This is not a joke

 

Get this: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to headline a "yacht party" on Friday in San Francisco.

This is not a joke.

Josh Richman, an Oakland Tribune reporter, broke the unbelievable news last night. A mere 48 hours after announcing devastating state budget cuts -- but failing to call for ending the appalling yacht tax loophole -- the Governor will be the star attraction Friday at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

Just like us, Richman was bewildered:

"In the same week that he has rolled out a May budget revision based mainly on borrowing billions while enacting deep social-services cuts to close the state's massive deficit?

Wow."

Wow is an understatement. 

I got this news while moderating a "Courage Campaign Conversation" conference call with Arianna Huffington about the yacht tax loophole and other examples of why the "Right is Wrong" (the title of her new book). Arianna, a Cambridge-educated economist, expressed her disgust that Arnold would be politically tone deaf enough to party with the same super-rich yacht owners who are getting off tax-free while teachers receive pink slips.

It's time to put the heat on the Governor and his cronies -- the small minority of Republicans inside the state legislature that we are re-branding as the "Yacht Party".

On Monday, Arianna asked Courage Campaign members to support "Yacht Party 2" -- an extremely provocative 60-second TV ad we produced to expose the California Republican Party's shocking priorities. The ad, funded by the California Nurses Association, inspired an overwhelming response, becoming the most popular video we have ever released on YouTube, with 52,430 views and counting. 

Now Assemblymember Anthony Portantino -- impressed by your people-power -- is challenging our grassroots community to an urgent matching campaign that can change the conversation inside Sacramento and put pressure on the Governor.

If our dynamic donors can raise a total of $5,000 by Monday at 12 p.m., Assemblymember Portantino will double your impact with a matching $5,000 donation. You got "Yacht Party 2" (click here to watch it) on the air in Sacramento. Now, can you help us expand our ad buy for one more week and keep up the pressure? Please meet this special $5K match challenge by donating $25, $50, $100 or more by Monday at noon:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/YachtParty2

On Tuesday, I was in Sacramento to witness the swearing-in of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, the first African-American woman to lead a state legislature in American history. It was a wonderful moment for California and for our nation, a day that portended a new era for progressive politics in California.

But, just yesterday, that hope took a hit when Governor Schwarzenegger announced his ridiculous budget-balancing scheme to gamble on California's future with lottery funds while refusing to take leadership to close this embarrassing tax loophole for yacht and private jet owners.

Now, the Governor is following up his head-in-the-sand failure to take leadership on tax-free yachts by partying with the yachting elite that enjoy this embarrassment of riches.

It's time to embarrass the California Repubublican Yacht Party and shine a spotlight on this travesty inside our state capitol. Can you double our impact by meeting Assemblymember Portantino's $5,000 match, so we can air "Yacht Party 2" (click here to watch it) across Sacramento for one more week? It only takes $25, $50, or $100 each from hundreds of small donors to make this match -- please contribute before Monday at 12 p.m.:  

http://www.couragecampaign.org/YachtParty2

We can kill this yacht-tax loophole like we helped kill the GOP's electoral college "dirty trick" last year. But we can't do it alone -- we need your grassrsoots and netroots people-power. 

If you think your friends will like this 60-second TV ad, please forward this message to your friends and family before Monday at noon.

Thank you for making this statement along with Courage, the California Nurses Association and Assemblymember Portantino. With your support, we can crash the Governor's yacht party on Friday.

Rick Jacobs
Chair

P.S. Save the date: On May 27, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and State Senator Pro-Tem-elect Darrell Steinberg will join us for our next "Courage Campaign Conversation". Be sure to reserve your phone line early though, after we send you the official announcement next week. Last night, we reached maximum capacity and were forced to stop accepting RSVP's for Arianna Huffington's call. 

Meanwhile, Arianna is extending her offer to help put "Yacht Party 2" on the air in Sacramento. If you can contribute at least $100 to fund "Yacht Party 2", she will sign her new book and send it to you ASAP:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/YachtParty2
 

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The Courage Campaign is an independent political committee and online organizing network approaching 100,000 members that empowers grassroots and netroots activists to build a progressive California. In 2008, the Courage Campaign will catalyze action to increase California's importance in the race for the White House, hold our elected officials accountable, and block Blackwater's second attempt to build a base of operations on the Mexican border.

Please consider making a contribution to the Courage Campaign: