Our next luncheon meeting is December 6th, 2007 at 11:30 AM.

Menu Choices:  Beef Brochette - Beef, Bell Peppers, Onions & Mushrooms on a bed of Rice OR Chicken Cordon blue - Breaded Chicken stuffed with Ham & Cheese.

Call Louise Kenny 739-4724 or Alice Wilson 733-6352 for reservations. 

“A reservation made is a reservation paid!”

 

Our guest speaker this month is Karen Atterberry, President of Northern Division, CFRW.  Her topic is “The History of the Federation of Republican Women: National, State & Local Clubs".

 

Northern Division is comprised of 37 counties from the Oregon State line to the North and Monterey County to the South. There are 62 unit clubs representing all 37 counties with approximately 5,200 members. We are a diversified group of Republican women of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds. We are mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters. We are homemakers, career women, and active volunteers. We share a strong belief in family values and a government that is for the people, of the people, and by the people.    We are active in our individual communities and we enjoy getting together twice a year as a Division for conferences where we gather to share information and learn more about how the issues affect our lives. 

 

Let’s welcome Karen Atterberry to this month’s luncheon meeting.  We look forward to seeing you there.  Bring a friend! 

 

 

 

 

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE (11/20/07)

 

Here it is Tuesday and I’m still energized after attending the Northern Division 2007 Biennial Convention in Monterey last Saturday.  Everyone there was happy to be in that beautiful place by the sea!  It was inspiring to listen to the guest speakers.  The business was well managed and moved right along.  The election of new officers was a success and Doris Whitney is our new Regional VIII Director.  In the awards ceremony we received the Silver Award for our club. Next year we’ll work for the Diamond Award. Shirley Harvey, Alice Wilson, Eve Bretzke, Doris Whitney, and I attended the conference.  At the Saturday session Ron Nehring, California Republican Party Chairman spoke to us about “California Issues and Politics”.  His message was very upbeat in spite of all we see and hear on the news.  At the same time we must all get out the vote.  Let us put republicans in office.  We need to quite being the “Silent Majority”.  We’ve got to roll up our sleeves and really work our “grass roots” style.  Convince republicans they must vote and not stay home because they don’t like the people on the ballot. 

 

In the afternoon we listened to Holly Swanson about “How the Greens Are Infiltrating our Schools”.  It is a serious problem!  What our children are being taught in our schools needs to be carefully investigated.  Saturday evening was the most outstanding young man, Tim Morgan, RNC, Treasurer and Californian Committeeman, spoke on “National Issues and Politics”.  It was wonderful to hear how he has progressed through the party.  He was born and raised in Santa Cruz and got his start from the CFRW clubs in Santa Cruz County.  His message was very good.  The party is a lot stronger than the news reports.  He thanked all the women there for helping him along the way.  He is an outstanding American Republican representative.  The last speaker on Sunday morning was Tom Del Beccaro, Republican Party Vice Chairman.   He talked about his book “The New conservative Paradigm”.  He is also a very intelligent young man and a real asset to the Republican Party.  It gave us such a warm feeling to compare ideas with other women and just talk republican.  The atmosphere was so alive and electric and I wish all of you could have been there with us!

 

Regards,

Ellen Longworth,

President, SVRWF

 

 

UPCOMMING EVENTS

 

 

 

Dec. 6            Regular Luncheon Meeting, 11:30 AM Social, 12:00 PM Lunch.  Karen Atterberry, Northern Division, CRWF, Ramada Inn Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale

 

Dec. 6            Bring Christmas Gifts for Sunnyvale Community Services (list of needed items pg 6) and we will also be collecting money for a Christmas Gift for our wonderful waiters at The Ramada.            

Dec. 13          Regular Board Meeting, 10:30 AM, 9:30 A.M. The Ramada Inn, Silicon Valley. Board Members please RSPV to Alice at 408-733-6352.

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2007

 

 

SVRWF OFFICERS – ’08 NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT  

 

The following members have been nominated for 2008:

 

President                     Ellen Longworth

1^st Vice President         Carole Greenleaf

2^nd Vice President         Laura Riffle

Secretary                      Gloria Estes

Treasurer                      Naomi Blais

 

We will vote and install at the December meeting our slate of officers for 2008.  Any nomination from the floor requires the consent of the nominee.  Report prepared by Shirley Harvey.

 

 

LEGISLATION

 

California Update from CRWF

The CFRW Legislative Office has provided updates for the on the bills below:

 

Assembly Bill 392 signed by Governor:  On 10/ 9/07 Arnold Schwarzenegger signed this military spouse bill that requires employers with 25 or more employees give qualified employees as many as 10 unpaid days off when their spouse in on leave from military deployment. This bill took effect immediately as an urgency statute. 

 

Capitol Resource Family Impact and the Stop SB 777 Referendum Campaign needs your help!

I would never want to have to explain to a five year old child what transgender is. I have problems understanding how a person is transgender, and I am an adult. How is child going to think about this? I would not and do not want the government explaining to kids about transgender, gay and lesbian persons or how or why or what they are. This is the rightful place of the parent! CFRW took an OPPOSE position to SB 777, which the Governor signed into law; but there are ways that you can help overturn SB 777.

 

**CRWF opposed SB777 and actively lobbied at every level but despite our efforts, this is now law. We need to continue with our efforts. If you would like more information please call our advocacy office at 916-442-4084.

