Tuesday's events raised about $400,000 for Pombo, $600,000 for Doolittle and $1.2 million for the Republican National Committee.
-- Los Angeles Times, Oct. 4, 2006
President Bush came to Pombozastan yesterday to tell wealthy contributors that Rep. RichPAC Pombo, Whale Slayer-Tracy, was a good man of the soil and that Democrats were wimps giving aid and comfort to the enemy for suggesting that suspension of habeas corpus, pedophilia, lying under oath, inventing WMDs in Iraq, torture, outing an undercover CIA agent, vote rigging and other assorted acts of his administration were illegal.
Then, there is that third message about "staying the course." According to this line, the only real American patriotic attitude is to remain steadfastly terrified in support of an unjustified war now longer than World War II, which, according to the latest National Intelligence Estimate, is creating more hatred against the US and more terrorists. Incidently, it appears to be a war we are losing for lack of troops and sufficient political support in either Iraq or the US. The only winners are the president's friends in the military contract business.
It was fitting that a president who has brought so much "moral clarity" to us all should throw his arm around Pombo -- loyal minion of the one-party Republican tyranny in Congress who is designated one of its 13 most corrupt members -- and declare him "a man who stands on principle" when in fact he is a man who stands solely for his own family's special real estate interest. It makes sense, that is, if you consider how much his audience paid for its tickets. These plutocrats have never been too interested in the Constitution. They have always regarded the political system as their own personal casino. They're just paying for those Republican tax cuts for the rich, anti-environmental policy, and farm subsidies (by any other name) to keep on rolling along.
Dennis Cardoza, who represents nobody you know socially and whose only known political affiliation is to the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democrat blue heelers for the right wing, is the other end of the Pomboza. Cardoza is the Blue Dog propaganda director and is reportedly off campaigning for coalition members in the red states.
Bill Hatch
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Oct. 4, 2006
Bush campaigning in Valley...Ben van der Meer, Modesto Bee
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/12835577p-13520643c.html
STOCKTON -- President Bush cast Rep. Richard Pombo's re-election as vital to the war on terrorism and national security in a fundraiser Tuesday at the Civic Auditorium...helped raise an estimated $1 million for Pombo and Republican congressman, John Doolittle of Roseville, while trying to shore up the GOP base...two incumbents are part of a slim majority in the House that the White House wants to preserve. The president has spent the past month campaigning across the country for Republicans in competitive races. Bush again defended his approach to the war in Iraq as well as national security. His 35-minute speech also touched on Pombo's support for finding new domestic energy sources and on tax cuts that Bush said have boosted the economy. "If Rich's opponent wins, your taxes will go up. Make no mistake about it," Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, spoke only to introduce the president. The fundraiser netted his campaign $400,000.
Stockton Record
Fundraising frenzy wraps up Bush's trip to Stockton...Hank Shaw
http://recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061004/NEWS01/610040321/1001
Pombo, a seven-term incumbent, is in a tight contest against Pleasanton wind-energy consultant Jerry McNerney. Two recent polls, released by McNerney and Defenders of Wildlife, show the race to be a dead heat, and even Pombo admits this race is nothing like his 2004 drubbing of McNerney. Pombo did not give a speech during the event but introduced Bush to the sellout crowd of 650 guests, each of whom paid $250 to $2,100 to attend. Through it all, Bush said he needs partners such as Pombo; Pombo has voted with the president 86 percent of the time, according to one recent analysis. "I think it makes sense for the people from the state of California to send to Washington, D.C., a person who trusts the people of California," Bush said. "I think it makes sense to send somebody from the state of California to Washington, D.C., who knows what it means to make a living off the land - and that's Richard Pombo." Pombo's family made its fortune in ranching and real estate speculation.
Bush scenes...The Record
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061004&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=610040317&SectionCat=NEWS25&Template=printart
Sharp-dressed man...Rep. Richard Pombo's challenger, Jerry McNerney, attended the protest outside the fundraiser. Wearing a hat and suit, he was easy to find in the dressed-down crowd.
