My 2014 Congressional Picks

Lately I have had a lot of folks ask me about the federal races and who I think is going to win. Such folks feel that there is a lot riding on the Senate races (i.e. the future of our great nation). So here it is...

Republican running for Senate will likely win the following states currently held by an incumbent democrat or a retiring democrat:

Alaska - Sullivan (R) beats incumbent Begich (D)
Arkansas - Cotton (R) beats incumbent Pryor (D)
Colorado - Gardener (R) beats incumbent Udall (D)
Iowa - Ernst (R) beats Braley (D)
Louisiana - Cassidy (R) beats incumbent Landrieu (D)
Montana - Daines (R) beats Walsh (D)
South Dakota - Rounds (R) beats Weiland (D)
West Virginia - Capito (R) beats Tennant (D)

These races above are trending Republican more and more every day. The DSCC just pulled all of its ads against McConnell in Kentucky signaling that they are stretched too thin nationally to compete against him after his opponent has repeatedly refused to answer whether she voted for Obama in the last election.

The predictions above seem to be the most likely scenario of Republican pick ups. The wild cards at this point are Kansas and Georgia. Since Obama stated that all of his policies are on the ballot, Kansas is trending hard towards the Republican incumbent Roberts. Georgia has been trending towards the Democrat, but such trends appears to be dissipating quickly.  Even if the Republicans lost either Kansas or Georgia, Republicans are primed to knock off four incumbent Senate Democrats and take control of both houses of Congress.

Speaking of both houses in Congress, let's take a look at LaMalfa and McClintock and Logue.  Both LaMalfa and McClintock are a lock to win their re-elections.  McClintock will win by around 20 points, as low information, hyperpartisan democrat voters (like Jim Firth) will not turn out and then vote for a Republican.  LaMalfa wins by a smaller margin.  Logue has an outsight shot at beating Garamendi, and this race will come down to the wire...and whether democrats will actually get up and vote this election.

So...we will find out in three weeks.  My bet is that Republicans end election day with a two-seat advantage in the Senate.
 

Huge Night for Republicans in Nevada County

Aside from the over 6,000 ballots not being printed correctly and several electronic voting machines not working (again), the primary election was uneventful.

In Supervisor District 4, Republican Hank Weston received over 60% of the vote in a rout of his Democrat challenger.

In Supervisor District 3, Republican Dan Miller knocked off a Democrat incumbent by over seven points.

In what turned out to be the most disgusting and dishonest local campaign in recent years, Cliff Newell (who was endorsed by the Nevada County Republican Party) disposed of his dishonest challenger by double digits.

In the Superintendent of Schools race and only starting his campaign in March, Paul Haas (who was also endorsed by the Nevada County Republican Party) made an incredible showing against the incumbent.

In the race for Superior Court Judge, Republican endorsed candidates garnered over 50% of the vote in the crowded five-person race. Anna Ferguson (the Republican endorsed candidate) cruised through to November.

In the assembly race, Republican Brian Dahle received nearly 70% of the vote.

In the congressional races, both Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock crusied to victory with well over 50% of the vote in the crowded fields.

Considering the wide margins of the victors, and absent some huge mistake by the elections official or some type of voter fraud, the likelihood that these preliminary results will change after further counting is slim to none.

Kudos to the Nevada County Republican Party for supporting our local candidates and getting out the vote. I have to say today is a good day.

Straight talk about gay Republican Congressional candidate Carl DeMaio

Editor's Note: Below is an article by Dana Perino about candidate for Congress, Carl DeMaio who is openly gay.   Republican DeMaio has a great story and is endorsed by Tom McClintock among other prominent conservative Republicans.   Truth be told, the progressive agenda is simply not producing results. Both nationally (and on our local lefty blogs) and instead of discussing these liberal policies which the left cannot defend, "they have to play the shiny object game on social issues."   Don't be fooled.  The left does not really support minorities or the LGBT community.   The "shiny object game" is simply political rhetoric designed specifically to falsely smear Republicans in order get Democrats, who will point to the "shiny object"  in an effort to avoid discussing failed liberal policies, elected at all costs.

Fox News - April 28, 2014 - Let's pretend you're a screenwriter assigned to develop a character to run for Congress in California in 2014. You need a compelling story, so you make him an orphan at 13 – wait, even better his dad leaves the family two weeks before his mother died – and then social services splits up his brothers and sisters leaving him alone in the world.

Despite those challenges he perseveres, putting himself through a top-tier college and then building and selling two multimillion-dollar companies.

Carl DeMaio

Thus financially secure, he decides to dedicate himself to public service and runs for City Council.

Isn’t his story what the people who fight for equality say they’ve been fighting for?

