2014 Election Recommendations

How I’m Voting (or would vote if I lived in your district)

Statewide Offices:

L-R: Jerry Brown, Angel Luevano, Jan B. Tucker; i.e., me confronting Jerry Brown

Governor – No recommendation. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown’s father—Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, sr.-said it all during Jerry’s first stint as Governor when he said that he (Pat Brown) had been a better Governor. When your own father says something like that when you’re still in office nothing more needs to be said, other than his years in office since then, from Mayor of Oakland to Attorney General, to now back in office of Governor have simply demonstrated that he continues to be more hype than anything else.

When he got elected Secretary of State in 1970 he promptly transferred one employee out of every division into the press department, which produced at least one news release every day for four years to prove that the Secretary of State was a wunderkind when in fact everything else the office was supposed to do slowed to a crawl. On substance, he fought against the right of poor people to run for office all the way to the Supreme Court and lost 9-0 in Lubin v Panish, then ignored the ruling the next day and threw Peace & Freedom Party candidates off the ballot for not paying the filing fees that had just been declared facially unconstitutional.

Lieutenant Governor - Gavin Newsom
An outstanding public servant.

Secretary of State – Alex Padilla
Alex is my Arleta homie and I have high hopes that he’ll bring some sanity back to an ultra-partisan (when it comes to unconstitutional policies designed to screw third parties) elections division and to correct the dysfunction of the office due to Debra Bowen’s mental melt down.

Controller - Betty Yee
Thankfully, she beat John Perez in the primary and will go on to run this critical office fairly and efficiently.

Treasurer - John Chiang
If he runs the Treasurer’s office like he ran the Controller’s office, we’ve got nothing to worry about.

Attorney General – grudgingly, vote for Kamala Harris
Since coming into office she’s been a major disappointment to many California civil rights groups. It’s next to impossible to get the time of day from her, especially when it came to the issue of training police on hate crimes (already part of the law). However, the office is too important to trust Republicans with.

State Bd. Of Equalization – Jerome Horton
An outstanding public servant.

Insurance Commissioner - Dave Jones
The best guy in state government and hopefully Proposition 45 will pass and give him authority to shoot down health insurance rate increases.

Superintendent of Public Instruction - Tom Torlakson
Again, an outstanding public servant.

United States Congress (House & Senate) – vote Democratic
I agree with the Democrats on most issues and with the Republicans on a very limited few issues (I’m a Peace & Freedom Party member)….but really critical issues like a woman’s reproductive rights and LGBT equality will be severely endangered if the Republicans control both houses of Congress, let alone what it will do if there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Adam Shbeita

The sole exception in California is the 44th District where I support Peace & Freedom Party candidate Adam Shbeita against Janice Hahn, primarily because of Shbeita’s strong support for Palestinian rights…and in spite of the efforts of Kevin Akin’s family (they control Shbeita’s website and delayed its implementation to the point where its effect became negligible) to subvert and sabotage his campaign (Kevin is a convert to Judaism and his family, especially his Senatorial Aide son, support right-wing Zionist policies that make Netanyahu look like a moderate).

Jan B. Tucker & Sandra Fluke

State Senate
26th District – Sandra Fluke
In two different songs [Subterranian Homesick Blues and It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)], Bob Dylan sings, and teaches, that “Money doesn’t talk, it swears.” There is a reason why right-wing money-man William Bloomfield has given over $1,000,000 to Ben Allen against Sandra Fluke and the bottom line is, that money swears to high hell.

Sandra Mendoza @ Guelaguetza

State Assembly
53rd District – Sandra Mendoza (see also: http://janbtucker.com/blog/2014/03/04/shame-on-labor-miguel-j-santiago/)
The Hollywood Forever cemetery is located in the 53rd District and Miguel Santiago is outgoing (and disgraced) Assembly Member John Perez’s Chief of Staff for the District. He has refused to take any action over the fact that the cemetery is subject to a Federal seizure order following the conviction and jailing of its owners for massive frauds against poor people (there is a nearly Half-Billion Dollar restitution order in effect). Santiago probably refuses to get involved because his boss’s boyfriend, brother and son of the owners jailed by the feds, is the operator of the cemetery and made massive campaign contributions to John Perez controlled committees (that have helped fund Santiago’s campaign).