Caught on tape...Candid camera: Television reporters weren't the only ones toting cameras. Stockton police also were seen videotaping the crowd.
Momentary boost...The protesters' ranks nearly doubled when about 150 county employees marched into the plaza...
Smaller protest than expected greets president...Alex Breitler
http://recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20061004&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=610040319&SectionCat=&Template=printart
Bush heard none of it and likely saw very little...police estimated there were about 200 (other estimates were as many as 500) - still fewer than some protesters had expected. While the group's wrath was directed equally toward Bush and Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, the guests were the ones who actually absorbed most of their tirades.
Tracy Press
Bush helps Pombo raise $400K...John Upton
http://tracypress.com/content/view/4509/2/
President Bush worked the crowd Tuesday at a fundraiser for Rep. Richard Pombo. About 600 people paid $250 a head to listen to the president's 20-minute speech, which encouraged the campaigning congressman and scorned Democrats. In a 20-minute speech, Bush praised the congressman and urged support for his anti-terror campaign and the war in Iraq, and slammed Democrats as people who will raise taxes. “If you don’t want terrorists to attack the U.S. again, I urge you to send Richard Pombo back to the U.S. Congress,” Bush said. McNerney, who chatted with protesters while the president spoke, has said he wants to draw up a nine- to-12-month timetable for troop withdrawal...also responded to Bush’s and Pombo’s support of tax cuts. “They call them tax cuts, but the deficit spending is really putting a tax on our nation’s credit card, and that bill is going to be paid — they’re really raising our taxes, they’re just paying for them later,” he said. Bush praised Pombo for representing the 11th District, telling the audience that it could trust Pombo. “It makes sense for the state of California to trust a man who knows what it means to make a living off the land,” said Bush. Pombo returned Bush’s kind words. “This person has stood firm — he has recognized that this is an enemy that must be defeated,” he said.
San Francisco Chronicle
Bush stumps rare red areas of a blue state...Rachel Gordon, Greg Lucas
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/04/MNGI9LHUQV1.DTL&type=printable
A new independent poll by the San Jose State University Survey and Policy Research Institute found that two-thirds of the state's voters disapprove of Bush's job performance, but the discontent wasn't evident at Bush's two showcased stops in Northern California on behalf of Republican Reps. Richard Pombo of Tracy and John Doolittle of Rocklin (Placer County)...the home turfs of Pombo and Doolittle have more Republicans than Democrats registered to vote. "The Republicans are in trouble. They know it, and we know it,'' said Jerry McNerney... The re-elections of Pombo and Doolittle are crucial in the Republicans' quest to retain control of Congress.
Contra Costa Times
Talk not cheap at Pombo fund-raiser...Lisa Vorderbrueggen
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/community/15674775.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
STOCKTON - President George W. Bush and Rep. Richard Pombo clasped each other's shoulders before a crowd of 650 enthusiastic contributors Tuesday as the president called the Tracy congressman a trusted Republican who will help stop tax hikes and protect Americans from terrorists. But outside the auditorium in the fenced-off "free speech zone," signs of the deeply polarized race roared as Democratic congressional challenger Jerry McNerney joined the several hundred protesters waving signs and chanting anti-war and pro-environment slogans, most characterizing Pombo and Bush's shared ideology as a disgrace. Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund activists wielded wooden back-scratchers -- as illustrations of the adage "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" -- as they passed out fliers that outlined seven policies where Bush and Pombo concur, such as expanding domestic oil drilling. "It's 'Me, too' politics," Defenders spokesman Ed Yoon said. "Whatever Bush wants, Pombo says, 'Me, too.'" Despite the odds, persistent anti-Pombo forces leveraged Bush's visit to showcase the congressman's ideological compatibility with a president ...
