Happy Mother’s Day

Filed Under Personal

I drove down to Los Angeles Friday night to be here with my mother.

My younger brother Chris called me and asked if I was going to visit. I said I want it to be a surprise. For some reason, earlier in the week, I incidentally told my mother that I may visit. So, when I asked my brother why he called me to ask, he said because I told mom.

All is well. The weather is nice in LA. Overcast, with clouds burning off by the afternoon.

Yesterday, I was in downtown Burbank at the local union hall for the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Spring 2008 Issues Forum. It was a great forum: great program, speakers and ideas. One light bulb moment was when the pollster described how teachers and voters agreed with each other on almost everything but a single issue. That single issue is hammered away at over and over in advertisements, talking points and forums in order to divide the electorate into “yes” or “no.”

Stronger, more convincing arguments require more information and greater personal impact. For example, a $5.3 billion dollar budget cut to education is a lot, but it does not mean as much to me, you and most people because we do not tend to use billions of dollars in our daily lives and thus the weight of measurement is perceived terms is less.

Thus, we need to break down what this $5.3 billion dollar budget cut means. Without the money, schools will have less money to spend on students’ books, pencils and other class materials. Without the money, teachers will have less time to spend with students and give them individualized and specialized attention and teaching.

All in all, the Issues Forum was a success.