Todd from Los Angeles asks………  What’s your postion(s) on immigration?

The topic of immigration first and foremost is a national security issue.  Every soverign nation has the right to know who is entering and exiting its borders.  Most have severe penalties for breaching their borders, while the United States has taken a lackadaisical attitude towards our borders and it has to stop.  We need to secure our borders with an actual fence and where there are entry points have the technology to ensure that we know who is actually entering and that they have the right to do so. 

In addition to physically securing our borders, we need to be sure that we require all those that would like to legally immigrate to America do so follow the proper legal channels.  We also need to be sure that we do the appropriate background checks to ensure we are not allowing anyone in with a criminal  history or ties with terror orgainzations. 

While the above seems rather simple, we have not had the political will to appropriately secure our borders.  If we stop providing so many incetives for people to enter our country illegally, it would reduce their desire to come here.  For example, all employees should provide proof of citizenship and we need to have punitive penalties on employers, so if they get caught, the penalties are so severe it’s not worth the risk.  We should stop providing free k-12 education and no”in state” tuition for college to non-citizens.  We also need to stop the practice of if you are born here you are automatically a citizen and you and your entire family get to stay, even though you are not legal citizens.  If we also stop providing free heatlhcare to non-citizens, we can dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare by reducing the use of our emergency rooms as clinics and only use them for actual emergencies.

Don’t get me wrong, my views are color blind.  I don’t care where you are from.  Nor do I care whether you cross the northern or southern border. If you are not a legal citizen, you are not entitled to the same rights and benefits afforded to American citizens.

The National Taxpayers Union graded the first session of the 111th Congress (2009) and the so called “blue dog” Jane Harman got an even lower grade than Senators Feinstein and Boxer.  With 90 or more being a”taxpayers friend” and 16 or less being a “big spender”.  Senator Feinstein received a 6 and Senator Boxer a 5.  Congresswoman Jane Harman received a failing grade of 3!  Her reputation may be of a fiscal conservative but her voting record says otherwise.  Please visit http://www.ntu.org/on-capitol-hill/ntu-rates-congress/p10-02-18-ntu-rating-final-pages.pdf for the entire story and how the grades are calcualted.

Victor from Torrance asks…….What is your opinion about Obama’s Tax Incentives, i.e., solar panels, washing machines, and other so-called green energy saving products.  Should American tax payers take advantage of these products and receive a tax rebate?

I think we need to stop the “social engineering” of the tax code.  In the last year we have had cash for clunkers, cash for washers and dryers, solar panels, windows, doors, etc.  Where we should be good stewards of our environment, having the government (the money comes from the people) pay the citizens to purchase whatever they think is important at the time is just plain wrong.  Right now if it is “green” the government wants you to buy it.  The whole “climate change” suggestion notwithstanding, what if the government decides tomorrow that some other issue is important?  Should they then give incentives to buy those products?  I would say no.  I am a proponent of a flat tax without any tax deductions. Let the people keep more of their income. Which will increase economic activity and let them choose what is best for their families.  If it is to buy a new car, or solar panels, then so be it.  It is not the role of government to pay us to buy the goods or services they desire us to have.  As for should Americans take advantage of these “opportunities”, it would be hypocritical for me to say yes when I think the incentives shouldn’t be there in the first place. 

Pete speaks to the South Bay Tea Party Wednesday, February 17

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Anita from Torrance asks……It seems to me that the very workings of Congress push even those who come with great ideals and ideas toward corruption.  I have come to the point where I consider all politicians corrupt. The money and power seem to affect everyone.  How do you think this can be dealt with?

