Both of my knuckleheads voted no on the CR, and I told the one who is up in November that I would be working for his opponent. Amazingly, my Congresswoman voted Aye so I thanked her for that and suggested that she follow through by voting for the supplemental appropriation as well as 12 clean funding bills. We'll see.
1) "I so appreciate learning things like this, and will omit using that word in the future." I so appreciate a public figure who apologizes in public and is willing to learn something new!
2) I wish I could vote for you! Is Markers for Democracy or Tony the Democrat doing post cards for you? I wrote cards for CA school board elections. I'm pretty sure no election is too small!
Love you dearly - may you be blessed with ease and grace to support your fine work.
Thank you, Terry! I think our race IS, actually, too small. If you know anyone who lives in L.A. you could send them my slate. Otherwise it's in the voters' hands! Thanks!
(DON'T worry about taking time to read and answer this unless there's something I can do between now and the end of voting on the 5th. Blessings, and may AD 52 be blessed with your service again!)
Just sharing how freaky it is that Supreme Court is doing what it's doing. I knew they were corrupt. (I mean Dobbs after those new ones claimed it was settled law,) but it really is chilling to think that they are slow walking the Jan 6th case.
For a little newsletter I write, I prepared a summary of the major points in "The State of the Biden Administration's Competition Agenda", to which Nancy referred in the "Spread the Word!" section. I also added a few observations. I share that here, and encourage anyone motivated to use this in amplifying the message that the Biden administration has accomplished real, on-the-ground benefits for average Americans, which have not been actively promoted and broadcast, so those benefitting are not aware. This is part of Biden's economic plan to strengthen the economy by building from the bottom up and from the middle out.
A RESOURCE ON THE PRESIDENT'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN RESTORING COMPETITION AND AGGRESSIVELY SUPPORTING CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.
This is a huge win for Americans that they just don’t know about. It’s been very steady and has many aspects, and they are popular (well-“liked”), but they don’t have that zing that motivates clicks and the kind of “likes” that matter to advertisers.
The document Nancy linked to provides a rundown of Biden's anti-monopoly policies and enforcement, and pro-consumer protections.
The document is called “The State of the Biden Administration’s Competition Agenda.”
This document is from the American Economic Liberties Project. That is a group substantially funded by Pierre Omidyar, the tech billionaire who founded eBay.
So, is this someone you should trust? I think so.
His Omidyar Network, founded in 2004, according to Wikipedia:
“Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunities for people to improve their lives. Omidyar Network has committed more than $992 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including Property Rights, Governance & Citizen Engagement, Education, Financial Inclusion and Consumer & Internet Mobile.”
Omidyar has signed The Giving Pledge, which means he has declared his intention to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime. As part of this, he donated ~$500 million to charitable causes last year.
One of the sections on the Wikipedia page is entitled “Antitrust activism and criticism of Big Tech.” This doesn’t even mention the American Economic Liberties Project, which is aimed at this topic as well.
It does mention his support of the anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute, the digital rights group Public Knowledge Project, the Center for Humane Technology, and the distribution of widely read papers by the Omidyar Network laying out the antitrust cases against Facebook and Google.
His network also hosted a series on whistleblowing in February 2021, and it is financially supporting Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
My take is that he is a billionaire doing good work that economically benefits the average person.
The idea of reducing monopoly in order to restore competition is in line with a focus on benefits that accrue to the consumer, in terms of lower prices and higher quality.
“The State of the Biden Administration’s Competition Agenda” mentions and provides numerous links regarding a number of results from Biden’s efforts to increase competition and reduce the monopoly power of mega-corporations. It points to the connections to Biden’s action(s) that brought about these changes.
A sampling:
---Lower airfares
---Fewer flight cancellations
---Bank overdraft fees have dropped by half since 2019
---Inhalers and insulin list prices are dropping (e.g., Symbicort price down by 40%, Humalog Kwikpen price down by 70%, Lantus Solostar price down by 78%)
---Turkey prices dropped 22% for 2023 compared to 2022
---Record number of new businesses
The summary provides specific details about multiple industries targeted by the Biden administration:
---Big Tech
---Big Banks
---Big Pharma
---Big Ag
---Big Airlines
---Big grocery store chains
[Hint: It looks like there is a theme here: BIG.]
In addition, there is a section about consumer protections, naming:
---Prohibiting junk fees
---Banning car dealerships from using junk fees and bait-and-switch tactics
---Click to cancel rules to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up is (proposed), and ramped up enforcement on deceptive sign-up tactics, unauthorized charges, and recurring billing
---Elimination of non-compete agreements (proposed), backed by the NLRB
---Easier for workers to get bargaining representation
---Fighting back against unfair anti-union practices (Amazon)
---Forced Amazon to return $60 million of illegally withheld tips to drivers
---Fine of $250 million against Bank of America for denying unemployment benefits and illegally freezing bank accounts using flawed detection programs
---Fine of $10 million against Bank of America for illegally garnishing wages
---Blocked the proposed acquisition of Simon and Schuster by Penguin Random House (would have reduced competition and decreased author compensation as well as the diversity and breadth of creative ideas and stories
These myriad consumer benefits, all of which are popular with consumers, which the Biden administration has accomplished using new regulations and beefed up enforcement of existing rules, are not well-known, and they should be.
