CD 44: Ken Calvert’s “Totally Flawed Outlook”

Top conservative California blogger Jon Fleishman gets it. In a post yesterday he asks, “What is Calvert Thinking?”

Good question.

Fleishman writes, “Calvert is a very big proponent of this Appropriations-driven model of governance that we have in the House of Representatives. It is some sort of mentality that seems to boil down to this: our constituents are taxed so much that our job is to drive home as much federal spending back to our districts as possible. Of course this is a totally flawed outlook — conservatives should not argue to increase spending to ‘mitigate’ high taxes, but should fight to lower the taxes.”

No one likes to pay taxes, but guys like Calvert make higher and higher taxation necessary when they subscribe to the pork-barrel theory (or as Jon calls it here, “the Appropriations-driven model”) of government budgeting. And let’s not even get started talking about the cost of the war in Iraq, for which Calvert has enthusiastically voted…

Much worse, though, is that when Calvert brought home the bacon to his district, he did so not to benefit the district but to feather his own nest. As Fox News reported, Calvert “has earmarked millions in taxpayer dollars to build roads and a transportation hub near commercial real estate properties he personally owns.”

Because of the earmark Calvert inserted into a bill, he was able to sell a property he purchased for $550K at 79% profit ($985K). Calvert owned the property for less than a year.

I’ve got absolutely nothing against the honest Republicans who serve in Congress. I may not always agree with their votes when I disagree with them philosophically, but when they vote differently than I would because their political views are unlike mine, I accept that.
What I don’t accept is having my representative voting to enrich himself.

I’m tired of having this unethical Pork King represent me and my honest neighbors, and I’m telling everyone I know to support his opponent, Bill Hedrick, for Congress.