5 things to look out for in the PA primary

Good article from Politico talking about how to interpret the soon-to-be gathered results of the PA primary. They even got it down to understanding how the leads of either voter could dramatically change based on the time of day. Crazy!

The Legacy of Representative Walter Capps

The Santa Barbara Independent has an excellent article about the legacy of the late Walter H. Capps, which I encourage you to read.

The Campus Democrats of UCSB mention Walter Capps quite a bit. While the Campus Democrats existed at UCSB before he ran for political office, his race in 1996 galvanized our club into the organization that it is today. Because of his years of service and involvement to both our community and our causes, no one embodies the spirit of our organization more than Walter Capps.

The article is thoughtfully written, and sheds light onto the life, and caring persona of Walter Capps. I wish I had the chance to know Walter. However, we are fortunate that his legacy lives on not only through the Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life at UCSB, but also through his wife, Rep. Lois Capps, who continues to fight valiantly for the most important issues of our day (healthcare, environmental protection, etc) and reach out to her community with open arms.

The Campus Democrats will work to always keep the legacy of Walter H. Capps alive. Enjoy the article!

SIMCONG's To Do List

I am in Professor Smith's Congress simulation class this quarter along with a ton of other Campus Democrats. Given that the Democrats will probably head most if not all of the committees and run Congress, I have compiled a list of things that I would like to see done this quarter. Some of these probably wouldn't happen in the real Congress, but in the alternate reality that is Smith's class, this is what I would like to see done, they are not really in order. Please feel free to add (or subtract if you disagree).

To Do:

1. Give D.C. a vote
2. Give statehood to all U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.)
3. Bring the Troops home
4. Change priorities in the War on Drugs from enforcement to prevention and rehabilitation
5. Pass Comprehensive Global Warming legislation (i.e. Renewable Electricity Standard)
6. Amend the Civil Rights Act to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity
7. Pull funding from No Child Left Behind. Increase funding to early childhood education, after school programs, and Music and the Arts
8. Create a single-payer healthcare plan
9. Repeal the $22 million subsidies to oil and coal companies
10. Send aid to the Sudan and Rwanda
11. Get rid of abstinence-only sex education; incentivise comprehensive sex-education.
    
12. Lower the voting age in federal elections to 16
13. Impeach Bush and Cheney
14. Welfare Reform along the lines of what Professor Crouch said
15. Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell
16. Instate publicly-funded elections (or another form of campaign finance reform, this happens to be my favorite)
17. Automatic voter registration
18. Fight "Real ID" (thank you Patrick)
19. Repeal the Patriot Act
20. Mandate Net Neutrality
21. Adjust Minimum Wage automatically to inflation
22. Bring back "Fairness Doctrine" in the media
23. Close Guantanamo Bay
24. Close "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation", formerly the School of the Americas
25. Address sub-prime mortgage crisis
    

Gays are worse than terrorists?

I can't believe that she seriously believes this. I am so glad I don't live in Oklahoma. Is there really that many gays going after 2-year-olds in schools?

"doomsday" seed vault

I'm glad someone has finally made a seed vault in anticipation for "doomsday". I wonder if they have marijuana seeds...

The Real State of the Union

One of my professors sent this to me. It's really interesting, it includes a lot of stats that compare our well-being pre-Bush and post-Bush. Basically tells us what we already knew though, that George Bush is a terrible president and that the American people are worse off than they were before he took office.

Exxon Mobile Shatters Profit Records

It is ridiculous that an oil company who turns out the highest profits in the history of United States corporations is also being granted government subsidies...to ease their burden? It must be pretty rough bringing in $1300/second.