There have been several bittersweet anniversaries in the past week. The Tiananmen Square massacre happened on June 4 in 1989 followed by the "Unknown Rebel" on June 5 (actually my earliest political and blogging inspiration) and June 5 marked the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's assassination (died June 6). Less dramatic but certainly casting a long shadow here in California is the 30th anniversary of Prop 13.

With new leadership in the legislature comes a new approach to wrangling with Prop 13's continuing impact and legacy. Courage's Julia Rosen discussed the current climate and how you can get involved earlier today:

Conservatives are celebrating today.

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the passage of Prop. 13, the financial strangle-hold on our government that has fueled the budget crises we continually face in California.

Get this: California Republicans are actually upset that the Democrats refused to hear a resolution to "honor" the passage of Prop. 13. In yesterday's Sacramento Bee, Republican Assemblyman Bob Huff said it was "crystal clear that Democrats in Sacramento do not wish to recognize the benefits and the legacy of [Prop 13]."

I know it is a little hard for Huff and his "Yacht Party" colleagues to understand, but Prop. 13 and its offspring are the primary reasons why we have a structural budget deficit and struggle to balance our budget even in non-recessionary periods.

Unfortunately, it will be a long-term endeavor to modify Prop. 13, which was passed in 1978 allegedly to protect homeowners from high taxes. A new Field Poll released yesterday shows that 57% of Californians approve of the measure, while just 23% oppose it. Clearly, changing public opinion on Prop 13 is not going to happen overnight. More from the Sacramento Bee:

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told listeners on a recent conference call sponsored by the liberal Courage Campaign that the measure wouldn't be part of the immediate agenda for her new tax commission.

"The reason for that is that it is such a polarizing issue," Bass said.

On our Courage Campaign Conversation with them over a week ago, Speaker Karen Bass and Senator Darrell Steinberg went into much greater detail on Prop. 13 and their long and short-term goals for fixing the budget and our tax structure.

For those who were not able to join us, you can listen to an audio recording of the call on the Courage Campaign website by clicking here:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/13

Speaker Bass and Senator Steinberg know that band-aids will not solve California's budget crisis long-term. But, to eventually achieve long-term structural change, these progressive leaders need support from grassroots and netroots activists to galvanize power from outside of Sacramento.

Fixing Prop. 13 so that it protects homeowners while assuring that business pays its fair share is one of the long-term goals of the Courage Campaign, as part of a larger movement to fix the fundamental reasons why California's government is dysfunctional. It will take a strong, independent movement to change the way people think about our state government.

We can build that people-powered movement from the bottom-up, and eventually repair the damage done by Prop 13 and the right-wing over the coming years. But, to sustain our momentum, we need your long-term financial support.

Can you make a recurring contribution to the Courage Campaign today in the amount of $13 per month, so we can continue to push back on Prop 13 and the conservative "Yacht Party" values that made it possible?

Whether it's $13 -- or any amount that you can afford -- you will be making a long-term investment in California's future:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/13

Hopefully, your $13 investment in our democracy will mean that -- 30 years from today -- progressives will be the ones celebrating.

Thank you for making 2008, and the years to come, a new era for progressive politics in California.

Julia Rosen
Online Political Director

P.S. If you liked listening to the Courage Campaign Conversation with Speaker Bass and Senator Steinberg, please forward this message to your friends who may not know about these exciting new progressive leaders who will be leading our state legislature.