"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
Four years ago, when he was still just my wingnutty state senator, John Campbell responded to a letter of mine seeking his support in statewide healthcare reform by opining that the bill in question, SB 840, "creates an open-ended entitlement to healthcare that distances consumers even more from the financial consequences of their own decisions." Get that - if, like thousands of his constituents, you can't afford the inexorably rising costs of health insurance, if, like thousands of his constituents a year, you go bankrupt from your medical bills even though you thought you were insured, or die for lack of coverage, you are only getting what you deserve, because of your own foolish "decisions."
Slithering soon thereafter into a vacated Congressional seat, the former used car salesman took his humane policies onto the national stage. Last year, in response to my comrade Allan Beek's suggestion that the age for eligibility for Medicare be gradually lowered over the years, his legislative aide candidly admitted, "We don't want to expand Medicare. We want to eliminate Medicare." (D'OH! Once Campbell and his fellow Republicans learned that Democrats are trimming hundreds of millions in real waste and fraud from Medicare, they recast themselves as valiant defenders of the immensely popular government-run health program - this after fighting it tooth and nail since its inception. Pace Orwell, "WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH OCEANIA.")
After being smacked down by Chris Matthews and mocked by Jon Stewart, Congressman John Bayard Taylor Campbell III, failed to vote on the bill that recognized Hawaii as President Obama's birthplace.
Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie introduced H.R. 593 "recognizing and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the entry of Hawaii into the Union as the 50th State," and proudly proclaiming that Barack Obama was born there. Although emarrassing birther fanatic Michele Bachmann tried a parliamentary maneuver to delay a vote on an issue that is helping many Americans understand the toxicity and wholesale derangement of the Republican Party, in the end every single Republican in the House joined all the Democrats to pass it 378-0. Even Bachmann voted yes.
One birther kook - and only one - fled from the Chamber to avoid voting: John Bayard Taylor Campbell III, a lunatic fringe wingnut from Thousand Oaks (quite far from his Orange County district). Campbell was one of the sponsors of the "Birthright Citizenship Act," which would require presidential candidates to disclose birth certificates. He avoided voting on the Hawaiian legislation at 6:56PM but managed to vote for the Waco Mammoth National Monument Establishment Act at 7:03PM.
Come on, Howie, give him the benefit of the doubt. He was probably just Going Galt, but forgot his copy of Atlas Shrugged, so he couldn't quite figure out what to do once he went Galt.
We've noted before that John Campbell has bought into the crazy base of the Republican far right, cosponsoring a birther bill. Here Chris Matthews has calls him out on it.
Via Navel Gazing we get a video of John Campbell attacking earmarks, with an example of the Johnstown/Cambria Airport.
Campbell claims the airport only has six flights a week while it actually has six commercial flights a day, but that really only represents 2% of the airport's traffic. 55% of the aircraft based there are military.
From Wikipedia:
The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County (JMJCC) Airport is home to several military units. The airport houses the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 1-104th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (Company's HHC,A,C,D, and E) and Det 1, 1-169th Aviation (Med-Evac). It also houses the 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, the Marine Wing Support Squadron 471 (MWSS-471), Detachment A, and the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775 (HMLA-775), Detachment A.[2] These military units use helicopters, rather than fixed-wing planes.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2007, the airport had 59,430 aircraft operations, an average of 162 per day: 64% general aviation, 29% military, 6% air taxi and 2% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 69 aircraft based at this airport: 38% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 1% jet and 55% military.
Why does Campbell hate our troops?
Maybe the rich auto-dealership heir with the monogrammed French cuffs and matching ties and pocket squares should have his staff spend a little more time doing research, and a little less time reading turgid Ayn Rand novels.
We have this tool called "Google" which links through the internet to many useful sources of information.
But why let facts get in your way when you can introduce foolish, fact-challenged amendments that burnish your ideological credentials?
Today the California Democratic Party (CDP) released a memo from CDP Campaign Advisor Bob Mulholland on the "Obama Republican" Congressional Districts and just how winnable they may be in 2010. These seats are currently held by far-right Republicans, but President Obama carried all these districts last November. Here in OC, we have two "Obama Republican" districts: the 44th (Ken Calvert, where Obama won by 0.9%) and 48th (John Campbell, where Obama won by 0.7%) in South County.
So why are Calvert & Campbell voting so often against the President's agenda when their constituents support President Obama? Perhaps they'll need to come up with some answers soon, before voters get to have their say next year.
Carla Marinucci reports this morning that John Campbell's District in Orange County, which President Obama carried by 2,600 votes, will be one of eight seats in California targeted by the national DCCC.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign committee has already started to spend money in Ken Calvert's Congressional District, where Bill Hedrick turned in surprisingly good results in 2008.
But it's amazing to see Beth Krom emerge as a strong candidate in a district that was 52.7% Republican in 2002, with the possibility of national support.
As Marinucci says,"Republican numbers in California are falling precipitously, even in the historically strongest bastions of GOP voters".
Since 2002, Republican registration in the 48th Congressional district has slipped by 7.81%.
Of the 85,897 net new voters, only 12.8% have been Republicans, with 37.1% Democrats, and a whopping 50.5% registering as decline to state or independent. Those independents voted for Obama, and may be disinclined to support an obstructionist like Campbell, who votes consistently against the interests of the overwhelmingly middle-class constituents in his district. (See scorecard in the left column, where Campbell gets an F!)
Oh my! DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro has just sent another letter to Rep. John Campbell (R-Just Say No), asking him to return the tainted Harkey money he accepted in campaign contributions. But is he listening? I guess we'll soon find out.
