd VP & Membership: Nancy Wark * Treasurer: Carol Greenleaf * Newsletter Editor: Laura Riffle – 408-263-0990

All SVRWF luncheons and dinner meetings are held at the Ramada Inn Silicon Valley, 1217 Wildwood Avenue, Sunnyvale, California – Luncheon Meetings: Social 11:30am, Lunch 12:00 Noon – Dinner Meetings: Social 6:30pm, Dinner 7:00pm – Luncheon: $18.00 – Dinner: $20.00 – For reservations please call Louise Kinney at 408-739-4724 or Alice Wilson at 408-733-6352 or Doris Whitney at 408-997-0581

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

SVRWF Luncheon Meeting………………………………………………………………… April 6

Menu Choices: Medallions of Beef on a bed of rice or Spinach Quiche with fresh fruit

SVRWF Board Meeting……………………………………………………………………… April 13

SVRWF Luncheon Meeting…………………………………………………………………. May 4

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Please plan on attending our regular meetings and hearing great speakers. Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith spoke at our March meeting. Wasn't it wonderful to know what a good person we have as our sheriff. Sheriff Laurie Smith is running for re-election and is unopposed.

Jen Jasper and Mika Storz are doing a great job working on our club's contributions to the Fisher House Project at the Palo Alto VA Hospital. Jen will be activated soon and we'll be thinking of her while she is protecting our country.

Congratulations and many thanks to Laura Riffle for becoming the Republican candidate for the California State Senate District 10. She is unopposed in the primary, but will have a challenge from the Democrats in the general election. SVRWF can do much to help and support Laura Riffle (our prior SVRWF president and current newsletter editor and secretary).

On March 3 & 4 I attended the Northern Division, California Federation of Republican Women's Conference in Rancho Cordova. There were 160 attendees with 4 members from our club. Speakers were David Sander, Vice Mayor of Rancho Cordova, Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan (Chairman) and Susan Peters, Founder and President of the Center for Changing Worldviews Sharon Hughes, KNEW Radio Talk Show Host Jeff Katz, Assemblyman Roger Niello of the 5th Assembly District and Chairman Tom Del Beccaro of the CRP Chairman's Association. The FOCUS topic was selected (this is a written study researched by a member group and provided in a written booklet form to each club in Northern Division the following year). The topic will be ACLU IMPACT ON AMERICAN LIFE.Great topic.

Memberships are coming in. Nancy Wark will be working on a new formatted Members' Roster in keeping with the CFRW & NFRW guidelines. Thanks Nancy.

Laura Riffle, a past president and current secretary for the Silicon Valley Republican Women Federated is one of two Republican candidates for California Senate in District 10. District 10 includes the northeastern part of San Jose and Milpitas in Santa Clara County and the Alameda County communities of Fremont, Newark, Pleasanton, Sunol, Hayward, Union City, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and part of Castro Valley and other unincorporated areas. It is home to nearly 850,000 residents.

Encouraged to run by Republican Party leaders, Laura was surprised to learn that she had competition in the primary. “I’m intent on winning decisively,” she said, “but I don’t plan on campaigning until after this year’s April 17 tax deadline.” Laura is an Enrolled Agent (EA)… a tax person who is authorized by the Department of the Treasury to represent tax-payers at all administrative levels of the Internal Revenue Service.

Once tax season is over, Laura will be giving us monthly reports in the newsletter on the progress of her campaign. The “Friends of Laura Riffle” committee has been formed to accept contributions to her campaign.

Asked what she hopes to accomplish in her campaign, Laura said, “I hope to raise Republican registration in the district by letting people know about Republican ideas and ideals. I also hope to raise awareness of the importance of Republican Women in Republican politics. By the end of the campaign, I want every voter in my district to know how proud I am to be a member of the NFRW, CFRW and, of course, the Silicon Valley Republican Women Federated.”

She went on, “With Democrat registration in the district over 50%, I’m going to need all the help I can to get every Republican in the district out to vote. I’m obviously hoping for help from my home club but I’m also hoping that I’ll get support from other federated clubs in the area.”

She intends win the primary on June 6^th and campaign as a proud and unabashed Republican for the election on November 7^th, which will be her and husband, Ed’s 36^th anniversary. “Win or lose, we’re going to have one heck of a victory party,” she declared.

Eve Bretzke and Shirley Harvey with her husband Jim staffed the CFRW information table at the California Republican Party convention in San Jose February 24-26.

