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OC Register: What will Sanchez’s holiday card be this year?
The Orange County Register
November 23rd, 2009
If it’s the holiday season it must mean that Capitol Hill is waiting to see what Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s Christmas card will look like this year.
For 2009, the Santa Ana Democrat has a new twist. She’s going high tech and is going to send an email to folks who sign up on her campaign web site to let them know what the new twist will be with this year’s card.
Click here to see cards from past years.
The announcement will come on Tuesday, Dec. 1. And if you want to find out soonest you can go to www.loretta.org and sign up.
Read moreAnd the Big Surprise... Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is Going Green with her Holiday Card This Year!
And your favorite non-profit could be the big winner!
December 1, 2009 (Santa Ana, CA) – Last week, we told you that a big surprise was in store for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez's annual holiday cards this year. After years of mailing cards to constituents, friends, and family, Loretta is doing something different this year - she is going green with her holiday card!
Rather than print thousands of cards this year, Loretta will instead make donations to Orange County non-profits in need by sponsoring a holiday donation competition.
"In light of these tough economic times and given the continued focus on climate change and the need to do more to protect our environment, there was no question that for the first time ever, the right thing for me to do this year was to go green with my holiday cards," said Sanchez. "Those who typically receive my cards will still receive my card, only this year they will receive an electronic version. And with the money we normally spend on printing and mailing the cards, my campaign will give donations to needy non-profits in Orange County through a competitive application process."
Read moreOC Register: Sanchez Holiday Card Pokes Fun at DeLay
The Orange County Register
December 1st, 2009
Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s holiday card- the most eagerly-awaited piece of mail on Capitol Hill is here – in your inbox.
Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, has a new twist on her annual message. She’s sent out e-cards and is using the money she’s saving on printing and postage to help needy non-profit agencies in Orange County.
The idea to help out local charities came to Sanchez a couple of months ago, she said. “I started thinking just how difficult the economy was and whether there was something we could do. I had so many people coming into my office and to my Saturday office hours telling me they are out of jobs. And I’ve gotten so many requests for donations.’’
And given the focus on the environment, she figured she’d go green with this year’s holiday greeting.
This year’s card definitely maintains Sanchez’s style of mixing humor, political satire and of course her white fluffy cat, Gretzky.
The message is: Whether it’s with the stars or under festive lights, may your heart dance with joy this holiday season.” A not-so-happy Gretzky is saying: “Eat your heart out Tom DeLay.”
Read moreSouthern California Public Radio: “She’s Dancing!”
By Kitty Felde
December 3, 2009
If you were watching your mailbox for a holiday card from Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, you're out of luck.
The Democrat from Anaheim is doing nothing to support the US Postal Service or local printers. It's a green Christmas and she's sending out e-cards. The money saved goes to charity.
Oh, and the picture on this year's card? Not to worry, Gretzky the cat's still there, watching the lawmaker waltz across the floor in a sparkly silver dress. He even pokes fun at former GOP majority leader Tom DeLay's foray into reality television when he was "Dancing With the Stars."
Want to take a peak? http://www.loretta.org/pdfs/Sanchez_Card.pdf
Sacramento Bee: “Rep. Loretta Sanchez shimmies into the holiday spirit”
December 1, 2009
One sign the holiday season is here?
Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez's annual holiday card has arrived in (e-)mailboxes.
The congressional gossip mavens over at Roll Call newspaper's Heard on the Hill column posted this year's "Dancing With the Stars"-themed e-card.
The card features a glitzy Sanchez gliding across the dance floor as her cat, who's often featured in the annual greetings, says "Tom Delay, eat your heart out" next to a purrfect "10" scorecard.
Roll Call: “Heard on the Hill: It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas”
By Emily Heil and Elizabeth Brotherton
December 1, 2009
The holidays have officially arrived on Capitol Hill: Not only is the Capitol Christmas Tree being decorated on the West Front, Rep. Loretta Sanchez revealed her annual holiday card today — and it has a “Dancing with the Stars” theme.