In his first term he works across party lines and four years after his first election he passes major pension reform that saves the city money and protects the retirement savings of thousand of people.

For good measure, you make him openly gay and in a committed relationship, the first to feature his partner in campaign literature. He’s the perfect candidate to send to Washington, D.C. and, of course, he’s a Democrat, right?

Wrong. The real story proves that truth is stranger and sometimes better than fiction. Your character already exists in Carl DeMaio of San Diego – except that he’s not a Democrat, he’s a (gasp!) Republican.

No one in Hollywood would write this screenplay -- unless it was a tragicomedy that ends with the candidate realizing the error of his ways and fleeing to the nurturing embrace of doe-eyed and loving Democrats. Exit weeping.

Isn’t his story what everyone who fights for equality says they’ve been fighting for?

When I talked to DeMaio, he said he doesn’t want to emphasize his sexual orientation or his challenging childhood – he prefers to talk about the fiscal condition of the country and his candidacy to defeat freshman Rep. Scott Peters, a Democrat. But because he is who he is, and because his opponents are making an issue about his sexual orientation and lying about his record, he’s willing to talk about it. And he’s disrupting all of the stereotypes.

For instance, DeMaio has been the target of homophobic attacks. But where are those attacks coming from? It’s not always from the far right social conservatives you’d expect; rather, it’s been from DeMaio’s left – the liberal and Democrat-affiliated groups that you’d think would be proud that an openly gay successful businessman has decided to run for office.

One false attack drew the attention of the San Diego Ethics Commission. An anonymous left-wing group funded a SuperPac and sent mailers of DeMaio Photoshopped next to a drag queen to neighborhoods with a majority of elderly and African-American voters, knowing that such a photo would depress support for DeMaio.

That was so egregious and false that the group was fined by the city’s Ethics Commission, but even after that, and with his 100 percent voting record with the LGBT community, the Left still didn’t speak up to defend him. They told DeMaio, “It’s complicated.”

I’m sure. The Right, on the other hand, did speak up about it.

"I've found more tolerance, acceptance and inclusion from social conservative groups who have to reconcile that I'm a Republican who happens to be gay...versus the intolerance the LGBT leaders see me as a gay man who happens to be a Republican," DeMaio said.

As the race heats up and DeMaio gains in the polls ahead of the Republican primary on June 3rd, the LGBT groups have gone from silence about his candidacy to actively working against him.

“Despite claims that they insist on tolerance, diversity and acceptance on all political issues, I suspect that they really want to keep intact their alliance with unions so that they don't upset their funding sources and coalition. The Democratic groups need the GOP to remain the bogeyman because if the Republicans are no longer a threat, who needs to donate to these LGBT political groups?” he said.

Full disclosure: I am a former employee of the San Diego city council, where I worked with Ric Grenell, now again a colleague of mine at Fox News Channel, and who currently consults on the DeMaio campaign.

I left San Diego in 2001 and never spoke to DeMaio until recently. But I still know some of the players, know the political terrain and how the district in which he’s running leans-conservative (it’s relatively new district because of redistricting, but the area’s seat traditionally has been held by Republicans).

Which makes me wonder: If they work actively against a Carl DeMaio, how exactly have the LGBT groups come to define “equality”? What do they actually want, if not someone like DeMaio? Does he not embody the openness, financial success and equality they envisioned?

It reminds me of my first lesson in the brutal identity politics for women candidates that I learned in Washington, D.C. In 2002, former Rep. Connie Morella (R-Md.) was running for re-election. I admired her. I wanted to be like her. She had earned the endorsement of the National Organization for Women, but when a freshman Democrat named Chris Van Hollen challenged her in 2002, NOW dropped its support of this accomplished Republican congresswoman.

I was shocked and confused at the time. Now I’d hardly be surprised.

If you’re a Republican woman, you’re mostly on your own when it comes to support from traditional women’s groups.

Many black Republicans find the same lack of support -- just ask Allen West, Tim Scott or Mia Love. As we’ve seen, nobody does lockstep like the Left.

But to me, DeMaio’s story is different to because it crosses the line from opposition to outright sabotage.

For instance, The Victory Fund, which is a group that says it supports any openly gay candidate, first told him that he couldn’t win when he was considering running for mayor in 2008 against the now disgraced former winner of that contest, Bob Filner.

The Victory Fund not only declined to endorse DeMaio, it’s common knowledge in San Diego that it then gave his confidential campaign information to the Democrats and bragged about it. The Human Rights Campaign also has declined to endorse DeMaio in either his mayoral or congressional race.

And so while DeMaio does the hard work of taking the heat in front of social conservative crowds and slowly winning them over, the LGBT community continues to pat itself on the back and give one another awards and accolades.

