Feature Archives

On September 6th, a diverse group of local elected officials announced their opposition to the Arena Tax proposed by the Maloof Sports and Entertainment Corporation.

Under the proposed Measures Q & R (The Arena Tax), the sales tax will be increased in Sacramento County to raise $562 million in order to build a sports and entertainment facility in downtown Sacramento. All revenues generated from the facility will go to the the Maloof Sports and Entertainment Corporation. The Officials urged voters to vote 'no' on Measure Q & R on the November Ballot.

For more information on the Arena Tax and its impact on the community, please visit Sacramentans Against the Arena Tax

Massive citizen mobilization is needed to respond to the limitations government has done to address social ills. On Nov. 7 voters need to respond to the greed that drives the real reason behind the 'Maloof tax'. The 'Maloof tax' is a public subsidy to build a new basketball arena and an associated advisory referendum that will come before voters. The Maloof family owns Sacramento's Arco Arena, where the NBA Kings and WNBA Monarchs play.

The Maloofs, of course, have the capital to build the new arena, but they want Sacramento County taxpayers to help them bear that cost.

Congressman, Sam Farr, held a “town hall” meeting on Monday in Santa Cruz at the Vet's Hall. It appeared that he showed up to rally his Democrat supporters, however, it was very clear that Farr was mostly at odds with the crowd in attendance. While attendees brought up a myriad of issues, the people's concern for the U.S. bombings and invasions of other countries overwhelmed the dialog. Farr did sign the Declaration of Peace, but did not offer other hopes to end U.S. driven war.

This meeting reminds us of the limited power our elected officials have to change policy which we are concerned about, such as ending U.S.-led war, such as in Iraq, and violent occupations, such as in Palestine and Haiti, or other issues such as higher education budgets and a violence-free and welcoming immigration policy. Is it the system that fails? Is it Farr that fails? What are we going to do? Read more

see also: Pro-War Diane Feinstein, What Are The Alternatives?

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's popularity in the UK was already low due to the war in Iraq, but his latest stand with Bush against a ceasefire in Lebanon has caused him to come under more fire than ever before from within his own Labour Party. After meeting with Bush in DC on July 28th, Blair is vacationing in California. He arrived in San Francisco on Friday July 29th, and attended a party with George Shultz Saturday night. He toured the Delancey Street Foundation Sunday morning with Mayor Newsom before heading down to Monterey to attend a party hosted by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch at the Pebble Beach resort. Blair was again in South San Francisco Monday meeting with biotech CEOs at Genentech before he headed to LA for a meeting with Schwarzenegger.

PUBS, a coalition of community interest advocates, says the Arena Initiative is just not a good deal for Sacramento.

During its press conference to annouce its opposition to the funding plan earlier this week, Dave Tomayo, a spokesperson for PUBS, stated, "This deal is even worse than we expected. The County and City agree to spend a half billion dollars to build a stadium, accept all risk of cost overruns...If the Maloofs really just want a better stadium for their team, why do they need all the revenue from the stadium?" Read More

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is meeting in San Francisco from July 19th through 23rd. A Press Conference was held in protest of ALEC on Thursday, July 20th, at 2 pm at the Marriott Hotel at 55 Fourth St., in downtown SF. ALEC is one of the nation’s most powerful and least known corporate lobbies, and it is funded primarily by large corporations, industry groups, and conservative foundations. The Friday breakfast that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was to speak at has reportedly been cancelled.

The Mexican election of July 2 is the most contested presidential vote in Mexico’s history. At a massive demonstration in the capitol (the Mexican government estimated there were 280,000), protesters chanted “No to the damn fraud!” The candidate of the leftist PRD, Ándres Manuel López Obrador, likely beat the declared winner, Felipe Calderón of the PAN. López Obrador told the crowd, “We are confronting a powerful group, economically and politically, that are accustomed to winning at all costs, without moral scruples. If there is not democracy, there will be instability.”