The Presidio Museum is one of the most beautiful sites in San Diego. It sits on a hill above Old Town San Diego where our city first began to build itself. The park around the museum is a good place for picnics and strolling. It's also a place where a homeless person can sleep safely in the middle of the day. Sleeping at night in the dark is dangerous.

WE THE PEOPLECongressman John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, warns that he and his fellow Republicans in the House and in the Senate are prepared to “shut the government down” unless the President and other Democrats give “The American People” what they have said they want. Mr. Boehner does not speak for all of “The American People.” Mr Boehner says “the American people have spoken,” and that they have said they don’t want government involved in health care, and that “the American People” no longer want to be represented in the work place by unions, and that “the American People” have said they don’t want a change in the tax structure that favors the wealthy, and that “the American people” want government to place no restrictions on corporations... and on and on he goes with his rhetoric about what “the American people” want.

On Saturday I stood with a very large group of American people who gathered at the San Diego County Administration Building to declare that John Boehner does not speak for them. These are people who want the governor of Wisconsin and other elected politicians to know that they do not want bargaining rights to be taken away from workers. Citizens all across the country got together to remind the world that Americans have unions to thank for appropriate working conditions and appropriate pay. The people with whom I stood do not believe management in the private sector nor in government will respond to the needs of rank-and-file workers out of the goodness of their hearts. Of course, American workers want a balanced budget in government. They also want roads and bridges to be repaired. They want excellent schools for all children. They want their systems of government to run smoothly and they want workers in government jobs to be paid adequately. The list of conditions and circumstances the American people want is long. The majority of American people are workers. Workers are the strength of our great country. Taking away their right to organize and to bargain with management would be a serious blow to American democracy.