Remind me, who’s working hardest for equality?

But the person least interested in DeMaio’s sexual orientation is, predictably, DeMaio himself, who labors mightily to stay focused on the issues that truly concern him.

“Our economy is in the tank. We’re in a national debt crisis. The progressive agenda in D.C. is not producing results. Washington politicians from both political parties can't defend their broken programs, so they have to play the shiny object game on social issues,” he says. And so he has to find a way to talk about everything all at once, while pointedly not talking about his sexuality.

And it’s working. DeMaio has a strong record to run on, and his policy platform is solid. He is an entrepreneur who says that the economy needs to be turned around. He believes that he would not be able to succeed in today’s economy as he did in the past.

People who want that tried and true campaign message of hope and change see it in DeMaio. That seems especially be true for younger folks. The next generation hears his message and seems to agree – even DeMaio’s college tour is going well, which should encourage campus-shy Republicans.

Next month, President Obama will travel to California for fundraisers for the DCCC, and he’ll be raising a lot of money to help his fellow Democrats – no matter how white, male, middle-aged and straight they are.

It’s understandable to me that a president wants to protect an incumbent and that DeMaio winning in San Diego worries the Democrats more than other races. As DeMaio says, “They could stomach losing the Democratic freshman's seat to a fire breathing stereotypical Republican - but an openly gay man? That would upend their world.”

I wonder if anyone in the media will ask the White House about what the president thinks about how Carl's been treated, and if he condemns those tactics. Well, we can dream. At least we can hope the president doesn’t repeat any of the lies that have been spread about DeMaio.

In his first campaign ad, DeMaio included a photograph of his long-time partner, Johnathan. A reporter called to ask him about this provocative political move. DeMaio was surprised, “Didn’t every candidate put their loved ones and their strongest supporters in their ads?” That’s what I like about this candidate – throwing the surprise back in the face of conventional thinkers.

DeMaio recently told me that he believes he represents the majority of Republicans. He may be right. Most of the Republican Party has moved, however incrementally, beyond the parochial issues of race, gender and sexuality.

Will the Democrats and liberal groups manage to do the same? If so, we can truly move beyond the social issues battleground and begin tackling the actual problems we face. And an openly gay Republican in a committed relationship is surely not one of them.

Freedom is personal to Russian-born Congressional Candidate

Editor's Note: Igor Birman and I have a great relationship, as we both lived in Russia at the same time. We have a lot about which to talk.  Coincidentally enough and as it turns out after some long conversations, we lived very near each other in Moscow in 1993-1994. Igor is a perfect candidate for Congress during these tumultuous times in connection with current Russian expansionism. He brings a unique and much needed perspective to Congress. Igor has a Doctorate in law from the Emory University School of Law (2006) and a  bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Davis (2003).

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/04/6205863/freedom-is-personal-to-russian.html#storylink=cpy

"At 19, Igor Birman raised his right hand and repeated the oath of allegiance through a Russian accent that had begun to fade."

"Standing beside him was his grandmother, who was 89 and blind in both eyes, a condition the family considered a consequence of the Soviet health care system. A Jewish girl from Czarist Russia, she spent the autumn of her life with a tape player pressed to an ear preparing for the naturalization test so she could die an American."

"Years later, Birman watched as his boss and political mentor, Republican Tom McClintock, and his colleagues made similar pledges as members of the House of Representatives, solemnly swearing to affirm the Constitution of the United States."

"'It occurred to me how little that oath means to so many members of Congress – Republican and Democrat alike – who say the words, raise their right hand and then immediately forget the words they just uttered,' Birman, a candidate for the 7th Congressional District, recently told supporters packed into an Elk Grove living room."

The rest of the Sac Bee story is here.

Carl DeMaio for Congress - Endorsed by McClintock

Editor's Note: Carl DeMaio is a conservative Republican running in California's 52nd congressional district. The Wall Street Journal noted DeMaio, one of three openly gay Republicans running for Congress in 2014, made history by featuring a shot of him with his same-sex partner in a campaign ad.



In the fall of 2013, U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock, conservative leader in Congress, endorsed Carl DeMaio for United States Congress.

"'Carl DeMaio is a rare find in politics – because he actually has a record of getting big reforms done,' said McClintock."

"'Time after time, Carl DeMaio has stood on principle to take on the special interests and protect taxpayers – and he’ll continue to do that as San Diego's voice in Congress,' McClintock continued."

"During his time on the San Diego City Council, DeMaio effectively led the way on numerous fiscal and government reforms, including putting an end to pension spiking, opening city services up to competitive bidding, cutting red tape on small businesses, and defeating the largest tax increase in the history of San Diego."

