NEW AD: DCCC Launches ‘Battleground: Middle Class’ Ad Against Carl DeMaio’s Republican Budget

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching the first phase of a sweeping nationwide paid effort – “Battleground: Middle Class” – to communicate with voters in California that candidate Carl DeMaio’s new Republican budget is selling out the middle class in favor of  special interests and the ultra-wealthy.

The “Battleground: Middle Class” project will reach voters through paid advertising, efforts to connect them to their representatives and field efforts in their neighborhoods and at their homes.

Carl DeMaio and House Republicans’ new budget was unveiled Tuesday, and highlights include: raising taxes on middle class families, ending the Medicare guarantee for seniors and turning Medicare into a voucher program, and costing our economy 1.1 million jobs next year alone – all while heaping tax breaks on corporations that ship jobs overseas.

 
“Carl DeMaio’s new Republican budget is the clearest illustration yet that he is not on the side of California’s middle class families – DeMaio’s Republican budget rewards the special interests and the wealthy who need help the least, and does it on the backs of the middle class,” said Josh Schwerin of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “The people of California cannot afford DeMaio’s reckless budget that costs jobs, threatens middle class families’ financial security, raises their taxes, and ends the Medicare guarantee for California seniors, while giving more handouts to the corporations and special interests that are shipping our jobs overseas.”

A copy of the ad running in the district can be seen here:
http://dccc.org/page/-/republicanbudget/index.html









BACKGROUND:


Economic Policy Institute: Republican Budget Proposal Could Cost 1.1 Million Jobs in the Next Fiscal Year.  “On net, I estimate that the House budget resolution would decrease GDP by 0.9 percent and decrease nonfarm payrolls by 1.1 million jobs in fiscal year 2015, relative to CBO’s current-law baseline. The following fiscal year, when Ryan’s cuts to discretionary spending kick in, ‘The Path to Prosperity’ would decrease GDP by 2.5 percent and cost 3.0 million jobs. And if the recovery remains sluggish, large job losses could continue under the Ryan budget in 2017 and beyond.” [Economic Policy Institute, 4/01/14]

AARP: Republican Budget Would Remove the Medicare Guarantee. “Chairman Ryan’s proposed budget fails to address the high costs of health care and instead shifts costs onto seniors and future retirees. Repealing the benefits of the Affordable Care Act ignores the progress we’ve made to improve access to health care and protect against discrimination based on age, gender or medical history. Removing the Medicare guarantee of affordable health coverage for older Americans by implementing a premium support system and asking seniors and future retirees to pay more is not the right direction.” [AARP Press Release, 4/01/14]

New York Times: Republican Budget Would Lower Taxes for the Wealthy While Raising Taxes on the Middle Class by $2,000. “The budget lowers the top tax rate to 25 percent for the wealthiest taxpayers, down from the current 39.6 percent, while raising taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of $2,000.” [New York Times Editorial, 4/01/14]

“SLOW TRAFFIC” ENDORSES JAMES KIMBER FOR CONGRESS

This is not your typical campaign endorsement.  Our first fundraiser was held at a restaurant, La Bella Vita, in Temecula.   There was a band playing at the restaurant and when the time came for the candidate to speak, the band stopped playing to come back and listen.  When the speech was over, the band leader, Joe (a professed Libertarian) said he liked what the candidate had to say.  The band left to finish playing their set when someone said to go out and listen to what the band was playing.  We went out and the band was playing a song they created on the fly, “Vote for Kimber”.  Later the band recorded the song in a studio and just recently put a video to the song as a music video endorsement the campaign.

Temecula, CA –April 1, 2014 –Not your typical endorsement, a local band, “Slow Traffic”, has endorsed James H. Kimber, Democratic candidate for California’s 50th Congressional District in a music video. The lead guitarist of the group, Joe Mullenix, a self-professed Libertarian, first met Kimber at a fundraiser at La Bella Vita in Temecula, CA. While “Slow Traffic” was not part of the fundraiser, they stopped to listen to the candidate during his speech. Joe Mullenix was so moved by the candidate’s words, he did an impromptu song, “Vote for Kimber” at the event. Later, Mr. Mullenix recorded the song and video as a visual endorsement for the candidate. The video can be seen on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSoZkmhxRBU.

Kimber, who served 20 years on active duty service in the United States Navy. As a veteran, Kimber knows there are issues involving veterans that are being inadequately addressed such as the rising rate of veteran homelessness, the epidemic of suicides and lack of mental health, and the increasing violence against women in the military. “We owe our veterans the basic help they deserve for all they have sacrificed for this great country.”
Kimber has 30 years of healthcare experience and practices as a Physician Assistant in Neurosurgery in Escondido, CA and is on Medical Staff at Palomar Medical Center. He knows there is much more to do with healthcare reform and states “we can’t go back to millions of people without insurance or people being denied health insurance for pre-existing conditions. “

Kimber supports immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship. “There is a way to fix the current system but only if we all work together. Immigration reform is long overdue and people are tired of hearing excuses for why Congress won’t act on it now. The time for immigration reform is now!”