They aren’t sexy and don’t qualify as click bait.
But this is a list one should be able to reel off when someone asks, “But what has Biden done for me?” After all, no one will argue with "He put in place a rule that car dealerships cannot bait and switch you."
YIKES! I was going back and forth among several emails and apparently somehow got it in my head I was talking about someone else's article, I think. Sorry - hopefully everyone could tell this was an editing issue (as in, no editor), and, if not, now they do. Thanks for letting me know - otherwise this would never have occurred to me again. I heavily upon my status as an amateur. I call my email "Random Guy Noticing Stuff", so, keep perspective. Gary
The Dem's have done a poor job explaining the Central Committee, what it is and what it does and why we should vote for certain people or not.
Here in Santa Clara County, I could not find any information online. We're supposed to vote for 6 people, and there are about 15 on the ballot. There are no candidate statements or slates or anything. Very frustrating.
Yeah I don't think BVG does Central Commitee. And I agree, it's quite opaque. RK, if you tell me what AD you're in I will get the info for you, though. I have contacts all over the state!
I hear ya! I, too, found that part of parsing my ballot very frustrating and had to do a lot of digging. Have no idea who I voted for but just went with trusted endorsements.
I agree and will pass that along. My fear is that the party doesn't WANT people to understand it bc they want their endorsed candidates to win with no competition.
Both of my knuckleheads voted no on the CR, and I told the one who is up in November that I would be working for his opponent. Amazingly, my Congresswoman voted Aye so I thanked her for that and suggested that she follow through by voting for the supplemental appropriation as well as 12 clean funding bills. We'll see.
Wow, Dave! Great job! Thank you!
I voted for your whole slate for Central Committee and shared with all my AD52 friends
Also I have some of those Wisconsin postcards at my hub at my house. Since you're in the neighborhood feel free to come get!
THANK YOU!! I so appreciate that!
1) "I so appreciate learning things like this, and will omit using that word in the future." I so appreciate a public figure who apologizes in public and is willing to learn something new!
2) I wish I could vote for you! Is Markers for Democracy or Tony the Democrat doing post cards for you? I wrote cards for CA school board elections. I'm pretty sure no election is too small!
Love you dearly - may you be blessed with ease and grace to support your fine work.
Thank you, Terry! I think our race IS, actually, too small. If you know anyone who lives in L.A. you could send them my slate. Otherwise it's in the voters' hands! Thanks!
(DON'T worry about taking time to read and answer this unless there's something I can do between now and the end of voting on the 5th. Blessings, and may AD 52 be blessed with your service again!)
I wanted to help so I followed the link to your slate. But when I googled "famous people who live in LA AD 52," thinking I could find them on X, an article from the LA times came up with a whole different slate, so I think I misunderstood how this works. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-01/2024-california-election-assembly-district-52-caloza-carrillo-giron-ruiz-primary-voter-guide
I'm amazed at your super high level of productivity. Good luck with you election.
Hahah I attribute it to a) fear b) love for my child and c) extremely strong tea. ❤️
Just sharing how freaky it is that Supreme Court is doing what it's doing. I knew they were corrupt. (I mean Dobbs after those new ones claimed it was settled law,) but it really is chilling to think that they are slow walking the Jan 6th case.
Yeah. I made a TikTok about it the night it happened that was pretty emotional. It's wild.
Can you share a link?
They have lifetime appointments. I would not put it past a couple of them to use this to throw Orange under the bus. maybe just wishful thinking.
But if they were going to do that why delay the case?
What a week! I emailed to help with WI postcards and started a monthly contribution to MVP. Thanks for everything!
Made my day, Jason. Thank you.
After my stint as election clerk these next four days, my head will be ready for postcards. 💙
Thank you for your service, Beth!
Good luck on yOUR election.
Thanks, John!
After the primary I will be happy to switch to WI
Thanks, Terry!
Just e-mailed to do postcards for Milwaukee.Thanks for sharing this link.
Amazing! They're so easy!
I did them in 2020 for Postcards for Swing States.I sent 250 of them to Pennsyvaniaians.
For a little newsletter I write, I prepared a summary of the major points in "The State of the Biden Administration's Competition Agenda", to which Nancy referred in the "Spread the Word!" section. I also added a few observations. I share that here, and encourage anyone motivated to use this in amplifying the message that the Biden administration has accomplished real, on-the-ground benefits for average Americans, which have not been actively promoted and broadcast, so those benefitting are not aware. This is part of Biden's economic plan to strengthen the economy by building from the bottom up and from the middle out.
A RESOURCE ON THE PRESIDENT'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN RESTORING COMPETITION AND AGGRESSIVELY SUPPORTING CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.