"DeMaio’s results for taxpayers: hundreds of millions in savings during his time on the City Council and billions projected over the next 20 years."

"'I’m grateful to have the endorsement of Congressman McClintock, a leader who sees the success we’ve achieved in San Diego by working together and standing on principle to get things done,' said DeMaio."

We wish Carl DeMaio the best of luck this election season!

The Debt Crisis - Congressman Tom McClintock

The debt limit exists for a simple reason: to assure that public debt isn’t recklessly piled up without Congress periodically acknowledging it and addressing the spending patterns that are causing it. If a debt limit increase is supposed to be automatic, as the President suggests, there really is no purpose to it.

A new dimension has now appeared in this discussion. Unlike every one of his predecessors, this President has vowed that unless Congress unconditionally raises the debt limit, the United States will default on its sovereign debt.

But a failure to raise the debt limit would not by itself cause the nation to default. The Government Accountability Office has consistently held that the Treasury Secretary has “the authority to choose the order in which to pay obligations of the United States” to protect the nation’s credit. Such authority is inherent in the 1789 act that established the Treasury Department and entrusted it with the “management of the revenue” and the “support of public credit.” The affirmative duty of the Treasury Department to do so is underscored by the 14th Amendment.

Our revenues are more than ten times our debt payments, so paying the debt first to prevent a sovereign default is well within the financial ability of the federal government – and indeed, it is a fiscal imperative.

Earlier this year, the House passed HR 807, which not only explicitly requires the payment of the national debt in the case of an impasse over the debt limit, but even allows the President to exceed the debt limit itself in order to protect the nation’s credit.

That measure languishes in the Senate under the threat of a Presidential veto.

Protecting the sovereign credit by prioritizing payments would mean delaying paying other bills – which is untenable, unthinkable and something much to be avoided. But it would not imperil the nation’s sovereign credit. Only the President can do that.

The House leadership met with the President last week and offered to extend the debt limit until November 22nd with no strings attached. The President refused. Senate Republicans offered a six month extension, but the Senate Democratic leader refused.

What the President threatens to do would be catastrophic and unprecedented. The full faith and credit of the United States is what gives markets the confidence to loan money to the federal government. Even a credible threat of default – exactly the kind the President is now making -- could have dire consequences to a nation that now owes more than its entire economy produces in a year.

So where do we go from here?

Republicans have miscalculated on two key assumptions: First, that the Democrats would negotiate the issues that divide the country; they have not. Second, that Democrats would seek to minimize the suffering caused by the impasse; they have not.

Given the ruthless and vindictive way the shutdown has been handled, I now believe that this President would willfully act to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States unless the Congress acquiesces to all of his demands, at least as long as he sees political advantage in doing so. His every statement and action is consistent with this conclusion.

If the Republicans acquiesce, the immediate crisis will quickly vanish, credit markets will calm and public life will return to other matters.

But a fundamental element of our Constitution will have been destroyed. The power of the purse will have shifted from the representatives of the people to the executive. The executive bureaucracies will be freed to churn out ever more outlandish regulations with no effective Congressional review or check through the purse. A perilous era will have begun, in which the President sets spending levels and vetoes any bill falling short of his demands. Whenever a deadline approaches, one house can simply refuse to negotiate with the other until Congress is faced with the Hobson’s choice of a shut-down or a default.

The nation’s spending will again dangerously accelerate, the deficit will again rapidly widen, and the economic prosperity of the nation will continue to slowly bleed away.

This impasse may have started as a dispute over a collapsing health program but it has now taken on the dimensions of a Constitutional crisis.

Yesterday in Washington, a group of America’s veterans rose up to take a stand against these constitutional usurpations. I believe the salvation of our nation now depends on the American people joining them.

My Most Important Project‏ - Tom McClintock

Dear Friends: I write to ask for your assistance with one of the most important projects I've undertaken over my many decades in public life: electing Igor Birman to Congress.

Many of you have heard me say that Igor Birman has been the best Chief of Staff on Capitol Hill. And as much as it pained me to lose him as a trusted advisor, Igor's voice is desperately needed in Congress.

Here's why: When Igor was 13, he and his family escaped the collapsed Soviet Union. They came to America as legal immigrants, learned English and built their new lives in freedom from nothing. Igor Birman knows what it's like to grow up in a society where the government spies on its citizens, harasses and intimidates opponents into silence and attempts to dominate every aspect of a citizen's life from the cradle to grave. So, who better to warn about the path that we are on and to articulate the importance of our freedoms as Americans than Igor Birman -- a tireless and fearless fighter for freedom.But this won't be an easy race for Igor.

