Nov. 13, 2008

Believe It.  Political change sweeps San Diego!

Change came to San Diego County as well as the nation on November 4. 

Our traditionally red county turned blue, voting 54% for Barack Obama.  It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate got more than half the county's vote since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reelected 64 years ago.

Voter registration trends also showed a changing region.  Countywide, the number of registered Democrats surpassed Republicans this year.

The changes underway run much deeper than a partisan shift.  The City Council and the San Diego Unified School Board both will enter 2009 with solid majorities of progressive thinkers who give top priority to the needs of low- and moderate-income families, strengthening our communities and creating good jobs with healthcare coverage.

Taxes provide education and city services
And the results on ballot propositions indicate a renewed collective spirit.  The region's long-standing anti-tax fervor gave way in this election to support for government funding to meet our common needs.

• Voters approved all 7 school bond measures on ballots across the county, most by wide margins.  Proposition S, which will raise $2.1 billion in bonds for San Diego Unified School District, passed with 68% of the vote. Voters declared they are willing to pay slightly higher property taxes to improve schools and education in our communities. 

• In La Mesa, El Cajon and National City, voters agreed to increase or maintain sales taxes to fund basic city services.  Officials in these cities say the votes will let them escape drastic budget cuts such as San Diego is now facing.

• In Del Mar and Encinitas, hotel taxes were increased or expanded.

• Even the proposed countywide parcel tax for regional fire protection, while falling short of the required two-thirds approval, got 63% of the vote.  That's despite an almost nonexistent campaign on its behalf. 

Despite the current economic distress -- or maybe partly because of it -- voters throughout San Diego County are ready to chip in and work together to build a stronger region in which we all can prosper.

The Education of Alan Greenspan

Free-market zealots who vilified government for decades failed to see and prepare for the crises resulting from deregulation of the banking and credit industry.  Even former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has now admitted he was wrong.

In The Education of Alan Greenspan, published on the Huffington Post website, CPI Executive Director Donald Cohen writes that progressives are well positioned to overcome the distrust of government instilled by years of right-wing messaging.  As the era of blind faith in the free market comes to a close, he argues, it is time for a new New Deal to meet our economic and environmental challenges.

Breakfast for Justice

CPI's own Quynh Nguyen will be honored at this year's Voices for Justice Breakfast benefiting the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County.  ICWJ and CPI have been allies for 10 years in advocating for living wages and other advances in the lives of San Diego's working families, and Quynh has been key to the development of both organizations.

The breakfast program begins at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 4, at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay on Quivira Road. For tickets or further information, email Voices4Justice@ICWJ.org or click here for a reservation form.