DECEMBER

2014

www.facebook.com/SOCDC
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ABOUT DAVE JONES..

Dave Jones leads the California Department of Insurance (CDI), the largest consumer protection agency
in the state, which regulates the $123 billion insurance industry. Since taking office, Jones has secured
crucial victories for consumers, including:

Saving California consumers and businesses over $1.8 billion in premiums;

Issuing emergency regulations to require that at least 80 percent of the individual health insurance
premium dollar go to actual health care, and not to insurer profits, marketing and overhead;
Issuing guidance to implement federal healthcare reform, including requiring health insurers to cover
children with pre-existing conditions;
Reducing medical malpractice rates, saving medical providers $55 million;
Requiring insurance companies to cover an essential treatment for autism.
Protecting California's seniors with new laws on the sale of annuities;
Obtaining insurance company investments in low and moderate income communities;
Investigating fraud, which has led to nearly 3,092 arrests to date;
Filing two major anti-fraud lawsuits to combat healthcare provider fraud, which have cost consumers
hundreds of millions of dollars; and
Investigating life insurance companies and securing strict business reforms to ensure companies to end
decades-long practice of improperly holding onto life insurance benefits.

You are invited to join the Democratic Party of Orange County on

Monday, December 8th for our Annual Holiday Party!
We will also be taking the time to recognize our amazing
volunteers who fueled our get out the vote efforts.
When
Monday, December 8, 7 p.m.
Where
1916 West Chapman Avenue
Orange, CA 92868
RSVP or Questions
(714)634-3367 or info@ocdemocrats.org
This will be a potluck style party, so please let us know if you plan to bring anything. Happy Holidays!

Note from the Chair

The holiday season my favorite time of yearChristmas carols, turkey, New Years resolutions,
pumpkin pie, finding the perfect gift. I love the promise of New Years Eve, the simultaneous
looking back and looking forward as we relive what we liked about last year and refocus
ourselves for the year to come. This year, Im thinking a lot about the future of our club and the
future of our country.
Some people might say that 2015 isnt going to be a very important year for us because, after
all, there isnt an election. But thats a mistake. This coming year will be our chance to take
advantage of changing Orange County demographics and create a foundation for the 2016
election. Our work in 2015 will be key to the success of local and federal Democratic candidates
in 2016.
With this in mind, for our January 14th meeting, we invite you to participate in a planning
session. We would like to find out what our members like/dislike at meetings, what we want
our club to accomplish, and how we can begin to create a base for our 2016 candidates.
We are also looking for leaderspeople in our club who are willing to step up and help by
participating on the board for the March 2015-March 2016 term. We are looking for: a voter
registration coordinator, treasurer, secretary, and a vice-chair. These roles are essential to the
continued success of the SOCDC, and I ask you to consider whether you are able to donate your
time to help create a launching pad for our 2016 Presidential candidate. Time is the most
difficult thing for us to give; it is more costly than money. But consider this:

Our next President will choose at least one Supreme Court Justice. The balance of the
court could be significantly swayed if a republican is chosen. Roe vs. Wade could be
overturned.
Our next President will decide how to approach diplomatic crises in the Middle East. We
could be thrust into another warthis one in Iran.
Our next President will impact the Affordable Care Act. A Republican would likely try to
eliminate the program, cutting millions off from much-needed medical care.

These are just a few examples of how the next President will affect our future. In Orange
County, we have a unique opportunitywe have more Democrats than ever before. This shift is
happening right now, and we must take advantage of it. Please join us at our January meeting
as we plan, discuss, debate, and strategize for next year. Our clubs and our countrys futures
depend on it. Shelly Blair, chair
The future is not an inheritance; it is an opportunity and an obligation. Bill Clinton
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The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. - Franklin D. Roosevelt

APPLY TO BECOME A DELEGATE

TO THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION
You can be elected a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Delegate to the 2015-2016 California Democratic Party Convention at
the Assembly District Executive Board meetings held statewide on
Saturday, January 10, or Sunday January 11, 2015. Applications are
available at www.cadem.org. Any registered Democrat in Assembly
Districts 73 or 74 is eligible to vote., but MUST attend and vote in
person. Go to www.cadem.org, click on ACTIVIST RESOURCES and
scroll down to ADEM. There you will find the information. The
convention is scheduled for March 7-9 in Los Angeles.

The reason that everybody likes planning is that

nobody has to do anything. Governor Jerry Brown
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Statement of California Democratic Party Chairman John

Burton on President Obamas Executive Action to Begin to
Fix Our Broken Immigration System
Yesterday, President Obama made good on a promise he made to take executive action on
immigration where Republicans in Congress have continually failed to do so.
For decades, Americans of all stripes have been calling for reform of our broken immigration
system. Today, thanks to the advance work of countless organizations, volunteers and activists,
that process begins.
The President is taking a multitude of actions to reform our broken immigration system,
including strengthening security, focusing enforcement resources on those who commit violent
crimes and ending the fear of being torn apart for millions of families across the nation.
California Democrats stand united in support of President Obamas leadership.

