Posted on 05/30/2006 10:02:13 AM PDT by Gothmog
By: North County Times - Editorial Our view: In close race for 50th District seat, former congressman just better than Busby
The race between Francine Busby and Brian Bilbray in the 50th Congressional District presents voters with an unusually good pair of choices. Both are much closer to the center of the nation's political spectrum than its fringes, and both are very strong candidates on their own merits.
Running a strong reform campaign in a district shamed by Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Democrat Busby offers voters a genuinely fresh face with solid credentials. Bilbray's strengths are his pragmatism, command of the issues and experience on Capitol Hill. To fill out the last six months of the criminal Cunningham's unexpired term, Bilbray's experience at all levels of government gives him a decisive edge over the less-experienced Busby.
In an era of states Red and Blue, somehow the fates have conspired to bring before the 50th District two candidates whose positions are rather purple and surprisingly similar.
Both support a woman's right to choose, though Bilbray opposes late-term abortions. Both support stem cell research. Both support the medicinal use of marijuana, though Bilbray doesn't support California's Proposition 215, but instead would favor it if marijuana could be obtained and regulated like other prescription drugs.
Both support raising the federal minimum wage; Bilbray voted for it in 2000 as U.S. representative for South County.
Both oppose drilling for oil or natural gas off California's shores. Both talk like deficit hawks, but Bilbray believes slowing the rate of government-spending growth will be enough to balance our federal books.
Both support ethics reform on Capitol Hill, including the banning of anonymous "earmarks," through which representatives routinely squeeze pork out of already approved spending bills. Bilbray's idea to insulate federal spending from campaign pressure ---- shifting the federal government to a two-year budget cycle ---- isn't sexy, but it's the kind of pragmatic and promising proposal 50th District voters can expect from him.
Although both wallowed in the mud slung by their respective national congressional committees, both Bilbray and Busby recently distanced themselves from attack ads that North County voters didn't want and didn't need. Bilbray went one step further, explicitly disavowing the most shameful slur hurled at Busby.
Both agree that the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq must be gradual and pegged to progress on the ground, not dictated by artificial and easily exploited timetables. Both said they would defy the public's will in order to support the Marines' mission to hold their ground at Miramar in the face of the airport authority's advances.
Bilbray's three terms representing the 49th District, which before 2002 covered areas south of North County, have prepared him to quickly deliver for the 50th District. His six years of seniority should enable him to secure coveted committee posts ---- Bilbray told us he would seek appointment to the House Foreign Relations Committee and the Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly recommended Bilbray for what will be the most important committee in Congress this summer ---- the group charged with resolving the differences between the House and Senate immigration reform packages. Bilbray knows how to get things done on Capitol Hill, and equally important, he knows the right people.
The Republican majority with whom Bilbray swept into office in 1994 now dominates the House leadership. Before an ugly impeachment, the bursting of the dot-com bubble and 9/11, that group was able to work with President Clinton to rein in government spending and deliver unprecedented federal surpluses.
Bilbray's long experience in local government ---- elected mayor of Imperial Beach at age 27, he also served as San Diego County supervisor from 1985 through 1995 ---- will enable him to work well with North County's other elected leaders. His work with the California Air Resources Board gives him a policy wonk's appreciation for the shortcomings of today's supposed smog savior, the corn-derived additive ethanol.
Bilbray will work to bring down our soaring gas prices not by grandstanding about price-gouging, but by fixing the market constraints that keep Southern California filling up with a blend of gas that can't be sold or used elsewhere. Expand that less-polluting blend throughout California, Bilbray argues, and North County's pump prices will benefit. He also recognizes that new nuclear technology might be necessary for the nation to limit its carbon emissions and stave off the worst effects of climate change.
If Busby's big issue is ethics, Bilbray's is immigration. There we side with Busby's position of combining increased enforcement with opportunities to earn citizenship for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already here. But Bilbray is probably more moderate than his fiery rhetoric suggests, likely a nod to the Republican right, whose support he needs to win on June 6. While Bilbray supports the enforcement-only approach, he stops short of the more outlandish elements of the House immigration stance. He opposes, for instance, making illegal presence in this country a felony and criminal penalties for people who offer aid and comfort to ailing immigrants.
Voters in the 50th District are blessed with two strong candidates. Francine Busby is a likable, improving candidate who has run a spirited campaign; it wouldn't be a tragedy if she won the seat.
But the North County Times endorses Brian Bilbray, a proven leader who can hit the ground running in Washington, D.C.
"Both talk like deficit hawks, but Bilbray believes slowing the rate of government-spending growth will be enough to balance our federal books."
Hmmm, the Times doesn't mention Busby's solution. Could it be...to raise taxes?
Based on this article the only real differences between these two is that one has a D after his name and the other one has an R.
Except one will vote for Dennis Hastert for Speaker and one will vote for, and with, Nancy Pelosi. Which would you choose? It's a moderate district that prefers centrists of both parties.
And one will move the House closer to making John Conyers chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and one will help keep Conyers out.
Does anyone on the Bilbray campaign understand that McCain just sold us out on the immigration issue? The answer is: they don't care they just want the money.
Freemail me if you want to show up and let him feel out pain.
Good for you, good luck and thanks. I live nowhere near the area and have no local interest, but I am interested in seeing the lib dems and media have to rein in all their 'dem congress takeover in 2006' rhetoric. It's getting very annoying.
If i was a voter in this district i would hold my nose and vote for Bilbray.
Bilbray's hard stance against Illegals and the border
when he was in congress in the 1990s
Co-sponsored bill to stop giving
U.S. citizenship to more than 200,000
‘anchor babies’ of illegal aliens each year 1999-2000.
Rep. Bilbray took a stand against one of the largest sources of U.S. population growth and against one of the strongest incentives for illegal immigration by co-sponsoring H.R.73 (the Bilbray Bill). As a matter of policy for decades, the federal government has granted citizenship to babies born to illegal-alien mothers. This is a pronounced reward to their mothers for having entered or stayed in the United States in violation of immigration laws. Not only do the mothers immediately get access to a whole array of social services for their babies, but these illegal aliens get a virtual guarantee that they will never be asked to leave the country. These babies of illegal aliens are called “anchor babies” because they act as an anchor to eventually pull large extended families into the United States. Rep. Bilbray wants to put an end to this enticement for citizens of other nations to become illegal aliens in this country. H.R.73 would have denied citizenship to babies of women who at the time of giving birth are in the U.S. as illegal aliens, tourists, temporary foreign workers, foreign students and diplomats. The only exception is if the mother is married to the father of the baby, and the father is a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident alien. This will reduce legal U.S. population growth considerably. A California study in 1992 found 96,000 new citizens were added in that year in that state alone through these ‘anchor babies’ of illegal aliens. U.S. Census data on the birthrates of the foreign born indicate that well over 200,000 new citizens are added to the U.S. each year through anchor babies. See detailed description.
Bull. The disgraced Cunningham has a ACU lifetime rating of 94%. Bilbray is the GOP choice because the party bosses pushed him for name recognition and prior Congressional experience (different district which truly is Dem/RINO suited). He barely edged a candidate running as a conservative (Roach) and was blown away in vote total by the top 3 running as conservatives Roach, Morrow & Kaloogian.
Disclosure: I live in the district.
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