(Cross-posted at MyDD and Daily Kos)

Ah, 2007 is coming to close! 2008 is almost here! We have less than a year left until the November election, and a little more than a year until Bush & Cheney are finally out of office. Aren’t you glad the new year is coming?

I know I am. I’m glad that the time is here for us to pick a President. Will you please join me after a flip for more as we talk about our chance for a new beginning next year?



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Filed under: National-US | 2 Comments »

The California Teachers Association shined its spotlight on Santa Ana City Councilmember Sal Tinajero in its latest edition of California Educator magazine.  The article focuses on Tinajero’s incredibly successful efforts with Fullerton High School’s Speech & Debate team.  Under Tinajero’s tutelage the last 5 years, the Fullerton High School team has become nationally recognized and is a top team locally, statewide and across the nation. 

The article does not even mention Sal’s involvement in politics and that is fitting because he sees himself as a “teacher/coach” long before he sees himself as a “politician”.  Having had the opportunity to see Sal at work with his team firsthand, I can tell you he does a fabulous job and really makes a difference in the lives of the students he works with.  The respect, admiration and love his students have for him and he for them says it all.  He is really changing lives with his work and for that he should be commended.

Sal’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by those in the know.  In 2005, Hispanic Magazine named Sal the National Latino Teacher of the Year.  Sal works tirelessly with his team and his efforts have paid off not only with the teams success but also with many of his students earning full college scholarships as a result of the speech team activities.  Many of the kids come from homes where English is a second language, have learning disabilities or are struggling students which makes the success ever more remarkable.

Despite having his hands full with his job, the Fullerton team, his city council position and his young family with 3 children, Sal is working hard to get a speech team program started in the Santa Ana Unified as well.  While some like to talk about doing things for our youth and hold public meetings to pat themselves on the back, Sal is actually doing something to make a difference and help them improve their lives.  Great job Sal and kudos to you for all that you do to help the children.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a bright, infinite future. 


Leonard Bernstein 

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

OK, so now you know some of our favorite things of 2007… What have been YOUR favorite things this year? In this final Liberal OC Open Forum of 2007, we want to ask what you think about 2007.

Who’s been your favorite local scandalicious Republican? Who’s been your favorite fighting Democrat? Do you think the Battle of Bolsa Chica has been the big environmental story of the year, or were you too busy trying to save Trestles and stop the 241 from making havoc in San Onofre? Will 2007 be remembered as the year Anaheim finally gave Disney a challenge over the SunCal housing project, or as the year Santa Ana fell back into political turmoil over the “Renaissance Plan”? Will 2007 be remembered for Janet Nguyen’s many missteps in Central County, or for Diane Harkey rocking South County politics with her controversial actions?

I want to hear what you have to say. Why will you be remembering 2007? Which OC politicos have made the biggest impact, positive and/or negative, on local politics? And which newsmakers in 2007 will become the big stories of 2008?

Remember: This is YOUR open forum. Now that we’ve given you our thoughts on this past year, we want to hear your thoughts. So come on now, you know what to do!

Go ahead. Make my day. Have your say!

Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Hey there, all you revelers! Are you planning to go out tonight to celebrate the new year? And would you like to do so safely? If so, then OCTA is here to help.

If you plan to ring in the New Year safely, without driving a car, consider riding an Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) bus on New Years Eve. OCTA will provide free bus services on all routes between 6 p.m. on New Years Eve (Dec. 31, 2007) and 4 a.m. on New Years Day (Jan.1, 2008).

For the sixth year in a row, bus riders can take advantage of OCTAs 24-hour Night Owl bus services as OCTA continues its efforts to keep Orange County safe while ringing in 2007.  The Night Owl service operates between midnight and 4 a.m. through the core of the county on four key routes: Route 43 (La Habra Costa Mesa, via Harbor Blvd./Whittier Blvd.), Route 50 (Long Beach Orange, via Katella Ave.), Route 57 (Brea Newport Beach, via State College Blvd./Bristol St.) and Route 60 (Long Beach Tustin, via Westminster Ave./17th St.). 

Now isn’t this great news? Bus service will continue throughout the night, and service will be free throughout the county. If you’d like a safe alternative to get to the New Year’s party, then check out OCTA’s web site to see what bus route will take you to the party tonight!

Oh yes, and remember to enjoy yourself tonight and have a very happy New Year!

Filed under: Orange County - Local | No Comments »

This has been a phenomenal year for us at TheLiberalOC.com. We were founded in April 2006 by Mike Lawson as a LIBERAL alternative to the Republican/Conservative blog-noise-machines of Orange County.  We ended 2006 with 5131 visitors in the month of December.  This year we will close with about 12,000 visitors in December. That’s a 140% increase in traffic.

The reason for our success is due to the excellent team of contributors we have at TheLiberalOC.com. Dan, Andrew, Gila, Susan, Ed, Tim, our most recent addition Sean Mill, me, and our founder Mike Lawson have pulled together a great variety of content and commentary.  The life blood of any blog is content, and our team has done an excellent job of providing it to you.

Whether it was our coverage of; (more…)

Filed under: Orange County - Local | 1 Comment »

Is anyone else enjoying the collective whine about the Governor from our friends on the right?

In 2003, Republicans staged a coup and successfully convinced California voters to recall Gray Davis.  On the number of choices available to Republicans were Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Senator Tom McClintock.  Democrats, largely opposed to the recall effort, were stuck with Cruz Bustamante.  The voters elect the Terminator but thwarted the Governor in 2005 after he broke promises made to the taxpayers on education and crushed four main ballot measures that the Governor and Republicans advocated. 

