From Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton:

“For nine months, I’ve been listening to our community’s thoughts and ideas on health care reform. I’ve held public events that hundreds of people have attended and have met with seniors, patients, veterans, small business owners, doctors, and nurses. Thousands of people have also emailed, written letters, and called my office.

“I’ve heard from people denied health coverage for preexisting conditions like diabetes and allergies. I’ve met seniors who can’t afford the monthly cost of prescription drugs. I’ve talked with small businesses owners who have been forced to lay off employees because of skyrocketing premiums. I’ve heard many heartbreaking stories about the struggle so many Americans face right now to afford health care.

“I’ve carefully reviewed the proposal, read every page, and listened to all the input that the people I represent have offered. Throughout this process, I’ve stood up for reform that will lower costs, give families security and peace-of-mind, and make sure people can choose their doctor and care.

“Today, we took a critical step towards making health care more affordable for American families and helping to guarantee our nation’s long-term economic prosperity. Reforming health care is a fiscally responsible course of action that will build on the best of the American system by making sure people can keep their current insurance if they like it and choose what doctors they want see.

“Reform will reduce the growth of health care costs by creating fair, transparent and competitive health insurance markets and cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse. It will improve benefits for seniors, help small businesses to stay open, and stop insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions or kicking sick people off their plans.”

From Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele:

“Californians have plenty of reason to be disappointed today, as Representative McNerney chose to continue siding with the liberal leaders in Washington and support this government takeover of health care. Rep. McNerney should be ashamed to have been part of this partisan trickery and underhanded tactics used to ram this bill through Congress. And even more so, he should be ashamed to have supported a bill that will force already struggling Californians to face a future of higher taxes, increased premiums and Medicare cuts.

“Americans across the country have made their voices heard and flatly reject this legislation loaded with special deals and tax increases, but Rep. McNerney did not listen to them and instead chose to force this bill through by any means necessary. Rep. McNerney can be sure that voters in his district will not forget this vote that will negatively affect Americans for generations to come, and this November they will be sure to send him packing.”

Many more voices, after the jump…

From Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland:

“Tonight, my colleagues and I cast an historic vote to improve the health and wellness of millions of Americans who suffer because they are uninsured and under-insured and because of massive gaps in our nation’s health care system.

“Tonight, I cast my vote for all those people who deserve health care but simply can’t afford it. I cast my vote for our senior citizens who will see their prescription drug costs go down. I cast my vote for our children and grandchildren, so that they can live longer, fuller and healthier lives. I cast my vote in memory of those people who didn’t have preventive care and died prematurely.

“There is no doubt this bill has flaws. Many of us would have preferred a single-payer system or at least a public option. However, this bill offers vitally important advances for health care – making coverage more affordable and expanding access to much needed services.

“I worked tirelessly with my colleagues to ensure that this bill holds insurance companies accountable and included a number of cost-saving provisions. We were vocal advocates for provisions in the bill to combat health disparities, illnesses and diseases that disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities.

“To those who suffer from those health disparities, our vote tonight carries significance similar to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in that it fulfills a dream that has been elusive for far too long and for far too many Americans.

“This bill is a victory not only for our constituents, but for all Americans because it will make us a stronger and healthier nation. In my district alone this bill will extend coverage to 52,000 people immediately including young adults who have been kicked off their parents insurance. It will also improve coverage for 367,000 residents in my district.

“By passing this ground breaking legislation, we have finally given the power back to the people. No longer will the insurance companies have a strangle hold on the American people and their health care.

“I urge my Senate colleagues to move swiftly and pass the reconciliation package and enact the changes that the President has asked for and Congress has agreed to.”

From California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring:

“This evening, following a series of backroom deals and arm twisting, President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi convinced Congressional Democrats to support a government-run health care bill that increases taxes, raises premiums and slashes Medicare. This bill does nothing to help Californians, but instead is loaded with sweetheart deals and kickbacks, which seems to be business as usual in Nancy Pelosi’s Congress.

