SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED

                          March 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

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. 

Our next luncheon meeting is Thursday, March 5^th.

“A reservation made is a reservation paid!”

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

 

Menu Choices*:  Roasted Sirloin of Beef, with sautéed Mushrooms, Garlic and Burgundy Sauce or Petroli Filet of Sole, sautéed in Pomadro Sauce  

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

 

Our guest speaker this month is Debbie Giordano, Milpitas City Councilwoman, her topic is “Why I Decided to Become a Councilmember in Milpitas!

 

Debbie Giordano was born in New York in 1955 and moved to Milpitas in 1958.  She attended Milpitas public schools and graduated from High school in 1973.  Debbie is presently attending San Jose State University.  She was elected to the Milpitas City Council in 2004.  Debbie Giordano is a fine example of a woman who is using her abilities to honor her community, here country, and her Republican beliefs.

 

Debbie Giordano is the mother of four children.  Her professional background began in 1973 with the City of Milpitas as an Accounting Supervisor, supervised the Water Dept. and held budgeting responsibilities.  From 1979 to the present she is a Real Estate Broker / Associate currently with Master Brokers.  Among many honors locally and nationwide she was voted one of the best Realtors in Milpitas and one of the top 100 Brokers in Santa Clara County.    She has been on the City Planning Commission for seven years also sitting on other city boards and commissions.  Debbie has been very active in the community: Rotary Club, Bobby Sox, Girl Scouts, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, and more.

 

Reminder!   Renew your club membership for 2009 now.  If you do not renew, this will be your last newsletter. 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2009

 

 

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE   (02/23/09)

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

It certainly has been an interesting month.  The Democrats continue to pass legislation and, as a result, the Stock Market continues to go down.  The media is having trouble blaming President Bush and they certainly can’t blame President Obama.  The Democrat-controlled California legislature passed a budget plan that adds more taxes to California taxpayers than the measly $13 a week the stimulus plan supposedly takes away.

 

On the very bright side Michael Steele is the new leader of the national GOP and he has been steadfast in his opposition to bailouts and stimuli.  The California Republican Party met in Sacramento February 20-22, immediately after the state legislature passed the budget with Republican help.  The sentiment of virtually every speaker at every event was that elected Republicans who do not stick to the party’s core belief of lower taxes and smaller government should pay a steep price for their decisions.

 

On the positive side, there is a palpable feeling at the convention that the Democrats are continuing to overreach their mandate and that 2010 could be the year that Republicans make a comeback in California and the nation. One thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that Miniature Golf is a lot of fun.  We are really looking forward to our tournament in May.  It is more than a great fund raiser.  It is a great fun raiser.  Let’s spread the word.  Eve Bretzke is the committee chair on this one.  Please call her for more information and to help.

 

Our February speaker, Jonas Pauliukonis, president of the Santa Clara University College Republicans told us about the many activities his club has been involved in, including walking precincts as far away as San Diego.  They also attend seminars given by the Young Americas Foundation at the Ronald Reagan Center in Santa Barbara. 

 

Let’s see if we can give a little help to this great group of young Republicans.  If you can afford it and care to support them, please bring a small check made out to the “Santa Clara University College Republicans and bring it to the next meeting or mail it to me at the address for membership mentioned elsewhere in the newsletter.

 

Let’s get energized and organized for Republican victory in 2010.

 

Laura Riffle

President, SVRWF

 

 

UPCOMMING EVENTS

 

Mar 5,              General Meeting – Speaker: Debbie Giordano, Milpitas City Council.  Noon

 

Mar 6               Santa Clara County Lincoln Dinner with Meg Whitman and Dolores Carr as the Master of Ceremonies

 

Mar 12             Board Meeting – Barbara Fergusen’s Home, 9:30 AM

 

Mar 14-15        Northern Division Spring Conference Redding, CA

 

Mar 17             St. Patrick’s Day-Wear Green

 

Mar 31             Sparc dinner – Speaker: Carly Fiorino

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2009

 

MEMBER NEWS

We are sad to let you know that one of our SVRWF members, Genevieve Bettencourt, passed away recently.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. Genevieve will be missed. 

 

Adopt-a-Chaplain is now working with troops in Afghanistan where supplies are limited.  Most requested items are DVDs, CD’s, and grab and go items.  Thank you for your ongoing support. 

 

The club will be holding a Miniature Golf Tournament Fundraiser in May, more details next month. 

 

CFRW Conference in San Luis Obispo:  A report from Ellen Longworth.  Wish you all could have come to this conference!  It was beautiful scenery all the way to San Luis Obispo.  We stayed in a new hotel off the highway and just sou8th of the Madonna Inn.  The Ambassadors gave a very nice fashion show at the Madonna Inn on Friday night to entertain the guests and to get people to join the club.  It is a most worthwhile club as it makes the money to pay for our advocacy office.  It allows us to get first hand information from our state government in Sacramento.  Our state President of CFRW, Cathy Brugger, is an excellent leader who can keep the agenda flowing and maintain order and interest in what is happening.  We voted on some changes in rules.  The best thing was the friendly atmosphere during the whole conference.  Everyone is upbeat and ready to start a real grassroots effort to get our party working together again.  The keynote speaker was Senator Able Maldanado from the 15^th District.  He gave a great speech.  I must say that he surely caved in on the budget vote.  I am writing him a letter to let him know what I think especially because he’s Senator for my district.  All in all I felt as though we all took good ideas and thoughts home with us. 