ORANGE COUNTY TURNS BLUE??

Evidently Martin Wiusckol and Keegan Kyle, staff writers for the Orange County Register,
think so. Less than one week after the Nov. 4 elections, which saw Democratic candidates
defeated in state and local elections, the two reporters wrote that the support of Prop. 47,
reducing jail sentences for non-violent felonies to misdemeanors, was approved by a
majority of voters.
The GOP advantage has steadily declined from 22 percentage points to 9 points today,
they wrote.You might not know it from election results when county Democrats failed to
turn out in enough numbers to elect local Democratic candidates to the California Assembly
and the U.S. Congress. But the issue on which the headline was based concerned prison
overcrowding and felony convictions for relatively minor drug violations. The result was
that across the political divide voters wanted to keep minor drug convictions off the books.
Orange Countians voted 69 percent to approve the proposition, according to the Register.
Prop. 47 [reduces] penalties for certain offenses concerning drug possession, writing bad
checks, and the theft of $950 or less, wrote Wisckol and Kyle. But the interesting take on
election results is that this was an effort by both parties, even though Republicans in most
conservative cities, such as Villa Park, the countys heaviest GOP city, voted no. Costa
Mesa, which turned out for Neel Kashkari for governor, voted for the proposition, even
though its crime rate is double that of cities who opposed it.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dont miss the general meeting at 6 p.m. January 14 for dinner, 7 p.m. for the program,at the
Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan Avenue, Dana Point. We can ALL be speakers at this
important meeting. The SOCDC board hopes we have a good turnout so all our members will have a
chance to speak up on several issues that are very important to the Democrats in south Orange County.
So nows your chance to voice your opinions, your suggestions about speakers and topics of interest,
your ideas about recruitment of new members, and any concerns youd like to raise. Everyone will have
a chance to speak, and of course we hope to have nominations for new board members to replace those
who arent continuing.

November Meeting: Anisa Abeytia, field coordinator for the

Syrian American Council in Los Angeles, was our speaker for the
Nov. 12 general meeting. . Abeytia brought her son, Yousul, to our
meeting and shared her experiences in the Middle East with
immigrants and hardships of those in the midst of the turmoil in
Syria. The U.N. has not bestowed official status on Middle Eastern
refugees, and, according to Abeytia, supplies from the Red Cross
are being sold and not given to these unfortunate people. Abeytia
also criticized the administration for not taking decisive steps to
aid those fighting against Assad.

UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES FOR OCTOBER 2014

Within nonfarm industries, eight sectors saw month-over job gains, but three sectors saw a
month-over job decline.
The sectors with increased employment in October:
Professional and business services (12,500)
Trade, transportation and utilities (12,400)
Leisure and hospitality (7,500)
Government (3,500)
Educational and health services (3,100)
Information (1,900)
Construction (800)
Manufacturing (700)
Sectors that lost jobs in October:
Financial activities (400)
Other services (400)
Mining and logging (100)
The lowest unemployment rate among California counties in October was 3.9 percent in Marin.
Fourteen other counties had rates below 6.0 percent in October: San Mateo (4.1 percent); San
Francisco (4.3 percent); Napa (4.4 percent); Orange (5.0 percent); Sonoma (5.0 percent); Santa
Clara (5.1 percent); San Luis Obispo (5.3 percent); Santa Barbara (5.4 percent); Alameda (5.7
percent); Contra Costa (5.7 percent); Mendocino (5.7 percent); Nevada (5.8 percent); Placer
(5.8 percent) and San Diego (5.8 percent). The highest unemployment rate in October was 23.7
percent in Imperial County. The comparable, not seasonally adjusted California rate was 7.0
percent in October. Courtesy of Californias Employment Development Department

SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY PROGRESSIVES TACKLE

NUCLEAR WASTE DECISIONS
A San Clemente City Council meeting on Nov. 6 was
described by Progressive Chair Roger Johnson as
contentious. The Council, instead of asking that nuclear
waste from the San Onofre plant be removed, asked for
a permanent solution to all such waste problems for
the entire county. In essence, requests from residents concerned about the closure of the San Onofre
Power Plant have been shuffled off to the side.

SHOULD NATIONAL ELECTION DAY BE DECLARED A HOLIDAY?

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has proposed legislation to make Election Day a national holiday. In
America, we should be celebrating our democracy and doing everything possible to make it easier for
people to participate in the political process. Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone
has the time and opportunity to vote. While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national
commitment to create a more vibrant democracy, said Sanders. Titled the Democracy Day Act of
2014, election day would continue to be held the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each
even-numbered year, and would be an amendment to the Help America Vote Act of 2002. For details,
visit http://www.sanders.senate.gov/legislation/issue/civil-rights.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The SOCDC Board is grateful for each and every one of

our members. The chair would like to say a special
thanks our board members who spend their time,
energy, and effort helping our club! I am grateful for all
of you!
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