Everyone knows the old addage “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.  I think the core of the problem is our system of career politicians. Our Founding Fathers envisioned a system where one would go to Congress to serve our nation, do their service, and go home to go back to work.  When we have members serving in Congress for 16 years like Jane Harman, or even worse, the tenures of Kennedy, Murtha, Watson, etc.  This “I will always be here” attitude clouds judgement and allows the special interests to sieze control.  So how do we solve this is the real question.  We as the citizens of this great nation need to be the one’s in control.  The power is afforded to the people and contrary to what they think in Washington, not the other way around.  It is up to us to elect candidates who will not be career politicians, who have a proven record of principaled governance, and then we must hold them accountable.  I will use just one of many examples to show you that I have the back bone to stand up for what is right, and not cowtow to the pressure of the special interests or other members of the government.  This past November the City of Redondo Beach attempted to levy a tax on one company that amounted to double taxation of this company. As you can imagine, I would naturally oppose such an idea. So in helping lead the opposition, we did phone calling, precinct walking, and direct mail to oppose this tax and we ultimately  defeated the measure at the ballot box.  My “punishment” was for the City Council to remove me from being Chair of the Budget and Finance Commission.  I must tell you that despite the consequences, I would oppose it again and again because it was the right thing to do.  That is the kind of leadership we need in Washington. We must elect candidates with the conservative American values of our Founding Fathers and then hold them accountable.  This is  why I ask for your support and ask you to also keep me accountable.  The voters will always have access to me as my campaign slogan says “Pete works for you”.  We must return to a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”.

The Mount Vernon Statement

Constitutional Conservatism

A Statement for the 21st Century

We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.

These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.

Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The self-evident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.

Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?

The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.

The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.

A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.

A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.

• It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.
• It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.
• It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
• It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.
• It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.

If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose. We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.

February, 2010

Pete lays out common sense solutions for today’s issues with the Manhattan Beach Republican Women’s Federated at Sangria 2/9/10

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Dave from Manhattan Beach asks……..Today you talked about the economic aspects of “climate change”. Thank you.  What do you think of the “scientific” aspects?  Have been following this and other environmental issues for years. Remember MTBE in gas?  This week a Democrat Representative said “it is un-American and un-scientific to oppose global warming”. Years ago Senator Feinstein wrote that opponents were “shills of the oil companies”.

For quite some time there has been legitimate questions as to the accuracy and legitimacy of the “global warming crisis”.  We know for certain that it has actually gotten cooler in the last decade, thus a change in the venacular to “global climate change”.  I have been one of those skeptics that has continually questioned the validity of the crisis.  I think it is a bit arrogant to think, we as humans, have that much effect when  natural disasters like volcanos and wildfires send more carbon into the air then thousands of humans.  And now comes the revelation that the scientists who were compiling the information, were doing so with a bend towards altering the facts to fit their political agenda.  This is simply not acceptable!

We have been trying different ways to appease the environmentalists with MTBE to burn “cleaner in the winter” (only to harm the cars that used this fuel), or corn based ethanol (which has a larger carbon footprint than gasoline and threatens the cost and availability of the food supply), to many other ideas.  Don’t get me wrong.  We should be good stewards of our environment.  Keep it clean, turn off the lights, recyclye where we can, etc.  But to dramtaically change our lives based on questionable, politically based “science” is ludicrous.

As for opposing this science being “un-American’, this his hogwash.  It is our very freedom to think and say and to question authority that makes us Americans.  From the very beginning of this dialouge the science was questionable and now we have the evidence to back it up.

In honor of Valentines Day send some love to Pete during his St. Valentines Day Money Bomb.  We need to raise $5,000 in the next 7 days. Whether you can help with the maximum of $2,400 or $500, $100, or even $5 or $10 we need your help.  Please click on the donate tab or  http://kesterson4congress.com/donate.php to do you part to help now.  Also, please be sure to forward this to everyone you know anywhere in the US.  It is time to retire Jane Harman and replace her with a true conservative.  Pete’s exactly the type of Reagan conservative we need in Washington.  Please do what you can now to help. 

The Facebook Group “Friends to Elect California Conservatives in 2010 endorses Pete Kesterson.  To visit their page go to http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=284139649185&ref=mf  This group independently endorses candidates who have true conservative values regardless of party affiliation.  “I am proud to have been recognized as the true conservative in this race and will work hard every day to uphold the conservative values of our Founding Fathers” said Pete upon recieving their endorsement.