This is a huge win for Americans that they just don’t know about. It’s been very steady and has many aspects, and they are popular (well-“liked”), but they don’t have that zing that motivates clicks and the kind of “likes” that matter to advertisers.
The document Nancy linked to provides a rundown of Biden's anti-monopoly policies and enforcement, and pro-consumer protections.
The document is called “The State of the Biden Administration’s Competition Agenda.”
This document is from the American Economic Liberties Project. That is a group substantially funded by Pierre Omidyar, the tech billionaire who founded eBay.
So, is this someone you should trust? I think so.
His Omidyar Network, founded in 2004, according to Wikipedia:
“Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunities for people to improve their lives. Omidyar Network has committed more than $992 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including Property Rights, Governance & Citizen Engagement, Education, Financial Inclusion and Consumer & Internet Mobile.”
Omidyar has signed The Giving Pledge, which means he has declared his intention to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime. As part of this, he donated ~$500 million to charitable causes last year.
One of the sections on the Wikipedia page is entitled “Antitrust activism and criticism of Big Tech.” This doesn’t even mention the American Economic Liberties Project, which is aimed at this topic as well.
It does mention his support of the anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute, the digital rights group Public Knowledge Project, the Center for Humane Technology, and the distribution of widely read papers by the Omidyar Network laying out the antitrust cases against Facebook and Google.
His network also hosted a series on whistleblowing in February 2021, and it is financially supporting Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
My take is that he is a billionaire doing good work that economically benefits the average person.
The idea of reducing monopoly in order to restore competition is in line with a focus on benefits that accrue to the consumer, in terms of lower prices and higher quality.
“The State of the Biden Administration’s Competition Agenda” mentions and provides numerous links regarding a number of results from Biden’s efforts to increase competition and reduce the monopoly power of mega-corporations. It points to the connections to Biden’s action(s) that brought about these changes.
A sampling:
---Lower airfares
---Fewer flight cancellations
---Bank overdraft fees have dropped by half since 2019
---Inhalers and insulin list prices are dropping (e.g., Symbicort price down by 40%, Humalog Kwikpen price down by 70%, Lantus Solostar price down by 78%)
---Turkey prices dropped 22% for 2023 compared to 2022
---Record number of new businesses
The summary provides specific details about multiple industries targeted by the Biden administration:
---Big Tech
---Big Banks
---Big Pharma
---Big Ag
---Big Airlines
---Big grocery store chains
[Hint: It looks like there is a theme here: BIG.]
In addition, there is a section about consumer protections, naming:
---Prohibiting junk fees
---Banning car dealerships from using junk fees and bait-and-switch tactics
---Click to cancel rules to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up is (proposed), and ramped up enforcement on deceptive sign-up tactics, unauthorized charges, and recurring billing
---Elimination of non-compete agreements (proposed), backed by the NLRB
---Easier for workers to get bargaining representation
---Fighting back against unfair anti-union practices (Amazon)
---Forced Amazon to return $60 million of illegally withheld tips to drivers
---Fine of $250 million against Bank of America for denying unemployment benefits and illegally freezing bank accounts using flawed detection programs
---Fine of $10 million against Bank of America for illegally garnishing wages
---Blocked the proposed acquisition of Simon and Schuster by Penguin Random House (would have reduced competition and decreased author compensation as well as the diversity and breadth of creative ideas and stories
These myriad consumer benefits, all of which are popular with consumers, which the Biden administration has accomplished using new regulations and beefed up enforcement of existing rules, are not well-known, and they should be.
They aren’t sexy and don’t qualify as click bait.
But this is a list one should be able to reel off when someone asks, “But what has Biden done for me?” After all, no one will argue with "He put in place a rule that car dealerships cannot bait and switch you."
This is so great? Just curious, who is Nancy?
YIKES! I was going back and forth among several emails and apparently somehow got it in my head I was talking about someone else's article, I think. Sorry - hopefully everyone could tell this was an editing issue (as in, no editor), and, if not, now they do. Thanks for letting me know - otherwise this would never have occurred to me again. I heavily upon my status as an amateur. I call my email "Random Guy Noticing Stuff", so, keep perspective. Gary
The Dem's have done a poor job explaining the Central Committee, what it is and what it does and why we should vote for certain people or not.
Here in Santa Clara County, I could not find any information online. We're supposed to vote for 6 people, and there are about 15 on the ballot. There are no candidate statements or slates or anything. Very frustrating.
Have you checked The Blue Voter Guide? They show organizations that have endorsed each of the candidates and that can be quite telling.
https://bluevoterguide.org/
Yeah I don't think BVG does Central Commitee. And I agree, it's quite opaque. RK, if you tell me what AD you're in I will get the info for you, though. I have contacts all over the state!
I already voted, but thanks. For the next time, maybe the committee can be better explained.
I hear ya! I, too, found that part of parsing my ballot very frustrating and had to do a lot of digging. Have no idea who I voted for but just went with trusted endorsements.
I agree and will pass that along. My fear is that the party doesn't WANT people to understand it bc they want their endorsed candidates to win with no competition.