The Governor, having learned that conservatives don’t rule the roost in California, has begun a post-partisan shift with a strong leftward tilt.  How bad is it for Republicans? Constant whining from Jon Fleischman of the Flash Report; a call for Arnold to join the Democratic Party by Matt Cunningham; and even the Register’s looney predictions for 2008 in today’s paper have the Governor registering Democrat.

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Filed under: California, Orange County - Local | 6 Comments »

The city of Santa Ana is one of the largest cities in California and its leaders fancy it as a “big boy” city.  Well if that is ever really going to happen Santa Ana needs to grow up and act like one of the big boys.  Reverting back to televising only one of the city council meetings each month is not a sign that Santa Ana is maturing in the proper manner.  If Santa Ana is going to be a major player in the game, our elected officials need to open up our city government and do the “peoples” business in public.

Much has been made about Councilmember Michele Martinez’s efforts to get both city council meetings back on television each month.  While Martinez should be commended for wanting this, her efforts are flawed because they do not go far enough.  Not only should both council meetings be televised, so should both Planning Commission meetings and both should be streamed on the city’s website.  The public should be able to go back and view any of the meetings at the leisure via the web.

The openess of our city governement should not be limited to the televising of meetings as many of Martinez’s supporters seem to want.  We need to go further in opening our government for all to see.  Again I find myself turning to the city of San Francisco for inspiration.  Just as I think Santa Ana should follow San Francisco’s lead regarding immigration policies and streetcars, we should follow their lead on open government as well. (more…)

Filed under: Orange County - Local | 16 Comments »

As a public servant, as the wife of a governor and a president who was deeply involved in his administrations, as a lawyer and activist, and as a United States Senator, she already has had an opportunity to see firsthand and up-close what it means to serve the interests of the people and govern the country. There is no contender for the presidency, either among the Democrats or the Republicans, who will require less on-the-job training than Hillary Clinton. After the disaster we have been witnessing these last nearly seven years, we need someone who can get to work fixing the country from her first day in office.

This diary from a good friend of mine on MyDD explains pretty well why so many Democrats are supporting Hillary Clinton for President. They’re confident that she has the strength and the experience to change course on Iraq, on the climate crisis, on health care, and on so much more. (more…)

Filed under: National-US | 10 Comments »

“We did it here because you had a lot of talent,” said Jon Daurio, an alumnus of Long Beach Savings who co-founded Encore and now runs a company that buys distressed mortgage loans. “You also had the Godfathers of subprime.”

You may not remember Long Beach Savings, but you now know much of the story of what Long Beach Savings has brought forth. Long Beach Savings was one of the first subprime lenders, and in 1997 the company split… And gave birth to Ameriquest, at one time the nation’s largest subprime lender.

Believe it or not, subprime mortgages got their start right here in Orange County. Long before Ameriquest became infamous for its shaky mortgages, outfits like Long Beach Savings were figuring out ways to offer mortgages to people who may have blemishes on their credit reports, but can still be counted upon to pay back the loan. But as soon as these subprime lenders got the attention of Wall Street, things changed. These lenders were no longer just local banks, but national financial players.

So go ahead and read what’s in The Register today. It’ll give you some background on what happened in subprime lending. Who could have ever guessed that one of the biggest economic issues this nation is facing got its start with a few small banks here in OC?

Filed under: Orange County - Local | 3 Comments »

Hey, are you ready to party? Team Hillary is! This Thursday, Iowa Democrats will be choosing who they want to be our next President… And we’ll be watching right here as all the drama unfolds!

Here are all the details on this very special party for all local Hillary Clinton supporters looking to see what happens in Iowa:

Iowa Caucus Watch Party in Santa Ana, Hosted by Former Assemblymember Tom Umberg

When:
Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Where:
Mexicanisimo
2323 West First Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703

Description:
Join us in Santa Ana for an Iowa caucus watch party. All eyes will be on Iowa this night so you are invited to join with other California Hillary Clinton supporters to watch the returns of the first-in-nation Iowa caucus that officially kicks-off the 2008 primary election season! You are also invited to help make history. The month of January will be a busy one for the Clinton campaign and we need your help reaching out to voters as Californians begin casting absentee ballots just four days after the Iowa Caucuses! Election Day in Iowa will mark the start of Senator Clintons road to victory! For more information or to RSVP, call 213-908-0190 or email SoCalHRC@HillaryClinton.com.

So are you ready to make history with Hillary? And are you ready to have some fun on Thursday? Great, we’ll look forward to seeing you there!

Filed under: Orange County - Local | 2 Comments »

No, I’m not kidding. This is for real, at least in the virtual world. Read this and get blown away.

A group of Ron Paul supporters are using forums and a simple Web site to organize a march in the World of Warcraft computer game in support of the Republican presidential hopeful. Azeroth is a kingdom in the mythical world of the massively multiplayer online game made by Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine. [...]The rally will be led… by a group of players (a “guild”) named “RP Revolution”. Organizers used an online discussion board at ronpaulforums.com Wednesday to spread the message. Two days later they built a Web page for the rally on revolutioni.st, a site that claims to support Ron Paul’s beliefs, but that is careful to disclose that the candidate “does not necessarily support all the beliefs” on the site.

Again, I’m not kidding. Ron Paul fans really are staging a “rally” inside an online game. What do you think about this?

Are the folks in Ron Paul’s online fan club taking their “advocacy” to absurd levels by campaigning inside an online video game? Or is this the beginning of a new kind of campaigning, a campaigning that really knows no boundaries? If you were a libertarian that likes Ron Paul, would you participate in this “rally” in World of Warcraft?

I want to hear what you have to say. Is this crazy? Or are Ron Paul’s online campaigners onto something?

Go ahead. Make my day. Fire away!

Filed under: National-US, Orange County - Local | 34 Comments »