Sanchez’s infamous greeting card traditionally features the California Democrat and her beloved pet, Gretzky the Cat, posing in a lighthearted, holiday-themed setting.
This year’s installment doesn’t disappoint, depicting the Congresswoman ballroom dancing in a sparkly silver dress, a la the star-studded reality competition. Gretzky sits at the judge’s table, giving Sanchez a score of “10” and saying, “Tom DeLay, eat your heart out!”
“Whether it’s with the stars or under festive lights, may your heart dance with joy this holiday season,” the card reads.
Rather than printing her card this year, Sanchez is going green, sending recipients the card electronically. The money normally spent on printing and mailing the cards will be given to nonprofits in Orange County, Calif., through a “competitive application process,” Sanchez writes in an e-mail to campaign supporters.
Meanwhile, workers are diligently trimming the Capitol Christmas Tree for its official lighting on Dec. 8.
OC Register: Sanchez plays Santa to 31 local charities
By Dena Bunnis
December 22, 2009
Rep. Loretta Sanchez gave out $39,000 to 31 Orange County organizations today, money she saved from sending E-holiday cards this year instead of her traditional Christmas Card.
Sanchez solicited applications from local non-profit groups and and set up an independent committee to pick from those who applied.
One group - the Foster Care Auxiliary of Orange County will receive $6,000. Three- Colette’s Children’s Home, Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc. and the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance will each get $2,000.
“In this time of economic hardship and need, every bit counts,” said Sanchez. “My hope is that these donations will make a difference to Orange County families through the assistance that our local non-profit organizations provide,” said Sanchez.
She is making the announcement this morning at MOMS Orange County in Santa Ana.
The Foster Care Auxiliary helps support foster children in the county and also works with foster families who want to provide permanent homes for these children.’
Colette’s home provides homeless single women and homeless mothers with children have a save place to stay while they get on their feet.
OCAPICA works enhance the health, social and economic well being of the community. The Vietnamese organization has a similar mission.
Read moreOC Reg Blog: Feds: California ready for fast trains
January 28, 2010
By Dena Bunis
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said California got the largest grant – more than $2.3 billion – for a high speed rail system because the state has been ahead of the curve on this technology.
People in California, he said, “have been working on and dreaming about high speed rail for more than a decade and they were willing to put some of their own tax dollars up to fund it.’’
LaHood and California’s two senators – Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein – held a news conference in Washington to trump the $8 billion President Barack Obama said at the State of the Union would be pumped into high speed and other rail projects.
In addition to the $2.25 million for the high speed rail corridors, California will get another $100 million for other rail projects up and down the state.
The taxpayer investment LaHood was referring to was the $10 billion bond issue taxpayers passed that will enable California to match the federal dollars.
Once this system is finished people will be able to get from Anaheim to Los Angeles in 20 minutes. It will take two hours and 17 minutes to get from L.A. to Sacramento.
The project is expected to be finished in 2020. But Boxer said ground will be broken in 2011.
“There will be thousands of jobs created over the period of time and it will begin this year,’’ LaHood said.
Read moreVietnam jails human rights award winner
January 29, 2010
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam on Friday sentenced yet another democracy activist to jail in what political analysts say is an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
A court in the northern port city of Haiphong convicted writer Pham Thanh Nghien of "conducting propaganda against the state" and sentenced her to four years in prison, followed by three years of house arrest, the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on one of its websites, Vietnamplus.vn.
Nghien, born in 1977, was one of six Vietnamese writers given the Hellman/Hammett award by the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch this year for their commitment to free expression in the face of political persecution.
Her jailing comes little more than a week after a court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced four people to prison terms ranging from five to 16 years for pro-democracy activities labelled subversive. In October, nine other activists were imprisoned.
On Thursday, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and two members of the U.S. Congress, Loretta Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren, sent an appeal to Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet to release Nghien and another detained activist who they said was due to go on trial in early February.
Nghien was accused of writing articles that distorted the truth about state policies, libeling the ruling Communist Party and the government, "inciting the masses against the government", and demanding pluralism, the news agency reported.
It said Nghien recognised that she had violated the law.
