The San Joaquin Valley seems to have the most ineffective bunch of congressmen in the nation. That's unfortunate because this region deserves its fair share of tax dollars. We send money to Washington, but it gets spent to congressional districts where the representatives have more clout.
The five members of Congress in our region have gotten absolutely nothing done beyond the routine. This is bipartisan criticism. The Republicans from this area were weak, even when their party held Congress and the White House. We have gotten nothing out of Republicans George Radanovich of Mariposa, Devin Nunes of Visalia and Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.
Now the Democrats hold Congress and the White House and Democrats Jim Costa of Fresno and Dennis Cardoza of Merced have little to show for it. And don't forget House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is from California and Costa and Cardoza have no say with her. They might as well be representing Arkansas or Mississippi.
I explore this Valley problem in my column today. You can read it by clcking here. Bill McEwen takes on Cardoza in his column. You can read Bill's take by clicking here.
But there was a time when the Valley had effective representation in Congress from the likes of B.F. Sisk and Tony Coelho.
Mr. Boren, who put those ineffective representatives into office? Whatever they are, or are not, they are a persuasive argument to keep the electoral college. At least on that level, an unwise popular vote can be negated. I don't know , but whenever the name Toni Coelho comes up, my memory seems to flash something about Los Banos and selling water. But those memory fragments may not fit to anything real. And Jim Costa's support for veggy laws did loose him my support. Food suppliers can harm the consumer with impunity. And if the consumer complains he can get sued.
I'm thinking Washington is punishing us because we gave them Nancy Pelosi. They are so busy apologizing they run out of time to get other things done. Oops did I say that out loud?
Am I going to get kicked out of the democratic party now?
They are all pretty much worthless Dems and Republicans. They don't do anything because they dont feel the crunch the rest of us do. They simply don't care about our state or their areas.
And that dispels the myth that only stalwart, god-fearing Christian Republicans get attacked on the beehive. Your friendly beehive fair-practice Dems.
Wouldn't Bakersfield be part of the Valley? It's arguable that Kevin McCarthy has some clout, at least among Republicans. Surely his predecessor, former chairman of the House, Ways, and Means committee Bill Thomas, had some clout.
I have been around here long enough to remember Republicans being warned about the Fresno Bee's support for the Democrat Adlai Stevenson. Whether one liked him or not; he was the quintessence of an American Statesman , of a caliber we have not seen since.