[img]1593|left|Henry Waxman||no_popup[/img]U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman has been in power since 1975, elected with the opposition class of 1974, a sharp rebuke to Congress following the Watergate scandal.
What started as an opposition candidate has turned into an established stalwart of the reactionary liberalism of the Jimmy Carter era. The common argument from independents and undecided voters in the reconfigured 33rd Congressional District – from Palos Verdes to the Ventura County border – hinges on whether they want a Congressman with seniority and experience, or a new Congressman with fresh ideas and no political baggage.
Henry Waxman has been in office for 38 years, when the Democrats were in power and out of power. Yet the deficits keep getting bigger, the national debt grows larger, and he refuses to do anything to stop the spending.
Searching for Evidence
“I love to legislate” is Waxman's mantra. Yet for all of that kind of talk, this man has done nothing to modify the Clean Water Act, which twice in the past six years has been limited by the Supreme Court, still waiting for Congress to clarify whatever is wrong or missing in the law.
Despite all of these provisions, this country has lost billions from entitlements gone wild. Congressman Waxman has done nothing to slow this trend beyond spearheading the $700 billion dollar raid of Medicare to help fund ObamaCare. How many more millions have we lost because of Solyndra and other federal loan guarantees to green tech companies, loans that Waxman supported?
Henry Waxman, the Rottweiler of the House of Representatives, has, at best, a mixed record for oversight hearings.
Smoke That Cigarette
In 1994, Waxman went after the Big Tobacco CEOs – “The Seven Dwarves.” To what purpose? Today, Big Tobacco cannot market to minors, granted. However, humiliating those seven corporate executives before the camera to lie under oath, did more for trial lawyers than for consumers and healthcare advocates. Where was he during the 1992-1994 post office and check-kiting scandals that ended the Democratic majorities in Congress for the first time in more than 40 years?
He prevented Big Tobacco from selling to minors. He pressed for nutrition labels on our foods. Frankly, I am glad that he went after the Bush administration for the billions of dollars in waste during the Iraqi conflict. All of these measures are good. But like the embattled President Obama, Waxman is dragging on successes from the past,since he cannot run on his current record.
Here are three phrases that form the foundation of Waxman’s modern-day legacy:
“I don’t know” – I was appalled not just by his blunt ignorance of the steroid laws in this country when, at the same time, this man was running oversight hearings on steroid abuse in baseball. In a July interview with CNN, Waxman claimed that this country is in the midst of a recession. Then he asserted that we were in a depression. He called the compulsory purchase of health insurance “an individual mandate that is enforced by a tax,” even though it’s a tax per the Supreme Court. In the same interview, Waxman spoke out of both sides of his mouth. Do we really need any more unclear politicians in Washington?
“I’m sorry” – He said “I’m sorry that Solyndra happened,” yet he screams about how Republicans are anti-science and anti-women. However, ObamaCare, one of the largest expansions of the federal government in recent history, is forcing hospitals to close, depriving men and women of appropriate access to affordable health insurance and adequate healthcare.
“We’re not broke” – This country is facing a $16 trillion national debt. Yet twice in open committee, Waxman boasted that “we’re not broke!” All of these statements were in response to the looming problems hitting this country, including the red ink tsunami of creditors who will refuse to buy up America’s debt if no one in Washington does anything about it.
Waxman has had 38 years to advance real healthcare reform. Instead, he dumped on us ObamaCare, a poorly written, terribly planned, and overwhelmingly bad piece of legislation that now is eating away at the already crippled health insurance industry.
Bill Bloomfield, the Republican-turned-Independent who hopes to unseat him on Tuesday night, has established businesses in the state of California. He has led efforts to end lawsuit abuse, support gang prevention, and provide healthcare to mothers in Third World countries.
Bloomfield spearheaded the Open Primary and Citizens Redistricting initiatives, as opposed to letting politicians draw lines that protect incumbents and maintain the extreme, uncompromising hegemony of today's politics.
He has also pushed forward Prop. 32, which would protect employee paychecks from the unaccountable union power-grab that takes the employee money and spends it on candidates who bolster the wealth and health of union bosses, but do nothing for the state, the worker, or the taxpayer.
Instead of an “experienced” politician whose expertise is expiring, the Santa Monica Bay should elect an “experienced citizen” who contributed to the community, politically and economically, before he decided to run for office.
Vote for Bill Bloomfield. As for Henry Waxman: Throw the loud lout with clout out of office.
Mr. Schaper of Torrance, a teacher turned writer “on all topics timely and timeless,” may be contacted at aschaper1.blogspot.com and at asheisministries.blogspot.com
