SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN
WOMEN FEDERATED
DECEMBER 2009
President: Laura Riffle
(408)263-0990 ~ 1st V.P & Program: Ellen Longworth (408)354-0419
~ 2nd V.P/Membership: June
Fromm ~ Treasurer: Naomi Blais ~
Secretary: Gloria Estes ~
Newsletter Editor/Legislation: Eve Bretzke
Website:
www.svrwf.org. Mailing Address: 1909 Grand Teton Dr., Milpitas, CA 95035
SVRWF Meetings are held at the Blue Pheasant Restaurant
22100 Stevens Creek
Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95124
Our next luncheon meeting is Thursday, December 3rd.
Social 11:30 AM., Lunch 12:00 PM, Cost $20.00
“A reservation made is a reservation paid!”
Menu Choices:
Chicken Jerusalem
– Breast of chicken lightly sautéed w/white wine and artichoke hearts
OR
London Broil
– strips topped w/ sautéed mushrooms.
Call Louise Kinney at (408) 739-4724 for reservations.
Our guest speaker this month is Karen Kennedy, First Vice President, Northern
Division – California Federation of Republican Women.
Karen was elected as Vice President, Northern Division for 2010-2011. She is
past president of the Mid-Peninsula Republican Women Federated and has been
active with the San Mateo County Republican Central Committee. Karen was
awarded the 2001 Ronald Reagan Award for outstanding achievement as a
volunteer as well as other volunteer awards and acknowledgements. Karen has
attended campaign school and worked in several campaigns.
Born and raised in San Francisco Karen is married with three children. She
has lived in San Mateo since 1963. Karen Kennedy will install our new
officers for the coming year and speak to us about what is happening in
Northern Division.
Let’s welcome our speaker and install our club’s newly elected officers!
SILICON
VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN
FEDERATED NEWSLETTER
–
DECEMBER 2009
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE (11/20/09)
Merry Christmas… or at least almost! I hope you all had
a terrific Thanksgiving and am now ready to decorate you homes for Christmas.
I just got back from the Northern Division CFRW Fall
Convention in Concord. Alice Wilson and I shared a room and Doris Whitney
attended accompanied by her husband, Bill. This was Alice’s last year on the
board as Recording Secretary but Doris will stay on the board as 3rd
Vice President. Shirley Harvey has been in charge of sales so we have been
well represented.
Friday evening was the President’s dinner for Liz
Froelich the 2008-2009 President. She loves hats so most of the women wore
hats to dinner. There were many tributes to Liz and an accordion serenade, as
well. It made you want to get up and Polka!
Saturday, we mostly took care of business in the morning.
Abram Wilson, Mayor of San Ramon sang The Star Spangled Banner and made some
remarks. He had a great conservative quote from his grandfather… “If you need
a helping hand, grab your own wrists”. In the afternoon we heard from Rick
Keene, a former California Assemblyman. His topic was “Never Waste a Good
Crisis: Putting the Train Back on Its Tracks”. We also heard from Dave
Stirling, author of Green Gone Wild. Both were very interesting and
gave us a lot to think about. Saturday evening we were entertained by a
harpist and a Blue Star Mom’s group singing Big Band era songs. Everyone was
dancing in there seats. We then heard from Mike Winther, from the Institute
for Principle Studies and he spoke on “The Principles of the Constitution and
Why They Matter”. I hope we can get him to speak before our group. He goes
out to schools to teach our Constitution and he is quite a constitutional
scholar.
I hope more of you think about attending a conference,
workshop or convention in the coming year or two, it really does help to know
that there are a lot of Republicans out there who understand the problems
facing our government with the Left Wing in charge. We do have a leadership
conference coming up in January and the club will pay for the registration fee
for anyone who wants to go. Please let me know if you are interested so that
we can form a car pool.
Again, we say MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Laura Riffle
President, SVRWF
UPCOMMING EVENTS
Dec. 3 General Meeting: Karen Kennedy 2010-2011 1st
Vice President, Northern Division CFRW will install the 2010 officers for
SVRWF.
Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor Day
Dec. 10 Board Meeting place TBA.
Jan. 1 New Year’s Day
Jan. 20 or 23 Leadership Conference
April 20-21 Advocacy
SILICON
VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED
NEWSLETTER
–
DECEMBER 2009
MEMBER NEWS
Our SVRWF election was held at the Nov. 5th meeting, we will be
installing our officers at the general meeting.
We will be collecting holiday donations for the Sunnyvale Community
Services (see attached flyer) and our luncheon wait staff. Please take a look
at most needed items and bring them to the meeting.
