Shortly after the State of the Union, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) released a statement criticizing the President and his agenda. Essentially, Calvert stated that President Obama was forcing a radicalized, far-left vision on America. Below is his statement in full.
During the remaining three years of President Obama’s term in office the majority of the American people want him to govern from the middle – not from the radical liberal left. The President needs to accept and respect the fact that voters elected a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Instead of threatening more unilateral executive actions and regulations, I would urge the President to sit down with members from both parties and find common ground. In the House, we have approved a number of bills on a bipartisan basis that address our continued jobs shortage and the disastrous implementation of ObamaCare. Encouraging the Senate to take up these bills would be a productive starting point for President Obama’s 2014 agenda.
On Monday, Democrat Tim Sheridan, who is running against Calvert for his seat this November, fired back and called out Calvert for his criticism. He also nailed Calvert on his own policy decisions and voting record. Overall, Sheridan was able to dismantle Calvert’s argument that the President is going to rely on an unheard of number of executive orders to push through his radically liberal agenda.
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“Mr. Calvert himself has not voted the middle ground, or for the middle class. Mr. Calvert, voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; he opposed expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); he opposed the American Jobs Act which proposed investment in infrastructure and investment to prevent layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters; he opposed the extension of long-term unemployment benefits; he voted to reduce the current food stamps budget, and now opposes a raise of the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Is it radical to ensure that women get equal pay for equal work or to ensure that children have adequate health insurance? When I get to Congress, I intend to support programs that benefit everyday Americans and not the special interests that Mr. Calvert supports.
President Obama is on a pace to issue fewer Executive Orders than former President George W. Bush issued during his administration. More importantly, Mr. Calvert should stop constantly criticizing and attacking everything that the President tries to do and focus more on working with him and other Democrats to resolve problems. The American people want a Congress that will work with members of the other party, not just invent new ways to criticize them. Instead of just criticizing the opposition, I will work to resolve the issues important to our community, including taking whatever action is necessary to reduce Riverside County’s high unemployment rate. When I’m elected, bringing good paying jobs to California’s 42nd District will be my number one priority.”
Calvert, known for being one of the shadier characters in Congress, will have his hands full with Sheridan this campaign season. Calvert obviously has a huge advantage right now when it comes to fundraising, due to being the incumbent and cozying up to big corporations. However, as we’ve noted before on this site, Sheridan is running a smart and effective campaign early on and it will only get better for him as we move closer to Election Day. Calling out Calvert for idiotic statements will only help Sheridan down the line.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
