CA-33rd: An Experienced Politician or an Experienced Citizen?

The common argument from independents and undecided voters in the 33d Congressional District hinges on whether they want an experienced Congressman with seniority, or a new Congressman with fresh ideas and no predisposed political connections.

Congressman Henry Waxman has been in power since 1975, elected with the opposition class of 1974, a sharp rebuke to the corrupted Washington Establishment following the Watergate scandal. Waxman started out as an opposition candidate, yet he has turned into an established stalwart of today's reactionary liberalism.

Waxman has been in office for 38 years, whether the Democrats were in power or in the opposition. Yet the annual deficits keep getting bigger, the national debt gets larger, and Waxman has offered no serious proposals to stop the spending. "I love to legislate" is Waxman's mantra, yet for all his talk about loving to legislate, this man has done nothing to modify the Clean Water Act, which twice in the past six years has been curtailed by the Supreme Court, still waiting for Congress to clarify the law for the improvement of the environment and the citizenry.

This country is losing billions from entitlements gone wild, about which Congressman Waxman has done nothing beyond spearheading the $700 billion dollar raid of Medicare to fund ObamaCare. How many more millions have we lost because of Solyndra and other federal loan guarantees to green tech companies, loans which Waxman supported?

Henry Waxman, the Rottweiler of the House of Representatives, has at best a mixed record with his oversight hearings. In 1994, Waxman went after the Big Tobacco CEOs -- "The Seven Dwarves" -- and to what purpose? Today, Big Tobacco cannot market to minors, and that's good. However, humiliating those seven corporate executives before the camera into lying under oath did more for trial lawyers than for consumers and health care advocates. And where was Waxman during the 1992-1994 post office and check-kiting scandals which ended the Democratic Majorities in Congress for the first time in over forty years?

Waxman pressed for nutrition labels on our foods, and I am glad that he went after the Bush Administration for the billions of dollars in waste during the Iraqi Conflict. All of these actions were good, but like embattled incumbent President Obama, Waxman is dragging on successes from the past, since he cannot run on his current record.

In three phrases, this is Waxman’s modern-day legacy:

"I don't know!" --- His blunt ignorance of the steroid laws in this country was appalling because at the same time he was running Oversight hearings on steroid abuse in baseball. In a July 2012 interview with CNN, Waxman claimed that this country is in the midst of a recession, then he claims that we are in a depression. He calls the compulsory purchase of health insurance “an individual mandate that is enforced by a tax”, even though it’s a tax per the Supreme Court. In the same interview, Waxman speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Do we really need any more unclear politicians in Washington?

"I'm sorry!" --- He said “I’m sorry that Solyndra happened,” yet still he screams about how Republicans are anti-science and anti-women. However, ObamaCare, one of the largest expansions of the federal government in recent history, is forcing hospitals to close, which deprives men and women of appropriate access to affordable health insurance and adequate health care.

"We're not broke!" ---  This country is facing a $16  trillion national debt, yet twice in open committee, Waxman announces:  “We’re Not Broke!”  All of these statements were in response to the looming problems hitting this country, including the red ink tsunami of creditors who will refuse to buy up this country's debt, if no one in Washington does anything about it.

In contrast to "experienced" politician Henry Waxman, Independent Bill Bloomfield has established successful businesses in the state of California. He has led efforts to end lawsuit abuse, support gang prevention, and provide health-care to mothers in third-world countries. Bloomfield spear-headed the Open Primary and Citizens Redistricting initiatives, which ended the frustrating process of letting politicians draw the lines which protect incumbents and maintain the extreme, uncompromising hegemony of today's politics. He has also promoted Prop 32, which would protect the employee's paychecks from the unaccountable unions which take and spend the employee's money without permission on candidates who bolster the wealth and health of union bosses, but do nothing for the state, the worker, or the taxpayer.

Instead of Henry Waxman, an “experienced politician", one whose expertise is expiring, the Santa Monica Bay should elect Bill Bloomfield, an “experienced citizen" who has contributed to the community, politically and economically, long before he ran for office.

To the residents of the 33rd Congressional District, vote for Bill Bloomfield.