13 Comments

1. Dan,
   Thank you, it’s a highly informative article. The Democratic Party also needs a candidate questionnaire. The more details the better, especially questions of the type: “What reforms would you support, if any, to improve ______”?

   For example visit http://www.politics1.com (the web site has links to all Congressional candidates) then compare the “Economy” issue on Beth Krom’s and Bill Hedrick’s web sites.

   Bill Hedrick is moving towards LaRouche.
   (1) “Real reform of the Banking/credit system” (From LaRouche: The Dodd-Frank Act was not real reform)
   (2) “Reintroduce firewalls between securities, insurance and lending institutions” (That’s Glass-Steagall – That’s LaRouche)

   Help Bill Hedrick:
   Bill fell into 2nd place on some sort of “Grassroots Candidate” poll. If he receives the most votes , he wins $25,000.

   • you couldn’t sound more stupid. A beetle has legs. So does a cat. That doesn’t make them the same thing.

2. Dan, can’t agree with your comments on the questionnaire by Allan Bartlett to Republican Candidates. Although a bit lengthy for my taste, most questions are valid and really have noting to do with “purity,” but rather defining the beliefs of a candidate. There are far too many “RINO’s” cruising the ballots, even in Irvine, trying to fool voters into believing they are true conservatives, when they are not. Now I recognize you Irvine Democrats don’t have that problem. Larry Agran hand picks his slate, speaks for them and pulls their strings to get them to dance in step while singing three part harmony. What an act?

   I did however, have to chuckle at a few of the questions. The one I found most amusing was about involvement with the Orange County Republican Party. Can’t say that I haven’t tried to be involved with those jokers in the past. As a conservative candidate in 2008, running on a solid Republican slate (Shea & Choi)against a big spending Democrat slate (Agran & Krom & Kang), we received no, nada, zip, zero, support from the Republican Party. The problem wasn’t our values, belief in smaller government or fiscal prudence, it was that our blood apparently wasn’t blue enough for the Republican Overlords and we didn’t drink with the right people. What a joke the power brokers (in their own mind)at the Republican Party have become. Sour grapes, absolutely. What needs to happen in Orange County is for the grounded people on the Republican Central Committee and there are some there, to do house cleaning at the top and bring in new people.

   I do have a question for Alan on #30 on the list. Would this question apply to diverting municipal government General Funds to purposes it was not legally intended for. How about a candidate for Irvine City Council who supports giving General Fund or Reserve Revenues to the local School District, while running a 14 million dollar deficit budget? We have come to expect such actions from big spending Democrats, who want to buy votes by being everything to everyone, but not from Republicans? Isn’t such an action in direct conflict with the principles of smaller government, reduced spending and better management of scarce resources? My answer is “Yes” it is and it should not be done. I did not support it as a candidate in 2008, and do not support it now. No, Dan that position did not cost me the election? It was the money, pure and simple. He who has the gold rules, and Larry Agran clearly had and continues to have a corner on that market. What I do support is, for the School District to get their act together, put a “Parcel Tax” on the ballot and let the voters decide if they want to pay for the high quality schools we enjoy in Irvine. While generally being opposed to higher taxes, in this case, it would be money sell spent. This folks is the way government is supposed to function.

   There are those who want to defeat the “devil” so badly that they are willing to lower the “bar” a few notches to compete. I am not one of them. But then, that’s just my opinion, and we all have one, don’t we?

   • “Larry Agran hand picks his slate, speaks for them and pulls their strings to get them to dance in step while singing three part harmony”

     Pat – I have to hand it to you; tell telling yourself a lie often enough so you believe it’s true. I have to believe I have more conversations with these people than you do and what you keep stating is utter BS. When the Republicans dominated the council seats in the late 1990s, they may have voted alike but had strong individual personalities. To suggest one Republican was pulling every other council member’s strong would also be BS.

     Fact is Pat, you hate the idea that Irvine is being run by Progressives and that they have done a much better job of running the city than you’d care to admit.

