(No, she really isn’t… So what HAS she decided upon, other than supporting Bush and the wingnuts whenever they need her?-adtleft. Mary Bono is a shining case in point of the Human Rights Campaign’s myopic views. They refused to endorse Ron Oden in 2000, an openly gay black man, and have since endorsed Bono several times. She must go. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)
I’ve had nothing to say about Mary Bono since the election as she does precious little. But today, her website proudly sports her CSPAN footage: Mary Bono on climate change. After the requisite meangirl sneer at Al Gore, Bono states she’s undecided on climate change. Addressing the climate crisis may involve price hikes, which will cause people in her district to die of the heat. Ergo, it’s just too hot to change our energy policy.
She voted against strengthening FOIA this past week, still supports Bush on Iraq. This is the real Mary Bono, and she is not an asset to the CA-45th.
Bono is allegedly a big GOP environmentalist, meaning she photo-ops with local green advocates, then votes with Bush/Cheney back in DC.
Today, Mary Bono claimed that addressing our global climate crisis will mean certain death to the poor and weak in Palm Springs. Republican social darwinism couldn’t be a factor? It seems to escape Rep. Bono that energy policy costs can be offset by social welfare programs. In fact, the seniors and the thousands of working poor in the CA-45th could use a break on their utility bills right now, never mind waiting to offset potential costs of a sane energy program. Is it possible that California’s energy crisis was caused by Enron, and not by Al Gore?
I doubt she has thought about it beyond verifying her current talking points with the leadership. Bono does not expose herself to unscreened questioning. Someone might ask her why Mary Bono’s one of the worst elected officials towards children and seniors. But she does that compassionate conservative lipservice thing with the best of them. 
At the hearing’s end, Bono embraced the perspective of The Skeptical Environmentalist author, Dr. Bjørn Lomborg. Apparently he was there as an advocate for the “jury’s still out” perspective. Lomborg is not an environmentalist, nor a natural scientist of any kind. He is a social scientist who writes about cost/benefit analysis. His environmental policy book has been refuted, rebutted, and otherwise debunked by Nature, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Grist. This probably explains why Bono made her bizarre remarks to a near empty chamber. None of the Democrats and few of the Republicans bothered to stay.
WIth all of the joy of our new Congress, I can’t believe I still have to put up with this obedient GOP hack for my representative. Mary Bono is the well paid person who actually complained about her son’s college costs on the floor of the House while slashing federal college aid by more than $14 billion. Howie Klein explored her obtuse comments on that at DownWithTyranny, back when I still held out hope that we could replace her with a good Democrat.
Don’t yet know if Roth is running again yet, but please, netroots all, know that the CA-45th is worth a shot no matter what. Despite the 45th’s heavy slant towards the GOP, Bono is a lightweight on policy and politics. She puts the nothing in Do Nothing. She gets reelected thanks to a 3 to 1 funding advantage, and because Sonny Bono was dearly loved, and the district only knows her as this:
These are serious times, made worse by Bush and his followers like Mary Bono. 2008 could be the year that Riverside County wakes up and demands a legislator equipped to serve the district and the country. If you can give Bono any help out the door, please note it in the comments. The Democrats of the Desert and other Dem clubs are suiting up for 2008.