LEGISLATION
California Update from CRWF and other sources
More than $8 million in late fees for the government not paying bills on time. Accounting errors to the tune of $34 million leading to overpayment of schools in Fresno. Corrections officials using $22 million of your money to put up sex offenders in motels. These are just a few of the juicy tidbits detailed by Cal Tax in its recently updated report about waste, fraud and mismanagement in California state government, totaling $600 million in documentable cases so far this year. Of course, there are innumerable other examples that cannot, as of yet, been documented, but perhaps spreading the word about this collection of stories will lead to more people coming forward with evidence. -- Leonard Letter, Nov. 9, 2009
Where are the Choices? Voters are lead to believe they are the choice makers, especially with the initiative process, but I am struck more by the absence of choice. For example, the voters were asked to approve a bond for high speed rail from northern to southern California. It was a simple up-and-down vote. They voted to approve the bonds without being told what else could be done with the money, or even if the taxpayers could afford to pay back the loans backing the bonds. I was half listening to a briefing on the proposed high speed rail plan when a slide came up that compared high speed rail to freeways and airports. For the same amount of money as the high speed rail we could get 3,000 lane miles of freeway. That got my attention. 3,000 miles is enough to add two lanes to I-5 from San Diego all the way to Oregon and still have enough money to convert Highway 99 to a full six- lane freeway from Bakersfield to Redding.
It would be wonderful if voters were given multiple choices such as picking between bonds for rail or freeways or airports. For the maximum benefit to more people I would pick freeways. – Leonard Letter 11/08/09 – BOE
Guns & Numbers I saw a list this last week of the number of concealed carry weapons permits issued by county in California. The total number of permits in the state is 40,296. I have a friend in Alabama whose county alone has more CCWs than our entire state and he tells me that the crime rate there is much lower than ours. Indeed, criminals know where they can ply their trade with the least opposition and California is near the top of that list. If you need a refresher on gun and crime stats, check out the website of scholar and writer John R. Lott:
http://www.johnlott.org/ -- Leonard Letter 11/16/09 - BOE
National Update from NRWF and other sources
"Nidal Malik Hasan, was
unimpressed by our diversity. In fact, it may have been diversity that set him
off. Hasan and other Muslim extremists don't practice diversity. They mostly
practice Sharia law, which backlashes against anyone who won't submit to their
fundamentalist view of the world. ... Why do so many American leaders seem
ashamed and apologetic about America? Holding to the view that America is
unexceptional and that no idea, policy, belief, or practice is to be preferred
over any other is not diversity. Rather, it is thin gruel; unappealing and
unappetizing, and it robs us of our strength. Did diversity build and sustain
America through world wars and economic challenges? No, it was a firm set of
principles held by patriots of many races who were willing to pay the price in
money and blood. These days, we seem to be increasingly confronted with people
who are the political equivalent of shoplifters: they want the benefits
without paying the price. ... I grow weary of having to tolerate everything
when none of those making such demands seem willing to tolerate much of what I
believe. Shouldn't diversity be a two-way street instead of a roadblock?"
--columnist
Cal Thomas
SILICON
VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED
NEWSLETTER
–
DECEMBER 2009
Other
The Palin-Oprah Interview
: On Levi Johnston's upcoming Playgirl spread: "I call that porn.... but I
hope for the best, and pray for Levi." It's "a bit heartbreaking to see the
road that he is on right now"... and "it's not a healthy place to be."
On the Katie Couric interview: "I knew it wasn't a good interview." On
not being invited on to
Oprah's show last year (Oprah said she couldn't have taken the
interview because she was actively supporting Obama) "No offense to
you, but it wasn't the center of my universe." On a possible Presidential bid
in 2012: "It's not on my radar screen right now." -- Posted by:
Townhall.com Staff at 4:40 PM, Nov.16, 2009.
"Advocates of government control want you to believe that the serious
shortcomings of our medical and insurance system are failures of the free
market.
But that's impossible because our market is not free. Each state operates a
cozy medical and insurance cartel that restricts competition through licensing
and keeps prices higher than they would be in a genuine free market. But the
planners won't talk about that. After all, if government is the problem in the
first place, how can they justify a government takeover? "Many people are
priced out of the medical and insurance markets for one reason: the
politicians' refusal to give up power. Allowing them to seize another 16
percent of the economy won't solve our problems. Freedom will." --
John Stossel, Award-Winning News Correspondent and Co-Anchor of ABC News
'20/20', On Health Care and the Free Market
"America once made the
required nod to the Constitution. When We the People wanted to make some
fundamental change or expand the federal government's reach, we did the right
thing and amended the Constitution.
... If we once thought that we had to amend the Constitution to ban
'intoxicating liquors' and later had to again amend the Constitution to
re-legalize the stuff, wouldn't we need an amendment to allow the government
to intrude even more intimately into our lives? ... If Congress were to do the
right thing and initiate an amendment to enshrine the 'individual mandate' in
the Constitution ... it would fail miserably. If America is still America,
Americans will not tolerate being told they have to buy something, especially
if it's for no other reason than that they exist. ... I'm afraid Congress has
not only misread the Constitution, but they've also misjudged the American
people. Or maybe they just don't know what country they live in." --Jon
N. Hall at American Thinker
"The American people are
hearing a call to arms -- not literal arms, for our system can self correct.
But we have to out-organize and out-pressure the Left. They have called us
'the enemy' ever since Alinsky's little book radicalized the revolutionaries
of the Boomer Left after the violent revolutionary groups were readily
suppressed. When somebody really considers you their enemy you have no choice.