For more information, please visit our website http://www.kimberforcongress.com/

Carl DeMaio Owes Voters an Answer on Budget

 

Today San Diego County Democratic Party Chair Francine Busby released the following statement in response to the news that Congressman Paul Ryan and House Republicans introduced a new budget that will again attack Medicare:

“The budget plan of Carl DeMaio’s House Republican allies would raise Medicare costs on San Diego families and slash Pell Grants for students while cutting taxes for the wealthy. If DeMaio really wants to join this toxic Republican Congress, he needs to give voters a clear answer on whether he would support it or not.

"After DeMaio called it a 'decent start' last year, San Diego voters deserve to know whether he supports a Republican plan that tries to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class. As the national Republicans' hand-picked choice, Carl DeMaio cannot credibly win a primary election without giving a straight answer about his support for the Republican budget that would cuts jobs and raises Medicare costs on San Diego families."

BACKGROUND:  

DeMaio Called the Ryan Plan a “Decent Start” and said It Contained Some “Good Ideas.” In 2013, DeMaio praised Paul Ryan’s budget plan, calling it a “decent start” that contained good ideas. “People have said what do you think about Paul Ryan’s budget. It’s a decent start. There are some good ideas in it,” said DeMaio. [Temple Adat Shalom Men’s Club, 9/15/13]

Economic Policy Institute: Republican Budget Proposal Could Cost 3 Million Jobs.  “On net, I estimate that the House budget resolution would decrease GDP by 0.9 percent and decrease nonfarm payrolls by 1.1 million jobs in fiscal year 2015, relative to CBO’s current-law baseline. The following fiscal year, when Ryan’s cuts to discretionary spending kick in, 'The Path to Prosperity' would decrease GDP by 2.5 percent and cost 3.0 million jobs. And if the recovery remains sluggish, large job losses could continue under the Ryan budget in 2017 and beyond.” [Economic Policy Institute, 4/01/14]

Republican Budget Proposal Would Raise Taxes for Middle Class Families by $2,000. “White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement that Ryan’s plan would ‘raise taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of at least $2,000 in order to cut taxes for households with incomes over $1 million.’” [Businessweek, 4/01/14]

Republican Budget Proposal Would Turn Medicare into a “Voucher-Style Program.”  “Ryan's plan recycles several proposals from previous years that remain popular with GOP lawmakers, including repealing the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. But he keeps the taxes and cuts to Medicare mandated by the law. He calls for privatizing Medicare by changing it from an entitlement program into a voucher-style program.” [Washington Post, 4/01/14]

Republican Budget Proposal Would Make Deep Cuts to Education. “The measure also promises deep, probably unrealistic cuts to domestic programs like education, health research and grants to local governments that are funded each year through annual appropriations bills.” [ABC News, 4/01/14]

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s Campaign Fundraising Reform at School and College Districts Passes Assembly Elections Committee

AB 1431 by Gonzalez Proposes A Ban on School & College Board Fundraising by District Superintendents & Administrators

SACRAMENTO – (Tuesday, April 1, 2014) – The California State Assembly’s Elections and Redistricting Committee approved legislation authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) today that would ban School and College District superintendents and administrators from raising campaign cash for the board members that they serve.

Under Assembly Bill 1431, administrators at California’s public school districts and community college districts would be prohibited from soliciting contributions on behalf of the campaigns and legal defense funds of candidates and incumbent board members that govern those districts. Violators would be subject to penalties assessed by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

That practice – alleged in several of the ongoing corruption cases involving officials at southern San Diego County’s Sweetwater Union High School District, San Ysidro School District and Southwestern College – created a troublesome dynamic between staff and board members at those districts. In the allegations, administrators raised money for their board members from contractors with business before their districts, allowing them to exert inappropriate influence over their own job security with the boards that hired them as well as the process for selecting contractors to rebuild and revamp the districts’ campuses.

“These corruption cases have become a huge distraction to our goal of improving public education opportunities in the South Bay, and the common thread in these cases is that administrators were improperly acting as political moneymen for board members’ campaigns,” Gonzalez said. “There are currently no statewide campaign finance restrictions for school and college board elections and this bill will stop the conflicts of interest that are perceived by the public in the best case scenario or real in the instances of the unfortunate scandals at our schools in south San Diego County.”

The bill was supported by Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee Chair Paul Fong of San Jose and Assemblymembers Henry Perea, Freddie Rodriguez, Isadore Hall and Kevin Mullin.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez represents the 80th Assembly District, which includes Chula Vista, National City and the San Diego neighborhoods of City Heights, Barrio Logan, Paradise Hills, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. For more information, visit http://asmdc.org/members/a80/.

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