He will be taking on the same liberal Republican establishment that squandered our congressional majority during the Bush years. We have critical issues before us: illegal immigration, Obamacare, out-of-control spending, crushing new regulatory burdens on jobs – we can’t afford the same go-along, get-along politicians the Republican elites keep pushing on us.We need Igor Birman’s voice in the Congress speaking for us.

His story is a compelling one that I believe will be a wake-up call for all Americans who have been taking their freedom for granted. His is a voice that can reach new constituencies and bring them to our cause. I believe that Igor’s race is the most important congressional contest in the nation, and he’s going to need the support of all of us to win. He will be taking on the deep pockets of the liberal Republican establishment – so this is one we all have to be in.

The stronger that Igor is on his first financial report, the better will be his chances to establish and maintain a lead in this most important race. That’s why I’m writing to ask you to help Igor Birman keep up with your urgent and most generous online contribution of $2,600, $1,000, $500, $100, or even $25. I don't take requests like this lightly, nor make them very often. But I really need you to stand with me and send Igor Birman to fight alongside me for freedom in Washington. And the time to help him is now. Thank you again for all that you do for the cause of freedom

--Congressman Tom McClintock of California's Fourth District

Obama Must Have Approval from Congress Prior to any Military Action

Congressman Tom McClintock issued the following statement today regarding reports of impending military action against the government of Syria:

"I am deeply concerned about reports that the President is preparing to order acts of war against the government of Syria without congressional authorization."

"The Constitution clearly and unmistakably vests Congress with the sole prerogative 'to declare war.' The President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief to order a military attack on a foreign government is implicitly limited by the Constitution to repelling an attack and explicitly limited under the War Powers Resolution to: '(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.' Unless one of these conditions is present, the decision must be made by Congress and not by the President."

"Nor does our participation in NATO allow the President to order an unprovoked act of war. The North Atlantic Treaty clearly requires troops under NATO command to be deployed in accordance with their country’s constitutional provisions. The War Powers Resolution clearly states that the President’s power to engage United States Armed Forces in hostilities 'shall not be inferred …from any treaty heretofore or hereafter ratified unless such treaty is implemented by legislation specifically authorizing the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities…'"

"Nor does the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 authorize the President to commit U.S. Armed Forces to combat in pursuit of United Nations directives without congressional approval."

"The authors of the Constitution were explicit on this point. Madison said, 'In no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found, than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department… …Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded.'"

"In Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton drew a sharp distinction between the American President’s authority as Commander in Chief, which he said “would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces” and that of the British king who could actually declare war."

"Indeed, it is reported that the British Prime Minister has called Parliament into special session to consider the question. How ironic it would be if the British government were to act with the authorization of Parliament but the American government acted on the unilateral decision of one man."

"War is not a one-sided act that can be turned on and off with Congressional funding. Once any nation commits an act of war against another, from that moment it is at war -- inextricably embroiled and entangled with an aggrieved and belligerent government and its allies that have casus belli to prosecute hostilities regardless of what Congress then decides."

"If there are facts that compel us to take such a course, let those facts be laid before Congress and let Congress fulfill its rightful constitutional role on the most momentous decision any government can make."

"I believe that absent an attack or imminent threat to the United States or a specific authorization by Congress, the order of a military attack on the government of Syria would be illegal and unconstitutional."

Aanestad Reportedly Running for Herger's Congressional Seat

"Less than a week after announcing he was creating a committee to explore a run for Congress, Sam Aanestad reportedly announced today he will run for the seat being vacated Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico."

The rest of the article is here.

Congressman Tom McClintock is a co-chair for Aanestad's campaign. Senator Aanestad has also hired Tim Clark as his consultant. Tim is one of the best around.

Stay tuned as more information comes out the rest of the day.

Spain’s conservatives earn resounding election victory as voters oust Socialists

  

Emilio Morenatti/AP


"MADRID — Spanish conservatives won a resounding mandate at the polls Sunday, freeing them to make deep austerity cuts as they struggle to pull the country’s economy out of a tailspin."
"In an election marked by bitter disappointment and desperation over the euro zone’s highest unemployment rate, the Socialists who have led the country since 2004 were cast from office in their worst showing in the modern era of Spain’s democracy."

"Conservatives won 186 of the 350 seats in parliament; the Socialists won 110."

"Sunday’s vote gives Europe another leader closely aligned with the austerity-based consensus that the continent’s strongest economies say is the solution to what plagues the weaker ones. In recent weeks, leaders in Italy and Greece have been forced from their perches."

The rest of this article is here.

While the local leftists are crowing about the socialist tendencies of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the rest of the world is realizing that government cannot continue to spend money that it does not have.  That being said, on the isolated issue of corporate bailouts, I think that there is widespread agreement that corporations should succeed or fail on their own accord without government intervention.