They joined members of West Valley RWF in giving information on Federated clubs to attendees from throughout California.

The project chair, Twila Hartz of Southern Division, commented on the spectacular performance of the Santa Clara County volunteers.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House renewed the USA Patriot Act in a cliffhanger vote Tuesday night, extending a centerpiece of the war on terrorism at President Bush's urging after months of political combat over the balance between privacy rights and the pursuit of potential terrorists. Bush, forced by filibuster to accept new curbs on law enforcement investigations, is expected to sign the legislation before 16 provisions of the 2001 law expire on Friday. The vote was 280-138, just two more than needed under special rules that required a two-thirds majority. The close vote caught senior Republican aides in both chambers by surprise… -- Associated Press, 08 Mar 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Dubai-owned company announced Wednesday it will sell all its U.S. port operations within four to six months to an American buyer, providing new details about its sales plans that were forced by congressional concerns over terrorism security. -- Associated Press, 15 Mar 2006

Governor guarantees bond victory -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday guaranteed that he and the Legislature will agree on an infrastructure bond package on the ballot in November, despite their failure to work out a plan for the June 6 primary. Andy Furillo in the Sacramento Bee -- 3/16/06

Perata -- Federal investigators visited Oakland City Hall twice this week as part of an ongoing investigation into whether state Senate leader Don Perata received outside income for influencing policy as a public official. Kevin Yamamura in the Sacramento Bee Heather MacDonald and Josh Richman in the Oakland Tribune -- 3/16/06

"[F]raud is costing California taxpayers as much as $1.5 billion a year--half the welfare money it pays to needy families for child care." While some believe that this figure may be exaggerated, the fraud in the child care system is very real. Since there is little follow-up to ensure that a childcare provider actually exists, it is not uncommon for welfare-to-work recipients to "fabricate employers or exaggerate work hours in order to qualify for taxpayer-financed child care. Then they split the money with friends and relatives who claim to be caring for the children." The head prosecutor of the Welfare Fraud Division in Los Angeles put it best when he said it is a "tragic looting of the public treasury." The child care assistance program was originally established to help welfare recipients "while they are looking for work or, after finding jobs, are making the transition into the work force." Recipients usually receive "$500 to $1,000 a month per child" to cover child care costs; however, it is now not uncommon for this money to go to fraudulent providers. – According to the Los Angeles Daily News (January 31, 2006), Senator Bill Morrow, CAPITOL UPDATE: March 10, 2006

More and more California politicians believe the solution to any problem is to tax the “wealthy.” That is the proposal for funding “universal preschool” and Phil Angelides, the state treasurer who is running for the Democrat nomination for Governor, mentioned this week that he wants to tax the rich to pay for more high school counselors to encourage students to go to college and for lower tuitions at state colleges and universities. Voters have already approved surtax on our state’s highest income earners to fund services to the mentally ill. Before we hop on board more soak-the-rich schemes, consider a few facts: California already charges high-income taxpayers more than any other state in the nation, less than 10% of the personal income tax returns filed in California account for nearly 75% of PIT revenues. The last time we hiked rates on the highest incomes, it was estimated that $1.2 billion could be raised. In reality, only half of that came in. It seems that people do make rational decisions based on tax laws and rates. Ask any of the well-compensated professional athletes who have chosen to establish their residences in Florida or Nevada. -- Leonard Letter 3/13/2006

Senator's past service on retailer's board generating political heat from Dems NEW YORK -- With retail giant Wal-Mart under fire to improve its labor and health care policies, one Democrat with deep ties to the company _ Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton _ has started feeling her share of the political heat. Clinton served on Wal-Mart's board of directors for six years when her husband was governor of Arkansas. And the Rose Law Firm, where she was a partner, handled many of the Arkansas-based company's legal affairs – By B. FOUHY , The Associated Press Friday, March 10, 2006

"A recent survey shows that Americans can name more of the Simpson’s than the rights protected by the First Amendment. (For the record, we can name all 12: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, O.J., religion, speech, press, assembly, petition and partial-birth abortion.)" —James Taranto

"A fascinating story in The Arizona Republic illustrates the growing gulf between assimilated Hispanics and unassimilated newcomers in a central Phoenix neighborhood. A community action officer with the Phoenix police says: '[Longtime Hispanic residents] feel like the neighborhood is being overrun by immigrants... A lot of them are not happy with the way their neighborhood has changed.' Meanwhile, the immigrants complain that assimilated Hispanics 'have betrayed their country by speaking English and not celebrating the Mexican holidays.' Said one: 'Our Mexican-Americans are even racist against our own people.' Doesn't that just about say it all?" —Congressman J. D. Hayworth

