Southern Dems & New England Republicans
I guess nominally I am a Republican. More so I am a conservative. It is somewhat interesting that of all the Members of Congress I have met and talked to, my favorite ones are almost all Democrats. Jim Marshall for instance I almost never have a disagreement with. I also like Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who the first time I met didn’t identify herself as a Congresswoman and I almost hit on her. I also like Brian Baird, not for his politics, but just because he is a nice guy, and I liked how he stood up to MoveOn.org over the Surge issue. And (huge caveat here) despite what I consider legitamate concerns over obfuscating his war record (or lack thereof) I found Congressman Walz on Minnesota to be a very engaging fellow.
Anyway, somehow I ended up on Ciro Rodriguez’s email list. I know I never gave money to him, so someone else must have signed me up. Today I got this email:
Dear TSO,
Last year, supporters like you played a critical role in putting me over the top on Election Day. It was a historic victory, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your support. As the only Frontline Democrat from Texas it is essential that I get your support once again, so that I can continue to represent the people of the 23rd Congressional District of Texas.
We are less than one year from Election Day 2010 and 56 days from the end of the year fund raising period. My opponents, the media, and the pundits will all use these numbers to judge the strength of our campaign.
Really nothing too dramatic there, but it made me wonder who his opponent was. So I went to Politics1.com which is the best site to look up such things. I never actually made it to looking up the GOP candidates, because Ciro’s Dem opponent is pretty damn solid.
First, the bio:
Mr. Miguel A. Ortiz was born in Ft Benning, GA and at the age of three he moved to Caguas, PR-USA. Mr. Ortiz has lived in Texas 17 years, first as a soldier in the United States Army and later as a resident and practicing attorney. Mr. Ortiz has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Texas (1998), a Masters Degree in Accounting from the Graduate Business School of St. Mary’s University (2000), and a Doctor in Jurisprudence from St. Mary’s University School of Law (2000)…
After leaving the Army and finishing his education, Mr. Ortiz opened a law office in San Antonio were he currently practices law. He also has a law office at Fort Hood, Texas, where he primarily helps soldiers with their legal issues. Mr. Ortiz also served as a vice president for the Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio advisory committee and actively participated in the sponsorship of children’s sports teams in the community. He is currently a faculty member of the University Of Phoenix at San Antonio where he teaches under-graduate and graduate level courses in Business and Accounting.
Miguel Ortiz is a certified mediator, a member of the Texas Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion in San Antonio.
So, he’s a Dem, I assumed his position statements would ruin all the good will I had built up…..Not so much… He only has 4 listed, but all the positions seemed damn sensible to me.
Healthcare he wants to “standardize the insurance companies’ claims process that, in turn, will reduce over 25 percent of the medical cost to providers. We need to remove caps imposed by insurance companies on medical coverage and ensure that pre-existing conditions are not a factor for you in obtaining medical insurance.” Further, “We need to work together with hospitals, physicians, and pharmaceuticals to reduce overhead cost for their services and pass the savings to the American people.”
On Immigration he says that
There is no question that the vast majority of this group [illegal aliens] comes to the United States looking for the American Dream. Nevertheless, we have to address the impact that it has on our communities. By imposing higher penalties on employers, giving work visas to those who qualify under a proposed standard, collecting fees for the cost of monitoring compliance, and subjecting undocumented immigrants to deductions from their pay, we could reduce the cost of Healthcare, deportation, and other areas affected by these issues.
And his National Security plank reinforces that…
We have to stabilize the area as we have done in IRAQ and in the Middle East. We need to ensure that our border patrol agents are better equipped. We need to give them and the local authorities better resources and funding to reduce the incidents directly affecting the communities along the Mexico-U.S. border.
His Education platform is pretty standard, and his position on guns sucks (“We need to have a better control of the ammo sold here in the U.S. and shipped to Mexico”) but the dude seems pretty solid.
OK, so bear in mind I don’t know the rest of this guy’s positions, and for all I know he is a cross-dressing communist who plays in a band with Bill Ayers. But, I am wondering what you guys think. At first blush, this guy seems like someone I could support. Certainly more so that my birth state’s 2 Republican Senators…
Category: Politics
Sounds like a Texas Democrat to me (not typical Dems)…..except the gun control thingy
What Old Tanker said.
He sounded good until the guns, or actually, ammunition. Just like any repub that sounds really good until they get to one of two things, or both…..guns/climate change.
That he buys into the whole guns/ammo thing as far as going across the border into Mexico………..buh bye.
As a kind of caveat: My opinion is a reflection on being conservative and being jaded enough from past experiences.
Sorry, but I’m represented By Baird (Here in the WA03) and he’s a coward who made up a death threat to avoid doing town hall meetings here until he got so much heat he had to do it.
“Nice guys” who represent us aren’t supposed to be cowards… and he is that.
As for the candidate himself, the questions to ask are these:
What are his votes on the issues important to you?
For me, it would be “Where were you on the bail outs, the Pokulus and the Cap and Swindle votes?” But that’s just me. You have to know what’s important to you and how he dealt with those issues, and if he represented YOUR views, then go with him again.
The candidate here hasn’t voted on any of them, since he’s never held office. As for Baird, yeah, I probably wouldn’t vote for him, I just liked him changing his position on the surge. If there is one issue above all others for me, it would be supporting the guys overseas.
Cav, do you have a link on the death threat thing? I hadn’t heard that one, but find it disappointing.
What OldCavLt says. For me, the whole anti-ammunition bit, coupled with buying into the “smuggled into Mexico” lie would give me pause.
