Friday was the last day of the 2014 session of the California legislature-- and the last day as a state legislator for Senator Ted Lieu of Los Angeles County. Lieu, the progressive Democrat running, with Henry Waxman's endorsement, for Waxman's congressional seat, passed one last piece of legislation Thursday night-- a directive he wrote to the state government of California to not cooperate with any unconstitutional attempts at domestic spying by the NSA, CIA or any other government operations legally prohibited from spying on American citizens.What Blue America finds so great about campaigning for Ted is that you don't have to rely on telling people about campaign promises; all you have to do is tell them about what he has already accomplished. From holding shady mortgage bankers accountable to writing the first bill to outlaw so-called "gay conversion therapy," Ted has always been on the cutting edge of progressive legislation in California. And it's not just about a voting record… it's about a record of courage, persistence and leadership. When Wall Street paid off conservative corporate Democrat Gray Davis to veto Ted's bill to keep mortgage banksters from fraudulent action against California home-buyers, Ted wait until Californians recalled Davis and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger-- who did sign Ted's bill! This week, the San Jose Mercury News, which first broke the news of children in foster care being over-drugged, thanked Ted Lieu for "riding to the rescue." He also rode to the rescue last month when he led efforts to pass legislation to target child sex traffickers-- legislation that passed unanimously in the state Senate.Ted should be a shoe-in for the CA-33 congressional seat. But the Republican running against him is a protégé of Las Vegas gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson and Adelson and his network are pouring unheard of sums into the district to try to slip in a conservative Republcian that doesn't share the strong progressive values of the district. You can contribute to Ted's campaign on this special page that will be open for one week. One week because it's a Ted Lieu/Fleetwood Mac page. Fleetwood Mac?Fleetwood Mac is an iconic band that hails from Ted's district. When I was president of Reprise Records, I went to see the band record The Dance and prayed Warner Bros wouldn't see the potential and let Reprise release the album instead. Eureka-- my prayers were answered! The Dance debuted at #1 and sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. It did even better overseas.This week Blue America is going to give one lucky, randomly-selected Ted Lieu donor-- regardless of how big or small the contribution is-- a very rare and very collectible quadruple platinum award for that album, the 5th biggest-selling live album in music history. The gorgeous, RIAA-certified custom plaque was never available to a store and was given to me for my (pretty inconsequential) role in making it a success. It hung in my Reprise office until I retired and I donated it to Blue America. In many ways Fleetwood Mac's sound is an integral part of the Southern California lifestyle and perfect for Ted's district, where several of the band members live.This is two-fer-- helping a proven progressive champion get into Congress and… getting a chance to win the Fleetwood Mac platinum award. Just contribute to Ted's campaign on this ActBlue page this week and you have as much a chance as anyone else who contributes. And, if you're a big Fleetwood Mac fan but can't make contribution, send us a postcard-- asap-- and tell us you're rooting for Ted and want the plaque. (Blue America, PO Box 27201, Los Angeles, CA 90027.) Meanwhile… this is from the 1997 live show at the Warner Bros lot in Burbank that became The Dance. Enjoy!
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