“Unfortunately for California voters, Democrats like Loretta Sanchez, Jerry McNerney and Jim Costa ignored the pleas of their constituents and instead chose to give in to their party bosses in Washington. Make no doubt about it, this November the people of California will go to the ballot box in droves to elect Republican candidates who will listen to them and focus on creating jobs for the Golden State–not a government takeover of their healthcare.”

From Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont:

“Forty-five years ago, President Johnson signed Medicare into law and guaranteed health care to every American 65 and over. Today we have extended that guarantee to all Americans.”

From Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell:

“I opposed this bill because it took away the freedom of individual Americans to choose the health care insurance policy that was best for them. It allows the federal government to set what must be in every medical insurance policy and to impose a penalty if your policy is more generous. If I am elected to the United State Senate, I will work towards reforming those two weaknesses. I believe we should cover those with pre-existing conditions and those who cannot afford health insurance but are not presently eligible for Medicaid or Medical. But the way to do that is through an assigned risk pool, not through the single dominant federal role in health care that the Senate bill creates.

“A number of states have announced they will challenge this federal bill. I believe that the constitutionality of the federal mandate in this bill is highly doubtful under U.S. v Lopez (1995). I encourage that those challenges go forward. But if the federal mandate is struck down as unconstitutional, then the entire bill will have to be reworked and that will provide the opportunity to do what I recommend be done for those with pre-existing conditions and those too poor to afford health insurance under the existing law.”

From House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Martinez:

“Approval of this legislation marks a major moment in America’s determined march toward greater equality and opportunity – a journey that has been interrupted and delayed far too many times in my lifetime.

“Congress has finally voted to make health insurance accessible and more affordable for everyone, and in so doing will create millions of jobs, reduce the federal budget deficit, and finally hold accountable the insurance companies that have caused so much panic and pain in the lives of hard-working Americans.

“Against all odds, history has been made. We promised health reform and we have delivered it.”

“Individuals, families, small businesses, and taxpayers in my district will benefit. Never again will you be at risk of losing your insurance if you lose or change your job, children will be able to stay on their parents plans until age 26, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and they will not be allowed to drop your coverage when you get sick.

“Community health centers and hospitals in Solano and Contra Costa counties will be better able to serve their patients, and our economy will be stronger.”

From Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore:

“The passage of this phony healthcare ‘reform’ is a tremendous blow to the cause of fiscal restraint, limited government, Constitutional principles, and free enterprise. In short, it strikes directly at America’s core principles. This is shameful moment in the history of our country — and especially the Democratic Party, which has apparently come unmoored from whatever remaining attachment it had to the ideals of our Founders. In place of a dedication to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ there is only a rapacious impulse to ever-expanded state control, and an avaricious imperative to seize ever-more of your rightful possessions.

“The Democrats are beyond reason. They are beyond appeals to common sense and patriotism. The corrupt milieu that produced President Barack Obama has metastasized and seated itself in Washington, D.C. — and we saw it on full display in the razor-thin passage of this healthcare ‘reform.’ Every trick, every pressure, every shameless deal was done. Down to perverting the rules of the American Congress, the Democrats stopped at nothing.

“Perhaps most pathetic was the spectacle of Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, who exchanged his pro-life principles for a hollow promise from the most pro-abortion President in American history. That executive order won’t stand up to judicial scrutiny — the President cannot override the law by fiat — and pro-life organizations like National Right to Life and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops understand that it’s a worthless scrap of paper. Yet Rep. Stupak’s desperation for thin cover to do the wrong thing is useful in one way: it illustrates the union of moral vacuum and maneuvering deception at the core of the Democratic effort for Obamacare.

“That’s why the American people will throw them out of office this November.”

From Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto:

“More than a century has passed since Teddy Roosevelt first called for healthcare reform. Today we have finally kept our promise to the American people that they will have affordable health insurance which they cannot lose or have taken away from them if they become ill.

“The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world and the costs are crippling to our economy. This legislation will reduce the deficit by a whopping $143 billion over ten years and $1.2 trillion over twenty years, the single largest deficit reduction plan in 25 years. It will eliminate discriminatory insurance practices and it will open the insurance market to millions of Americans who have been priced-out.

“I believe that by voting for this legislation, I am standing no the right side of history. Our achievement is also a tribute to Senator Edward Kennedy. His unwavering commitment to decent healthcare for all Americans paved the way for this landmark legislation and today’s historic vote.”

From Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina:

“While our nation’s health care system is in need of reform, the legislation passed today is an example of the ‘cure’ being worse than the disease. It is a patchwork of Washington insider deals, and it will cost California taxpayers millions, if not billions, of dollars we cannot afford.

“This was intended to be a bipartisan effort to improve the quality of our health care while also reducing costs. Sadly, the bill passed today is actually nothing but a product of the insider games we see played all too often in Washington. As a result, the will of the American people was ignored today. Instead, Congress passed a disastrous bill along party lines that will raise health care premiums by 10 to 13 percent, increase taxes by more than half a trillion dollars and put our nation deeper into debt. The tax increases required to fund this new entitlement will place an unfair burden on California’s small-business owners and entrepreneurs, the very people on whom we depend to create jobs and rebuild our economy.

“I don’t trust career politicians like Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to understand how our complex health care system actually works, much less ‘fix’ it in one fell swoop with a massive 5,000-page piece of legislation. There are bipartisan solutions that we know from experience will work to decrease costs, increase competition and improve the quality of care – solutions that are notably absent from this legislation. Instead of working to jam this massive bill through, let’s take a step back and fix specific problems with specific solutions that have bipartisan support.”

UPDATE @ 10:30 P.M.: From Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove:

“Today, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to form a more perfect union. By expanding health care coverage to 32 million Americans, we are continuing the proud American tradition of promoting justice, ensuring the general welfare, and broadening access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“Republican leaders in the 1930s said Social Security would lead to ‘the lash of the dictator’ and in the 1960s said Medicare would lead to grandparents telling stories of ‘what it once was like in America when men were free.’ Yet with time, Social Security and Medicare became incredibly popular services cherished by most Americans. A broader consensus emerged, and a more perfect union was formed. I am confident that the same will soon be said about today’s health care reform bill.

“When the people get past the slogans, the fear tactics, and the gross distortions, what they find in this legislation is a series of ideas widely popular and aligned with the best of American values. This is the second largest deficit reduction bill in 20 years. In my district, 9,000 people with preexisting conditions will finally be able to have access to insurance. 96,000 seniors will see their Medicare improved with significant prescription drug discounts and free preventative screenings. 106,000 families will receive tax credits to make their coverage more affordable. 52,000 young adults will be able to attain coverage through their parents’ insurance. 13,100 small business owners will receive significant tax rebates. 1,400 families will avoid bankruptcy. A similar story exists in every corner of this great country.

“In the fight to extend health coverage to every man, woman, and child, this bill is an incredibly important beginning. But it’s still just a beginning. ‘A more perfect union’ implies that the progress of the American experience is never complete. Each subsequent generation is expected to pick up the torch and continue on our long road toward positive change. Today the House of Representatives bestowed upon this great nation the most historic health reform since Medicare. I am proud to have voted ‘yes’ for health care reform. I won’t live to see a perfect union, but it is a tremendous honor to see a more perfect union formed before my eyes.”

Dear Colleague:

To my friends and colleagues who have inquired about my health, here’s the latest.

The good news is, that after months in the hospital last year, there is no more pneumonia. Unfortunately, my lung capacity was diminished and for a while I need to use supplemental oxygen to operate at 100%.

So don’t panic if you see me with a little plastic tube at my nose. It’s a bit inconvenient, but it works.

Sincerely,
Pete Stark

Lee

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman and Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee issued this statement in response to the racist comments directed at black congressmen at “Kill the Bill” health care rally Saturday in Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C. – Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement in response to racist and inflammatory incidents during yesterday’s health care protests.

“As the House of Representatives is on the cusp of passing historic health care reform, many opponents of progress have resorted to using racist and inflammatory tactics to express their opposition.

