And that would be Mary Bono Mack (R-Ca), who was anointed in 1998 to run in a special election to assume the seat of her late husband (Sonny Bono) and has been re-elected every two years since. Now that the Bush years are thankfully finished, it is clear that Ms. Bono Mack is a fine example of the need to establish term limits on members of Congress.
And a side note: I don't think I would have voted for Sonny for Congress, but he did co-write
Needles and Pins and that is one great song and I give him credit for it.
10 years is clearly enough. To be perfectly honest and fair, she has accomplished little in her career in Congress, except to find two husbands, one of which - her current - is also a member of Congress. How's that for keeping it all in the family? But old habits die hard, and throw the bums out usually means someone else's bum. We must stop re-electing people simply because we are familiar with the name.
Do nothing, you say? Now if you visit her
website you will be thrilled to learn that in 2007 she did sponsor a House resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. And in 2008, she sponsored a bill to rename a post office in Rancho Mirage as the "Gerald R. Ford Post Office Building" and it became law. Heady stuff for the cynics and naysayers.
But you must search very long and hard on the site to find any significant mention of the economy and nothing about our local economy. But it does contain energy savings tips!
There is a brief and brusque mention of her failure to support President Obama's stimulus bill,
twice. While she is known as being basically a moderate, she followed Republican party leaders and turned her back on the President's attempt to reach across the aisle. Her website contains a statement:
“We are facing one of the most trying economic times of the century, and the American people know that we need to act decisively and quickly to pull our nation out of this recession,” said Bono Mack. “Unfortunately, this trillion dollar ‘stimulus’ package isn’t the answer."
Not the answer - well then - what's your plan? Do nothing? The economy has fared so well under Republican leadership for the past eight years, so we're all fine? Tax cuts for the wealthy, perhaps? Wait and see? And - the amount was $787 billion, admittedly large but a mere $213 billion less than a trillion.
Well, maybe she's simply a true fiscal conservative. Balance the budget and all that good stuff. A trillion dollars? - too big and no way. Yes, that must be it, but - oops! She did vote "yes" on that little trillion plus Bush tax cut for the rich back in 2001, and all the other Bush tax/wealthy welfare programs that followed. Which, with other factors (can you say "Iraq" - another "yes" vote, Ms. Bono Mack), contributed to a doubling of the national debt in the Bush years, which now totals more than $10 trillion dollars.
So massive tax cuts for the rich are OK, but now that the rich have fed long and deep at the federal troth it's time to become a staunch conservative and just say "no?"
Perhaps Ms. Bono Mack is simply spending too much time in Washington or with the wealthy Mack family in Florida to notice that her district is in financial crisis. Congresswoman - have you heard the word "foreclosure?" Do you know about the thousands of abandoned homes out here? Just a mention - Riverside County had
9,827 default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions recorded in January - an increase of 30% from a year ago. With foreclosure sales dominating the market, the median price of Coachella Valley real estate fell to $194,900 in December, its lowest level since 2001 and a drop of more than 50% from 2006. Desperate folks are resorting to
stealing copper wire from vacant home out here and billboards have sprung up to warn would-be thieves of the consequences. Valley cities and schools are making
deep cuts in their budgets, and hotel occupancy is down 10.2% over last year. The latest economic forecast suggests that Riverside County may not recover until 2012, after much of the nation does.
But to Ms. Bono Mack, the President's economic stimulus program is not the answer. Happily, California's chunk of stimulus money will be made available without her vote. Perhaps she feels as Sen. Graham (R-SC) when asked on CNN if his state should accept stimulus money. Said Sen. Graham -
"I think that, yes, from my point of view, I -- you don't want to be crazy here. "Now I know from personal experience that she is a very nice person. And she is drop dead gorgeous, even after a round of golf. I cleaned her clubs one day after a charity event and - she tipped me $10.00. I was impressed. Like most of the people in District 45, I like her. But liking someone should not be a reason to send them back to Congress year after year.
Ms. Bono Mack - you've had a good run. You're one of the beautiful and now wealthy to boot. It's time to move on and enjoy yourself at another but equally rewarding pursuit. Being a Republican has served you very well - why not retire and enjoy the fruits of your labor? It's no longer considered cool to be a Republican, let's be frank here.
How about golf? Travel, good money, fame, and you'd get to spend a lot of time in Florida with the Macks. Song writing? - write another
Needle and Pins and I promise I'll buy it. Think about it.
A few months ago, Avie and I had the wonderful experience of seeing Van Morrison perform a concert at The Hollywood Bowl. The 2nd half of the show featured a (literally) once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing Van and his band perform the entire 1968 classic LP Astral Weeks in its entirety. Van has been one of my great heroes for a long, long time.
