Irvine, CA— Last week, 25 year career politician John Moorlach called for California cities to voluntarily declare bankruptcy in response to budget concerns related to the COVID 19 pandemic. This proposal echoed recent comments made by U.S. Senate Majority Leader and fellow Trump acolyte Mitch McConnell, who called for state and local governments, which are bound by balanced budget requirements, to “use the bankruptcy route” rather than expect any relief from the federal government. In response, UCI professor Dave Min, who is the Democratic candidate challenging Sen. Moorlach in this November’s general election, issued the following response.
“It is truly disappointing that our State Senator has once again decided he’d rather grab headlines on Fox News and Breitbart than to try to take constructive actions to help his constituents,” said Min. “To be clear, Sen. Moorlach’s proposal is reckless and shortsighted and would be devastating for Orange County families. Bankruptcy would tank our credit ratings and raise our borrowing costs, harming us now and over the long run. The challenges being posed to our economy and our state budget are not unique to California, but are shared by all 50 states in the Union, and with hundreds of countries across the globe. With a complete absence of leadership from the White House, what we need right now in California is thoughtful and creative approaches to help our small businesses, homeowners and working families get through the COVID-19 pandemic—NOT a knee jerk right wing partisan agenda.”
Sen. Moorlach, who introduced a resolution supporting Donald Trump on behalf of the state of California, has followed the President’s lead in consistently minimizing and making light of the public health threats posed by COVID-19. Moorlach has also shown a dangerous pattern of taking fringe, anti-science positions. Among other things, Sen. Moorlach has embraced the so-called “anti-vaxx” movement, equating vaccination requirements with totalitarianism and repeatedly opposing vaccination requirements in schools and day care centers. He has also rejected the scientific consensus on climate change, stating that “the jury is still out about the impacts humans have on climate” and denying that “human activity is a primary or significant driver in warming the globe.”
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David Min is a University of California Irvine Law Professor, father of three, and a former economic policy staffer in the United States Senate and for the Center for American Progress. Min began his legal career at the Securities and Exchange Commission to protect the retirement security of seniors, turning down high paying jobs to serve the public interest. He is a leading economic expert whose research focuses on banking and housing policy.
California State Senate District 37 is located in Orange County and includes the communities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Foothill Ranch, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Orange, Tustin, and Villa Park and is ranked by political handicappers as a “toss up.” The incumbent career politician John Moorlach, an unwavering Trump supporter and anti-vaccination proponent, was soundly rejected by a majority of voters in the March 3, 2020 primary election.
Moorlach has always had an obsession with eliminating pensions and privatizing PERS ao Wall Street vulture capitalists can skim the proceeds. He thinks bankruptcy is a way around constitutional pension protections, even though courts haven’t bought that in the Stockton or San Bernardino cases.