“Two weeks after leading a delegation of members of Congress on a civil rights pilgrimage to Selma , Alabama on the 45th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Rep. John Lewis was accosted while walking with two other CBC members on their way to vote on the House floor.‪

“Congressman Lewis has since remarked that what he encountered yesterday was reminiscent of what he experienced 45 years ago as a young man marching for freedom for all Americans.‪‪

“During the same incident, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver was spat on by a protester and on a separate occasion a sexual slur at Rep. Barney Frank.‪

“For a protester to spit on a public official and hurl hateful epithets is wrong, it speaks to a deeper motivation that has nothing to do with the issues at hand. No one should fan the flames of hatred nor tolerate this despicable behavior which draws from one of the ugliest periods of American history.‪

“In December, members of the Congressional Black Caucus held a ‘Discussion on Race’ to examine the critical role of race in our society; its scientific, historic, legal and socio-cultural role.‪

“The incidents yesterday are examples of the unfinished business of America .  We cannot sweep race and racism under the rug. Our nation needs and deserves a national dialogue on race.”‪

In the countywide races, any candidate who receives 50 percent plus 1 vote will win the seat outright. If no one achieves a majority, the top two-vote getters will compete in a runoff in November.

Assessor: Gus Kramer of Martinez (i), Bob Brooks of Antioch, John T. Nejedly of Danville and Ross Butler of Alamo.

Auditor-Controller (Incumbent Stephen Ybarra is not seeking re-election): Robert Campbell of Concord. unopposed

Board of Supervisors, District 1: (Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, and the unincorporated communities of East Richmond Heights, El Sobrante, Kensington, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond and Rollingwood.) John Gioia of Richmond (i), and Mister Phillips of San Pablo

Board of Supervisors, District 4: (Incumbent Susan Bonilla not seeking re-election.) (Clayton, Clyde, Concord, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek) Karen Mitchoff and Mike McGill, both of Pleasant Hill

Clerk-Recorder: Stephen Weir of Concord (i) unopposed

District Attorney: (Incumbent Bob Kochly is not seeking re-election) Mark Peterson of Concord, Dan O’Malley of Lafayette and Elle Falahat of Danville.

Sheriff-Coroner: (Incumbent Warren Rupf is not seeking re-election) David Livingston of Concord, Brian Kalinowski of Antioch.

Superior Court judges: John Sugiyama (i), David Flinn (i), William Kolin (i), Judith Craddick (i); Barry Baskin (i); Brian Haynes (i), Laurel Brady (i); John Kennedy (i), Jill Fannin (i), Theresa Canepa (i), Claire Maier (i), Barbara Hinton (i), Trevor White (i), Edward Weil (i) All unopposed.

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Joseph Ovick of Brentwood (i) unopposed

Treasurer-Tax Collector: (Incumbent Bill Pollacek is not seeking re-election) Russell Watts of Brentwood and Karen Thibodeau of Walnut Creek

Addressed to Mike Murphy, Whitman’s chief strategist, by her public opinion consultants John McLaughlin and David Hill, the memo has absolutely no intrinsic value, no analysis that Murphy, a veteran and savvy political hack, would ever find useful.

They walk through recent poll results from Rasmussen and Field surveys, which show Whitman’s widening lead over GOP opponent Steve Poizner and the tie that she’s basically pulled into with the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Jerry Brown:

“At this time, these media polls are very good news for Meg Whitman’s candidacy. The campaign is showing a strong early foundation for winning. We are just over two months from the Republican primary and Meg Whitman’s lead is large and growing against a very popular opponent.

“Looking ahead to the general election, it is still early, but these numbers are very encouraging.  To be tied with the incumbent Attorney General who is a former Governor, and is now the unchallenged Democratic candidate for Governor, again, is a truly remarkable achievement for newcomer Meg Whitman.

“Steve Poizner’s poor numbers against Meg Whitman in the primary allow him only to play a spoiler’s role trying to raise Whitman’s negatives. In the end, Steve Poizner is too far behind to win. A continuation of Poizner’s primary bid only serves to help Jerry Brown.”

(Back to their old tricks, still trying to push Poizner out!)

“Of course, the Meg Whitman for Governor campaign has a long way to go; however, we can only be encouraged by the voters’ positive reaction to Meg Whitman’s candidacy and her message.”