"'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.' That's a catchy phrase but also misleading. Freedom fighters do not need to terrorize a population into submission. Freedom fighters target the military forces and the organized instruments of repression keeping dictatorial regimes in power. Freedom fighters struggle to liberate their citizens from oppression and to establish a form of government that reflects the will of the people... [O]ne has to be blind, ignorant, or simply unwilling to see the truth if he or she is unable to distinguish between those I just described and terrorists." —Ronald Reagan

"Our government today is larger than it ever has been in history. Spending has grown more in the past five years than any time since Franklin Roosevelt was in the White House. And our leaders in Washington have created new entitlements for the first time in decades. Lyndon Johnson would be proud." —Steve Forbes

"[If Iran] cut off oil and oil went to $100 a barrel that would make my day. Because the sooner we go to $100 a barrel, the sooner we're going to have everyone in America driving a plug-in hybrid car fueled by corn and ethanol. And I think that would be a great thing and that would ultimately free us from having to worry about these people." —Thomas Friedman

"Most liberalism is angst-and guilt-ridden, seeing moral equivalence everywhere." —Charles Krauthammer

"Given the rate at which it's abandoning the traditional role of organized labor in favor of political activism, the AFL-CIO might as well drop the pretense and merge with the Democrats to form an honest-to-goodness Labor Party. At least that would represent truth in advertising." —John Fund

"Most Americans intuitively understand that mothers and fathers are different, and that kids need both. Claiming that same sex couples can be married is claiming that sex is irrelevant to parenting. No one outside of a university really believes that. But an intuitive understanding is not good enough to sustain us through the arguments that are coming our way in the Culture Wars. We have to articulate what we believe and why. We have to understand that the very concept of gender and sex is under attack." —Jennifer Roback Morse

"The Clooney generation in Hollywood is not writing and directing movies about life as if they've experienced it, with all its mysteries and complexity and variety. In an odd way they haven't experienced life; they've experienced media. Their films seem more an elaboration and meditation on media than an elaboration and meditation on life." —Peggy Noonan

"You know there are all these conspiracy theories that Dick [Cheney] runs the country...or Karl [Rove] runs the country. Why aren't there any conspiracy theories that I run the country? Really ticks me off." —President George W. Bush

Senate Passes Patriot Act Conference Report
The NFRW commends the U.S. Senate for passing the Patriot Act conference report. Overwhelming proof exists that the Patriot Act is vital to securing the United States. It already has aided in the arrest of more than 400 suspected terrorists and has helped officials investigate and prosecute several others. To read the full issue briefing visit www.nfrw.org.

Purpose: A bill to clarify those individuals who receive FISA orders can challenge nondisclosure requirements, that individuals who receive national security letters are not required to disclose the name of their attorney, that libraries are not wire or electronic communication service providers unless they provide specific services, and for other purposes.

Purpose: To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for uniform food safety warning notification requirements, and for other purposes.

Status: Passed House. Roll Call: Passed 283/139, 10 not voting. 94% of Republicans supporting, 64% of Democrats opposing.

H.R. 1606: Protects the Internet from being regulated by Feds during political campaigns.

Purpose: This legislation is needed because federal courts have ordered the Federal Election Commission to regulate "electioneering communications" on the Internet because of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (McCain-Feingold). If H.R. 1606 fails to become law, your Web site or blog could be shut down for the 30 days prior to a primary election and the 60 days prior to a general election should you express "electioneering communications." And any political e-mail you send during those times supporting or denouncing a candidate could also be disallowed.

H.R. 1606 States: To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude communications over the Internet from the definition of public communication.

H.R. 4437: "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act" Purpose: To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws, to enhance border security, and for other purposes.

Status: This bill has been passed in the House. The bill now goes on to be voted on in the Senate.

Purpose: To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide criminal penalties for trafficking in counterfeit marks.

Purpose: To direct the Federal Trade Commission to revise the regulations regarding the Do-not-call registry to prohibit politically-oriented recorded message telephone calls to telephone numbers listed on that registry.

The Legislature Has Fewer New Bills for Second Half: As of the official deadline last month for introducing new legislation in the second half of this two year session, the Assembly has 1,271 new bills to consider vs. a total of 1,777 introduced in the first year of the session. The Senate has 735 new bills vs. 1,115 introduced last year. Bills introduced by committees are not subject to the introduction deadline.