 

National Update from NRWF

 

After Going Alone And Going Nowhere, Congress Should Instead Work With The Administration On [An SCHIP] Bill That Puts Poor Children First.  President Bush: "Despite knowing it does not have a chance of becoming law, the Senate will now take up the second SCHIP bill the House passed last week.  I believe the Senate is wasting valuable time."  "This [SCHIP] bill, remarkably, manages to spend more money over five years than the first bill did."   Congress' SCHIP bill "proposed tax increases [that] would actually pay for 2 million people to move from private health insurance to an inefficient, lower-quality, government-run program."  "We want a bill that enrolls the more than 500,000 poor children currently eligible for the program who are not a part of the program."  − President George W. Bush, 10/30/07.  Excerpt from NFRW Political Briefing, Vol. 5, Briefing No. 29, Nov. 2, 2007.

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2007

 

National Update from NRWF (cont.)

Secure America with Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act, Introduced by Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) and Rep. Heath Schuler (D-NC). The bill emphasizes an e-verification program, which requires federal agencies, contractors and employers to verify the eligibility of all employees within one to four years, depending on the size of the company. In the process, identity fraud wrought through fake social security numbers and stolen credit cards would be downsized significantly." The Shuler-Bilbray bill would also close existing loopholes that allow illegal immigrants to use the same Social Security number and will require information-sharing between the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration and the IRS. In order to increase border security, the bill seeks to provide an 8,000-agent increase for the U.S. Border Patrol and an expansion of the investigative abilities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) introduced the REAL Supplemental Act (H.R. 3857), requiring that each supplemental appropriations bill represent a single emergency, authorize only emergency spending and contain no earmarks.

The House followed the Senate and passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act (H.R. 3678), a seven-year ban on Internet taxes, after having already approved a four-year ban. “Seven years is better than nothing,” said Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). True, but a House bill establishing a permanent ban has 238 co-sponsors, clearly a majority. For some reason the Democrat leadership is not allowing it to come to the floor.

Other

 

“It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create in allusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the ‘research’ to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus... I do not oppose environmentalism. I do not oppose the political positions of either party. However, Global Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about environmentalism or politics. It is not a religion. It is not something you ‘believe in.’ It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of life-long expertise. And I am telling you Global Warming is a non-event, a manufactured crisis and a total scam. I say this knowing you probably won’t believe me, a mere TV weatherman, challenging a Nobel Prize, Academy Award and Emmy Award winning former Vice President of United States. So be it... There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril... In time, a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious. As the temperature rises, polar ice cap melting, coastal flooding and super storm pattern all fail to occur as predicted everyone will come to realize we have been duped. The sky is not falling.” —John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel

 

Finally, some evidence Hillary may not win-- Rachel Alexander, Nov.  27, 2007, www.gopusa.com

Yesterday a new Zogby poll came out showing Hillary trailing five of her potential Republican opponents. Another recent Zogby poll found that 50% of likely voters said they would never vote for Clinton, up from

46% in March. Since Clinton needs approximately 51% of the vote to win (unless a strong third party candidate emerges which is not happening), the ramifications of this are clear. In comparison, only 43% said they would never vote for Giuliani. This is surprising news to many of us who were resigned

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2007

 

Other (cont.)

 

to a Hillary victory. Because of Republican fatigue, the novelty of a woman president, the pity people feel for Hillary because of her marriage, and America’s fascination with flashy political dynasties, as evidenced by Ted Kennedy’s easy re-elections, a second Clinton era looked inevitable.

 

What else is ruining it for Hillary is the steady stream of dishonest tactics coming from her campaign. Voters have short memories and may have forgotten the deluge of scandals during the Clinton administration, but she is continuing to exceed the limits of ethical behavior more than other politicians just like she and Bill did in the past. We heard about a question planted at one of her speaking appearances – and then we heard about another, and another. It’s almost as if Hillary can’t control herself from trying to sneak in just one more corrupt trick. She and Bill have been doing it for so many years she feels she can get away with more than other politicians can. As the media continues to cover more and more, however, it’s becoming less easy for her.

 

Finally, she has never gotten over that lecturing, whining manner of speaking. Unlike the Republican presidential candidates who could substitute for amateur comedians, Hillary is lucky if she can come up with two funny remarks during an entire presidential debate. Her tone reminds me of a mentally ill woman I used to know who would constantly complain and was generally unpleasant to be around. Hillary cannot hide her coldness and always appears as if she’s on the verge of lashing out. If she hasn’t conquered these problems at this point in the election, which are the types of things that strongly influence the average swing voter, she stands a good chance of losing.

 

Issue Focus

Lead Balloon: Lead in Toys and the State of CA by Bill Leonard, Member, State Board of Equalization

I hear that California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing toymakers and toy stores for manufacturing and selling toys with dangerous levels of lead.  I have not seen the evidence, but if the allegations are true, these lawsuits are appropriate.  I hope they will discourage other manufacturers from selling products with dangerous and illegal levels of lead.  

What I find ironic is that the Department of Public Health still refuses to assess any portion of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee against these toymakers and toy stores.  The law seems to give them the authority to do so at any time.  The Department of Public Health has also refused to assess any fees against major candy manufacturers and retailers who have recently sold dangerous, lead-based candy to California children.  Instead, the Department has continued to assess the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fee against the motor vehicle fuel industry.  Even though leaded fuel has been illegal for nearly two decades, the fuel industry is still forced to pay 85% of all lead fees assessed by the Department.  

Stranger still, the paint industry pays 14% of the lead fees assessed by the Department even though lead-based paint has been off the market even longer than lead-based fuel.  The Department’s official position is that the fuel and paint industries should pay 99% of the cost of treating children who suffer from lead poisoning TODAY, but the people who recently sold lead-based candy and lead-based toys to kids should pay nothing. This is yet another area where California’s tax policy and common sense are miles apart and the gap is growing.

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2007