At campaign events in Norco and San Clemente with Democracy for America Chair Jim Dean on Thursday, Democratic congressional candidate Bill Hedrick pledged to fight any attempts to privatize Social Security and called on Congress to keep its “hands off” the successful program.

Hedrick, in a tight race with U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) for California’s 44th Congressional District, also reiterated his opposition to raising the retirement age, cutting benefits to retirees and spending surplus Social Security funds.

“Social Security isn’t some sort of lab specimen for career politicians in Washington to experiment with,” Hedrick said. “My opponent voted to implement President Bush’s privatization plan, but I stand with the people in telling Congress and Ken Calvert to keep their hands off Social Security.”

Hedrick cited a vote Calvert cast to advance the implementation of a Social Security privatization plan developed by President Bush’s Social Security commission [HR 2590, Vote #273, 7/25/01]. The commission was criticized for being stacked with pro-privatization members and the plan was never implemented.

“When you’re Ken Calvert, profiting hundreds of thousands of dollars on land deals subsidized by taxpayer-funded earmarks, then of course you will never realize how important Social Security is to the nearly 90,000 people in our district who rely on it,” Hedrick said.

Bill Hedrick has dedicated 35 years to teaching our children and advocating for educators in our public schools. He currently serves on the Corona-Norco Unified School District Board of Education, overseeing the 8th largest school district in California, serving 53,000 students. Bill is the board’s longest serving member at 22 years and has served five terms as president. In 2008, he came within 3,100 votes of unseating Congressman Ken Calvert, making the 2010 rematch for California’s 44th Congressional District one of the most competitive in the state.

Days after Republican congressional leaders unveiled their “Pledge to America,” GOP Rep. Ken Calvert is staying mum on the pledge’s lack of a ban on congressional earmarks, just five years after securing earmarks to sweeten one of his real estate deals to profit $435,000.

Calvert’s Democratic challenger, Corona-Norco Board of Education member Bill Hedrick, called on Calvert to address the GOP pledge’s lack of a ban on earmarks as well as the pledge’s lack of an earmark reform plan to prevent members of Congress from enriching themselves off of federal pork projects.

“My position has always been clear: earmarks need to be banned entirely. They are the currency of corruption,” Hedrick said. “Ken Calvert has four hundred and thirty five thousand reasons why he didn’t push for earmark reform in his party’s new pledge. He even ignores talking about earmark reform in his new YouTube video touting the pledge because he knows he has zero credibility when it comes to wasteful pork-barrel spending.”

In 2005, Calvert (R-Corona) used his congressional office to secure nearly $10 million in earmarks to improve the area surrounding his real estate property near March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. After securing the millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded earmarks, he sold the property and made a profit of $435,000 – 80 percent – less than a year after he purchased it.

Calvert’s abuse of earmarks made him the subject of a Fox News special report: “Porked: Earmarks for Profit” and various good-government watchdog groups criticized him for his abuse of earmarks.

California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has endorsed Democrat Bill Hedrick in his bid to represent California’s 44th Congressional District.

A former educator and school board member, O’Connell cited Hedrick’s 35 years of classroom teaching experience and service on the Corona-Norco Board of Education as the reasons why Hedrick deserves voters’ nod on November 2. O’Connell was elected to his second term as State Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 6, 2006.

“I am pleased to support the candidate for Congress who is clearly committed to improving education in California,” said O’Connell. “Bill Hedrick knows education inside out – from the classroom to the boardroom, and he’s exactly the kind of leader we need in Washington to improve our country’s education system and prepare our children for the 21st century economy.”

“Superintendent O’Connell’s career has been devoted to improving local schools and I am excited to have his endorsement,” Hedrick said. “With his support, I’ll see to it that our nation’s education system gets the boost it needs to be the best in the world again.”

Bill Hedrick has dedicated 35 years to teaching our children and advocating for educators in our public schools. He currently serves on the Corona-Norco Unified School District Board of Education, overseeing the 8th largest school district in California, serving 53,000 students. Bill is the board’s longest serving member at 22 years and has served five terms as president. In 2008, he came with 3,100 votes of defeating Republican Congressman Ken Calvert, making the 2010 rematch for California’s 44th Congressional District one of the most competitive in the state.

(Riverside) – Corona-Norco School Board member and Democratic congressional candidate Bill Hedrick called on his Republican opponent to withdraw his past support for plans to privatize Social Security.

Hedrick addressed seniors Thursday afternoon at two senior living centers in Riverside to hear their concerns and state his “hands off” policy to Social Security: No to raising the retirement age, No to raiding the Social Security trust fund, No to Social Security privatization and No to cuts in benefits for American retirees. He also called on Congressman Calvert (R-Corona) to admit he was wrong when he voted to privatize Social Security.

“The American people better watch out with Ken Calvert in Congress,” Hedrick said. “If it were up to him, American retirees would be left to fend for themselves during this recession while golden parachutes for CEOs would be a-okay. He needs to talk to his constituents and admit he was wrong, plain and simple.”

Nearly 53 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, keeping 20 million Americans out of poverty. Congressional Republicans have labeled decreasing Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age as options in order to balance the federal budget. Even House Minority Leader John Boehner has proposed options including raising the retirement age to 70.

