Candidates Forum

Tenth Congressional District
Democratic Nomination

with

• Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan
• Senator Mark DeSaulnier
• Lt. Gov. John Garamendi
• Mr. Adriel Hampton
• Mr. Anthony Woods

Pizza 6:00 p.m. / Meeting 6:30 p.m

Fellowship Hall, EC United Methodist Church
6830 Stockton Avenue, El Cerrito, Ca

All five Democratic candidates have been invited to the ECDC June 23rd, meeting, and as of this writing (June 9) , all have expressed their intention to attend. We have asked them to each prepare a 5 minute talk, followed by 5 minutes of questions for each candidate. Then we will address questions to them as a group, and encourage them to comment on each others’ responses. Each candidate will have one minute to summarize his or her main points. El Cerrito and Kensington are the only cities in West Contra Costa County that are in CD 10, and this may be the only time that all 5 candidates will be together on this side of the tunnel. For a real eye-opener, take a look at the CD 10 map at: http://tinyurl.comm53v9

While only ECDC members in good standing will be able to vote to endorse, everyone is welcome to come to this meeting and learn more about our candidates. To find out if you’re a member in good standing, look at the label on your newsletter, or contact Membership VP Yvonne Steffen at 510-237-0250 or yvonnestef@aol.com.

In order to vote, you have to have been an ECDC member for at least 30 days, unless you were a member in 2008. In that case, you can renew at the meeting and become a member in good standing and vote. You don’t have to be a resident in CD 10 to vote for endorsement by our club.

The only item on the ECDC Agenda for its June 23 Meeting - at its Candidate's Forum is to consider endorsing a candidate for the CD10 Special Elections.

Insurance giants panic at the prospect of competition

Now is the time for boldness! Instead, we're getting Baucusness. Sen. Max Baucus, that is--Montana Democrat, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and frequent spear-carrier for the corporate agenda. He has now been tapped to handle Obama's promised rewrite of America's warped, ineffective, and exorbitantly expensive health-care system.

This should be a dream job for the Democratic leadership. Consumers despise today's corporatized medical structure. So do doctors, nurses, and other health-care workers. So do businesses that provide health-care coverage for their employees. The insurance-company-dominated system is so unpopular that swine flu enjoys a higher public-approval rating! A Pew Research Center poll taken in March 2009 shows that the American people don't merely want the current system fixed, they want it overhauled--76% say it must either be "fundamentally changed" or "completely rebuilt."

Read the rest of this article at the Hightower Lowdown

The 2008 Presidential Election From an Asian-American Perspective
with Stephen Gong, Executive Director, Center for Asian American Media
And
Plans for Use of former Target Store Del Norte BART Location
John Dalrymple, Chair, Central Labor Council of Contra Costa County, AFL-CIO

May ECDC Meeting
Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
EL Cerrito United Methodist Church
6830 Stockton St., El Cerrito, CA
Pizza can be ordered and is delivered at 6 pm ($4 per person) and for childcare, please contact Hilary, 510-375-5647

Meltdown: A Workshop On The Economic Crisis
At The April ECDC Meeting
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
EL Cerrito United Methodist Church
6830 Stockton St., El Cerrito, CA
Pizza can be ordered and is delivered at 6 pm ($4 per person) and for childcare, please contact Hilary, 510-375-5647 before April 23, 2009

Learn about our economy by participating in a workshop called “Meltdown”. It will place the crisis in historical context going back to the Great Depression, and show how economic policies have gotten us where we are today. The workshop is fun and participatory, with audience members taking roles as banker, homebuyer, mortgage broker, and international financial investor.

Eileen Raphael from the Just Economics collective will be our guide as we travel through the twists and turns of credit default swaps and foreclosures and then brainstorm policy choices that we can promote to President Obama’s economic advisors.