Contra Costa Times
Rivals stress flaws in race for House...Josh Richman...Media News...10-3-06
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15666363.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Pombo, 45, seeks an eighth term, saying he's done much to lower taxes and cut wasteful spending; protect private property rights; reform the Endangered Species Act; ensure clean and plentiful water in his heavily agricultural district; and push a Bush administration energy policy that reduces foreign-oil dependence. Democrat Gerald "Jerry" McNerney, a Pleasanton wind-energy engineer, has made clean energy his signature issue -- both as a means of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and as an economic engine -- while also calling for affordable health care for all...paints Pombo as a paid toady of oil companies, a supporter of President Bush's unworkable strategy for the war in Iraq and as corrupt -- accused of taking contributions from disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, trading legislative aid for campaign cash, keeping family members on his campaign payroll and misusing official resources. Pombo paints McNerney as a pandering flip-flopper on issues from energy to health care who never met a tax he didn't want to raise. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee still issues anti-Pombo information but isn't sending much money McNerney's way. As of June, about 75 percent of his campaign funds had come from individuals; most of the rest came from political action committees, primarily labor unions. Pombo, meanwhile, is a prolific fund-raiser endorsed by business and grass-roots GOP groups. As of June, about 48 percent of his campaign funds had come from individuals, and most of the rest was from PACs; because he's the Resources Committee's chairman, he gets a lot from the agricultural and energy industries.
Los Angeles Times
U.S. ruling could eliminate union eligibility for millions...Molly Selvin
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fi-labor4oct04,1,4382150,print.story
A federal labor agency Tuesday broadened its definition of who is a supervisor, in a ruling that could keep millions of skilled employees from joining unions and accelerate a decades-long decline in union membership. In a long-awaited decision, the Republican-controlled National Labor Relations Board held that nurses could be classified as supervisors if they directed and oversaw other nurses. Under federal law, employees defined as supervisors aren't entitled to legal protections ensuring their right to join unions. The labor board's definition could be applied to other kinds of workers, particularly in the fast-growing service sector, where unions have made some gains in recent years even as overall union membership has declined nationally, labor experts said. The ruling was applauded by business organizations but denounced by labor groups, which called it part of a Bush administration strategy to destroy unions.
Los Angeles Times
U.S. security at stake in upcoming vote, Bush says in Stockton...Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Rome Tempest
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-bush4oct04,0,6820607,print.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
STOCKTON — President Bush painted the midterm election as a referendum on national security at fundraising events in California on Tuesday, saying congressional Democrats failed to provide the tools he needs to fight the war on terror. "They talk tough on terror, but when the votes are counted, their softer side comes out,"... Pombo and Doolittle, tarnished by their ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), have been campaigning hard in their solidly Republican districts. Bush called Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, a man who "stands on principle" and supports the programs necessary to protect the country, including legislation protecting the CIA's program... Both Doolittle, an eight-term incumbent and Pombo, now in his seventh term, waged expensive primary campaigns to fend off attacks from MoveOn.org, the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, the Sierra Club and other groups.Tuesday's events raised about $400,000 for Pombo, $600,000 for Doolittle and $1.2 million for the Republican National Committee.
Washington Post
Stepping up attacks, Bush calls Democrats 'Softer' on terrorists...Peter Baker
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/03/AR2006100301391_pf.html
STOCKTON, Calif., Oct. 3 -- President Bush ratcheted up his campaign offensive against Democrats on Tuesday with perhaps his bluntest rhetoric yet... With his party in serious trouble five weeks before Election Day, Bush shifted into full campaign mode this week, kicking off a month of frenetic barnstorming aimed at drawing disgruntled Republicans back into the fold. The two House Republicans who were beneficiaries of Bush's fundraising hail from usually safe districts, but both face serious competition this year. Reps. Richard W. Pombo and John T. Doolittle...Democratic polling suggests both are running roughly even with Democratic challengers.