Red California | calitics

Cross posted at Daily Kos

In a recent op-ed, Congressman Tom McClintock (R- Roseville) made the claim that Obama’s stimulus bill would cost over $200,000 per job, and that conservative free-market policies would ultimately prevail in the end over the “tax-borrow-and-spend policies” of the Democratic Administration.

And who did he blame for those policies???

The guy he just barely beat in the race for Congress, Charlie Brown.

In true form of “it’s NEVER my fault, but I’m sure as heck gonna preach responsibility in the hopes no one notices I’m being hypocritical,” Rep. McClintock went full-speed against his former opponent ,a 26-year military veteran, and insinuated the policies of President Obama are actually the brain-child of Lt.Col. Brown. McClintock wrote:

“Charlie Brown is betting otherwise. He is betting with our money that the prescription for prosperity is record-breaking increases in taxes, borrowing and spending,”

What’s ironic about this statement is that it’s Tom McClintock, not Charlie Brown, who is a member of the House of Representatives. In fact, it’s safe to say that Tom McClintock is betting (with our money) that the prescription for prosperity is to ignore warning signs, come up with no viable alternative ideas to help fix the economic crisis, and hope our government fails.

There are so many points that can be made about Congressman McClintock’s bizarre editorial, but I’d like to focus on just a choice few. The first, and perhaps most misleading, is the claim that President Obama’s stimulus plan will cost taxpayers over $200,000 for every job created. This simply is not true, and the argument is not based on faulty logic. The average price of creating a job under Obama’s plan? Less than half of what Rep. McClintock is threatening us with.

The Republicans are also taking the cost of a plan that will extend over several years, creating millions of jobs each year, and dividing it by the jobs created in just one of those years. In fact, the most respected and influential economists in our country say that the $200k+ figure is closer to $60,000 per job. This price is actually lower than the “acceptable” (where does this come from?) threshold of $100k per job created.

One of the other dangerously misleading claims by Rep. McClintock is in regards to the Congressional Budget Office warning that the new federal stimulus will be harmful to our economy. In fact, the CBO offers macro-economic evidence that the stimulus package will increase our chances to move out of our hard-hitting recession:

“CBO estimates that the Senate legislation would raise output by between 1.4 percent and 4.1 percent by the fourth quarter of 2009; by between 1.2 percent and 3.6 percent by the fourth quarter of 2010; and by between 0.4 percent and 1.2 percent by the fourth quarter of 2011. CBO estimates that the legislation would raise employment by 0.9 million to 2.5 million at the end of 2009; 1.3 million to 3.9 million at the end of 2010; and 0.6 million to 1.9 million at the end of 2011.”

Congressman McClintock and his allies in the GOP are using the Congressional Budget Office’s estimations as weapons in the narrative against the Democrats without telling the public that more of the overall rise in spending and fall in revenues occurs in the first two years under the Senate legislation, which is what they are attributing to the legislation’s potential to fail. And any estimate past the immediate future is off-set by the fact that the markets will change and new legislation will undoubtedly alter the future course of our economy.

Unfortunately, instead of helping shape the President’s policies, Congressman McClintock used his new-found power as a member of the House of Representatives to introduce his first piece of legislation: a resolution honoring President Ronald Reagan on the 98th anniversary of his birth .

Instead of practicing true fiscal responsibility and limiting spending at every opportunity, Congressman McClintock is voting to spend over $1 million for a study to think about the upcoming 100th birthday of former President Ronald Reagan.

As our esteemed Congressman is spending his time reflecting on the past, Placer County (the most populous county in California’s 4th Congressional District) is seeing some of the worst unemployment rates it has seen in decades. County-wide unemployment is up to 10%, with the City of Lincoln suffering from 17.% unemployment of its workforce. Roseville, the most populous city in CA-04, is now suffering from a 9.7% unemployment rate.

It begs the question, Congressman: why are you fiddling while Placer County burns? Why aren’t you trying to work towards solutions instead of planning birthday parties? You were elected to lead and represent us, Congressman. Why aren’t you leading or representing?

While folks are focused on the most minute details of the presidential race, don’t forget that there are a bunch of great candidates toiling away to turn longtime red districts blue. Candidates who are running under the national radar, candidates with modest finance but real energy and real support who are running on common sense progressive platforms in conservative rural areas. Candidates who, in a year like this, have the opportunity to make a real difference in the complexion of Congress and our chances of passing important legislation in the term to come.

Let me tell you a little more about one such candidate. Jeff Morris.

I’ve written about Jeff before here. That diary will tell you more about the district, its current Bush-rubber-stamp-Republican and about Jeff.

I want to focus on one example of his leadership today, one that is particularly close to my heart. I’m a registered nurse and activist for real universal healthcare. Living in a rural area, I’m acutely aware of the struggles of many of America’s small rural hospitals. In many small towns, mountain and farming communities, the resources of big city hospitals are far away. The local people depend on the local small hospital – often a public county or district hospital – as an important link in the healthcare chain. The emergency services those hospitals provide are especially vital. When the farming accident, the logging accident, the car wreck on a mountain road happens, it’s the small rural hospital that saves your life. But in the business logic of a healthcare system designed to maximize profit, those hospitals have no place. They don’t have the volume, they don’t have the attractive building, they don’t have the profit center services. They just save lives. So, all over America, those small hospitals are struggling and often closing, leaving local folks with long and perilous ambulance rides to the nearest emergency care.

I know, and most of you know, that the real answer to the problem is a healthcare system with a different logic. A healthcare system that puts people before profit. A healthcare system that puts services where they are needed, not just where they are profitable. But the people of those rural communities can’t wait for that, they need their hospital kept alive today.

Let me quote the text of a special award for innovation given by the California Association of Counties to Trinity County, where Jeff serves as a county supervisor:

Trinity Hospital, a county-owned facility, transitioned into a district hospital through an innovative partnership formed by the county government and local electric utility. Trinity Hospital, like many rural county-owned hospitals, was facing a fiscal crisis. In response, the County approached the local utility district for assistance. The utility district advanced the County funds to keep the hospital afloat and a joint powers authority was developed between the two agencies to run the facility. Furthermore, a successful election was held that created a healthcare district and tax measure to fund the hospital. A citizens committee called “Trinity Cares” played an integral role in the formation of the healthcare district and passages of the tax measure. Trinity County now has a hospital as part of an independent healthcare district that will continue to save an average of one life per week through its emergency room, as well as providing much-needed daily care to its citizens. In a county that has never passed a countywide tax measure, it is remarkable that this measure was passed with 70 percent of the vote. This has also created a more positive relationship between Trinity County and the local utility district. Working together, the community was able to keep its hospital open and make a difference by saving lives.

Jeff played a key leading role in forming the partnerships and passing the bond measure – in a very tax adverse area – and today both the hospital and the county are on much firmer footing financially.

So please help us replace our ’empty suit’ Republican with a progressive candidate who understands the real needs or our rural area, who knows how to do the hard work to make things happen and will work toward healthcare that works for all of us – from the big cities to the small towns across America.

To learn more about Jeff and donate to support his campaign, visit

Jeff Morris for Congress You’ll feel good about it and I’ll be so grateful to have a representative I can feel proud of.

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Tag Archives: Red California

CA-04: Rep. Tom McClintock & the GOP fiddle while America burns (with pictures)

CA-02 – Another progressive in Red California!

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