Mariko Yamada, Democrat for State Assembly

This past Monday, I was privileged to share Memorial Day speaking honors with Mr. Jim Iso, representing members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 100th Infantry Division, and MIS (Military Intelligence Service) who attended a special recognition service at the Davis Cemetery. In response to your requests, we’ve attached my remarks here.

Seeing these veterans, now in their 80’s and 90’s, as living representations of their motto, “Go For Broke”, will be forever seared in my memory.

While out walking I get asked a lot about why I would want to get involved with the Assembly during these hard budget times. The answer? I've never shied away from tough problems.

There is no question that the Governor’s proposed budget – built around “cuts alone” is destructive to our schools.

While I have long held the position that new taxes should be voter-approved, we face an emergency circumstance where that may simply not be possible.  
 

Yet another phantom organization - there seem to be a lot of them early in this campaign - has sent out a fax with a critical spin on my position on taxes. Be assured that when we release information it will always be attributable to our campaign, and you can always seek clarification by contacting us at info@marikoyamada.net. We'll continue to run a clean campaign.

To be clear:

Budget reform – I would like to see a 55 to 60% voting threshold with a two-year budget cycle that aligns with the legislative session.

My eldest daughter Meilee is currently in Washington, DC. As a longtime supporter of the LBGT community she’s coordinating a vigil for equal rights for the LGBT community outside of the National Archives.

Her tremendously proud Mom will be one of the sponsors of a similar effort in Sacramento on October 13th.

It’s all part of an effort called, “Seven Straight Nights” where straight Americans across the nation "come out" as supporters of equal rights for their gay and lesbian neighbors, coworkers and friends.

You can learn more about it at http://www.sevenstraightnights.org.

Congress recessed without taking definitive action on immigration reform. Here’s a link to a new video game that might help them study over the break:

Gamers play illegal immigrants in new title
A Japanese computer science student fails to take a full load of university classes and loses his student visa. A 10th-grade Indian girl is detained because of a high school essay she wrote on the Department of Homeland Security. These are two of the characters in "ICED!" _ a new video game that invites players to step into the shoes of foreigners who run afoul of the U.S. immigration system.

Every campaign has its great stories, and this one is no different. Three weeks ago, I got an email from a childhood friend whom I had not heard from for almost forty years. She had found me through my campaign web site.

Fatima Linda Collier Jackson and I were founders of the “Black Hand Club”, a loose association of girlfriends at Cole Junior High School in Denver in the early 60’s. I was the sole Asian American in the group.

This story is tragically all to real in our community, where a young veteran
from Woodland took his own life after struggling with his return home.

As I mentioned at my campaign announcement, returning veterans deserve more of our help, compassion and attention (you can see it in my announcement video)

As the social services system struggles to deal with its current case load, we
must do more to prepare for returning Iraqi War veterans.

U.S. Army suicides hit highest rate since Gulf War
Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:43AM EDT
By Kristin Roberts

My last entry mentioned Juana, who works so many hours she can not attend school to learn English.

The link below is to an AP article about the promise of California’s Community Colleges, and near the end of the article, is more on the subject of what it’s like to work and go to school today:

www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2007/07/19/news/168new0.txt

A few candidates are talking about the increasing chasm between the rich and the poor in our society. I spoke to this issue when I made my announcement for the Assembly on February 28, 2007.

Barbara Ehrenreich is a journalist and author of several books, including “Nickel and Dimed”, an account of her going “undercover” as a minimum-wage worker—Wal Mart Greeter, IHOP waitress, and hotel maid. Here’s a link to her interview on Bill Moyer’s Journal, a favorite of my campaign manager, Brian Micek:

www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08032007/profile.html

Today's Sacramento Bee reports two suspects identified in the Satender Singh case. Here is the link that article: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/314370.html (registration required).

Attached is an earlier article taken from the Nichi Bei Times Weekly that speaks to the Vincent Chin case. The parallels are tragic.

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Asian Americans Remain Vigilant Against Hate Crimes
From the Nichi Bei Times Weekly July 26, 2007