“One thing I will not vote for are any cuts in Social Security benefits for retirees or Congress raiding the Social Security trust fund,” Hedrick said at the Whispering Fountains senior living center in Riverside. “I don’t care what type of deal they make in Congress; if it includes moves to jeopardize Social Security, I won’t support it.”

During his career:

   * Calvert supported President Bush’s privatization plan in 2005 [Press-Enterprise, 2/03/05]

   * Calvert voted against an amendment that would have stopped the White House from implementing the Social Security privatization plan being developed by President Bush’s Social Security Commission [HR 2590, Vote #273, 7/25/01]

   * Calvert voted in favor of a budget conference report that spends $1.1 trillion of the Social Security Trust Fund over five years to pay for other government spending [HCR95, Vote #149, 4/28/05] and [HCR95, Vote #88, 3/17/05]

   * Calvert voted in favor of a budget that called for using about $600 billion of the Social Security surplus to fund new privatized retirement accounts for stock market investment. [HCR 83, Vote #104, 5/09/01]

Bill Hedrick has dedicated 35 years to teaching our children and advocating for educators in our public schools. He currently serves on the Corona-Norco Unified School District Board of Education, overseeing the 8th largest school district in California, serving 53,000 students. Bill is the board’s longest serving member at 22 years and has served five terms as president. In 2008, he came with 3,100 votes of defeating Congressman Ken Calvert, making the 2010 rematch for California’s 44th Congressional District one of the most competitive in the state.

Criticizes Opponent for Attempting to Weaken Law In Spite of District’s Poor Air Quality

Corona-Norco school board member and Democratic congressional candidate Bill Hedrick told supporters today he’ll support the Clean Air Act while in Congress and work with clean air advocates as well as federal and local officials in improving the Riverside-San Bernardino region’s poor air quality.

“Congressman Calvert has been breathing the air in Washington for so long that he’s forgotten about the air that the rest of us breathe here at home,” Hedrick said. “Must be something in the Washington air that makes career politicians like Ken Calvert put special interest polluters ahead of regular people.”

Standing next to a copy of a full page ad national environmental organizations ran in the Washington Post criticizing Calvert, Hedrick noted the $350,000 Calvert has received over his career from oil, gas and electrical utility special interests to fund his political campaigns.

Hedrick, at a rally and press conference at Santana Regional Park in Corona Wednesday afternoon, also criticized his opponent, Congressman Ken Calvert, for trying weaken the EPA’s authority to enforce the Clean Air Act while representing an inland district struggling with poor air quality.

Riverside County, which covers roughly three quarters of California’s 44th Congressional District, has been ranked by the American Lung Association as second in the country for ozone pollution and third for long-term fine particle pollution.

Bill Hedrick has dedicated 35 years to teaching our children and advocating for educators in our public schools. He currently serves on the Corona-Norco Unified School District Board of Education, overseeing the 8th largest school district in California, serving 53,000 students. Bill is the board’s longest serving member at 22 years and has served five terms as president. In 2008, he came with 3,100 votes of defeating Congressman Ken Calvert, making the 2010 rematch for California’s 44th Congressional District one of the most competitive in the state.

Democratic congressional candidate Bill Hedrick challenged Republican Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-44) to either end his planned egregious abuse of taxpayer-funded Congressional mailers during the weeks leading up to Election Day, or pay taxpayers back the tens of thousands of dollars in public funds it’ll cost us.

Local educators joined Hedrick at a campaign event at Riverside City Hall to challenge Calvert to reimburse taxpayers the minimum $35,000 his office will spend in taxpayer dollars – enough for an average starting salary for a teacher according to the National Education Association – or stop abusing his congressional franked mailing privileges until Election Day.

In a recent newspaper article, Calvert’s office signaled his plan to bill taxpayers at least $35,000 to send official Congressional mail to 100,000 households during election season, circumventing rules ensuring fair elections. Calvert said he’d run around rules banning mass mailings (500+ pieces) during election season by sending more than 200 variations of mailers at 499 apiece. According to House disbursement statements, Calvert’s average per mailer cost is 35 cents.

“The taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout that Congressman Calvert voted for does not extend to taxpayers bailing out his campaign,” Hedrick said to about 30 educators and supporters at the event. “Local taxpayers would much rather have this money spent on local needs, like keeping teachers employed.”

The National Education Association pegs $35,000 as the average starting salary for teachers. Speaking with Hedrick were California Teachers Association board member Mikki Cichocki and Kristy Orona-Ramirez, a laid off teacher from Riverside who spoke about the challenges she and her family face during these economic times.

Congressman Ken Calvert, who narrowly won reelection to his Inland Empire-based congressional district in 2008, is going to mail his constituents 100,000 pieces of taxpayer-funded “Franked” mail in the months through Election Day, his spokeswoman said.

http://www.pe.com/politics/goa…

Corona-Norco Board of Education member Bill Hedrick, who came within 3 percent of defeating Calvert in 2008, issued a challenge to Calvert to not use taxpayer dollars for his personal benefit through the use of franked mail during election season. Members of Congress typically mail them out to their constituents, but sending them during election season is nothing short of sticking taxpayers with the bill for a shadow reelection campaign.

Calvert, a real estate businessman, is no stranger to using taxpayer money for his own benefit. In 2005-2006, he had taxpayers pay for construction projects near one of his properties, increasing its value. Less than a year later, he sold the property and made a half-million dollars in personal profit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…