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."
At least it sure seems that way. Ken Calvert seems to think he's running against Nancy Pelosi on November 2nd. But he's not. He's running against Bill Hedrick. For Congress.
To help clear-up Calvert's confusion, we here at Team Hedrick have made this short 'educational' video to help clear up the Congressman's confusion.
A poll this week shows challenger Bill Hedrick within striking distance in the race for California's 44th Congressional District.
The new poll of 611 likely voters shows Hedrick has closed the gap between himself and corrupt incumbent Congressman Ken Calvert to a mere 5 points (48% for Calvert to 43% for Hedrick) while the 18-year Washington politician has lost ground as undecided voters have begun breaking to the challenger.
Calvert continues to poll below 50% - a true danger sign for an incumbent in what is becoming an increasingly anti-incumbent year - and even dropped 1 point from a public poll conducted just two weeks earlier that showed Calvert leading Hedrick 49% to 38%.
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."
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."
(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."
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."
The race for California's 44th Congressional District is heating up as the Bill Hedrick for Congress campaign opens a regional campaign office in South Orange County.
Hedrick, who almost defeated incumbent Republican Congressman Ken Calvert in 2008, is expanding his campaign operation by opening a field office in San Clemente on Thursday. The first campaign for the 44th Congressional District to open an office in Orange County, the campaign's second office will hone voter outreach efforts in San Clemente as well as other Orange County communities such as Coto de Caza, San Juan Capistrano and Ladera Ranch.
The 44th Congressional District covers a portion of Riverside County, including the cities of Corona, Norco and Riverside, and stretches west to include a portion of South Orange County. The campaign's headquarters is located in Riverside.
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.
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.
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...
By now, you've heard of that Texas Republican, Joe Barton, who apologized to British Petroleum for the inconvenience of having to answer tough questions about their oil spill.
But what you may not know is that Congressman Ken Calvert is one of Barton's top allies - receiving $4000 just this year from Barton's "leadership" fund. And no wonder: Calvert and Barton are best buddies when it comes to standing up for Big Oil.
Already in this election, Calvert has taken $16,725 from the oil and gas industry -- with a lifetime total of a huge $187,374 from the industry. That's more than any other current member of Congress from California.
(More great information - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
While the range of competitive House districts has narrowed considerably, I am still including all 8 Obama-Republican districts to watch their trends. I also added state legislative seats that are open this year in which the incumbent is not term-limited.
With the filing deadline passed, we are beginning to see how the fields are shaping up for the 2010 elections in California. While the range of competitive House districts has narrowed considerably, I am still including all 8 Obama-Republican districts to watch their trends.
Today at 11am Blue America is making a fifth endorsement for 2010. Joining fellow progressives Alan Grayson (D-FL), Marcy Winograd (D-CA), Craig Pridemore (D-WA) and Billy Kennedy (D-NC) will be Riverside County progressive activist Bill Hedrick. I hope you can make it over to the live blogging session at Crooks and Liars and get a feel for Bill yourself.
A few days ago I interviewed Florida Democratic candidate Heather Beaven on behalf of Blue America. She was sharp and savvy, outspoken and principled. But something that stuck with me was how she responded to the question about campaign finance reform. She peeled back the onion by another layer.
Taking into account some suggestions and comments, I made some changes to my previous attempt at redistricting California. I conceded an additional 2 seats to the GOP, which concomitantly makes a number of other seats more strongly Democratic. The additional 2 safe GOP seats are CA-4 and CA-48. Here's what version 2 looks like, overall:
I decided to try my hand at redistricting California's Congressional districts for 2010-2012, using Dave's Redistricting App. After playing around with it a bit, here's what the map I came up with looks like overall:
Here's the 2008 Obama/McCain vote in California, on the precinct level:
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee voted twice against including a critical public option in the health care reform bill - even though poll after poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans want this reform!
It's the final straw!
I'm frustrated and disappointed, just as I'm sure you are. But I refuse to take this lying down. Yesterday's results mean we need to fight harder for the beliefs we share, and we need someone who shares those beliefs to go to Washington to fight for them.
I've been thinking back to why I initially entered this race in 2007 -- my concern about the policies that were sending my son and daughters-in-law back to Iraq for a second tour of duty. Next week I'm going to Fort Benning, Georgia, to see my son and daughter-in-law off -- again. They will be starting their third tours of duty in Iraq.
Once again, Calvert's ethically-challenged behavior landed him on the non-partisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington most corrupt list:
Last night, President Obama addressed the nation on an issue we all know is critically important: making sure every American receives quality, affordable health care. Obama echoed the words of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy who wrote that accomplishing this goal will truly show the "character of our country."
Ken Calvert's response? Falsehoods, fabrication and fear mongering. Just read what he had to say:
"It's the pathway to nationalized health care." - Press-Enterprise
"The public option is an absolute deal killer." - Orange County Register
