California and Illinois are very similar in that they have a rural population that tends to the right wihle their urban populations move to the left in politics. It must be disconcerting to have your state's politics dominated by the likes of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. San Francisco is liberal, Los Angeles is clueless, and Chicago, heck, they're old fashioned, they like corruption.
We can start with the Illinois Senate race for President Obama’s old seat. I watched the Democratic Candidate Giannoulias and the Republican Candidate Rep. Mark Kirk on Fox News Sunday in a very balanced interview. They each were able to make their case and defend issues that were brought before them. There are a lot of questions about Giannoulias’ activities at the small family run commercial bank where he served as the senior lending officer. He is not specific on when he left the bank so no one can nail down if he signed off on some loans to people with supposed ties to the mob. But let’s get real here; in lending you look at ability to pay and credit character. If he made a loan to someone with questionable morals, a criminal background, or were suspected of criminal activities, he approved it based on simple lending criteria. There is no “Morals” report for this sort of thing like a credit report. If the loans were properly underwritten, there is no harm and no foul.
He wants to be on the Senate Banking Committee should he be elected. Do we need more bankers on that committee? It seems to me that bankers create rules that are favorable to bankers. Ask the American Bankers Association about that.
Rep. Mark Kirk is currently a U.S. Navy Reserve Intelligence officer. He works weekends at the Pentagon in uniform. He has a strong following in his district with a center/right voting record and has been called a moderate. He has flip flopped on some legislation. The Huffington Post noted that one day he was saying he would vote for the Jobs Bill and when the chance came he voted with the rest of the Republican Party. Can you imagine that politics actually play a role in how a congressional rep votes? The Huffington Post and other more left leaning sources have indicated that Rep. Kirk is a serial embezzler. I have looked into this pretty extensively and there is apparently no smoke to that fire.
Kirk has been in congress a while and understands how things work on the Hill. Giannoulias is the Illinois State Treasurer and has had some good accomplishments that served mostly Chicago and the Chicago area. Illinois is a big state; it is more than just Chicago. I think as a Naval Intelligence officer, Rep. Kirk sees the bigger picture much better than Mr. Giannoulias. In matters of geopolitics and use of our military, Rep. Kirk has the advantage. I am sure Mr. Giannoulias is a fine state treasurer and should probably stay there. My hope here is that Rep. Kirk can see beyond Highland Park (his cong district) and realize he represents the farmers, laborers, merchants, and manufacturers of the entire state.
California Politics
California is screwed up. It is a statement that not many in the country will argue with. The state has a $20 billion budget deficit and the Democratic lead legislature can’t find ways to cut spending. Why? Because they have taken so much money from special interests they can’t cut any programs without stepping on some contributor’s toes.
- Can’t fix the shortfall in funding for government employee union pensions, they took millions of dollars from the unions.
- Can’t fix the welfare system, they have taken millions of dollars from non-profits that are connected to the CalWORKS welfare system or funded as ancillary organizations and the California legislators have accepted contributions from the employees of these non-profits.
- Can’t take out housing subsidies, contributions from contractors, realtors, and developers have seen to that.
- Can’t fix the schools, teachers’ union contributes millions.
Did I say California was screwed up? Maybe it is more like screwed! Want a better example of this? The California Governor’s Race is a laugh riot. Who in their right mind wants to try to govern the ungovernable? The California Legislature is like the local Dog Park. No one is quite sure how they got there but with only two terms you have to learn how to dominate those around you quickly. The scent of urine in the State Assembly is overpowering! Must be all those new members marking their territory.
On paper, Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is an obvious choice for the office of Governor. She says she will run California like a business. It seems that Schwarzenegger said the same thing. But he is an actor and she is a real business person.
Jerry Brown, AKA Governor Moonbeam, had two terms as governor from ’76 to ’84. He had a generally lack luster 8 year run that was highlighted by disco, a poor economy and Proposition 13; the proposition that stabilized property taxes in the state. Brown hated Prop 13 and ran vigorously against it. The people of California passed it overwhelmingly. Many also recall how in the middle of one of the worst recessions to hit California he halted freeway construction. Are you listening Organized Labor?
Boxer or Fiorina?
Fiorina has allowed Boxer to define her in this election and that is a shame. Carly Fiorina is probably one of the best Senate candidates to come out of California in a long time. Regrettably, due to her poor campaign and according to the polls, she will not win. Carly did the right thing for HP at a time when HP was overgrown and overspending. Did your HP Tech stock decline? Sure, so did most tech stocks. Get over it. There were a lot of sour grapes about the moves she made at HP. There is no doubt as studies look back on her tenure that she helped HP prepare to be more competitive.
As for those HP folks in Barbara Boxer’s anti-Carly commercial, they were never promised a lifetime job at HP. How about that one lady who says she had to train her replacement? How much did HP pay her to do that? I bet it was a high 5 or low 6 figures. Unless you work for GM as a union assembler, the State of California, or the Federal Government, no one has a promise of a lifetime job.
Senator Boxer has never authored legislation. Never. I find it hard to support a Senator who cares so little for her constituents that she won’t author legislation to help them. She has a pretty good deal in DC voting yea and nay to other’s bills with virtually no responsibility for her state. Her way of helping voters is to review how much government spending she has forced our way. Government spending does not create permanent sustainable jobs. Boxer constantly talks about sustainability, but what she means is sustainability for the environment and government, not for people’s jobs.
HR 4646 – The One Percent Tax
This bill, sponsored by DeFazio and Harkin will take one percent of your savings and checking account initially and then one percent of every transaction you perform. This can either be in the form of a debit card, cash, credit card, hand written check, or automatic payment. They will take one percent of every transaction run through financial institutions.
This will never take off. It will never pass. It was only introduced to tweak the noses of the Tea Party members and get a little Presidential Brown on the noses of DeFazio and Harkin. It is a diversion. While we are complaining about this new taxation, perhaps they can slip a socialized medicine bill on to the floor and get it passed. Oh, wait, they did that.
