Mailbag: Congressman does not deserve another term in office

Congressman does not deserve another term in office

I have read, “Letter overstated congressman’s role in ground water bill” by 48th Congressional District candidate Suzanne Savary in the March 13 Daily Pilot. I was surprised to learn that her opponent, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa), has sponsored 305 bills but only three became law in his 26 years in Congress. Obviously, he knows the importance of new legislation but has been ineffective at leading the effort to get them passed.

However, if leading new legislation to passage is not his strength, maybe his voting record is. After reviewing his voting record on a few key issues, I was disappointed by his lack of leadership for the district.

In 2013 he voted to close down the government and refused to raise the debt ceiling, threatening the financial reliability of the United States. This was not a good decision, but Rohrabacher risked government shutdown again by voting against the 2015 Omnibus spending bill. This isn’t leadership.

In 2002 he voted to authorize President George W. Bush to “use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate” against Iraq. Many congressmen voted for this, but Rohrabacher should have known better because he claims to be very knowledgeable about the foreign affairs in the Middle East. Again, this isn’t leadership.

In May 1999 he voted against strengthening the Social Security lockbox. The Social Security Trust Fund had built up a surplus by 2000 in anticipation of Baby Boomers retiring. Unfortunately, after the 2002 Iraq war authorization, that surplus seemed to be the GOP controlled Congress’ means to pay for Middle East war efforts. As a result, the surplus was reduced and Social Security may be unable to pay full benefits in the next several years. More lack of leadership.

But weakening Social Security by opposing a stronger lockbox wasn’t enough. Rohrabacher went on to vote in favor of the 2011 budget that included implementing vouchers for Medicare and more recently he voted in favor of the 2016 Federal H138 budget resolution. This resolution proposed reducing the inflationary adjustment for Social Security benefits and increasing Social Security eligibility to age 70. Both of these budgets failed.

This sampling of Rohrabacher’s voting record does not demonstrate leadership that would support his district.

Candidate Savary revealed Rohrabacher’s remarkably weak legislative performance. Now we see that his questionable leadership further justifies her 2016 candidacy to give the voters of the 48th Congressional District a better option for representation and leadership.

Charles Mooney

Costa Mesa

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Developing Newport in a drought

How does giving millions of gallons of water to all these new developments make any sense while the rest of us are restricted to watering our gardens only once a week?

It all adds up! We should be saving water, but should we be giving so much of it to these new developments? Frankly, I’m beginning to feel a little like a sucker.

Andrea Lingle

Newport Beach