SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED

October 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

 

Our next luncheon meeting is Thursday, October 1^st

SVRWF Meetings are held at the Blue Pheasant Restaurant

22100 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95124

Social 11:30 AM, Lunch 12:00 PM, Cost $20.00 each

 

Menu Choices:  Shrimp Louie or Roasted Pork Loin with Garlic Rosemary Sauce.

Call Louise Kinney at (408) 739-4724 for reservations.

 “A reservation made is a reservation paid!”

 

Our guest speaker this month is Larry Pegram, President and Co-founder of the Values Advocacy Council and candidate for State Congress, District 11.

 

Larry Pegram is the President and Co-founder of the Values Advocacy Council which promotes conservative values in public policy matters in Silicon Valley.  They work to help elected and non-elected officials to make values based decisions and take values oriented actions.

 

Mr. Pegram will run against incumbent Jerry McNerney, a Democrat from Alameda County, for District 11 in the State Congress in the 2010 elections.  Larry is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), has helped many families develop and implement their family financial and estate plans. Larry also has served two terms on the San Jose City Council. Prior to his time in public office, Larry served as a San Jose Police Officer. Larry Pegram is a graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in Business Management. He is married and has three adult children, two grandsons.

 

Don’t miss this chance to hear from a local candidate running for California Senate! 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2009

 

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE     (09/22/09)

 

WOW!  What a month this has been for us.  First on September 19^th we held our first annual Miniature Golf Tournament and made over $500.  We still have some tickets left over that Eve will have at our meeting.  They are good through December 2010 and are $7.50 each.  That is a little less than you would pay at Golfland.  I also want to give very special thank-you to Louise Kenney and her son Bob Kenney for generously donating the use of Golfland, Sunnyvale.  As most of us you know Louise’s husband designed and built the Golfland in California and other states.  Now her son Bob runs them and has been generous to our club for as many years as I can remember.

 

Second the September 12^th Tea Parties…  Although you couldn’t tell be the main stream media how successful they were, they definitely made an impact.  At our board meeting I gave out several Teapot pins that I got at the NFRW convention to those who have attended tea parties and have ordered more for anyone who will attend a future Tea Party.  We need to be proud of being part of the “Angry Mob”.   We are helping give voice to our Republican elected REPRESENTATIVES.

 

Third, was the NFRW biennial convention that was held in Orlando, Florida.  For those of you on email, I sent a daily rundown of the speakers and events.  Some of my reports more coherent than others.  Here is a short rundown and I will also give more details at our October 1^st meeting.

 

Day 1:  California Caucus in Kathy Brugger, CFRW President’s suite.  We heard from those running for the NFRW Board, both the slate candidates and those running from the floor.  California had so many people at the convention only about half could get in the door.

Later in the day we had the California delegations picture taken.  They had trouble getting us all in the picture and ladies kept showing up late so it took about a half hour to finally get our picture.  I can’t wait to see it.

That evening we had the Opening Reception, it had to be moved inside because of rain so we had a little trouble getting anywhere near the speakers but we mingled with everyone and then went to a couple of state parties.  Florida was serving homemade ice cream made as you waited with liquid nitrogen, it was sure good.  Mississippi had a 50’s party with Elvis (we missed him… he had already left the building by the time we arrived) and pretzels, popcorn and beer, I skipped the beer but enjoyed the music and the people were the most friendly there.

 

Day 2:  Great speakers… Charlie Crist, governor of Florida, Sue Everhart the first women chairperson of the Georgia Republican Party, RNC Chair, Michael Steele and Benjamin Sasse, former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush all spoke in the morning session.

Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota spoke at the luncheon. 

In the afternoon I went to a workshop on “Why Women don’t get elected”.  This was very interesting and the views were varied but the most interesting one was that in the end many women won’t vote for a women!

 

Day3:  This was the day of great speakers: First, Mason Weaver, president of Mason Media Company and author of “It’s OK to Leave the Plantation”. Second, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, author of Principles for a successful life and daughter of Newt Gingrich. Third, Angela McGlowan, a FOX political analyst and author of “Bamboozled. And last but hardly least Francis Rice, President of the National Black Republican Association.  I will have her newsletter at the October meeting.  She was the most dynamic speaker of them all and they all were great.

 

I had a great time and came back energized.  I can’t wait to see you all October 1^st and share more of my experience with you.

 

Laura Riffle

President, SVRWF

 

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2009

UPCOMMING EVENTS

 

Oct. 1                           General Meeting Blue Pheasant Restaurant Cupertino

                                    Speaker:  Larry Pegram Values Advocacy Council

 

Oct. 8                           11:30 am Lunch Board Meeting Shirley Harvey’s Home

 

Oct. 16-18                   CFRW Convention, Ontario

 

Nov.11                                    Veterans Day

 

Nov.13-15                   Northern Division CFRW Convention, Concord

 

MEMBER NEWS

Thanks to all our supporters of our first SVRWF Mini-Golf Tournament Fundraiser held September 19, 2009.   We had a great time playing in the tournament and “talking Republican”.   For those of you who were unable to participate in our fundraiser so far, we have 2-packs and 4-packs of complimentary passes to Golfland along with other “goodies” available for donation levels of $15 and $25.  It’s not too late to support your club’s fundraising effort for the coming year.   These packages will be available at our October 1^st meeting.  In closing, a special thank you goes to Louise Kenney for making this year’s fundraiser so successful.  

 

LEGISLATION

California Update from CRWF and other sources

 

Income Inequality vs. Income Mobility:  We hear a lot of talk about the income gap in America.  It seems to be true that those who have high skills and understand technology will increasingly outpace the incomes of those who do not.  But is this a bad thing?  The real question is whether people in America have the chance to change the circumstances in their lives. Two staffers at the U.S. Treasury Department have authored a study on income mobility.  Their findings may be surprising to some: Individuals in the U.S. economy over the 1996-2005 period enjoyed tremendous income mobility. More than half of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile over this period. About half of those in the bottom income quintile in 1996 moved to a higher income group by 2005.The composition of the very top income groups changed dramatically over time. Less than half of those in the top 1% in 1996 were still in the top 1% in 2005. Less than one-fourth of the individuals in the top 1/100th percent in 1996 remained in that group in 2005. Upward and downward mobility is affected by many factors. But the most important are where you start and if your marital status changes.  Which is another way of repeating the old economic advice that to avoid poverty you need to graduate high school and to get and stay married.  – Leonard Letter. 9/14/09

The California Republican Party's Technology Leadership Initiative:  Web 1.0 was about rapidly sharing information at low cost through email and websites. Web 2.0 added social networking and lateral sharing of information through applications like Facebook, Twitter, Flicker and You Tube. Web 3.0 is just now in development. We will ensure our candidates and party organizations are benefiting from all of these new technologies.  The Technology Leadership Committee consists of leaders drawn from the technology and campaign sectors to bring state party operations to the leading edge of current technologies while simultaneously monitoring the development of the new technologies which are just now making their way into society. "Technology is rapidly changing how voters, donors, activists, elected officials and candidates network and share information. Our objective is to make the California Republican Party the national leader in using new technologies to build the party and support our candidates for the 2010 election and beyond," said Chairman Nehring  -- excerpts from Republican Leadership Update 09/17/09

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2009

The CFRW Legislative Advocate and Analysts have been following important legislation that has passed and is now waiting on the Governor’s action. There is still time to act! Here are four bills CFRW opposes. You can take action on any or all of these bills by calling the Governor's office at (916) 445 2841. Follow the recording when prompted and make your opinion heard!  Call NOW!

·         SB 572 (Leno, D-3) “Harvey Milk Day”: Requiring public schools and institutions to commemorate Harvey Milk every year on May 22nd.

• AB 962 (de Leon, D-45) “Ammunition Sales”: Although the Senate amended this bill to no longer prohibit the private transfer of more than 50 rounds of ammunition in a 30 day period, the bill still encroaches on our Second Amendment rights by prohibiting mail order ammunition sales as well as requiring every individual purchasing ammunition to be fingerprinted and made available to the Department of Justice.
• SB 585 (Leno, D-3) “Cow Palace Firearms Sales”: This bill would prohibit the sale of firearms at the Cow Palace. This proposal is just the first step to prohibiting all sales of firearms on public property.
• AB 1422 (Bass, D-47) “Healthy Families”: Imposes a 2.35 % tax on insurance companies who will in turn increase co-pays and premiums. The bill includes no programmatic reforms such as an elimination of state funded optional benefits like acupuncture, chiropractic procedures or abortion.

 

CA Governor Wants ACORN Investigated:   Raising the stakes involved in the scandal surrounding the anti-poverty group ACORN, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging a "full investigation" by California Attorney General Jerry Brown into ACORN's California activities. The governor sent a letter Wednesday to Brown, referring to "news stories regarding the ACORN organization that have concerned me greatly." -- September 1,  2009,  KCRA

 

 

National Update from NRWF and other sources

 

Dems block GOP demand for more time for Health Care Bill HR3200:  Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday turned back a Republican amendment to wait 72 hours and require a full cost estimate before the final committee vote on the health care reform bill. It was the committee's first vote out of more than 500 amendments awaiting them, in what has already been a contentious mark-up session. The amendment would have delayed a vote on the final bill for about two weeks to allow the Congressional Budget Office to complete its final analysis on the cost and implications of the legislation. Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans for the amendment, further signaling that she may be an attractive swing vote for Republicans. Instead, the panel passed an alternative amendment that would require the committee to post the full bill, in "conceptual" instead of legal language, as well as a CBO cost estimate. -- Jennifer Haberkorn and , Washington Times, September 23, 2009