That’s a pep talk, not an analysis! Probably written by someone in the communications dept. Here’s the memo I would have liked to have seen, stripped of self-consciousness, crafted with a jaded eye – perhaps a memo that Murphy might write:

From: Mike Murphy

To:  Whitman’s political team

cc: Meg Whitman

OK, guys, polls are showing a lot of strengths out there. The money is working. Keep it coming, Meg! We’re defining both Meg and Steve nicely: Meg as outsider businesswoman who will get the job done, Poizner as wheenie faux-conservative who you just can’t trust.

But, people, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have to avoid peaking too early. And with two months left in the primary, the elephant in the room is the $19 million Poizner has sitting in his campaign vault.

We thought we could draw him out with our attack ads, but he’s kept eerily, zen-like quiet, outside of maybe $800,000 worth of response buys. He said he would be firing back “very soon,” but it’s looking more and more like he’s sticking with his original game plan. And that’s to unload $19 million in the last four-five weeks of the campaign.

We have to prepare for that. Really, the best thing we could do is to continue to apply pressure for him to abandon the race. Keep the defections coming, Tucker! We need to exploit our free media friends — I know, I know, we’re in a post-print world, but sometimes you gotta use ‘em — and push the story line that he’s toast, that more Republicans are calling on him to quit, more want a unified team, etc.

If that doesn’t work, we can’t just sit there and wait for the assault. We all know what $19 million in a five-week period could do. We won’t have time to respond, or at least get the last, loudest word. Our media buys have been far less than $19 million so far– and that’s been over a 6-month period, and it’s been considered as dominant as it gets. Imagine the devastating impact of even more nasty ads in a condensed period.

Voters still don’t know e-Meg, so it’s not too late for Poizner to fill in the gaps. That’s my greatest fear. And there’s plenty of stuff out there to start weakening her image. Don’t get me started on her voting record and her Boxer donation (sorry, boss).

We need to get more bio stuff on Meg — I don’t want to come down too harshly on creative, but those 30-minute infomercials aren’t going to cut it, folks. Aren’t there more testimonials we can generate out of eBay, this time with real folks who made it big because of eBay? But we also need to send some Pershing missiles out, blast Poizner with some real H-Bombs.

Listen folks, our lead seems insurmountable. We’ve made some good inroads with voters, and it looks like we’ve got things under control. I like the inevitablity play, adjusting our sights to Brown as if we’re already in general election mode. But if we start taking Republican primary voters for granted, Poizner starts pummeling the airwaves just when voters are starting to pay attention — and our poll numbers start to drop (really, there’s only one way to go from a 63 to 19 point lead, and it’s down) — the narrative starts to shift, and things start to get uncomfortable.

Just remember. The Brooklyn Dodgers were 13 1/2 games ahead of the New York Giants in mid-August and lost the pennant in 1951. The Philadelphia Phillies had a six 1/2 game lead with 12 games to go in 1964, and lost the pennant. The Cubs led by 9 1/2 games with six weeks to go in 1969, but it was the Amazing Mets that went to the World Series that year. And don’t get me started on the 14 1/2 game lead the Red Sox blew to the Yankees in ‘78!

You get the idea. Big leads are made to be blown. Let’s not blow it.

Murph.

 

If you want to watch Poizner for yourself, I captured the hour-long event with FlipVideo, moderated by my colleague, Oakland Tribune and Bay Area News Group politics and legal affairs reporter Josh Richman.

(For those who want to know why I did not videotape GOP candidate Meg Whitman’s Commonwealth Club appearance in Lafayette last month, I could not get close enough to set up my FlipVideo. Her event was sold-out and her handlers corralled the press in the back of the room. )

Leno

Steve Lesher, the driving force behind Newsmakers, the annual Lesher Speaker Series, may have been exaggerating just a tiny bit when the event’s inaugural speaker, funny man Jay Leno, mentioned the Lesher Center for the Arts on the Tonight Show.

“He talked about how it is the greatest venue in all of California, and how appearing at Newsmakers was the high point in his career, hands down,” Lesher wrote on the LesherSpeakerSeries.org blog.

But then Steve came to his senses.

“Well, not exactly.  It was cool, however, to hear him mention ‘Walnut Creek, California at the Lesher Center for the Arts,’ when introducing his guest, Dana Carvey, who is appearing here in town at an upcoming charity benefit.”

Click here to watch the segment.

