From House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio:

“House Republicans passed a balanced budget that will help foster a healthier economy and to help create jobs. Unfortunately, the president’s budget never comes to balance. Every family has to balance its budget, Washington should as well.

“The American people know you can’t continue to spend money that you don’t have. The federal government has spent more than what it has brought in in 55 of the last 60 years. Now think about this, you can’t continue to go on like this. That’s why we came forward with a plan that will balance the budget over the next 10 years. We believe strongly that it is time for Washington to deal with its spending problem.

“And while the president has backtracked on some of his entitlement reforms that were in conversations that we had a year and a half ago, he does deserve some credit for some incremental entitlement reforms that he has outlined in his budget. But I would hope that he would not hold hostage these modest reforms for his demand for bigger tax hikes. Listen, why don’t we do what we can agree to do? Why don’t we find the common ground that we do have and move on that?

“The president got his tax hikes in January, we don’t need to be raising taxes on the American people. So I’m hopeful in the coming weeks we’ll have an opportunity, through the budget process, to come to some agreement.”

From Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland:

“The President’s budget makes critical investments in our economy and in job creation. I’m particularly pleased to see the investments in mental health, HIV/AIDS, and education, including promise neighborhoods, and universal pre-K. Given my efforts to repeal the Tiahrt amendments, I’m also very pleased to see that this budget excludes pieces of that policy rider which inhibits law enforcement’s abilities to track illegal guns and prevent gun violence. Unfortunately, this budget also includes chained CPI, a benefit cut to Social Security which I strongly oppose.”

From U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee:

“What a disappointment this budget is. Not only is it two months late, but the President’s budget is a rehash of the same tax hikes, spending increases and deceptive budget gimmicks that have already been rejected by Democrats and Republicans alike. What’s more, it barely makes a dent in our sky-high debt, while not doing enough to fundamentally reform Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Any reasonable person understands that our $17 trillion debt – which represents a burden of over $55,000 for every man, woman, and child in America – is a crisis that demands addressing.”

“Falsely claiming $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction, as the President proposes, isn’t the kind of leadership the people of Utah and America deserve. Confronting our debt crisis with such an unbalanced set of massive tax increases, as the President does in his budget, will only result in less economic opportunity for middle-class families and small businesses, and more government spending from Washington. After last week’s dismal job numbers where the labor force dipped by a half-a-million workers and the labor force participation rate fell to the lowest since the early years of the Carter Administration, we need policies that grow our economy, the paychecks of the American people, and opportunities for our children and grandchildren – not grow our government as the President proposes in his budget.”

From House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco:

“President Obama has put forth a budget proposal that makes investments to grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the middle class while continuing to reduce the deficit in a balanced way.

“The President has made it clear that this proposal is in furtherance of his efforts to achieve compromise with Republicans and demonstrates that he is willing to make tough decisions to reduce the deficit, but only in the context of a bold and balanced agreement that asks the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share and includes initiatives that spur economic growth by creating jobs.

“Now that the House and Senate have acted on their own budget proposals, it is time for Speaker Boehner to appoint budget conferees to avoid any further delay. The American people want their elected representatives in Washington to work together to tackle the difficult decisions facing our nation. We must lift the sequester and find common ground to grow our economy, put people to work, and build a strong, thriving middle class.”

More, after the jump…
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As President Obama steps up the pressure on Congress to enact gun policy reforms, Bay Area officials and residents are planning to speak and act on the issue this Saturday, April 13.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, and South San Francisco, Daly City, San Bruno, Pacifica, Burlingame, Colma, Millbrae, Brisbane and Broadmoor police departments will hold a gun buyback from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the South San Francisco Courthouse, 1050 Mission Road. Any resident of those cities and towns can surrender weapons, no questions asked, and receive up to $100 cash for a handgun, shotgun or rifle, and up to $200 cash for an assault weapon.

People interested in participating in the gun buyback can call 650-829-3700 for more information. Participants must transport firearms unloaded and in their vehicles’ trunks.