As if that’s not bad enough, here’s a statement by a prominent Chicana artista about the exploitation at Hollywood Forever of the Chicano/a community through such events as Dia de los Muertos:

The general consensus within my circle is that Hollywood Forever Dia de los Muertos is solely a money making event. There is little or no sense of embracing the true meaning of the tradition nor does it speak to or represent the Mexican/Chicano community. This is evident by the sheer number of non Mexican/Chicano participants. The high costs of attending and participating speaks to who it is geared to draw. I personally refuse to be part of this event and I know of many people who boycott it every year. I hope this information is helpful. - Linda Gamboa
Hollywood Forever Dia de los Muertos

Celebrates 15 years in 2014

Entrance fee: $20 per person – Children 8 & under + Seniors free until 4 pm

$50 non-refundable fee for altars

Vendor fee (according to artisans in my social circle) went for $1,700 in 2013. I have heard the fee may be as high as $3,000 per booth this year. I do not know this for fact but it wouldn’t surprise me.

- Vendors are given 5 amps of 110v power but are charged $120 for 20 amps

- Vendors are not allowed to sell t-shirts of any kind due to Hollywood Forever selling their own

- No sharing of booths

- The selling of T-shirts is denied by vendors because Hollywood Forever has their own for sale (this came from a past vendor)

- This year Hollywood Forever anticipates 10,000+ visitors

Altars are built on top of existing grave sites of persons belonging to non Chicano/Mexican heritage. I find this practice to be in poor taste and disrespectful to the families who have loved ones resting in its grounds.

64th District – Mike Gipson

Mike’s running against Prophet Walker and my blog on his being a dead beat dad tells all: http://janbtucker.com/blog/2014/10/24/awards-in-the-black-community-3-bad-picks/

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Assessor - Jeffrey Prang
I explain some of the issues in this office at http://janbtucker.com/blog/2013/10/17/behind-the-scenes-people-v-noguez/ At some point I want to have that conversation with Jeff, especially about the role of Mehdi Bolour in backing John Noguez.

Sheriff - Jim McDonnell

SUPERVISOR

Jan B. Tucker & Sheila Kuehl

District 3 - Sheila Kuehl
Aside from the fact that Sheila Kuehl is a trailblazer for women and the LGBT community, the slick attacks by Bobby Shriver’s campaign flunkies are frequently invented out of thin air and despicable. One leaflet I just happened to find sitting on a Starbuck’s table in Marina Del Rey was laughable (when like me, you’ve got a degree in Political Science and understand how the government actually works). In essence, a woman goes for help to Sheila while she’s in the State Senate and has no authority whatsoever to remedy the issue she’s complaining about, then blames her for not being able to doing anything. She goes to Shriver who does have authority over the issue and then thanks him for doing what he has the power to do??????

Adding insult to injury the leaflet had no union printing label, probably the first time in history that a member of the Kennedy family produced a campaign leaflet without a valid “union bug.” Disgraceful.

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

Goodwin Liu – YES

Mariano-Florentino Cuellar – YES
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar – YES

Associate Justice Court of Appeals, 2nd District

Frances Rothschild - YES

Nora M. Manella - NO

Statewide Ballot Measures

Proposition 1: Water Bond: NO- The bottom line on this measure is who do you trust. Assembly member Wes Chesbro who signed the opposition or Jerry Brown who rammed the measure through the legislature. Chesbro is one of the few legislators I have absolute confidence in. In fact before he got elected to the legislature he’d been known on occasion to back some local Peace & Freedom Party candidates. Brown I wouldn’t trust for anything.

Proposition 2: Rainy Day Fund NO- Jan Goodman’s analysis: “I think it makes sense to spend money when you have it, especially on schools and public services. The legislature can always decide not to spend all the money available without tying the hands of the legislature by artificially limiting spending. This is one of those things conservatives love to do. It REQUIRES money to be put away for debt reduction. In itself, it is not a bad idea to pay down debt, or to put money aside for the next down cycle. But when it is REQUIRED, it means no matter what condition schools are in, or healthcare, or human services. This will mean more mandatory cuts for schools. If cuts are necessary, they can be made in Prisons or other places, not schools- again!”

Proposition 45 : Health Rates YES- Jan Goodman’s analysis: “expands insurance commissioner’s authority over health insurance rates. The ads on tv are paid for by the insurance companies that don’t like what a liberal commissioner like Dave Jones will do to keep rates down.The health insurers are spending over $37 Million to run deceptive and false TV and radio commercials to mislead voters about Proposition 45. Don’t believe what they are trying to sell. (See below, which describes the LIES these guys are telling. Just ask yourself the question, When was the last time health insurance companies spent $37 million in ads to HELP YOU AND PEOPLE LIKE US?”

Proposition 46: Malpractice and Testing – YES-increases the cap on pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases which are currently set at $250,000. Here’s a real life example of why this limit is absurd:

Sept 2012 – xxxxxx of LA, CA is referred to Podiatrist xxxxxx on Sepulveda in LA – near Lax (Airport Podiatry) due to pains in his baby toe. Referral made by his primary doctor – xxxxx of xxxxxx medical on Slauson (also part of xxxxx Corp)
October, 2012, Dr. xxxxx supposedly cuts out an ingrown toe nail – toe did not heal

Jan, 2013 – xxxxx recommends cutting off half of toe to get rid of part of the bone - he thinks the bone is the issue.

