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."
Ken Calvert is pretty much your generic, right-wing Congressman. There's nothing too special about him. He's slightly corrupt, but hasn't yet gotten his freezer raided. However, he has been named as one of the top 15 most corrupt. But you know, that is kind of par for the course these days.
Now, Bill Hedrick ran a tight race against Calvert back in 2008. So, what is Calvert doing to bolster his campaign these days. Why by signing Grover Norquist's inflexibility pledge.
Calvert, who in a recent press release touted his signature on Americans for Tax Reform's anti-tax pledge, helped protect companies that ship American jobs overseas by voting against the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. The deficit neutral legislation, passed by Congress and signed into law, saved and created 320,000 jobs and was paid for in part by closing tax loopholes that enable companies to take advantage of foreign tax credits and move assets, production and jobs overseas.
"Congressman Calvert needs to get his priorities straight," said Hedrick. "Local teachers and first-responders are losing their jobs due to budget cuts, and Congressman Calvert showed us that he'd rather protect tax loopholes used by companies that ship American jobs overseas than close them to help keep local police officers on the beat. I can't think of anything more elitist than a career politician bragging about how he puts corporate special interests before his constituents at a time when communities in Orange and Riverside counties are facing unemployment rates at or near double digits."
It is good to see Democratic challengers going after Republicans for signing this stupid pledge.
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.
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.
Over at DWT, Howie dug up a police report about Rep. Ken Calvert that I'd just as well have not seen. But, seeing as I'm a blogger and can't avoid the salaciousness of it all, you can find a JPG of the report here.
According to the report, Calvert was caught in his car in a "compromising" situation with a woman known to engage in prostitution. Now, given that Calvert is one of those holier-than-thou types, that alone would be news worthy. But wait, there's more.
The FBI is now poking around a land deal that now seems quite sketchy
Even for a speculator like Calvert, it was an unusually good deal.
During the time he owned the land, Calvert used the legislative process known as earmarking to secure $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles from the property, and an additional $1.5 million to support commercial development of the area around the airfield.
A map of Calvert's recent real estate holdings and those of his partner shows many of them near the transportation projects he has supported with federal appropriations. And improvements to the transportation infrastructure have contributed to the area's explosive growth, according to development experts.
...What sets Calvert's actions apart from the traditional efforts of lawmakers to bring federal dollars home to their districts is that some of the spending has gone for improvements near his private real estate ventures, and he has used earmarking to secure the tax dollars... He also has secured funds for a number of projects pushed by campaign contributors, including employees of the Washington lobbying firm of Copeland Lowery & Jacquez, his top political donor in the last election cycle. (LA Times)
TPM has a bit more on this deal, but as of right now it is still in the investigation stage. Even if the sale was valid, which it may or not be, the fact that Calvert was using earmarks to improve the value of his land is very much a no-no. And Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) really, really doesn't care for that sort of thing.
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
(This is our top Congressional challenge in 2010. If you have a few bucks to spare, consider making a donation. - promoted by David Dayen)
Last year, thanks to the grassroots, we came closer to beating Ken Calvert in California's 44th District than anyone thought possible.
With that near upset, people from across the country took note of this seat - especially the Republicans!
National Republicans have already begun raising money hand over fist from their big business, special interest contributors to keep Ken Calvert in office.
In fact, later today, Ken Calvert is set to receive $100,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee as part of their "Patriot Program." They're doing everything they can to hold on to the seat!
According to the NRCC, these Patriots will be provided with the resources they need to build strong campaigns to help Republicans fight their way back to the Majority. We can't let this happen!
Last week, the Rothenberg Political Report http://rothenbergpoliticalrepo... came out and listed our race as having moved from last year's "Solid Republican" ranking to now "Leaning Republican".
With that new ranking, we've been told we're one of the three top races in the country to watch.
As encouraging as that is, I am also being told that I now need to immediately raise huge sums of money if I want to remain competitive.
I didn't get within 2% last cycle by raising millions of dollars and sending out flashy ads. Instead, I did it the old fashioned way. I walked the district and I actually talked to voters one-on-one. I was able to connect with thousands of families who have watched their jobs disappear and their homes lost to foreclosure - even though they always played by the rules. In 2008, I did what I do best: connect with voters one-on-one and discuss issues to explain exactly how I would be different than their current representative. At the heart of each issue (the economy, health care, the environment), we all share the same basic beliefs that we want our children to grow up in a safe, secure, thriving community and to do better than we did.
Unfortunately, I know that this race will be different and that strategy alone won't work in 2010 because the other side is so desperate to retain the seat.
The NRCC now realizes this seat is vulnerable and have made it clear they don't want to lose it. They've already set up a donation page for Calvert and Newt Gingrich is hosting a fundraiser tonight to help raise money for him.
Ok, so no one is exactly shocked to hear that today I've made it official but I wanted to come here to this blog to post it myself since the folks at Calitics have always been good to me.
I also wanted to post a little more about myself so that you understand why I'm running and why you should care about this race.
(The D-Trip is really taking an interest in CA-44. - promoted by David Dayen)
I'm excited to announce that my district is one of only six nationwide being targeted by the DCCC in a series of radio ads being rolled out next week.
The ads will target Republican members of Congress who opposed the middle class tax cut in President Obama's economic recovery act. These ads are the DCCC's way of taking the message of middle class tax cuts and economic recovery directly to the public in radio ads called "Tax Man" that will run in the lead up to April 15th (tax day).
My opponent Ken Calvert is one of the six Republicans being targeted for his vote against the middle class tax cut.
This is the DCCC's fourth phase of the "Putting Families First" campaign and we've been fortunate enough to be included in the other phases as well.