     If you want to whine about the slate mailers and IEs that support these candidates, allow me to whine about the money poured into Irvine elections by the Lincoln Club and New Majority.

     As for the survey, I’d like to know which the answers the candidates give in regard to gay marriage (clearly an equal rights issue) and how they answer the question: “Should schools teach their students that homosexuality is an “alternative” or “normal” lifestyle.” The question itself shows bigotry is still a key platform foir your party.

     • Dan, clearly there has never been a Republican Political Machine in the history of Irvine anywhere close to resembling that of the current Agranista’s. Some Republicans who served locally were good and some were not so good.

       The same applies to Larry Agran. In his earlier years, he marched to the beat of a different drummer, but did a lot of good things for Irvine. He was a different man and I can say that because I knew him fairly well. As Larry continued his political life, he became wise to the ways of manipulative politics. He built his power base, began to attack and decimate political opponents and learned how to legally launder the big campaign contributions squeezed from developers and others wanting to do business in Irvine and the Great Park. The end result is what we have today in Irvine. Voters have been completely fooled, people who should be investigating the improper actions either are asleep at the wheel, or feeding at the trough themselves.

       This Dan, is what I hate because in my book of life, no man is above the law. Let’s not kid ourselves, you call them Progressives and I call them corrupt Liberals. As I have said before, “He who has the gold rules, and right now the Agranistas have a corner on the market.”

3. This is a simple issue of vetting our own candidates, not a purity test. A candidate should answer honestly what his policy position will be for these important questions.

   Lt Pat,

   I don’t believe in taking money from the general fund and diverting it to the schools. That is only one question out of many other important ones.

   • Allan, you got my vote for City Council or Mayor.

   • “Should schools teach their students that homosexuality is an “alternative” or “normal” lifestyle.”

     Pathethic, bigoted question Allan.

     • First off, I didn’t come up with the list of questions. Second, I don’t want schools teaching anything about homosexuality. It’s the parents job to raise their kids, not the school.

       • Allan —
         I don’t like labeling my friends this way, but my family is friends with a family consisting of two daughters being raised by a same sex couple; the youngest (10 or 11) was being teased in school and told her family situation was “disgusting” to the point the girl became very upset.

         Yes, schools need to begin a dialogue on topics like tolerance and blended families and what matters most in a family is love and mutual respect. When you become a dad, I certainly hoe you wouldn’t want someone to discriminate against your kid for any reason.

         And teaching tolerance is not raising a child; it is expanding the mind of the child to recognize there’s more than one definition of normal.

4. Did Bill Hedrick (44-C.D.) flunk the Democratic Party “Purity” test?

   Today at 10:23 AM he was in 2nd place in the DFA Grassroots All Star contest, now he’s in 4th.

   Mac D’Alessandro (MA-09) is now in 1st; he’s running against a Democrat incumbent, Stephen Lynch in a Primary Race. http://www.politics1.com

   Please read my comment above, (the 1st one).

5. Whoever composedconjured up this questionnaire is a freakin’ genius. To illustrate: “7. Do you believe in the Separation of Powers (10thAmendment)?”

   Separation of Powers, a term not typically capitalized, has absolutely nothing to do with the 10th Amendment. The 10th Amendment is about enumerated rights, powers and obligations of the federal government versus those of the various states. It’s commonly referred to as states’ rights.

   Separation of powers is all and only about our tripartite system of government wherein the legislative, executive and judicial functions (powers) are vested in separate and equal branches of government. Those three branches are each limited by not only the 10th Amendment but all the other ones and by the US Constitution itself.

   Don’t take my word for it. Do a Google search on the following, “define separation of powers.” Then do another one, “define states rights.”

   This kind of confusion would be avoided by attending a junior high school civics class. Do they teach those anymore? Regardless, a mistake as basic as this suggests that those who made up this questionnaire are ill-equipped to run any government at any level or to evaluate someone who is capable. How embarrassing! And sad.

6. A republican with less money and flexibility is a good republican. Who wouldn’t want to vote for person who is on record against safe-drilling restrictions? Bravi! OCGOP