“I’m not an establishment candidate, I’m not going to be beholden to special interests, and I’m not afraid to spend my own money to change the direction of California,” Kelly said in his news release. “I think the voters of California are ready for new ideas, and I’m ready to communicate to them a message about why I’m the candidate with the right experience and priorities to be California’s next Attorney General.”

Kelly, along with Democratic primary rivals San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, declined to abide by a voluntary campaign spending cap of $5,178,000 which would have enabled them to place candidate statements in the ballot pamphlet that’ll be mailed to all registered voters in advance of June’s election – an indication that they intend to spend big on advertising.

Four other contenders – Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-Newark; Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance; Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara; and Emeryville attorney Mike Schmier – did agree to the spending cap and so will have statements in the ballot pamphlet.

Workers at FedEx Express – the air-oriented rapid delivery division of Memphis-based FedEx Corp. – are covered by the Railway Labor Act, which lets them unionize but curbs their right to strike. A section in the House version of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, HR 915, would amend the RLA to cover only pilots, aircraft maintenance workers and aircraft dispatchers, meaning most of FedEx Express’ employees would suddenly have strike rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

That provision isn’t in the U.S. Senate version of the bill, but the chamber briefly took it up for debate this week – and FedEx went to the mattresses to try to stop it – before the bill was postponed for another three months.

“This provision was inserted in a backroom deal in the dark of night without a hearing, public input or economic study,” FedEx spokesman Maury Lane said Monday. “It changed 70 years of labor law which has been serving employees under the RLA well by having 10 times the amount of unionization than the NLRA … so this move is actually an antiunion move, in reality, if you look at the bigger picture.”

The Teamsters disagree. The union and UPS, FedEx’s arch-rival, convinced House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., to insert and champion the provision. They call the current situation a loophole that treats FedEx differently from all its competitors and deprives workers of labor rights.

Lane says UPS is bigger and older than FedEx but does more of its shipping by truck and entered the air freight business a decade after FedEx, yet structured its operations in such a way that packages are moved by a chain of workers “contaminated” with a mixture of RLA and NLRA labor rules; FedEx Express workers always have been covered only by the RLA.

“They could’ve set their company up smart like we did but they chose to take a shortcut and they’re paying for it now because of a costly labor contract they signed two years ago,” he said. “This is not about leveling the playing field, this is about them wiping us off the playing field and getting a legislative bailout to fix a broken economic model.”

Lane noted FedEx Express has 12,000 employees in California, about 2,000 of whom work in a hub at Oakland’s airport. Giving local workers the power to strike means decreasing FedEx Express’ reliability, he said, citing a 1997 strike that stilled UPS for 16 days. Less reliability means less customers and less revenue, he said, and that means letting workers go.

“There seems to me to be no reason for FedEx to have a special exemption from the normal labor laws that govern that industry,” countered Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, is the only Bay Area member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, though he wasn’t yet in office when the House passed its version of this bill last May.

Garamendi said Northern California’s business is “crucial” to FedEx and the company surely won’t curtail operations here. “UPS operates in the Bay Area very successfully with a union and they’re not pulling out, so I think it’s an anti-union attitude of FedEx that’s in play here, but the reality is quite different.”

Oakland International Airport falls in the 13th Congressional District represented by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont. His staff said he supports the provision because it would treat FedEx the same as its peers and protect workers’ labor rights.

The consensus among staffers for both of California’s U.S. Senators is that the provision won’t be inserted into the Senate version of the bill, so it’ll become an issue for the conference committee working out differences between the House and Senate versions. A spokeswoman for Barbara Boxer said she supports the provision as a means of “leveling the playing field for all of our workers;” a spokesman for Dianne Feinstein said she has taken no position on the provision.

Saint Mary’s College in Moraga is trumpeting the news that President Barack Obama picked its basketball team as the winner in today’s game with Richmond: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/news-and-events/item.html?ID=4320

I confess, I know nothing about March madness unless it we’re talking about this month’s candidate filing and campaign finance deadlines.

But a colleague and Saint Mary’s alum tells me this selection of the winners through each step of the basketball tournament season — called brackets — is wildly popular. I’ll take his word for it.