Either you return the compliment, or you get overwhelmed by the new Chicago
Mob in D.C. The Left has shown how to fight from a position of the minority
and win. American conservatives by a recent poll have a two-to-one majority.
They are constantly undermined by the political Left: Ridiculed in the media,
demeaned in the schools and universities, out-maneuvered in politics at the
state and national level by Leftists who are far nastier and far more ruthless
than ordinary, decent Americans. This is a struggle for the country. We need
to toughen up." --columnist
James Lewis
Over the weekend in Singapore, President Obama acknowledged that a binding
climate change agreement will be an unrealistic outcome from the Copenhagen
Summit this winter. Over 192 countries will be participating in the
climate change negotiations during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit. The focus of
the Summit will now center on reaching a "political deal" that could serve as
a framework for a a future global climate change treaty. The lack of
agreement over cap and trade legislation in the United States Congress has led
to the postponement of a global climate change treaty. The outrageous cap
and trade bill passed by the House this summer has come under intense scrutiny
as more research has shown the devastating impact of the bill on the American
economy and middle class families. The Senate will probably not consider
any climate change legislation until sometime next year. The majority of
Americans have been reluctant to support the United States taking on the
economic and financial obligations of leading the world in drastic measures to
combat climate change without the commitment of other developing countries.
Other large industrial nations like India and China have remained noncommittal
to the prospect of signing on to any legally binding international climate
change agreements. – NRWF
Political Briefing,
Legislative News, November 16, 2009
SILICON
VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED
NEWSLETTER
–
DECEMBER 2009
The results of Election Day 2009 brought great victories as new Republican
governors were elected in both New Jersey and Virginia. Robert "Bob" F.
McDonnell was elected as Governor with 59% of the vote in Virginia.
Republicans William T. "Bill" Bolling and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli were also
elected to the positions of Lieutenant Governor
and Attorney General, respectively. Virginia is also expected to have a net
gain of at least five seats in the House of Delegates. Election 2009 in
Virginia brought an end to the more than eight years of Democratic leadership
in the state.
Former U.S. Attorney Christopher J. "Chris" Christie beat the Democratic
incumbent Governor Corzine to be elected as the next Governor of New Jersey
with more than 49% of the vote. This victory came after several weeks of
Governor Corzine campaigning with President Obama in hopes that being aligned
with the President would help to bridge his significant trail in the polls.
Both New Jersey and Virginia were carried by President Obama in the 2008
election. The NFRW salutes our two newest Republican Governors! Thanks to the
NJFRW and VFRW for your hard work to help start the turning the tides for real
change! Let's continue to prepare to win in 2010. --
Political Briefing, Legislative News from National Federation of Republican
Women, Nov. 4, 2009.
"[Attorney General] Eric Holder's move to try the 9/11 masterminds in
Manhattan makes it official: This administration has reverted to pre-9/11
'crime' fighting. Amid all the talk during the attorney general's surreal
press conference of the 'crime' committed eight years ago, the 9/11 attack on
the Pentagon wasn't even mentioned. Lest anyone
forget, the military headquarters of the United States was attacked that day
along with the Twin Towers. An entire wedge of the Ring was gutted when the
Saudi hijackers slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into it. Nearly 200
military personnel were killed, along with the passengers and crew of the
hijacked jet. The jet was a weapon used to attack the very center of our
military. That was not a 'crime,' as some say. It was an act of war. And 9/11
mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with the four other al-Qa'ida
terrorist co-conspirators Holder wants to try, are no mere criminals. They are
enemy combatants -- and should be treated as such. ... Holder clucked that the
'trials will be open to the public and the world.' And they will turn into
circuses, playing right into the hands of the enemy. These trials will drag on
for years, perhaps even decades, as defense lawyers file endless motions and
appeals. Meanwhile, valuable intelligence about interrogation techniques and
other methods we've used against al-Qa'ida will be revealed to the enemy
during trial discovery. This move to a civilian court makes no sense at all,
except viewed through a political prism. ... It will only remind people how
much America has shrunk in the last nine months." --Investor's
Business Daily
"From indictment to trial, the civilian case against the 9/11 terrorists will
be a years-long seminar, enabling al-Qaeda and its jihadist allies to learn
much of what we know and, more important, the methods and sources by which we
come to know it. But that is not the half of it.
By moving the case to civilian court, the president and his attorney general
have laid the groundwork for an unprecedented surrender of our
national-defense secrets directly to our most committed enemies."
--columnist Andrew McCarthy
"President Obama traveled all the way to China to praise the free flow of
information. It's the only safe place he could do so without getting heckled.
With a straight face, Obama lauded political dissent and told Chinese students
he welcomed unfettered criticism in America. Fierce opposition, he said, made
him 'a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want
to hear.' How do you say 'You lie!' in Mandarin?" --columnist Michelle
Malkin
"President Obama has
repeatedly stated that his stimulus package has 'saved or created' hundreds of
thousands of jobs. And hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created. In
Unicornland." --columnist Ben Shapiro
SILICON
VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED
NEWSLETTER
–
DECEMBER 2009