Here in the United States, we just passed the $15 trillion national debt thresh hold.  Neither Obama nor Congress has the political will to slash government spending and close tax loopholes in an effort to get a balanced budget.

On the other hand, Congressman McClintock supports a balanced budget amendment, yet the leftwing, former editor of The Union is playing liberal politics and omits this fact while he continually portrays McClintock in a false light.  This political gamesmanship is nothing new for our local left as can be seen here and here. 

We do not need political game playing.  We need people in charge who are serious about our nation's problems.  We need fearless people in charge, like Congressman McClintock who is overwhelmingly financially supported by private contributors, who have the political will to make the tough choices and who will not be intimidated.  No more bailouts, no more government intervention into private affairs, and balance a damn budget. 

The solutions to the problems that ail us are simple.  The unions, the corporations, the politicians who are supported by the unions and the corporation, and spin doctors who care more about their personal ideology than the country are making the simple solutions far less likely to be attained.

In any event, I will get off my soapbox and congratulate Spain for making a bold move to the right.  Now, the new Spanish leaders need to lead and fix the spending problems which ail them.

Local Politics Summary

Election season in Nevada County is starting up again.  Let's take a look at the local races and see how things are shaping up.

Congress
With Tom McClintock, who won this congressional district by a huge margin in 2008, running in the newly created district just south of here, Wally Herger is a possibility to be our congressman again. This race is proving to be very interesting. As of September 30, 2011, Herger only has a little over $200,000 on hand. There has been a long-standing rumor that Herger will not run again, and Democrat candidates, sensing an opportunity, are lining up to run for the seat. Should Herger decide not to run, we will likely see a Republican scrum for the congressional seat in this very conservative and very Republican district. Stay tuned on this one!

California Assembly
Dan Logue is our current assemblyman. Logue is a Nevada County resident and works tirelessly to preserve and protect our north state conservative values. The National Federation of Independent Business has awarded Logue a perfect score based on his voting record and support of small business. His widespread efforts have also drawn the attention of media outlets across the nation, including the New York Times, FOX News, and the Los Angeles Times. He is being challenged, but none of the challengers are serious contenders.

Nevada County Supervisor
In District One thus far, we have lifelong resident Sue McGuire running against Nate Beason. It is pretty clear that the local hard-left will also run a leftwing environmentalist candidate. Sue McGuire is a lifelong Nevada County resident, and Beason is running for an unprecedented third term (I think that the last three term supervisor was Eric Rood). As a former supervisor told me recently, two terms are plenty for anyone as, over the terms, a supervisor starts to become less a representative of the people and more an employee of the county.  While I have my own opinions, I will leave it up to the reader and the District One voter to decide whether two terms are enough for Beason.

Ted Owens, who is likely running for an unprecedented third term, would have a challenger from the very far-left in the name of Michael Rogers. He is an relatively unknown in Truckee, as lifelong residents do not even know who he is. Should he declare a third run at supervisor, the widely popular Owens will likely have a fairly easy race.

The Prosperity Congress - Tom McClintock

Editor's Note: Freedom equals prosperity - you cannot say it more clearly than that.

Tom McClintock (R), House Chamber, Washington, D.C. January 6, 2011

M. Speaker:

I rise to express the hope that historians will look back on the 112th Congress as the session that restored American prosperity – and to express my strong agreement with the new leaders of this House who have declared that every action of this body must be measured against this goal.

We speak of “jobs, jobs, jobs,” but jobs are a product of prosperity. And prosperity is the product of freedom.

Government does not create jobs or wealth – it merely redistributes them. Jobs and wealth can only be created through the free exchange of goods and services in a free market. Government’s role is to create and protect the conditions which promote prosperity.

If I give you a dollar for a cup of coffee, what’s going on in that transaction? I’m telling you that your cup of coffee is worth more to me than my dollar. And at the same time, you’re telling me that my dollar is worth more to you than your cup of coffee. We make that exchange and both of us go away with something of greater value than we took in – each of us goes away richer.

That is the freedom that creates prosperity. That simple exchange – whether for a cup of coffee or for a multi-billion dollar acquisition – is what creates wealth.

But now suppose some third party butts its nose into this transaction. “The coffee must be between 110 and 130 degrees; it has to include a swizzle stick; it must be covered if it is to be consumed more than 25 feet from the point of sale” – and on and on. Every one of these restrictions reduces the value of that exchange for one or both of us.

That’s the fundamental problem that we face today. Our government has not only failed to protect the freedom that creates prosperity, but it has become destructive of that freedom.

To create jobs we must restore prosperity and to restore prosperity we must restore freedom.

