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Jon Fleischman

CD50: “You don’t need papers to vote.” – Francine Busby, last Thursday night.

Francine Busby, the Democratic candidate running in the 50th CD special election against moderate GOPer Brian Bilbray, was speaking at the Joclyn Senior Center.  After she spoke, during "Q&A" she was asked by a man in the audience (in Spanish):

"I want to help, but I don’t have papers."

Busby responded: "Everybody can help, yeah, absolutely…you can all help.  You don’t need papers for voting, you don’t need to be a registered voter to help."

Can you believe this?!?  Well, don’t take my word for it… click here and you can LISTEN FOR YOURSELF!

FR friend Ron Nehring, Chairman of the San Diego County GOP (and Vice Chairman of the State Republican Party) had this to say about the tape:

"She’s all over the place trying to find an explanation for this. But Francine Busby is learning there’s no good way to explain a bad thing. She was caught and she knows it."

A missive from the San Diego GOP went on to make some key points:

  • Even if given every benefit of the doubt, Francine Busby is eliciting campaign help from people who are legally not permitted to participate in federal elections. Foreigners, including illegal aliens, are specifically prohibited by law from making donations to federal candidates and from voting.
  • “You don’t need papers for voting.” We already know Francine Busby is weak on controlling illegal immigration, but to state that one does not need papers, presumably citizenship papers, to vote is even more outrageous. Francine Busby should have instead made clear that people who are not citizens and qualified to vote should not be participating in a federal election.
  • This is not the first time Francine Busby has resorted to underhanded campaign tactics. On the same day she solicited campaign help from illegal aliens she was running a radio commercial encouraging voters concerned about illegal immigration to vote for no-shot-at-winning independent candidate William Griffith over Brian Bilbray.

You’ve already read about Francine Busby’s ultra-liberal ties right here in the FlashReport.

We do not need this enemy of America in the Congress.  I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL VOTERS IN THIS DISTRICT TO VOTE AGAINST BUSBY ON TUESDAY.  You do this by casting for ballot for Brian Bilbray.  EVEN IF YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNDERWHELMED BY BILBRAY (as we are), he is all that stands between BUSBY THE SOCIALIST and a seat in Congress.  (Yes, we can blame Darrell Issa and D.C. establishment types for foisting Bilbray on us, but as I am fond of saying, "Oatmeal is better than acid.")

VOTE FOR BILL HAUF
When conservatives come to the polls (YOU SHOULD), you should cast your regular primary ballot for conservative businessman Bill Hauf, who is running a spirited race against Brian Bilbray for the full two-year term.  I’ve personally spent time with Hauf, and am convinced he would be a fine representative for the 50th, a values-oriented conservative. 

Of course the Bilbray strategy has been to ignore Hauf — but then, Bilbray is ill-equipped to win a debate on GOP issues with Hauf — while Bilbray is ‘good’ on immigration (he IS a paid lobbyist for an anti-illegal immigration group) but otherwise…  Well, I would draw your attention to two pieces featured yesterday in the popular national conservative newspaper Human Events’ online edition.  The first, by FR friend Robert Bluey, HE Online’s Editor, Should Conservatives Vote for Brian Bilbray?  In it, Bluey takes a microscope to the dynamics of CD 50.  In it, Bluey recounts some of the reasons why ANY Republicans will have trouble with Bilbray’s voting record, which include:

  • He compiled a rather pathetic lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 71%.
  • He was given a C+ from the National Taxpayers Union from 1998-2000, and in his last year in Congress ranked 184th by NTU.
  • In 1998, he voted against the conservative Republican Study Committee budget.
  • A year later he voted for the Democratic Blue Dog budget, which reduced the size of certain tax cuts.
  • Also in 1999, he voted against a Coburn-Shadegg tort reform amendment.
  • In 2000, he showed his true colors, voting for the Blue Dog budget and against the RSC budget, voting to increase the minimum wage and voting against letting the government sell federal land.

In the piece, Bilbray is ‘defended’ as having then represented a more liberal district.  I have yet to hear Bilbray apologize and renounce these votes.  We’ll keep looking for that.

Also in Human Events, their political editor John Gizzi (a close personal friend of mine since … Well … forever!) has spoken with former GOP Assemblyman Steve Baldwin, who was elected to the legislature out of San Diego County for six years.  When Baldwin first ran against (unsuccessfully) against incumbent Democrat Steve Peace in a competitive seat, Bilbray didn’t just NOT endorse Baldwin, rather he supported Peace, THE DEMOCRAT, for re-election.  Baldwin, in an interview with John Gizzi, blasted Bilbray over residency questions (there are assertions that Bilbray carpetbagged into this district from his real home in Virginia).  Baldwin took off the gloves:

"I proudly swore an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of California and the United States," Steve Baldwin, a former state assemblyman from San Diego and longtime conservative activist, wrote in an e-mail to fellow GOP activists in the 50th District, "That’s why I’m appalled and deeply saddened to learn that Brian Bilbray is making a mockery of his oath to his fellow citizens (an oath that’s taken with one hand on the Bible)."


BILL HAUF HAS SENT AT LEAST 7 PIECES OF MAIL OUT BLISTERING BILBRAY
So, as you can see, Brian Bilbray is not only quite moderate (or worse) but also there are some potential ethical questions at hand.  As I said above, fortunately voters in good conscience can cast their regular primary ballot for businessman Bill Hauf.  I am attaching below Bill Hauf’s latest two mail pieces.  These are in a string of mail pieces that have been blistering Bilbray from the right.

One of the two pieces below, in which Hauf tauts his endorsement from the important California Republican Assembly, has a comparison chart that really contrasts the differences between Hauf and Bilbray.  When you read it, it isn’t hard to figure out how Bilbray beat out conservative businessman Eric Roach in a primary split up by 15 or so GOPers — Bilbray clearly appealed to moderate Democrats and some Decline-to-State voters.  Overwhelmingly he was rejected by GOP voters in that special election primary — but we are stuck with him as our "oatmeal" nominee against the socialist, Busby.

I could go on and on about the lost potential.  About how great Congressman Roach, or for that matter Congressman Kaloogian or Congressman Morrow would have been inside the beltway, fighting for freedom.  But those intent on the status quo in DC came into the 50th and, well…

BILBRAY IN THE SPECIAL, HAUF FOR THE FULL TERM
That said, sometimes we must rise up to prevent calamity.  And Francine Busby’s election to Congress would be that.  Obviously, I haven’t drank the kool-aid.  It is clear that I am NO Bilbray fan.  So when I encourage voters to turn out and vote FOR him (in the special election ONLY, not the regular primary), I do it with my eyes wide open.

Post your comments below, please.  I’d like to hear your opinions…  On the Busby tape, or on my analysis.

COMING TOMORROW: WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO HIKE THE WAGE MANDATE ON CALIFORNIA EMPLOYERS?
Tomorrow we will be looking at the great efforts underway by politicans in Sacramento — from the liberal Democrats to our own Republican Governor — to impose an even greater onerous mandate on California employers, forcing them to pay an even higher mandated wage to employees.  Ever HEARD of the Industrial Welfare Commission?  I’ll be telling you all about it…

Until then, see you on the Weblog!

Jon

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