SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED

         January 2009 Newsletter 

 

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, Address: PO Box 2153, Sunnyvale, CA 94087

ATTENTION!  NEW CLUB MEETING LOCATION FOR 2009.

SVRWF Meetings are now being held at the Blue Pheasant Restaurant.

22100 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95124.  Phone: (408) 255-3300

Our next luncheon meeting is Thursday, January 8th at 11:30 AM.

“A reservation made is a reservation paid!” -  *Please note that our lunch prices have increased to $20 each.

Luncheon Meetings: Social 11:30 AM., Lunch 12:00 PM, Cost $20.00*

 

Menu Choices*:  Chicken Caesar Salad or Pork Loin.

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

 

Our guest speaker this month is Elizabeth Sanford.  The topic will be “How to Rebuild the Republican Party”.

 

Elizabeth Sanford is the Northern California Regional political Director for the California Republican Party.  A veteran political campaigner, Elizabeth served as deputy campaign manager for the hotly contested “Maldonado for Senate” campaign in 2004.  In 2005, the Santa Clara County Republican Party recruited Elizabeth to become the first professional Executive Director in over 10 years.  Working directly with the elected county chairman, Keen Butcher, she guided the party’s revitalization.  In 2007, Elizabeth consulted for the winning “Dolores Carr for District Attorney” campaign in which Carr significantly toppled her opponent:  61% to 39%.  Recognized for here passion to help candidates succeed, Elizabeth organized and taught at campaign schools for the Santa Clara County Republican Party.  She has been a featured presenter at the California Republican Party events including conventions and a leadership summit on the topics of political fundraising and member communications.  Elizabeth is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from San Jose State University. 

 

Let’s welcome Elizabeth Sanford to this month’s luncheon meeting at our new meeting location, the Blue Pheasant Restaurant in Cupertino. Bring a friend and come “Talk Republican”! 

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2009

 

 

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE (12/23/08)

 

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Holiday season. 

 

We have a lot of work ahead of us to regain the ground we lost in the last election.  In 2010, we absolutely need to elect a Republican governor and we need to make some gains in the state senate and assembly.  Beyond that, we need to make some gains in the Congress to keep the Democrats from fully implementing their agenda of higher taxes and more government spending.

 

Democrats have been very good at building their party from the ground up.  We need to do the same.  We need to find out who the Republican candidates are in local non-partisan elections and help them win.  They are our future legislators and beyond.  Remember how well that former city council member from Wasilla, Alaska did in the last election? 

 

Your SVRWF Board members are working on some new fundraising ideas.  Jane Reed has done a tremendous job for years but she needs some new ideas and helping hands.  Let’s all work together with her.

 

I look forward to a busy year and thank you all for electing me as your president.  The Silicon Valley Republican Women Federated has a great future because of the great energy and enthusiasm of our members.   Let’s have another terrific year.

 

Regards,

 

Laura Riffle

President, SVRWF

 

 

 

UPCOMMING EVENTS

 

Jan. 8               New Meeting Location - Blue Pheasant Restaurant, Cupertino.  Regular Luncheon Meeting, 11:30 AM Social, 12:00 PM Lunch.    Speaker: Elizabeth Stanford 

 

Jan. 15             New Meeting Location - Blue Pheasant Restaurant, Cupertino. Regular Board Meeting.

 

 

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2009

 

 

LEGISLATION

 

California Update from CRWF and other sources

 

Farewell (r)epublican    The budget news at the end of last week was all about “end runs” by the 

legislative majority who claimed to have found a judge-proof passage to get around the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes.  It strikes me that we are well on the road to ending a republican form of government (small r) and 

replacing it with a fiefdom form of government (small f).  The legislature has already seen fit to delegate to agencies out of the governor's control the responsibility to set tax and fee rates.  Admittedly, some governor signed the 

original legislation that made this possible, but our independent Board of Equalization adopts a half dozen or so tax rates subject to formulas that are totally within our discretion and outside of the discretion of the current 

governor or the current legislature.  Can you imagine the legislature delegating to the Franchise Tax Board (Governor, Controller, Chair of the BOE) the power to adjust income tax rates to fit the state’s projected level of spending in a particular year?  We are closer to that situation than you might think.  -- Leonard Letter 12/22/2008

 

Unions See Champion In Solis   While labor leaders praised the selection of California Rep. Hilda Solis to be President-elect Barack Obama's labor secretary, business groups worried that a new union-friendly approach at the department could increase costs for employers at a time when the economy is struggling.  Ms. Solis is expected to push for a piece of legislation many business groups abhor, the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for unions to organize workers. Ms. Solis co-sponsored the bill in the House, and unions have pledged to make passing it a top priority. – Dec. 20 2008, Wall Street Journal

Project Works Project Face The AX In California - No Budget, No Money

Road, levee, school and housing construction projects throughout California are on the verge of being halted or delayed, as state officials prepare to shut off their financing in the most drastic fallout yet from California's cash crisis.  Officials plan to meet today to freeze financing on these projects and about 2,000 others, including park improvements, environmental restoration and repairs to state prisons. – Dec. 17 2008, Los Angeles Times