February – xxxx is referred to see a vascular doctor xxxxxx of Marina Del Rey because of lack of blood flow in foot. Tests reveal that he has peripheral vascular disease in the lower extremities and needs to have an angiogram and angioplasty to correct. After learning this, xxxx tells xxxx that he under estimated his age and just expected for his toe to heal in a couple of weeks. He then recommends going ahead with amputating half of the toe to get rid of the bone to stop pain in toe.

March 7, 2013, xxxx amputates half of toe in his office. Only gives xxxx a few Tylenol for pain. When this wore off xxxx called and requested more pain pills and xxxx refused even though he was in excruciating pain. xxxx had to go to primary doctor to get pain pills.

The toe did not heal, even though xxxx was going to see xxxx once a week and he would cut away dead skin – which would send the pain to high levels –unbearable levels all over again. xxxx asked xxxx was his bone sticking out because there was something exposed and xxxx assured him it was not bone!

April 2013, xxxx had an angiogram and angioplasty performed on the right leg which improved his blood flow and the doctor (xxxxx of Marina del Rey) felt that it should help xxxx toe heal. He also commented on the fact that the toe was open and usually amputations are covered with skin.

May 2013, primary doctor looked at toe and said that it was open and should have skin covering it. He referred xxxx to a second podiatrist for another opinion. xxxxx felt that he could see bone also
About June 2013, xxxx saw xxxx of Torrance. xxxxx immediately looked at toe as said – this bone is exposed and is most likely infected. He said that when you amputate you cover the area with skin to protect it. He recommended removing the rest of the toe immediately to stop the infection and prevent gangrene from setting in.

xxxx went back to primary doctor who then recommended for xxxx to see an infectious disease doctor, xxxx of Inglewood.

Sept 2013, xxxx Saw xxxx. Her first response was that the bone is exposed and is most likely infected. She said the same as doctor xxxx (primary) and xxxx in that when you amputate you must cover the area with skin to protect it. She recommended taking a sample of the bone to see the degree of infection but she needed to get approval. She ordered many test for xxxx.

xxxx went back to xxxx in the meantime for his routine visit and shared with him what xxxx said about testing the bone. xxxx said, oh no, I can fix that. He immediately took the piece of bone that was exposed out of xxxxx’s foot right there in the office! Even though he had maintained all along that there was no bone exposed. xxxx had asked him on more than one occasion.

xxxx also told xxxx that he was healing just fine and that it was going to just take time, but under no circumstances should he allow anyone to remove his toe. He assured xxxx that he was healing.
He kept maintaining that xxxx was on track until March of 2014 when he finally said, well, I don’t know. Perhaps you should go back and see your vascular doctor!

xxxx was then referred back to xxxx who recommended removing the toe immediately because you could see that gangrene had set in and was spreading. In June of 2014, the toe was removed, but the gangrene had begun to spread to the foot and other toes. On July 12, 2014 xxxx lost 2/3rds of his right foot and was in the hospital for almost two months fighting infection. xxxx was released from skilled nursing home on August 23, 2014. During the six week period, he was back and forth between hospital stays and skilled nursing.

Proposition 47: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, Criminal Penalties YES – Jan Goodman’s analysis: “stop wasting prison space on low-level nonviolent crimes. Prop 47 will not only focus prison spending on violent and serious offenses but will also spend money for alternatives for non-serious, nonviolent crime. The money saved will be used to support programs in K-12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment. Prop 47 changes low-level nonviolent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.”

Proposition 48: Gaming Referendum: YES – Non Native Americans should have very little say in whether Native Americans get to steal back some of the wealth that we ripped off from them, like, the whole freaking continent.

Los Angeles County Proposition P, Torrance T & U: Yes

GET READY FOR 2016-Jan B. Tucker for Vice President

I’ve run for everything at one time or another from assembly to president but one office I’ve missed is Vice President. There are three people likely to run in 2016 for President and I’d love to be their running mate because they’re all outstanding candidates:

Roseanne Barr

Bernie Sanders

Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry

Here’s what YOU can do to help. Re-register immediately if not sooner in California as Peace & Freedom Party (if outside the state contact me and we’ll strategize about what party works best). In late 2015/early 2016 I’m going to need you to run for Peace & Freedom Party Central Committee in the primary election so we control a bloc of delegates at the party convention that can help get a great candidate nominated for President and me nominated for Vice President.

[email protected]

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