We must restore the freedom of choice that gives consumers the ultimate say over the output of our economy. In a free and prosperous society, consumers vote every day with their own dollars on what kind of light-bulbs they prefer, on how they wish to get to work, on what foods they like, on how much water they want in their toilets, on what kind of cars they want or on what kind of housing they desire. These consumer choices signal – every day – what things are actually worth and what our economy will actually produce. Government is destroying the elegant simplicity of this process, and this Congress must reverse that destruction.

We must restore the freedom of individuals to enjoy the fruit of their own labor so that they can make these decisions for themselves once again.

That’s why excessive government spending is so destructive to prosperity – it destroys the freedom of individuals to make their own decisions over what to spend and where to invest their own money. It robs them of both the ability and incentive to create prosperity.

Presidents like Coolidge, Truman, Reagan and Clinton who have reduced government spending relative to GDP all produced dramatic increases in productivity, prosperity and the general welfare of our nation.

And Presidents like Hoover, Roosevelt, Bush and Obama who have increased government spending relative to GDP all produced or prolonged or deepened periods of economic recession, hardship and malaise.

Our government is embarked on the latter course, and this Congress must reverse that direction.

Government has an important role to play in the marketplace. It is there to assure that representations are accurate and that contracts are enforced – in other words, you have to tell the truth and you have to keep your promises. Government exists to assure that the currency is stable and reliable and that property rights are secure.

When it fulfills this fundamental role, it maximizes the freedom that a buyer and a seller have to assess their own needs and resources and to make those exchanges that allow both to go away better off than they were. When it steps beyond this role, it destroys the conditions that maximize prosperity.

M. Speaker, let us together revive and restore the freedom and prosperity of this nation and fulfill that sacred command inscribed on our Liberty Bell: “To proclaim liberty throughout ALL the land, and unto ALL the inhabitants there of.”

Analysis of the New Republicans on the Congressional Budget Committee Members

Let's take a look at who will be in control of the federal budget!

Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) was a classmate of mine at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 2010, The Daily Telegraph ranked Ryan the 9th most influential US conservative.

Todd Akin (MO) earned a Master of Divinity degree at Covenant Theological Seminary and also earned a 96% rating from the American Conservative Union in 2008, and 100% in 2007.

Tom McClintock (CA) - enough said.

Justin Amash (MI) was backed by the Tea Party in the 2010 election. He ran on a platform of pro-life, less government and lower taxes.

Bill Flores (TX) supports limited government and lower taxes, an end to the spending of the ARRA, pro-life abortion positions, and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border.

Tim Huelskamp (KA) sponsored or co-sponsored in Kansas a bill limiting property tax increases and an amendment to create a budget stabilization fund.

Mick Mulvaney (SC) will be the first Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th district since 1883. Mulvaney is a GOP Young Gun. The race was highlighted by Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC's "Take Congress Back: 10 in 10" initiative as one of the top 10 House challenger races.

Jim Renacci (OH) was a Tea Party backed candidate.

Reid Ribble (WI) attended Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music to become a full time minister and identifies himself a conservative more than a Republican.

Todd Rokita (IN) introduced Voter Identification in Indiana after purging the state voter rolls. He is a member Knights of Columbus and the National Rifle Association.

David Schweikert (AZ) describes himself as a fiscal conservative and supports severe cuts to government programs, including education, health, and transportation.

Marlin Stutzman (IN) consistently receives 90% ratings or above from the Chamber of Commerce and other small business associations for his support of pro-business legislation. In 2008 he won the Small Business Champion Award from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Todd Young (IN) a former Marine, earned his law degree from Indiana University, where he was President of the school’s Federalist Society chapter. He also worked at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think-tank.

James Lankford (OK) believes that the "no earmark pledge" should be extended indefinitely and the earmark process should be abolished from the House rules.

The last eleven are all freshmen congressmen.

Happy sailing...looks like we have a whole committee of "Tom McClintocks"

Congressman Tom McClintock Appointed to House Budget and Natural Resources Committees

Congressman Tom McClintock, CA-04, has been appointed to serve on the House Budget Committee and the Natural Resources Committee for the upcoming 112th Congress.

McClintock will begin his second term on the Natural Resources Committee where he served as ranking member of the Water and Power sub-committee during the 111th Congress. “The Natural Resources Committee is absolutely vital to the economy of the 4th Congressional District, and I am delighted to have been re-appointed,” McClintock said. During the last session, McClintock was an outspoken advocate of restoring abundance of water and power as a central objective of federal policy and vowed to continue that work in the upcoming session.

