Life In Sherman Oaks

On Monday, December 7th, at 7:00pm, the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DPSFV) will hold its regularly scheduled meeting and a workshop for those interested in applying to be on the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission. DPSFV meets at the Van Nuys State Building Auditorium at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. Please contact Damian Carroll at carrolldamian@gmail.com for more information. Starting on December 15th, 2009, Californians have the opportunity to apply [...]

A new Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts and Sciences poll found 51% of Californians favor gay marriage — while 43% oppose it. The survey of 1,500 registered voters from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3 has a statistical margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points–which means that because the survey is a statistical sample size (and not the entire population) it could be [...]

Late Sunday night, Governor Schwarzeneggar signed AB 260 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance). The measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, tightens restrictions on mortgage brokers so they cannot steer borrowers to riskier, higher-interest loans when they qualify for less-expensive ones.

Legislative Alert: SB 303 Take Action to Protect Nursing Facility Residents On behalf of AARP California’s 3 million members, we are urging you to call or email Governor Schwarzenegger and ask him to sign SB 303 (Alquist). The bill requires that nursing facility residents or their delegates give informed consent regarding the use of psychotherapeutic drugs. AARP supports this bill because it protects vulnerable residents from the inappropriate use of [...]

Did you know that Los Angeles County has received $2,120,308,224 in Federal Recovery Act funds to help stimulate the economy in LA County?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two U.S. lawmakers plan to introduce legislation that would bring forward new regulations limiting credit card interest rates and fees by nearly three months. The two Democrats said on Wednesday they will introduce legislation to advance the implementation date to December 1 for the regulations limiting credit card interest rates and fees. U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Barney Frank said they will hold a press conference on [...]

Gadhafi, leader of Lybia, the country who just recently welcomed home the Lockerbee bomber who the Scots released from prison for compassionate reasons — spoke the to U.N. today in a rambling speech regarding the functions and rights of the United Nations; specifically the Security Council of the United Nations. Col. Gadhafi, objects to the 15 member Security Council which consists five veto-wielding permanent members: China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, [...]

Link to ALL California legislators in the United States Congress — CONTACT INFO. http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=ca

Americas_Healthy_Future_Act Baucus Bill Read the full text of the Senate Finance Committee Health Care Reform Bill here. It includes no public option and no Republicans have signed on.

H.R. 627. Bill Passed May 22, 2009. As a result of the Credit Card Act which passed Congress and was signed into law by President Obama, on August 20, 2009 it became illegal for your credit card company to: 1. Give you less than 45 days advance notice before making any changes (increase your interest rate, you payments date, etc) to your contract. 2. Mail your less than 21 days [...]

If being a battered woman or man isn’t hard enough — the insurance companies in 8 states will make it worse for you. In Washington, DC and eight states, including Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, you may just plain be out of luck if you’ve ever been beaten or abused by your spouse or life partner. Insurance companies operating in those states, [...]

The American Bankers Association, The American Financial Services Association, the Consumer Mortgage Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have already voiced opposition to this bill. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has authorized $2 million in ads to fight these regulations. CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY OF THE BILL. Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 – Establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Agency as an [...]

The Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council will be holding a meeting, September 14, 2009 at 6:30PM — at the Sherman Oaks Elementary School (located at 14755 Greenleaf Street in Sherman Oaks). The agenda of the meeting will be a forum to discuss candidates for the District 2 Special Election.

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON FINANCIAL RESCUE AND REFORM Federal Hall New York, New York 11:59 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It is wonderful to be back in New York after having just been here last week. It is a beautiful day and we have some extraordinary guests here in the Hall today. I just want to mention a few. First of all from my economic team, [...]

Lest we forget… A year ago, Lehman collapsed — the Dow Jones dropped 500 points in a single day. Panic was flooded the market and the country. Americans were losing their retirement, their investments. By November 10, 2008 the Dow had reached a low of 7,552. The Nasdaq, 1316 and the S&O, 752. American wealth had been cut by 40%! Where are we today? The Dow is back up to [...]

Watch Senator Feinstein. Embedded video from CNN Video

The monthly meeting of Healthcare for All-San Fernando Valley chapter will be this coming Thursday 9/17 at 7:30pm at the State Office Building at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. at Calvert Street, Room 135 (entrance is on Calvert Street). HCA is a California state non-profit that regards health care as a human right and is dedicated to ensuring that all Californians have comprehensive, reliable, and affordable health insurance. Universal single payer [...]

Forty-one percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Thursday say they favor the war in Afghanistan — down 9 points from May, when CNN polling suggested that half of the public supported the war. Fifty-four percent say they oppose the war in Afghanistan, up 6 points from May. “Afghanistan is almost certainly the Obama policy that Republicans like the most,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. [...]

Bill To Limit Insurance Policy Rescissions Headed to Governor’s Desk On Thursday, the California Legislature gave final approval to a measure designed to limit the circumstances under which health insurance companies can revoke a patient’s individual insurance policy, the Sacramento Bee reports. Bill Details The bill (AB 2) by Assembly member Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) would: Create standardized information and medical history questions for policy applications; Establish an [...]

WASHINGTON – The recession is ending and the economy is finally growing again. That’s the message implicit in the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of businesses around the country, which found economic activity stabilizing or improving in most regions. Economists warn the expansion is fragile and will have staying power only if consumers start spending more money. Rising unemployment that keeps Americans cautions could make for a plodding recovery in the [...]