AB 1365 -- Establishes California Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets -- based on the goals set in the Kyoto Protocol -- in the Environmental Goals and Policy Report produced by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Calls for reductions in GHG emissions of at least 7% by 2010 and 10% by 2020 based on the 1990 GHG emission levels.

AB 2490 -- Directs the California Environmental Protection Agency to create a California Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) now that the Bush Administration has proposed greatly reducing the federal TRI reporting requirements. TRI provides valuable information relied upon by countless private citizens and community groups to keep abreast of toxic polluters and releases near their homes and schools.

AB 2823 -- Requires that local governments and residents within 1,000 feet of a polluter be notified when a violation occurs.

AB 2824 -- Requires audits of potential polluting facilities within 1,000 feet of a school. Relevant agencies in collaboration with school districts will identify, inspect, and map all identified "high risk" facilities. These maps would be made publicly available.

AB 2825 -- Specifies that facilities emitting hazardous materials will not be allowed to locate within 1,000 feet of an existing school or new school site. Prohibits newly proposed school sites from locating within 1,000 feet of any existing or pending toxin-emitting facility.

AB 2826 -- Requires that existing schools making structural additions undergo a safety assessment as part of the expansion or modernization process. The purpose is to identify and remediate school sites that were built on or in close proximity to dangerous toxic materials and air contaminants.

AB 2022 -- Directs the Department of Health Services to issue regulations requiring child-resistant gas can caps. The bill idea came from a television consumer reporter who documented the burning deaths of 19 children over several years. Over 1,200 children were burned in one year alone.

SB 1018 (Simitian) -- Elder Abuse. Makes all employees of financial institutions, defined as FDIC-insured institutions and their affiliates, and credit unions, “mandated reporters” of suspected financial elder abuse if they have direct knowledge of incidents causing reasonable suspicion. Effective on January 1, 2007. Chapter 140, Statutes of 2005.

Purpose: SB 840 is an aggressive plan to bring socialized medicine into California by replacing private health insurance with a mandatory state-run program for every California resident. SB 840 will: 1) force every California resident above poverty level to pay a state insurance premium (hidden tax); 2) destroy the current system of choices of health care coverage; 3) drive up the cost of health care coverage; 4) reduce the quality of health care available; 5) reduce the availability of health care, forcing some families to go out of state to obtain health care for their family members; 6) create a new huge government bureaucracy that will make life and death medical decisions; and 7) place all final health care decisions in the hands of a single government board and its commissioner.

AB 2297 -- Fully funds the program to inspect and detect invasive plants, pests and diseases that threaten our environment and food supply at points of entry into California, such as SFO. Administered by county agricultural inspectors, the program is the first line of defense in preventing infestations that would otherwise require the spraying of herbicides and pesticides.

Sacramento, Calif. - Senator Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) has introduced two bills, SB 1672 and SB 1371; both are designed to lower health costs while increasing the quality of care by using health information technology (HIT). The first bill in the health care plan is SB 1672, which provides incentives for healthcare providers to invest in HIT, such as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). The incentive is a 15 percent tax credit or a low interest loan for the cost of purchasing health information technology systems like EMRs. EMRs digitize paper medical records, like your prescriptions, x-rays or test results, so they can be accessed anywhere around the world on computer with internet access and proper authorization. The second bill is SB 1371; it places your Electronic Health Record (EHR) or EMR on a medical smart card. A medical smart card is a "card" embedded with either a microprocessor and a memory chip or only a memory chip (like a memory card for a digital camera or a computer thumb drive). SB 1371 would create a pilot program to determine if the use of a medical smart card within the Medi-Cal program would be effective in improving the quality of services for recipients and preventing abuse and fraud. -- Source: Orange County Register

AB 2499 -- The recent Congressional report on the Hurricane Katrina response by all levels of government uncovered poor planning and inadequate preparation. This bill requires California to maintain a database of all state resources needed in the event of an emergency to help us better prepare for a crisis.

AB 606 would require California’s school districts to enact “antidiscrimination” policies or lose their state funding. AB 606 would also use task force recommendations to require schools to revise their textbooks and display pro-homosexual messages in classrooms.

AB 1160 would prohibit juries from decreasing criminal sentences if a defendant acted in the “heat of passion” after discovering the victim was homosexual.

AB 1207 would stifle free speech for candidates who are running for office by prohibiting speech against homosexuality in the “Code of Fair Political Practices.”