 

LEGISLATION

California Update from CRWF and other sources

 

Schwarzenegger is one of few GOP governors to praise the stimulus plan.  Fresh from a resolution of the state's budget meltdown, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger retook the national spotlight as a bipartisan bridge-builder, completing a three-day trip here Monday with fresh praise for President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.” It’s very important for the country that both parties pull together right now," the Republican governor said at a news conference. Referring to the economic crisis, he added: "We need to get the confidence of the people back."  Schwarzenegger said the $787 stimulus package, enacted last week, will give immediate help to California, and he characterized GOP opposition to the plan as partisan and misguided.” What’s good for the party is not good for the people, and what's good for the people is not good for the party," he said….Schwarzenegger, who passed up the state GOP convention to attend the National Governors Conference, concluded his Washington trip by attending a governors meeting with Obama and one-on-one sessions with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. -- By Frank Davies, Mercury News Washington Bureau, 02/23/2009

 

FOCUS ON THE ASSEMBLY - The CFRW Supports Assemblyman DeVore’s bill for one nuclear power plant to be constructed in California. A nuclear power plant would help the economy of California. In a period were jobs are going out of state or even out of the country, the building of a nuclear power plant would create a few thousand high-paying jobs. In the long term, a plant would create a thousand to fifteen hundred permanent jobs. A nuclear power plant would reduce energy needed from other energy types. Nuclear power has the means of generating with one ounce of mass more energy than any other form of power. Nuclear power is the ultimate, “Renew, Repower, and Reuse.” Recycling the spent fuel by a method similarly used in France, much of the fuel will not go to waste. After recycling, the waste would have a greatly lowered nuclear half-life of a few hundred years vs. thousands. The lifeblood of modern society is electric power: without it, our lives come to a standstill. According to the state geologist, the areas favorable for locating a nuclear power plant include: a) Coastal San Diego County, b) Coastal California between Pt. Conception and Pt. Sur, c) The Central Valley and Sierra regions, d) Northern and northeastern California excluding the coastal area, e) Portion of the Mojave Desert,  f) Easternmost Southern California.

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2009

 

Benoit Introduces Stimulus Measure to Bill Feds For Illegal Immigrant Prisoners.  CFRW is tracking this bill.
Senator John J. Benoit (R- 37) has introduced Senate Bill 125, a stimulus measure aimed at pressuring the federal government to reimburse California for the full cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants. “If the federal government truly wants to stimulate California’s economy, instead of leaving our taxpayers on the hook for the high cost of housing illegal immigrant prisoners, it should fully reimburse us as required under federal law,” said Senator Benoit. “This cost, totaling almost a billion dollars a year, has been paid by Californians despite the federal government’s legal responsibility to pay. In the midst of a $42 billion budget deficit, we must do everything we can to compel the federal government to pay its bills.” Benoit’s bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to bill the federal government annually for the full cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants. Should the federal government fail to fully compensate the State, SB 125 would require the California Attorney General to use all available legal recourses to compel the federal government to fulfill its obligations under federal law.

Shopping March: Stimulate the Economy and Spend Before April.  The 20 percent increase in the state sales tax rate (from 5 to 6 percent) is upon us starting April 1.   Taking the overall rate to 10 percent in some jurisdictions will undoubtedly suppress consumer demand and divert many purchases to the internet.   I pray this will not be a total catastrophe for California’s retailers.  We can help the retailers in the short term, and ourselves, by taking advantage of this five-week window to go ahead and buy the things we were planning on purchasing anyway.  Businesses should stock up on supplies and replace old equipment now.  If you need to replace a car, computer, or appliance, even toiletries and household supplies, this is your chance to do so at less expense. – The Leonard Letter.  Feb. 23, 2009

 

National Update from NRWF and other sources

National Federation of Republican Women Congratulates New RNC Chairman Michael Steele
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Shirley Sadler, president of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW), issued the following statement today:  "The National Federation of Republican Women sends its congratulations to new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. His experience, character, and core principles more than qualify him to serve as our new chairman, and he has the leadership ability to help rebuild the Republican Party. Republican women look forward to supporting him as chairman and helping him fulfill his goals." – National Federation of Republican Women

Other

 

"The fact is, we'll never build a lasting economic recovery by going deeper into debt at a faster rate than we ever have before." --Ronald Reagan

 

Czech president attacks Al Gore's climate campaign.   Czech President Vaclav Klaus took aim at climate change campaigner Al Gore on Saturday in Davos in a frontal attack on the science of global warming. "I don't think that there is any global warming," said the 67-year-old liberal, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. "I don't see the statistical data for that." Referring to the former US vice president, who attended Davos this year, he added: "I'm very sorry that some people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to the competing theories. I do listen to them. "Environmentalism and the global warming alarmism are challenging our freedom. Al Gore is an important person in this movement."  Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, he said that he was more worried about the reaction to the perceived dangers than the consequences.  "I'm afraid that the current crisis will be misused for radically constraining the functioning of the markets and market economy all around the world," he said. "I'm more afraid of the consequences of the crisis than the crisis itself." Klaus makes no secret of his climate change scepticism -- he is also a fierce critic of the European Union -- and has branded the world's top panel of climate experts, the UN's IPCC, a smug monopoly. – AP, Jan. 31, 2009

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2009