I am a registered Republican, but that’s only so I can vote in the Primary. Like TSO, I am better classified as a conservative than an R. I’ll vote for the person who represents my values, and if there is none, I won’t vote. I will no longer vote for someone just to keep someone else out of office.
Here’s a link to a Seattle times article on it:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009709956_apwabairddeaththreat1stldwritethru.html
But he’d come out saying he “feared an ambush” 4 days before this death threat magically appeared.
http://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2009/08/brian-baird-coward.html
We had a local blogger who vetted the so-called threat only to discover that Baird or his people had never reported it to the Capitol Police:
http://clarkcountypolitics.blogspot.com/2009/08/brian-baird-coward-xvi-did-baird-make.html
And here we are in November: no arrests, no suspects. Our local newspaper, The Vancouver Columbian, has been engaging in massive damage control over this.
And, of course, this was all after bozo refered to those opposing Obama’s health care program as using Nazi and “Brown Shirt tactics” which was probably the wrong thing to call… say…. Veterans like us.
I don’t know this candidate, but you can have Hersth-Sandlin.
Let’s give them free bus fare to each and every politician with a lousy immigration grading, such as Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) or the whole Sacramento Liberal Marxist assembly, who have sold bona-fide legal Angelino’s into state insolvency? Why not have them live-in at every ACLU office and their communist lawyers so they could feed them. Every pro-illegal immigrant Chamber of Commerce member could open a spare room and settle some family members, until more brothers and sisters could be sponsored and join them. The Catholic Church and other religious groups could welcome them at the church doors and distribute money from the plate? The minority of Evangelicals churches could open up the rectory, accommodating hundreds of cots from the tired and poverty stricken. All the anti-sovereignty lawmakers should have plenty of room in their Virginia mansions, their custom ranches for large numbers of impoverished families. Even the President has that large White structure–could exhibit some kindness to homeless families and FEMA could establish a tent city in the grounds? Any of the House and Senate who compromised illegal immigration enforcement, should announce their address for resettlement of people who just run the gauntlet at the under funded border fence. Let’s face it these people who call us names such as xenophobes bigots and worse, adding ugly cuss words to their vocabulary should also open their doors to anybody who enters America illegally. Microsoft multi-billionaire Bill Gates and the thousands of businesses that don’t incur a darn cent should bring these family members together in their giant homes. Corporate owners who have colluded with State governors, Mayors, Judges and other lower echelon officials, should participate with a welcome mat. Perhaps American workers should obtain a hard copy list of every unpatriotic American and give illegal matriarch a page of addresses for their extended illegal families? We have San Francisco’s mayor Galvin Newsom and Los Angeles Antonio R.Villaraigosa and all the other–SANCTUARY CITIES AND STATES who have completely ignore federal laws, can also give refuge in their abodes to incorrigible gang members who have killed without conscience, illiterate drunk laborers who… Read more »
Has anybody thought deeply about the consequences of another illegal immigrant amnesty? Let’s forget for the moment that suddenly 20 to 30 million people are going to be legalized? That Sanctuary states like California, New Mexico have been financially ridden hard into the ground, because illegal workers and their families are feeding at a gold mine at the taxpayer expense. Let’s not mention that since the 1986 Simpson/Mazzoli bill, those made legal, was able to bring into the United States their extended family members. That although they signed an affidavit to support those, many ended up at the taxpayer’s expense. So let’s ignore the expenditures to educate, free health care treatment and all the rest of hidden costs of subsidizing a large portion of the US population. The fact that the businesses that draw them here, from every corner of the world–PAYS NOTHING TOWARDS THEIR UPKEEP. IT’S FREE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR PARIAH BUSINESS, BETTER KNOWN AS CORPORATE WELFARE? Every one of the Democratic leadership have used their influence to weaken E-Verify, county police fed program 287 (g) and ICE raids on businesses. So president Obama bypasses the masses the hard pressed American, who have entreated him–NO BLANKET AMNESTY! No path to citizenship! So the millions already here get a free ride to your pensions, social security, public option health care welfare. Who in the world is going to pay for all these legalized individual, followed by the onslaught of millions more looking for free health care? NOW HERE COMES THE FIRESTORM! Have we taken leave of our senses, to think for one moment that another amnesty which is in the works? That a single layer fence is going to hold back millions upon millions more people will–COME? This will not be small meandering lines of illegal aliens, crossing the border during the hours of darkness? This is going to be an unimaginably rush at a defenseless 9.000 border patrol agents, that is–Expected?–to hold at bay those who reach our border? Not even the National Guard and regular GI’s could stop the wave upon wave? They will sweep in from El-Salvador,… Read more »
Hi all. Interesting comments here. I’d suggest that you try to get to a position where you can ask some simple questions of the candidate (either in person at a nomination meeting or via email or through your local media). While politicians are masters of the art talking around simple questions (you ask a simple question and politician begins to answer, droning on and on and soon and a low buzzing starts that grows louder and when you regain your senses you sees that the polition left 10 minutes ago and that your wallet is gone) you can try to get them into a yes or no answer.
Does the candidate support amnesty, in any form for illegal immigrants?
Does the candidate support disallowing city/states from setting up Sanctuary Cities that skirt federal law.
Does the candiate support the current Cap and trade legislation?
On all questions asked you would also need to ask how would the candidate vote in congress. For example, I think there are a lot of Democrats (and some Republicans too) that don’t personally support amnesty but would however vote along party lines for it.
If you can get to meetings and try to force a Yes/No answer (a difficult task no doubt) then you’ll get a better feel for his/her position.