Posted on 06/03/2006 8:34:45 AM PDT by CounterCounterCulture
Thanks for the ping!
If you cannot afford to have children, don't.
What's wrong with Maldonado? I used to live in Santa Maria, and he was pretty conservative. Where does he stand on illegal immigration?
Good leftists:
• Soros George, Soros Fund Management, Llc, Business Executive, New York, Ny 10106
• Soros Jonathan T., Soros Fund Management Llc, Business Executive, New York, Ny 10106
• Bing Stephen L., Self, Investor, Los Angeles, Ca 90035
• Broad Eli, The Broad Foundations, Founder, Los Angeles, Ca 90024
The Venture Capital types looking to get rich:
• Kohlberg James A., Kohlberg & Company, Merchant Banker, Palo Alto, Ca 94301
• Kohlberg Jerome, Retired, Mt. Kisco, Ny 10549
• Doerr John, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Partner, Woodside, Ca 94062
• Hastings Reed, Netflix, Inc., Ceo, Los Gatos, Ca 95032
and Big Arnold supporters:
• Riordan Richard J., Retired, Los Angeles, Ca 90024
• Riordan Nancy Daly, None, Children's Rights Activist, Los Angeles, Ca 90024
• Daly Robert A., Rulemaker, Inc., Executive, Los Angeles, Ca 90077
• Perenchio Jerry, Chartwell Partners, Partner, Los Angeles, Ca 90067
• Lowe Robert J., Lowe Enterprises, Inc., Chairman, Los Angeles, Ca 90049
• Lowe Elizabeth H., Self, Preschool Advocate, Santa Monica, Ca 90402
• Hellman F. Warren, Hellman & Friedman Llc, Chairman, San Francisco, Ca 94111
Here's a few things. He certainly is NOT conservative. In fact, I'm surprised he's a registered Republican:
• This year, he authored a bill to increase the minimum wage. When he couldn't get any support from Republican legislators, he pushed to resurrect the previously dormant Industrial Welfare Commission (with Schwarzenegger's help) to avoid a vote by the legislature altogether.• He broke party lines in July 2003 on a crucial vote, helping to undermine the Republican fiscal recovery plan designed to avoid the financial crisis.
• In 2001, he co-authored AB 540, with leftist Marco Firebaugh, legislation that gave in-state tuition status to illegal immigrants.
• In 2001, he pushed a $500,000 earmark in the budget for the "Abel Maldonado Youth Center"
• He broke party lines in 1999, voting for an assault weapon ban publicly stating "They are weapons of war." and "they shouldn't be on the streets," statements used by the Democrats to strengthen their campaign (which succeeded).
Even with a potential benefit to family, I voted HELL NO on Meathead's 82.
The above (post 26) is a summary of news articles I read yesterday.
Excerpts and citations were posted on this thread (See posts 30-35).
There is also some question about his claiming an endorsement from the phantom "California Republican Taxpayers Association," a new, unapproved group that apparently only exists to endorse Abel. (See here.)
Fweh! I just remember him as the 26-year old mayor of Santa Maria, then Assemblyman when he traveled the state with W during the 2000 presidential election. I'm ashamed to say I haven't followed how he's voted.
I haven't followed how he voted either, although I have noted that he voted in favor most of the Big Bond Spending Extravaganza.
The items I summarized in my post to you were just some reported in the news. Out of curiosity, I scanned news articles yesterday so I happened to have that at my fingertips.
As one quite interested in growing the party beyond the White base, I followed the careers of some of these folks. Maldonado was touted as one of the faces of the future of the CA GOP, along with another Hispanic Republic, Rod Pacheco (the first Hispanic Republican elected to the legislature since the 19th Century in CA). Sadly, for at least these two, they were lackluster and wishy-washy at best and incompetent at worst. In the case of Pacheco, he was clearly unprepared when he rose to the leadership in his first term, and crashed and burned as the Assembly Minority Leader after being forced out of the job after 8 months (!)). In the case of Maldonado, he clearly moved into the liberal RINO camp, and doesn't even have a basic grasp of economics, and now he wants to be State Controller. Just sad, but fortunately he has a Conservative opponent in the primary. Posted today was this poll on the race:
• Controller (Republican): Former Assemblyman and taxpayer organization president Tony Strickland leads State Senator and business controller Abel Maldonado 32% to 21% in the GOP primary for Controller, while 4% favor other candidates. However, a large 43% of likely Republican primary voters remain undecided.
As posted on FR yesterday, Gingrich is doing a phone campaign for Maldonado.
I am very disappointed in Newt.
This is one of those initiatives that sounds good on paper, but are unfeasible when one reads the fine print.
No doubt Newt thinks having a statewide elected Hispanic Republican in office in CA is a good thing... it is, BUT, this is not the right man for the job.
Although... Newt has been known to curry favor with liberal Republicans when he was in Congress, which really didn't do much for him in the end. When he first ran for Congress in '74, Newt was actually considered a Rockefeller Republican (he was endorsed by the infamously liberal rag Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AKA the "Urinal & Constipation") running against the Democrat Segregationist incumbent, John Flynt (whom is still alive today at the age of 91). When he endorsed his successor, Johnny Isakson, who was regarded as a bit too liberal for his district, Newt offended a lot of his Conservative supporters (although to our pleasant surprise, Isakson has grown decidedly more Conservative now that he is in the Senate).
Sorry for going a bit into GA politics, just trying to get into Newt's mindset.
No apologies required. I appreciate the background and insight.
I do agree with you: "... BUT, this is not the right man for the job. "
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