Written and submitted by Mary Anne
The California State Assembly is unquestionably one of the most politically lopsided organizations in the country. Its 60/19/1 split (Democrats/Republicans/Independents) is matched only by the California State Senate’s count of 31/9 – essentially assuring that any crackpot Progressive idea introduced to the floor finds its way to the Governor’s desk and Progressive Newsom’s signature. Happily, many of these laws have been deemed unconstitutional even by the extremely liberal 9th District Court; nonetheless, they cost our legislators and courts time and money, taxpayer money, we can ill afford, especially as Biden’s inflation begins to settle in at a year-over-year 8% plus. Of course, the Democrats in the Assembly don’t care. They’ve levied on us their constituents the highest income tax rate in the nation and the highest gas tax rate in the nation. Together with crippling regulations, the latter has seen us experiencing gas prices of over $6/gallon while the national average hovers at just over $3/gallon. Newsom’s promised rebates don’t begin to cover the pain at the pump although he hopes to use them to get votes in the current election. Not to mind, these outrageous tax rates can pay for these rebates as they also continue to pay for CA’s now notorious train to nowhere.
Let’s face it. The Dems don’t care that the average family now has to choose between gas or food and decide whether or not it is time to move to another state. The Dems don’t care that their “compassionate”, shelter-first approach to the homeless sees more money wasted such as San Francisco’s $5000/month/tent fiasco reported by KTLA and the San Francisco Chronicle in 2021. The Dems don’t care that their insane method for protecting a single small fish has virtually destroyed CA’s agricultural industry. The Dems don’t care that their Governor’s Covid shutdowns (some of the most stringent in the nation) harmed our schools and small businesses and set up a pattern of uncertainty that harmed them even further. (On this one, of course, they didn’t care. Governor Newsom and Speaker Pelosi both violated those restrictions with impunity while the common citizenry faced fines, license revocation, and even jail time.) The Dems don’t care that their soft-on-crime and anti-police rhetoric has resulted in televised smash-and-grab robberies and huge spikes in violent crime. The Dems don’t care that their densification agenda has removed local control over zoning restrictions and promises to reduce the quality of life and increase traffic gridlock within most cities within the state. The Dems don’t care that their insistence on renewable energy has damaged thousands of acres of fragile desert environments and killed tens of thousands of birds and other local wildlife. The Dems don’t care that their “sanctuary state” policy has turned CA into a magnet for undocumented immigrants, an unsustainable drain on small local economies. The Dems don’t care that their approach to education concentrating on social justice and genderism has reduced a school system once rated as the best in the nation to a school system whose most recent ACT test scores now show California at the very bottom, the 50th of the 50 states.
The Dems don’t care.
This is no more evident than in the current race for the 77th CA Assembly District where Republican Dan Downey is seeking to unseat Democrat Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath.
First a small shout-out to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Although an undeniably liberal news organ, the U-T has this year published a series of articles asking opposing candidates the same set of questions and then posting their responses. The full text of the Downey/Horvath interviews can be viewed here:
The candidate responses to these two interviews could not be more telling. Of course, the U-T is liberal and several of the questions deal with favorite liberal issues, and here Horvath could be depended on to voice liberal talking points. Whatever the question and wherever she could, Assemblywoman Horvath introduced her support of renewables and how important it is to combat climate change. One of her more bizarre answers dealt with transportation where she announced her support for extended bike lanes as she noted it takes about the same length of time to take a bus from La Jolla to the airport as it would take to bike there. Just envision, biking back and forth to the airport, with your luggage in tow. Of course, she’s really pushing for the public transportation option without telling us how she would pay for it. On gun violence, she’s most proud of her bill that banned gun sales at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. On K-12, she wants more of the same, extending preschool to earlier years and school days to longer sessions…again not explaining how she’d pay for this or touching on CA schools’ woke curricula. Finally, she addresses inflation and immediately seeks to lay blame on the energy companies. Indeed, several of her answers express the need for more regulation against companies struggling with the regulations in place. Horvath is unquestionably a true believer in the Democratic Progressive ideology, despite how badly it has hurt us here in California.
Dan Downey has a different take. This is not surprising. Dan comes from a finance background and is new to candidate politics. His responses are refreshing. When asked about what CA should do about climate change, he notes rightly that climate is a global issue and that instead of asking for more sacrifices from Californians, Governor Newsom should be asking China to reduce their carbon emissions. On inflation, Dan points to our panicked response to Covid that relied on business shutdowns and money printing and set up the current inflationary cycle. When asked about criminal justice “equity”, Dan asks back “equitable for who?” and points to CA state initiatives that have reduced criminal penalties and seen an answering spike in crime. When asked about education, he points to the need to bring parents back into the decision-making process as to what their kids are taught.
Dan may be new to this game, but he’s no patsy. Nor is he an ideologue. He doesn’t deny climate change as some of our Republican candidates would, but he points out the folly of some of the Democrats’ proposals while noting good conservation measures that should appeal to all of us. Dan notes the need for a pipeline (horrors) to help reduce the cost of gas in this state and expresses his support for modern nuclear plants to address our continuing energy crisis. These are proposals that would be anathema to many liberals, but Dan states his positions clearly and explains them – something few Democrats even attempt to do.
Dan’s articulate and smart. He’s exactly what we need in the Assembly – not just for San Diego’s 77th but for all of California. It’s past time for us voters to put someone in the Assembly who can recognize and point out the follies of his opponents without being nasty about it.
California needs more candidates like Dan Downey.
In San Diego’s 77th Assembly District, we’re privileged to have Dan Downey.
We now need to support Dan. Vote for Dan. Let our friends and neighbors know who Dan is.
With that support, Dan can and should win.
