Health Care Presentation:

At the March 13th Club meeting, our member, Dave Roberts, Councilman from the Solana Beach City Council, discussed the current state of health care legislation. Dave predicted that the vote for the current health care bill will occur in the next 10 days. He encouraged the membership to contact our representative, Brian Bilbray (202) 225-0508, or (858) 350-1150, and state the following: Please vote for H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, as passed by the Senate and vote for the House Reconciliation Health Insurance Reform Legislation which includes the President's proposals.

50th Congressional District Candidate Forum:

At the February 13th Club meeting, 86 members attended the forum at which the members were able to hear the candidates for the 50th Congressional District’s positions on a variety of issues. Each candidate was given a 5 minute opening statement, answered questions from the audience and finished with a 2 minute closing statement. 

Francine Busby says that she is the experienced candidate. She knows the district and has made many contacts with individuals and businesses. She states that Brian Bilbray has neglected his duty to represent the needs of the district and that is why she is running. She feels that her previous candidacies have allowed her to establish strong name recognition in the district. She believes that the district has a strong economic engine in the technology area and that this strength should be used to create new jobs. Her goals are to promote health care reform, renewable energy, increase regulation on financial institutions to protect consumers, strengthen education, and promote equal rights for all. She supports the continued use of medical marijuana that has been legalized by the state, but does not want to legalize the use of marijuana for all.

Tracy Emblem believes she is the people's candidate for the citizens that can't fend for themselves. As a lawyer, she has worked for people whose civil rights were violated. She is endorsed by several labor unions and the Progressive Democrats of America. To defeat Bilbray, she will run a "people to people" campaign that focuses on contacting the voters of the district with less emphasis on raising money. She believes that her biggest responsibility is to bring jobs to the 50th district. To reduce the deficit, she wants troops brought home immediately. She says she will be an independent thinker when elected and will vote for what is best for the 50th. Her goals are to improve Health Care by expanding Medicare for all, go after the big bankers for bank fraud, reform the banking system, and be a strong advocate for Veterans. In addition to supporting medical marijuana, Tracy supports the legalization of marijuana for general use and advocates taxing it as a way to solve the financial problems of California. 

Jess Durfee, Chair, San Diego County Democratic Party speaks at club's January meeting.

At our January 9th club meeting, Jess revealed that San Diego County is now a "blue" county with approximately 6000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. He said that both state and national party organizations are looking to San Diego for organizational strategies that have been successful in our county organization. Jess, being recently elected to the Democratic National Party, has already had some influence in the way the national party organization operates by developing a resolution that requires the national organization to communicate with local chapters about voting recommendations. Jess has been our January presenter every January for the past 7 years, a tradition we hope to continue.