Chris Matthews from Hardball gives us his big number: 29% of a chance Dems lose control of the Senate:

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Politico headlined its website today with a story on five different ways Democrats, for lack of a better phrase, can screw themselves over and lose control of the Senate:

The lesson of the tumultuous past 45 days is that the contours of the political landscape can change in an instant — and a death, a retirement or a top candidate’s decision not to run can wreak havoc on the best laid political plans.

Click Here for full Politico article.  Video Below

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Additionally, bringing it a little closer to home, a recent Rassmussen Poll shows the race to re-elect CA Senator, Barbara Boxer, will be a close one:

Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina 46% to 42%, virtually unchanged from January. Another seven percent (7%) would vote for some other candidate, while five percent (5%) are undecided. Boxer led Fiorina by nine points in November and 10 points in September.

The incumbent also holds a four-point lead over former Congressman Tom Campbell, 45% to 41%. Four percent (4%) like another candidate, and 10% are undecided. Boxer held the same lead over Campbell, just after he joined the race in January.

Boxer leads still state Assemblyman Chuck Devore, 47% to 42%. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate in that match-up, and five percent (5%) are undecided. In January, Boxer held a 46% to 40% advantage over Devore. In November, she led Devore by 10 points.

JOIN EBYD AS A NEW XCOMM MEMBER!!

 At the February Confab, we will be electing a new At-Large member to fill Christine’s seat.   To nominate someone or if you have questions about this position, please email EBYD President, Rebecca Saltzman at president@ebyd.org

If you’re interested in getting involved and shaping the direction of the club, this is the meeting to attend. All are welcome and encouraged to participate!

RSVP on Facebook!

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At the Peralta Community Colleges hope is starting to become scarce; last year, their budget was cut $13 million. The 20,000 students that attend Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College have seen teacher and staff lay-offs, 400 classes cut, and class sizes increased from 20 to 40 students.
 

EBYD Member and President of the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees, Abel Guilen said:

“The Governor is proposing that they do away with the Cal Grant program. That affects 44,000 students in the state of California. Many of our most needy students need that money to get through school.  Some students have to make the decision whether or not they’re going to be able to pay their rent or childcare. Some students are even opting to bring their children to class because they just can’t afford to pay a sitter.” Click here for the entire interview

Marlene Hurd, former Senator for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges said:

“One of the things that I witness a lot is students lining up for financial aid and those lines get long. What I see are students who need this service and can’t get it. Where do those students go? Some of them may end up dropping out of school and maybe they’re right at the end about to graduate and they need that extra cushion to pull them through.” Click here for the entire interview

More students are opting to attend community college because of the increase in tuition at California State and University of California higher education institutions. Students wanting to attend community college will now have to compete with students who would normally attend 4-year universities or decide not to attend college at all.

Nakia Dillard, a student who is looking forward to transferring to SF State in the Fall said, “It’s going to be really hard for our youth to have hope if our Governor is putting these budget cuts on education and making it harder for youth to get into college. It’s really hard to get jobs, it’s sad to say (students) might turn to the streets and other negative ways to make money…they have to make a living somehow.” Click here for the entire interview

For every dollar California invests to get students in and through college, the state’s economy receives a $3 net return on investment. For every dollar spent on economic and workforce development programs at Community Colleges, there is a $12 increase in California’s business income and employee wages.

Students, staff, and administrators are holding their breaths after hearing Schwarzenegger’s latest budget boondoggle.

If you are a student, former student, or a person who cares about education you can submit your story online at http://www.terminatortourca.org/.

Join the California Young Democrats on Saturday from 1-4pm in San Francisco to hear from the next Governor of California — as well as at least 11 other candidates for statewide office.

We’ll be joined by young dems from throughout the entire Bay Area — from Sonoma to Santa Cruz.

This will be a special opportunity to hear from the candidates on this June’s primary election ballot.

Come hear and ask questions of the following candidates:

GOVERNOR
• Hon. Jerry Brown*

LT. GOVERNOR
• Hon. Janice Hahn

ATTORNEY GENERAL
• Hon. Kamala Harris
• Mr. Chris Kelly
• Hon. Pedro Nava
• Hon. Alberto Torrico

TREASURER
• Hon. Bill Lockyer

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
• Hon. Hector De La Torre
• Hon. Dave Jones

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
• Mr. Larry Aceves
• Hon. Tom Torlakson

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
• Hon. Betty Yee

*(Candidate is invited as a rumored candidate, but has not officially declared).

Here are all the details:

Saturday, February 6th
1-4 p.m.
SEIU Local 87
240 Golden Gate Avenue, SF
(2 Blocks North of Civic Center BART Station)

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PLEASE RSVP TODAY!

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Capitol Corridor-South Terminal Station Improvement
Capitol Corridor-YoloXover (Yolo West Crossover)
Capitol Corridor-Track Relocation
Pacific Surfliner -Railroad Crossover Program
Pacific Surfliner – Oceanside Stub Project 1
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-MOW Spurs
Los Angeles to Fullerton Triple Track
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-PE NEPA Ortega
Pacific Surfliner -Corridor Strategic Assessment
Rolling Stock-Locomotive Emissions Upgrade (including San Joaquins)
Rolling Stock-Cab Car Bicycle Storage

I am a staunch supporter of high speed rail in California, and all over the US for that matter.  I have wanted to see a high speed rail in our state since i was a little kid.  I remember absolutely HATING the fact that my mother, who refused to drive through Tehachapi, would make me and my sister join her in the 5 hour journey to San Bernardino to visit my grandparents (driving in a car vs. public transit is only 4 hours).  The trip was a 1 hour Amtrak train ride from Hanford to Bakersfield, followed by a 4 hour bus ride from Bakersfield to San Bernardino.  I get closterphobic just thinking about it.  This same trip on the proposed CAHSR would take approximately 2 hours from Fresno to Ontario or Riverside stations.

The California High Speed Rail Authority released its business plan in December, detailing things like cost projections.  The plan stated it would cost about $42 billion to create the entire system.  Yes, $2.25 isn’t a lot vis a vis $42 billion, but it definately jumps starts a project and allows the Authority to create a visible and tangible portion of the system to help the hesitators and nay-sayors come over to the greener side.  Keep in mind that $42 billion is less than 1/3 the cost to expand our highways to accomodate the same number of projected future travelers at $150 billion.  Not to mention that whole, environmentally friendly and creating about 450,000 permanent and 500,000 temp jobs in the process and stimulating the economy in a recession, thingy…

Who’s excited?  I’m excited!

I will also give a plug to the grassroots organization working to help bring high speed rail to California: Californian’s for High Speed Rail.  They are a new group but i beleive they represent a great opportunity to bring on the ground momentum and make Californians excited about the idea of high speed rail.