AB 2051 would develop and support education and services specific to LGBT domestic violence.

AB 2800 would prohibit discrimination in housing and housing related areas, including real estate licensure, mortgage lending, club membership, development projects, and community redevelopment, based on sexual orientation, gender (actual or perceived) or marital status. This bill will conflict with constitutional religious freedom rights.

AB 2920 would amend the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act and would add LGBT seniors to the list of groups that have a need for special social services in the state.

SB 1441 would prohibit discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in state operated or funded programs.

SB 1437 (Kuehl, D- Los Angeles). Would amend the education code to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in text books, classroom instruction, and school-sponsored activities. This bill will conflict with parental rights and religious liberty rights. It uses our schools as indoctrination camps for young children. If enacted, this measure could require gender-neutral bathrooms to be installed in our schools and all references of “husband” and “wife” or “mom and dad” or “male and female” to be removed from school textbooks and school activities. Existing law prohibits all textbooks, teaching materials, instruction, and “school-sponsored activities” from reflecting adversely upon persons based on characteristics like race, creed, handicap, etc.

SB 1437 would revise the list of characteristics to include “gender” (defined as “actual or perceived”) and “sexual orientation” and ultimately eliminate all “stereotypes” of the traditional family so that young impressionable children are brought into the fold to believing that families with moms and dads are irrelevant.

It’s CFRW Northern Division Region VIII’s turn to host the semi-annual Northern Division conference,

to be held November 10,11,12, 2006 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Milpitas. The hotel was chosen for its

appearance, amenities, price, and good accessibility and visibility. It is at Freeway 680 and Calaveras Blvd.

It will be easy to find. Northern Division includes California clubs from the Oregon border through Monterey.

Officers of the three clubs in Region VIII have been working on plans and details. Now we need other members to be involved.

We are all working on these. Every member can consider what she might do or what contacts she might have

to collect small gift items (samples, etc) of hardware, stationery, cosmetics, toiletries, and food to include in the registration kits. Any local manufacturer or distributor is a good contact and many will be glad to contribute items.

I have a half-sheet of information on our organization and its members to give potential contributors. All contributors and their contact information will be listed on the 8 ½ by 11 conference program. Volunteers will also be listed on the conference committee list.

We are planning for 200 attendees, but we will be glad to have any number of items a contributor can give.

All kits may not have identical items. If many of us take one business or product it will not be time-consuming

or tiresome. We are collecting these as soon as possible, except for food items, which we can pick up close to the conference time. Please let me or your club president or vice president know if you have a business in mind.

Serve at the on-site registration desk, probably for about two hours before and during the conference, checking people in, selling registrations, and giving directions.

In charge of the orderly progression of the conference. Escort speakers to their places, assist with seating at meetings and meals, collect meal tickets. Northern Division has its own pages, usually Northern Division officers and Regional Directors, but a few are needed from the clubs. This is an active job requiring some standing and walking, but a page would probably serve at only one meeting or meal. Pages wear white with red sashes provided by Northern Division.

Work with decorations group in obtaining materials needed for table decorations. Possibly bring foliage from home to decorate. Possible sale of table decorations.

Regular Membership is extended to all Republican Women who concur with the objectives of the Silicon Valley Republican Women Federated and indicate their willingness to comply with the Bylaws by applying for membership. ($25.00)

Patron Membership is extended to all Regular Members who wish to contribute an amount greater then the regular membership dues. ($40.00)

Associate Membership is a Regular Member of another RWF Club, or a Republican gentleman. ($15.00)

Objectives of the SVRWF

Have speakers discuss events of local, state, national and international interest.

To influence legislation and maintain a presence in state government in accordance with the objectives of the California Federation of Republican Women.

To promote a wider knowledge of the principles and policies of the Republican Party.

To cooperate with the Republican State and County Central Committees for the election of Republican nominees.

Choose One	TYPE OF MEMBERSHP	COST PER YEAR
	REGULAR	$25
	PATRON	$40
	ASSOCIATE	$15

Robert E. Temmerman, Jr. – Certified Specialist – Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law

2502 Stevens Creek Boulevard, San Jose, California 95128 – rtemmerman@calteclaw.com

Laura Riffle, EA - Federally authorized tax pracititioner……………………………………………………… 408-551-2130

761 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, California 94087 – 408-997-0581 – www.c21ec.com

2095 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95126 – 408-551-2130 rosemaryah@aol.com