 

National Update from NRWF and other sources

 

Congresswoman to Push to Renew Broadcast's Fairness Doctrine; House GOP Leader Opposed

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), said Tuesday he is concerned about Rep. Anne Eshoo's statements to the Palo Alto Daily Post that she will push for re-imposition of the Fairness Doctrine. Boehner called on President-elect Barack Obama to speak out against any congressional effort to "limit free speech." Eshoo, a California member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee said in an interview: "I'll work on bringing it back. I still believe in it,” and adding that she would want it to apply to cable and satellite rather than just radio and TV. (broadcastingcable.com) – EIN News Alert | December 17, 2008

 

Ponzi Scheme Benefits Democrats   Speaking of corruption, Bernard Madoff, founder of Manhattan-based Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, was arrested and charged with securities fraud this week in what may be history's largest Ponzi scheme. Investors in Madoff's hedge funds may have lost anywhere from $17 billion to $50 billion. Investment details aside, Madoff was a major player in Washington politics -- for the Democrats. Since 1993, the Madoff clan has donated more than $380,000 to individual politicians and political action committees, including $100,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In particular, DSCC head Sen. Chuck Schumer (the other senator from New York) received money from Madoff -- $39,000 for his 1998 and 2004 races. One will search in vain for such details in Leftmedia stories about Madoff, however. Apparently, it isn't worth a mention.—Dec. 19, 2008, Patriot Post

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2009

 

Obama Picks Leave Opening For Republicans   President-elect Barack Obama is raising hopes among some Republicans who are eyeing congressional and gubernatorial jobs that would be left vacant by his Cabinet. Obama's incoming administration would open vacancies in seven states, more than each of the past two presidents. His picks could put a Republican in the Arizona governor's seat and create other competitive races in the elections in 2010, including in his home state of Illinois -- December 19 2008, USA Today

 

Other

 

Obama Bristles as the Bubble Closes In  HONOLULU – The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone – it’s been closing in on Barack Obama for some time. Now the president-elect appears increasingly conscious of the confines of his new position, bristling at the routine demands of press coverage and beginning to chafe at boundaries that are only going to get smaller. Obama even took the unusual step Friday morning of leaving behind the pool of reporters assigned to follow him, taking his daughters to a nearby water park without them. It was a breach of longstanding protocol between presidents (or presidents-elect) and the media, that a gaggle of reporters representing television, print and wire services is with his motorcade at all times. Then when reporters finally caught up with Obama at Koko Marina Paradise Deli and he acknowledged them for one of few times since arriving in Hawaii last Saturday, he sounded resigned. After ordering a tuna melt on 12-grain bread, Obama approached reporters and placed his hand on the shoulder of pool reporter Philip Rucker of The Washington Post, who was scribbling away in his notebook. “You don't really need to write all that down,” Obama said. All presidents and would-be presidents struggle with “the bubble” – the security detail and the always-there reporters that impose barriers to any spontaneous interaction with the outside world.  But Obama seems to be struggling particularly hard, particularly early. As rapid as Obama’s political rise has been, so too has his family’s introduction to the bubble. -- By Carol Lee, 12/27/08, Policio.com

 

Moore on Ideology – A Study of Political Identification   Voters understand that they and candidates identify with a particular political party for real reasons.  While those involved in politics on a daily basis probably have a more complex view of their positions, voters boil their preferences down pretty simply. Moore Insight recently tested attributes that explain why a voter chooses a Democrat or Republican candidate.  In findings that echoed their survey in 2003, Moore said that the most important reason people vote Republican is because “their policies encourage people to be responsible for their own actions” (26%).  Voters are nearly evenly divided among four other reasons to vote Republican, including: “smaller government/less regulation” (14%), “oppose abortion” (11%), “support tax cuts” (11%) and “they are Conservative” (10%).   The only subgroup that did not place personal responsibility first was voters 18-29 who instead chose tax cuts as the leading reason to vote Republican. People are likely to vote for Democrats because “they are more concerned about the average person” (34%). That is up for 28% five years ago. The other reasons for voting Democrat include: “they support a woman’s right to choose” (14%), “they are concerned about protecting the environment” (10%) and “they support workers’ rights” (10%). --- 

http://www.moore-info.com/MI_PercepOfPartiesNov08.htm 

 

Open Query  "In the final analysis, we, the people, are responsible for the corruption of our leaders by failing to demand a higher standard of conduct from our politicians. Increasingly, Americans have grown accustomed to a culture characterized by moral relativism and individualism. We have mocked Judeo-Christian values -- humility, virtue, honor -- and in the process, eroded restraints on social conduct. The results have become painfully obvious in the business arena and are becoming increasingly obvious in the political arena. When we do not demand honor, virtue, and accountability from ourselves, can we really expect more from our leaders? Have we merely gotten the leaders we deserve?" --Ken Connor, Chairman of the Center for a Just Society

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2009