“Fewer guns mean fewer accidents and fewer chances for guns to fall into the wrong hands,” Speier said in a news release.

At the same time, the Silicon Valley North chapter of Organizing for Action – the successor organization to the president’s 2012 campaign – plans a rally against gun violence at 11 a.m. in Centennial Plaza, next to the Mountain View Caltrain station. OFA activists from across the Bay Area will be joined by volunteers and speakers from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Safety Action, Silicon Valley Community Against Gun Violence, and Parents Against Gun Violence.

I’ll be at a different kind of gun-violence vigil this Saturday: the memorial service for my former colleague Lionel Fluker, who was killed by a stray bullet last Friday night as he drove near his Oakland home. The public service will be at noon in the CP Bannon Mortuary, 6800 International Blvd. in Oakland.

Lionel – a freelance photographer for the Oakland Tribune from 1995 to 2007 – was a man of immense professional talent but even greater cheer and charm. He was among the most upbeat, pleasant people I’ve met in this industry, and his ever-present smile will be sorely missed by all those who knew him. He was 54, and is survived by family members including a 20-year-old daughter, Dominique.

Ro Khanna, the former Obama administration official who last week launched his 2014 challenge to fellow Democrat Rep. Mike Honda, rolled out a campaign executive committee Tuesday full of labor, political and Silicon Valley talent.

The committee for Khanna’s 17th Congressional District campaign will be cochaired by campaign chairman Steve Spinner – a tech executive and investor who was a California finance chairman for Obama’s campaign and an Energy Department stimulus adviser – and general consultant Jeremy Bird, who was the Obama campaign’s national field director last year. The members are David Berger, Kamil Hasan, Amy Rao, Rusty Rueff, Jim Green, Sergio Santos, Eva Roa, Lindsay Lamont, Kavita Tankha and Ann Woo.

David Berger, 53, of Palo Alto, was a member of the Obama campaign’s national finance committee last year and is a partner at Silicon Valley’s largest law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – where Khanna is of counsel. He also has taught law classes at Harvard, Stanford, UC-Berkeley and Duke.

Kamil Hasan of Saratoga, another former Obama finance committee member, is a partner at Granite Hill partners, founded HiTek Ventures in 1995 and has thirty years of operating and entrepreneurial experience in the software industry. Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean appointed him as an at-large DNC member and a super-delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Amy Rao, 50, of Palo Alto, is CEO of Integrated Archive Systems, which she founded in 1994. Part of her long history in local and national Democratic politics was her role as one of the nation’s top fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Rusty Rueff, 50, of Hillsborough, another former Obama finance committee member, also was the coordinating national co-chair of Technology for Obama. A former business executive, Rueff now invests in and advises start-ups and serves philanthropically. He was the CEO of SNOCAP, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts and Vice President of International Human Resources for PepsiCo. He now currently serves on the corporate boards of Glassdoor.com, Rethink Books, HireVue and runcoach.

Jim Green co-founded and is executive director of T4A.org, a nonprofit focused on increasing civic engagement and creating a thoughtful, substantive and sustained two-way dialogue between the public sector and the technology community. He was the Northern California finance director for Obama’s 2012 campaign, and staff director of Technology for Obama; earlier, he worked for the Democratic National Committee finance team where he was responsible for major donor fundraising in California. He also was finance director for Kamala Harris’ successful 2010 campaign for state attorney general.

Sergio Santos, 49, of Fremont, most recently was the community labor liaison for the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) Re-Employment Center in Fremont; earlier, he served for 20 years as president of United Auto Workers Local 2244.

Eva Roa, 22, of San Jose, is a recent San Jose State University graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in economics, who served as president of the local AIESEC committee, putting on leadership development conferences and sending San Jose State students abroad on international internships. Roa also co-founded a small web-app startup to help students on campus find free food events. She is now studying to be a web developer at the nine-week intensive programming boot camp at Coding Dojo.

