*Message Marked Urgent 

With the Supreme Court Slipping Away, Our Votes in November Are All We Have Left 

Supreme Court Justice Kennedy is retiring, which leaves Trump to pick his successor. Trump has been clear he will pick a new justice to become the deciding vote that overturns Roe v. Wade and a woman’s constitutional right against forced pregnancy. This shift in the court will no doubt unleash a torrent of other catastrophic rulings that will come to bear on gay marriage, gun safety, immigration, voter suppression, Mueller’s investigation, what’s left of the Affordable Care Act, and the list goes on. 

“Critical,” for who? 

Despite repeated requests CA-21’s David Valadao has not commented publicly on the 2018 Farm Bill, which could impact hundreds of  thousands of his constituents with harsh restrictions placed on access to the nation’s nutrition assistance program (SNAP).   

Among the restrictions being waved through the House, with only Republican votes, adults from ages 18 to 59 could be ineligible to  receive food stamps if they are not working 20 hours a week or participating in an approved training program.   

Described as a “critical component” of the Republican agenda by House Speaker Paul Ryan, the restrictions could affect approximately  467,000 participants in the four counties represented in whole or part by Valadao, according to the Modesto Bee.  
 
 

By Sheffra A. Williams, Author

                     Flying With Two Wings:  Finding and Living Your Passion 

   “Love motivated me…more than…needs of Democrats in District 22…”

I lived in Concord; that postcard party was in Orinda. There were a lot of other things I could be doing, like that article I needed to finish writing for a client.   There I was, instead, on a Wednesday, mid-week, on my way to a get-out-the-vote activity sponsored by Commit to Flip Blue.  A person I care deeply for had recruited me to help out; he drove; I had time to think. I had to admit, love motivated me more than the needs of Central Valley Democrats in District 22.

I had already “done my share.” Earlier in the week, I volunteered a change in one of the postcard scripts shown to me to assure me how organized things would be. I immediately began to edit it. Rather than, “Vote for Andrew Janz,” as the beginning line, I changed it to read, “672 votes out of 228, 378 clinched the Democratic victory in Pennsylvania!”  The reader would be immediately placed in a winning story.

I had no clue that the story I told myself of who I was and the purpose for my life would expand exponentially that evening, or that I would write about that postcard party and remember it for the rest of my life.

Jackie Moreau, host of the event, greeted us warmly in her lovely home, and introduced us to five other participants seated at a table. Things appeared “benign,” if one views massive change as “upheaval,” getting a new pair of lenses, or like Plato’s description, “being blinded by the light. A centerpiece of tasty looking hor d’oeuvres was surrounded by postcards, a map of California printed on one side, and tools to personalize the cards, like colored highlighters and sheets of sparkly, multicolored, peel-off happy faces. Printed scripts could be customized, or I could write my own message. Guidelines provided structure. Incredibly well organized, I thought. 

                     “[Nunes] had a de facto narrative of the people in it…

                                          “Peasants in the feudal ages!“”

By Lance Morgan

Last Tuesday, I canvassed for my first time! I worked in Modesto with Working America. As veteran's can tell you, canvassing is a little intimidating at first, but it soon becomes something that you can do. It is also becomes enjoyable and it feels like you have done something good and meaningful. CANVASSING IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF POLITICAL PERSUASION!

By Ted Lam

I drove to Discovery Bay early Saturday morning and got to my fellow canvasser Rae’s house by 6:30 AM. She offered me a cup of good coffee and then we got in her car and drove the two and a half hours to Mendota. When we got to Mendota’s Rojas Pierce Park, we met Karl and Sophie of Kitchen Table Resistance San Leandro, who coordinated with Swing Left for the two days of canvassing. By 10:30 AM, 30 volunteers had shown up from El Cerrito, Oakland, San Leandro, and San Jose. We downloaded and were trained on the PDI Mobile Canvassing app. TJ Cox, the CA-21 Democratic candidate, joined us to talk about his progressive platform and his business ties in Mendota, including helping to establish a health clinic. TJ canvassed with us on Saturday.

Join us for the win in 2018! Ride the wave to November!

#Flip21 #TakeItBack #CA21

Because David only talk... 

News 21 
A farmer’s plea
“Unfortunately, crops and agriculture tend to be the pawns in this, and I would say, we can’t be. This is our business. So much of what we  do goes overseas, we need a coherent trade policy that allows us to do business, allows our customers to buy the product that we have.  That’s what we want, that’s what we need and that’s what we’re looking forward to.” (Jim Zion, managing partner at Meridian Growers  in Fresno, Calif.) 

Shared worries - The recent ICE sweep of arrests has sent fear through the Central Valley where for generations immigrants -- legal and undocumented --  have picked crops, and farmers have relied on them. T​he sweeps have been particularly concerning because they included the arrests of  people not specifically targeted by ICE.     The concern extends to farmers, who fear more sweeps will drive away labor at a time when some are already struggling to get enough  workers to pick the crops. “They’re not going to be replaced by American workers,” said Manuel Cunha Jr., president of Nisei Farmers  League, which represents agricultural employers throughout the state.  

New playbook - Trying to find their voice as their “resistance to the resistance,” California Republicans are taking on the state’s sanctuary laws. John  Thomas, a strategist who is running a GOP congressional campaign in Orange County, said his research shows that framing opposition to  sanctuary policies as supporting local law enforcement gains support among nonpartisan voters.    Casting sanctuary as a law and order issue “is a way to hold on to the suburban voters, who are the swing voters of 2018,” said Louis  DeSipio, professor of political science and Chicano studies at UC Irvine.

Duty bound - “Young Americans are absolutely taken advantage of because we don't get out and vote," said David Hogg, 17, a Stoneman Douglas  senior and an organizer of the March for Our Lives rally last month. "What we're doing here is bringing voting beyond just, 'Oh, it's your  civic duty,' but into a cultural thing among teens…. We're making it a badge of shame if you don't get out and vote."

Sign up, right here 
Starting April 16, 2018, eligible applicants completing a driver license, identification (ID) card or change of address transaction online, by  mail or in person at the DMV will be automatically registered to vote by the California Secretary of State, unless they choose to opt out  of automatic voter registration. (Note: ​California has one of the lowest voter registration and voter turnout in the country​).