I'm sure you've all heard the news by now. Our favorite beard growing, stimulus hating, still voting radical right in a district Obama carried, Congressman John Campbell may be in some serious trouble. Money trouble. Diane Harkey trouble. He took over $10,000 in contributions from Dan & Diane Harkey, but he must not have imagined the price he would later pay for that money.
Well, let's examine that price John Campbell may pay. Let's see all the scandal Diane Harkey caused that John Campbell just wasn't paying attention to. Hey, I didn't do all that investigating of our favorite South County Assemblywoman and the many skeletons in her closet for nothing!
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.
Please, John, give those interns the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
In an interesting piece of political theater, the Orange County Democratic Party is calling on John Campbell to return political contributions from Diane Harkey.
The Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) is calling on Congressman John Campbell (R-CA 48th) to publicly return all campaign funds given by Assemblymember Diane Harkey (R-CA 73rd) and her husband Dan Harkey, president of the embattled Point Center Financial.
Dan Harkey and Point Center Financial are being sued by 53 of their investors for fraud and running a "Ponzi scheme." He is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and being sued in Riverside County for racketeering, fraud, and intentional misrepresentation. Assemblymember Diane Harkey is listed as a defendant because the lawsuit alleges that Dan Harkey illegally transferred funds from investors to Diane Harkey for political purposes. Public documents show her as an employee of the company.
The Orange County Register reports that the lawsuit filed against the Harkeys on November 6, 2008 alleges that Dan Harkey exaggerated the value of property and was able "to make millions by collecting his fees upfront" which allowed him to profit from the loans even if they went unpaid. The Register also reports that the investors' lawsuit claims that 85% of Point Center's loans have either defaulted or been foreclosed.
"The Harkeys' combined contributions to Congressman Campbell from 2004 to 2008 totals $10,491," said DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro, "under these questionable circumstances, the Harkeys' contributions to Congressman Campbell can hardly be considered legitimate and should be publicly returned immediately."
Yikes. It looks like South County's infamous "Congressman No" may be in some deep trouble. This just in from the DPOC.
Democratic Party of Orange County Calls on Congressman John Campbell to Return Campaign Funds Donated by the Harkeys
Santa Ana, CA - March 24, 2009
The Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) is calling on Congressman John Campbell (R-CA 48th) to publicly return all campaign funds given by Assemblymember Diane Harkey (R-CA 73rd) and her husband Dan Harkey, president of the embattled Point Center Financial.
Dan Harkey and Point Center Financial are being sued by 53 of their investors for fraud and running a "Ponzi scheme." He is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and being sued in Riverside County for racketeering, fraud, and intentional misrepresentation. Assemblymember Diane Harkey is listed as a defendant because the lawsuit alleges that Dan Harkey illegally transferred funds from investors to Diane Harkey for political purposes. Public documents show her as an employee of the company.
A Fullerton Community Bank official made the national news asking a question about SBA loans at the Costa Mesa Town Hall. But it's Fashion Island financiers at PIMCO who stand to reap the benefits of Obama's announced plan to bail out "troubled assets", or as Atrios would call it, Big Shitpile.
Pimco's Bill Gross, a familiar face during the meltdown, was named fund leader of the year at the 16th Annual Mutual Fund Awards. (Their statuette is known as a MOFO.)
Gross summed up his view on the subject in one recent market commentary in which he discussed cooperating with the government. "Make them your partner by acknowledging that their checkbook represents the largest and most potent source of buying power in 2009 and beyond."
Beth Krom goes up with her interim website and invites folks to her first fund-raiser on March 22nd.
The current Congressman, has been a national laughingstock for his comments about Atlas Shrugged finally coming true, but Beth Krom's opening email also includes one amazing fact about John Campbell.
In four years as Mayor, I was never once contacted by Congressman Campbell to express interest in, or offer assistance on our community priorities. He never attended a single city event, nor did he ever contact me to commend the city on any of our achievements. If the largest city in the 48th District is not being served, what hope is there for the other cities in the district?
What can you say about the arrogance of a Congressman who never once shows up or talks to the Mayor of the largest city in the district? At least Rohrabacher occasionally shows up at stuff to rant about immigrants and deny the science of climate change.
OC Progressive wrote about John Campbell this morning and him comparing the Obama tax increases to an Ayn Rand Novel. All of a sudden people will stop making money so they can avoid paying more in taxes. Sure.
Poczatek argued that by reducing her income from her current $320,000 to under $250,000 by having her dental hygienist work fewer days and by treating fewer patients, she would avoid paying higher taxes on the $70,000 that would be subject to increased taxation if Obama's proposal is signed into law.
"People are starting to feel like we're living through the scenario that happened in 'Atlas Shrugged,'" said Campbell. "The achievers, the people who create all the things that benefit rest of us, are going on strike. I'm seeing, at a small level, a kind of protest from the people who create jobs, the people who create wealth, who are pulling back from their ambitions because they see how they'll be punished for them."
Steve Benen puts this into context.
Right, the character John Galt, the hero of the novel ... convinces corporate leaders to give up their jobs in order to spite society. As the story goes, these captains of industry were repressed by heavy-handed government, so they walked away and, when society crumbled, taught everyone a valuable lesson about making sure wealthy, white, blond-haired guys don't feel unduly put upon.
Some very strange conservatives, faced with the prospect of a modest increase in the marginal top rate, see us creating real-life John Galts. We're supposed to find that terrifying, of course, since the same Wall Street titans who destroyed our economy might be tempted to leave their jobs and take up menial labor.
Easy Street Republicans seem to base their political philosophy on fiction. What constantly amazes me is that they choose such bad fiction, like Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein. For a tremendous laugh, read Atlas Shrugged Updated for the Current Financial Crisis.
Four years ago, when he was still just my wingnutty state senator, John Campbell responded to a letter of mine seeking his support in statewide healthcare reform by 