Lindsay Lamont, a Stanford University senior and past president of the Stanford Young Democrats, took part last summer in Google’s Building Opportunities for Leadership & Development (BOLD) Diversity Internship Program. Earlier, she interned for ABC News and the Connecticut gubernatorial campaign of her father, Ned Lamont. She has also worked as a research assistant at the Yale New Haven Hospital.

Kavita Tankha, 45, of Los Altos Hills was a member of Obama’s National Finance Committee and Northern California Finance Committee for 2012, and was one of four leading Indian-American fundraisers for the president. The Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club recently honored her as its activist of the year. Earlier, Tankha worked as an attorney with various law firms around the world.

Ann Woo, 71, of Cupertino, is a dancer, playwright, producer and entrepreneur who has played a key role in introducing Chinese performing arts to the region in the past 35 years; her productions have been presented regularly in major theaters such as the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, Flint Center, California Theater and Palace of Fine Arts. Woo was executive director of the Chinese Folk Dance Association of San Francisco from 1979 to 1987, and she co-founded the Asian Heritage Council in the South Bay in 1984 and Chinese Performing Arts of America (CPAA) in 1991. Woo also worked as an electronic engineer for 30 years, receiving nine patents.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy is bringing a group of House Republicans on an “Innovate to Create” tour of Silicon Valley this week to meet with leading tech entrepreneurs and discuss how innovation leads to American job creation and economic growth.

“Silicon Valley is the cradle of twenty-first century innovation and the home to businesses that have effectively harnessed the entrepreneurial spirit that has made this country so great. Visiting these companies and meeting with their leaders is a great opportunity for members of Congress to see firsthand how innovation leads to job creation and economic growth across the entire country and around the world,” McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said in a news release.

“Washington must be mindful of the impact its policies can have in either fostering or hindering this growth. House Republicans are committed to unshackling entrepreneurs from onerous government-manufactured burdens that threaten to dampen opportunities for development so that there are no limits to what America’s innovators can imagine for our future.”

The lawmakers will meet with representatives from Google, Facebook, the Internet Association Roundtable, Engine Advocacy, Good Technology and Palantir Technologies. Besides McCarthy, lawmakers on the tour include Reps. Susan Brooks, R-Ind.; George Holding, R-N.C.; Cory Gardner, R-Colo.; Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; Patrick Meehan, R-Pa.; Mike Pompeo, R-Kan.; and Steve Scalise, R-La.

Gov. Jerry Brown probably believes it’s fine for the nation to speak softly, but he’s enlisting a former East Bay Congresswoman to ensure California remains part of its big stick.

Brown today appointed former East Bay Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher to chair a new Governor’s Military Council, tasked with protecting California’s military installations against the deep budget cuts being made by the Pentagon under the sequestration approved by Congress and President Obama.

“California plays a crucial role in our nation’s defense, and military bases and activities are vital to our state’s economy,” Brown said in a news release. “As federal priorities shift to cyber security and new military technology, this Council will work to expand defense-industry jobs and investment in California.”

California is home to 29 federal military installations, and the Defense Department directly employs more than 236,000 people in California. This new council will work to protect those installations and operations amid ongoing Defense Department budget cuts, and to push for changes in federal military strategy that will keep California at the front of defense innovation.

“California’s military infrastructure is critically important to national security,” Tauscher said. “The Council will send a unified message to Washington, D.C., that highlights the value of our military bases.”

Tauscher, 61, represented her East Bay congressional district from 1997 until 2009, when she resigned to take a post as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs; she left that post in February 2012. More recently, she served as the State Department’s Special Envoy for Strategic Stability and Missile Defense and Vice Chair-Designate of the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. She is now a strategic advisor to the Baker Donelson law firm in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., noted defense is key sector of the state’s economy.