Wilson Rebuked:  On Tuesday, the House voted 240-179 -- largely along party lines -- to "disapprove" the behavior of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who shouted, "You lie!" at President Barack Obama during a particularly galling portion of the Obfuscator-in-Chief's speech to a joint session of Congress last Wednesday. Wilson had already apologized and Obama had accepted, but that wasn't good enough for House Democrats. It is noteworthy that just prior to Wilson's outburst, Obama said that the charge of "panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens" was "a lie, plain and simple." He then called the claim that ObamaCare would cover illegal aliens "false." It was this straw that broke Wilson's back. Oddly enough, immediately after this bit of truth-telling, Wilson's fellow lawmakers began working on health care reform language that would explicitly deny coverage to illegals, while Obama began advocating legalizing illegals so that they can get health care coverage. In other news, the president has yet to apologize for calling his opponents liars, and the House did not vote to disapprove. --

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2009

ACORN: "After Acorn workers were caught on tape in three cities allegedly abetting what they believed was a fraudulent-mortgage and sex-trafficking scheme, the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip the group of funding in the Transportation/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The amendment, offered by NE Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, passed 83-to-7 and marked the third time this year that Republicans have tried to block the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now from feeding at the federal trough. Seven Democrats refused to do the right thing. The magnificent seven are Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; both Vermont Democrats, Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy, as well as both Illinois Democrats, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Roland Burris. This vote comes after the release of three hidden-camera videos showing Acorn housing staff in its Baltimore, Washington and New York offices apparently helping a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute evade the IRS and apply for an illegal housing loan to set up a brothel. (Insert stimulus joke here.) The Census Bureau immediately severed ties with Acorn, unconcerned that prostitutes and tax evaders might be undercounted in the 2010 census." -- Investor's Business Daily, Sept.  15, 2009

"Taxpayers deserve to know how ACORN and its vast web of nonprofit, tax-exempt affiliates are using their money (40 percent of the group's revenue comes from the government). The flagship group trains publicly funded ACORN tax advisers and mortgage counselors across the country." -- columnist Michelle Malkin

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she is clueless about an amendment to prohibit government funds for embattled ACORN, although it overwhelmingly passed the Senate Monday and the White House is calling for the group to be held accountable. "I don't even know what they passed," Pelosi told The Post yesterday. "What did they do? They defunded it?" The amendment to suspend housing grants was a stunning blow to the community-activist group -- and came as some Democrats and the White House have been backing away from the group. The vote was preceded by the release of videos by conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute soliciting -- and receiving -- tips from ACORN employees about how to shield income, avoid taxes and set up a brothel.  – New York Post, 9/17/09

In her maiden Supreme Court appearance last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor made a provocative comment that probed the foundations of corporate law. During arguments in a campaign-finance case, the court's majority conservatives seemed persuaded that corporations have broad First Amendment rights and that recent precedents upholding limits on corporate political spending should be overruled.  But Justice Sotomayor suggested the majority might have it all wrong -- and that instead the court should reconsider the 19th century rulings that first afforded corporations the same rights flesh-and-blood people have. Judges "created corporations as persons, gave birth to corporations as persons," she said. "There could be an argument made that that was the court's error to start with...[imbuing] a creature of state law with human characteristics." After a confirmation process that revealed little of her legal philosophy, the remark offered an early hint of the direction Justice Sotomayor might want to take the court. – Law Journal, 09/17/09

 

Other

 

"Can someone explain to me how President Barack Obama's grandiose scheme destined to reduce the quality of the best health care system in the history of the world, force millions of people who choose not to purchase health insurance to purchase it, greatly increase medical costs, our deficits and national debt, ultimately reduce patient choice, and place health care decisions in the hands of heartless bureaucrats is somehow a demonstration of compassion?" --columnist David Limbaugh

 

Tough political realities quiet youth 'Obamamania':  Young Americans showed their collective power when they helped vote President Obama into office. Inspired by his message of "change," they knocked on doors, spread flyers, voted for him by a 2-1 margin, and partied like rock-the-vote stars when he won. Since the election, though, that fervor has died down — noticeably. And while young people remain the president's most loyal supporters in opinion polls, a lot of people are wondering why that age group isn't doing more to build upon their newfound reputation as political influencers…(full article on Yahoo.com) --Martha Irvine, AP, National Writer, Sept. 22, 2009

 

 

 

 

SILICON VALLEY REPUBLICAN WOMEN FEDERATED NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2009