[Publisher’s Note: Senator Denham’s Commentary, below, is an invitation to a conference being put on this Wednesday hosted by Americans for Prosperty, a great organization. PLEASE note that the Senator’s column does NOT indicate a change in our long-standing tradition to not feature invitations to upcoming events on this site. Translation: Please do not send us information on your club or organization’s upcoming events as we are not equipped to post all of them. Thanks for your understanding — Flash]
Defending the American Dream
State Senator Jeff Denham
In just two days, on Wednesday, January 30 there is an event that all Californians interested in responsible government and economic freedom should attend: “Defending the American Dream Summit ” at the Four Seasons Hotel, Westlake Village.
As I helped lead my Senate Republican colleagues in holding out on a budget vote last summer, one thing became apparent to me as I was besieged by special interests — we need more grassroots activism from those concerned about government overspending (and the budget deficit I had predicted. Just a few months later I was proven correct. California is now facing a budget deficit of over $14 billion. Unfortunately proposed solutions such as the release of 33 thousand prisoners and tax increases do little to address the real spending problems. In fact, at the same time we are trying to sort out this deficit problem, we are hearing about more spending in the form of a healthcare initiative that will cost taxpayers, businesses and hospitals over $15 billion. These are battles that can’t simply be fought by a handful of legislators in the State Capitol. We need the help of average citizens who will mobilize with us to fight for economically viable solutions to California’s challenges.
I recently was introduced to Americans for Prosperity, a national organization with chapters in 21 states with a focus on grassroots mobilization for free market solutions and common sense government. Perhaps you can join me on Wednesday, January 30 when I will be speaking at Americans for Prosperity’s “Defending the American Dream Summit" in Westlake Village. I’ll be joined by Senator Tom McClintock, nationally syndicated talk show hosts Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have also been invited to participate.
I hope you can join us for lunch and this terrific line-up of speakers as we work together in defending the American dream.
For more information and to register for the summit, click here.
Below is a great video from Americans for Prosperity. AFP’s Tim Phillips is in Alaska at the site where the now-infamous Bridge to Nowhere, an example of egregious pork barrel spending, was to be build with federal taxpayer dollars. Happily, when groups like AFP put the spotlight on this particular boondoggle, it went away. But there are a lot more where this one came from…
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