“With federal budgets continuing to be cut — including many defense programs — it is my hope that the Governor’s Military Council will help protect jobs and investments and attract new missions associated with California’s military presence,” she said. “I also believe that Ellen Tauscher is an excellent choice to chair this council, as she brings a wealth of experience at the State Department and as a member of the House of Representatives.”

The council will convene for one year and draft specific recommendations to the governor and Legislature. It includes retired admirals and generals from all military branches, the Adjutant General of the California National Guard and lawmakers selected by state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John Perez. The appointments don’t require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation.

See the full roster of council members as described by the governor’s office, after the jump…
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Rep. Mike Honda has led 42 other House members in urging the Obama administration to omit from its budget amendments that block law enforcement from being able to track firearms used in crime.

The Tiahrt Amendments are a set of policy riders that have been attached, for the last nine years, to annual appropriations bills. They prohibit the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from requiring licensed gun dealers to perform inventory checks; require that background check records be destroyed within 24 hours; and limit state and local law enforcement authorities’ access and use of ATF gun trace data.

The lawmakers sent a letter Tuesday to Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

“While pharmacies and other fields are required to check for inventory, guns are not. As a result, the restrictive Tiahrt Amendments have allowed thousands of guns to cross our border or to be purchased illegally without any oversight. These guns are now killing innocent Americans and limiting investigations by authorities,” Honda, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, said in a news release.

“I have worked for years on the Appropriations Committee to repeal these amendments and believe that now is finally the time to put common sense reforms in place to stop the flow of illegal guns and end the violence,” he said. “We must now ensure that the FY14 budget is clean of this language, which has never had a floor vote or a full debate.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, among the signatories of Honda’s letter, said the amendments “block access to vital information that lawmakers, police-officers, and federal agencies need to begin to tackle the epidemic of gun violence in our communities. We must treat gun violence for what it is: a public health epidemic, and no one would ever stop the Centers for Disease Control from tracking data on heart disease.”

Others signing the letter include Reps. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo; Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; and Rep. Sam Farr, D-Santa Cruz.

Add California’s U.S. Senators to the cavalcade of Democratic stars giving early endorsements to Rep. Mike Honda as he tries to neutralize a potential challenge from a fellow Democrat.

“I’m proud to endorse Congressman Mike Honda,” U.S. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a news release issued today by Honda’s campaign. “He works tirelessly for the people he represents and is an important leader on issues such as helping to create jobs and improving our schools. He is a champion for Silicon Valley and I’m glad to offer him my support.”

“The people of the 17th Congressional District need Mike Honda’s strong voice now more than ever,” U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in the same release. “I am proud to endorse such an effective leader for education, innovation, and families throughout the region and country.”

Ro Khanna, a former Obama administration Commerce Department official with $1.26 million in his campaign coffers, is rumored to be announcing a 2014 campaign against Honda soon. He declined to comment on the senators’ endorsements Monday, just as he had when Honda rolled out endorsements this year from President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the chairs of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and others.

Honda thanked the senators for their support. “We all agree that the formula for growth in Silicon Valley jobs is straightforward. It requires smart and targeted incentives to help companies locate and grow here while accessing our unique and diverse workforce, and providing our students with the education they’ll need to compete.”

Honda issued poll results last week showing he had a 52-point lead over Khanna – not surprising, considering Honda, 71, has served in Congress since 2000 and Khanna, 36, hasn’t even declared his candidacy yet.

House members near and far, and from both sides of the aisle, are holding forums to hear their constituents’ thoughts on immigration reform.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, will join with community leaders and activists for a forum from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, March 26, at St. Elizabeth’s High School, 1530 34th Ave. in Oakland, with testimony from East Bay residents.

Lee’s office says she “been a staunch supporter of comprehensive immigration reform to address our broken immigration system” and “is committed to developing a comprehensive immigration policy that is fair, preserves family unity, promotes long-term economic growth, and includes a clear roadmap to citizenship.”

Next week and far away, Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Modesto, will hold two similar forums – one on April 2 in Modesto, and another on April 3 in Manteca. He’ll be joined by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, at both listening sessions.