In addition, McClintock will leave the House Education and Labor Committee to take on new responsibilities on the Budget Committee, which will play a prominent role under Chairman Paul Ryan in bringing federal spending under control. McClintock was a prominent voice for many years in the California legislature warning that the state was on an unsustainable fiscal path. During those years he introduced hundreds of specific budget reforms, including tax, spending and borrowing limitations; contracting out of state services; pension, welfare and education reform and bureaucratic streamlining.

“I am deeply gratified by this appointment,” McClintock said. “The nation’s fiscal crisis is one of the most serious threats our government has ever faced, and the opportunity to assist in setting things right is truly the most exciting assignment I have ever had.”

About the House Budget Committee

As the first panel to examine the President’s annual budget message, the Budget Committee’s chief responsibility is to draft a concurrent resolution that reconciles spending details with the overall comprehensive budget package. The committee is required to draft a budget resolution, agreed to by April 15 of each year, which establishes total targets in five budget areas: authority; outlays; revenues; surplus or deficit; and public debt. The resolution also sets budget authority and outlay targets for each of the 21 spending categories. Finally, the committee prepares guidelines in the annual budget resolution for cutting programs to meet spending targets

About the House Natural Resources Committee

The House Natural Resources Committee considers legislation about American energy production, mineral lands and mining, fisheries and wildlife, public lands, Native Americans, irrigation and reclamation, and oceanography.

Nevada County a Purple County?

Although our local leftwing liberal blogger, Jeff Pelline, touts that Nevada County is a changin', the election numbers simply do not reflect any "changing of the guard."

Let's take a look at the partisan races and the margin of victory by the Republicans running in Nevada County. I will rank them from most conservative to least conservative.

McClintock won by 16%
Logue won by 13%
LaMalfa won by 25%
Fiorina won by 14%
Whitman won by 6%
Maldonado won by 8%

In all of the statewide races, Republicans only lost one in Nevada County.

Prop 23 lost narrowly in Nevada County and primarily due to the misleading (and at times flat out lying) campaign run by the opposition...but that is politics unfortunately.

The bottom line is this...the more conservative that you are, the more likely you are to win Nevada County partisan races.

The rest of the results are here.

Pelline attacks from the left side of the road - again

Our earnest referee for democracy, Jeff Pelline, is at it again, shocked-just-shocked at Congressman Tom McClintock’s “skipping another candidates forum in his district” sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

But as I pointed out yesterday, the League has moved so far to the left by endorsing every major policy initiative of the Obama administration – Obamacare, amnesty for illegals, cap and trade and opposition to extending all of the Bush tax cuts – that they can no longer be considered a neutral political forum.

Funny that Jeff isn’t the least bit disturbed that Clint Curtis and Ben Emery were absent from a Tea Party forum in El Dorado Hills on Tuesday that drew some 200 people.

Jeff Pelline - Middle of the Road Journalist?

Today, Jeff Pelline, our local leftwing blogger (although he professes to be "middle of the road"), posted a so-called "scorecard" on our Congressman McClintock from "themiddleclass.org" website. Pelline's post is here.

The website "themiddleclass.org" is a project of a leftist organization called the Drum Major Institute ("DMI"). The bills on their list include Obamacare, the failed Stimulus Bill, Cap-and-Trade, and amnesty for illegal aliens, which DMI supports and an overwhelming majority of Americans (including Congressman McClintock) opposes.

Any self-respecting and self-described "middle of the road" journalist would have done a little more research on this group and certainly would not have portrayed falsely that DMI actually speaks for the middle class.

Pot Shots from the Local Left

"Nevada County Connected’s project, although we went through a thorough (and grueling) 7-week vetting during due diligence, was in the end not a recipient of ARRA funds. Although we don’t know for certain, the funding of the Central Valley Next-Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project’s ("CVNGBIP") 18-county fiber-optic middle-mile project, which passes through Nevada County, was probably the key reason. It would appear that the two middle-mile projects overlapped geographically, when in reality Nevada County Connected was the natural extension of the bandwidth the CVNGBIP project will drop here." So says Nevada County Connected ("NCC").

But instead of highlighting why NCC feels they did not receive ARRA funds, our local left-wing blogger and FUE, Jeff Pelline, in typical and predictable fashion, decided it was a good time to take a poorly aimed shot at Tom McClintock who supported the NCC. Because our Congressman supported it and NCC did not get the ARRA funds, the FUE goes on to conclude that it was the Congressman's fault despite the fact that NCC's speculation is the opposite.

In order to give you full disclosure, guess who else supported the project - Barbara Boxer! Where is the faux outrage? We won't be seeing any, because as always, there is a double standard with the liberal FUE!

NCC is supported a three-term Senator from California who sits on the Senate Committee for Commerce and a freshman Congressman, yet NCC did not receive the funding. What seems more plausible...NCC's explanation or the FUE's?

Me thinks that the FUE doth spin too much...