“As your Congressman, I’d like to hear from you about the critical issues facing our country and our community,” Denham said in a news release. “From creating fair and respectful immigration policies, to helping to create good paying jobs, and improving our children’s schools, we have a lot of work to do, and the answers are going to come from people like you – not the bureaucrats in Washington.”

Rep. Zoe Lofgren and U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy introduced bills in the House and Senate Thursday that they said would improve protection of refugees and asylum-seekers coming to the United States to flee persecution in their home nations.

Their Refugee Protection Act would reform the expedited removal process for asylum seekers pursuing their claims before the Asylum Office of the Department of Homeland Security. The bill requires the immigration detention system to adhere to basic humane treatment for asylum seekers and others with access to counsel, religious practice, and visits from family.

It also strengthens the law so those with actual ties to terrorist activities will continue to be denied entry to the United States. But the authors say it will protect innocent asylum seekers and refugees from being unfairly denied as a result of overly broad terrorism bars that over time have inadvertently swept in those who were actually victimized by terrorists.

“Americans have long been a compassionate people, offering a safe harbor to victims of devastating calamities and survivors of tortuous, brutal regimes,” Lofgren, D-San Jose, said in her news release. “The legislation we’re introducing today not only continues that proud tradition, it makes several needed improvements to ensure we can help those seeking freedom from persecution and oppression abroad.”

Lofgren is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. Her bill is cosponsored by Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Pleasanton; John Conyers, D-Mich.; Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Jared Polis, D-Colo.; Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.; and Peter Welch, D-Vt. The Senate version is cosponsored by Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; and and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

“The Senate will soon turn to comprehensive immigration reform and the changes to the refugee system contained in this bill are a critical component of fixing our broken immigration system,” said Leahy, D-Vt. “As we address the many complex issues that face our immigration system, we must ensure that America upholds its longstanding commitment to refugee protection.”

Rep. Mike Honda continued his double-barreled defense against a potential Democratic challenger Thursday by releasing a poll showing he has 10 times that person’s support.

According to the poll Honda’s campaign commissioned from Lake Research Partners, Honda starts with 57 percent support to Ro Khanna’s 5 percent. Khanna, a former Obama Administration official with $1.26 million in his campaign coffers, is rumored to be announcing a 2014 campaign against Honda soon.

Republican Evelyn Li, who challenged Honda last year, shows at 13 percent in this poll, and 23 percent of voters are undecided. The live telephone poll of 503 likely 2014 open primary voters, conducted Feb. 17-20, has a 4.4-point margin of error.

“Mike Honda is well-known and well-liked by the people he represents,” pollster David Mermin said in Honda’s news release. “His potential challengers are unknown and will face a long road to persuade voters to choose them over the Congressman.”

Khanna declined to comment on the poll Thursday: “I haven’t made any announcements yet about my future plans, but I am committed to serve where I can do the most for Bay Area residents.”

Mermin also noted that among voters who are tech-industry workers, Honda leads Khanna 56 percent to 6 percent. Khanna, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of commerce from 2009 through 2011, last year released his book “Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key To America’s Future,” and he has worked to cast himself as a young, aggressive policy maker who’s in tune with the high-tech sector’s needs.

California’s 17th Congressional District is the first in the continental United States to have an Asian-American majority. Honda’s poll shows he holds 68 percent support from East and Southeast Asians, 59 percent from South Asians, 63 percent of Latinos and 49 percent of white voters.

None of this comes as much of a surprise, as Khanna, 36, remains largely unknown in the district – he has not yet even confirmed he’s a candidate, and the Honda’s poll shows 86 percent of voters don’t know who he is.

That hasn’t stopped a clearly-spooked Honda, 71, from moving swiftly and aggressively to try to quash his campaign before it starts; Honda in the past two months has rolled out endorsements from big guns such as President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, and former DNC chair Howard Dean – and we’ve still got a year and two and a half months until the June 2014 primary.