Denitia from Wilmington asks……..Do you think it is unfair that Congress doesn’t have to live by the same rules they make for us?

I think this is a matter of fairness and human decency.  The fact that Congress does not have to live by all of the laws they pass is unconscionable. Where it is certainly not the most critical problem facing our nation, the first piece of legislation I will propose when I go to Washington is a bill that requires Congress to abide by all the laws they pass, get rid of Congressional pensions, and put members of Congress and their staff back into Social Security.  Perhaps if they have to live by our rules and support their own retirement (instead of the taxpayers paying for it) they might run things a bit differently.  It’s time for principled leaders who understand that the government belongs to the people, not the other way around.

Crawford from Hermosa Beach asks……..I was reading about a question somebody sent you about the lawsuit against you by your opponent.  Can you tell me more or update me about the suit?

I have always been an advocate for tort reform, but now being on the defendant side of a frivolous lawsuit I find the need to fix the system to be even greater.  I have spent thousands of dollars to defend a case that should have not been filed, while the plaintiff (Mattie Fien’s husband Bruce Fein) continues to delay and drag it out beyond the primary.   We have filed an “Anti SLAP Motion,” requesting that the judge dismiss the case.  Nonetheless, defending this mean-spirited, oppressive lawsuit continues to cost me thousands of dollars to defend. Where I cannot discuss the details of the case, I do invite you to do your homework about the organizations that Mr. and Mrs. Fein support, endorse, and lobby for.

Cassandra from Lomita asks…….Do you have any information on the judges or the propositions on the June ballot?

Proposition 13      Yes

Proposition  14      NO

Proposition  15      No

Proposition  16     Yes

Propostion    17    Yes

Judicial Office 28    *Kim Smith

Judicial Office 35   *Soussan Bruguera

Judicial Office 73   *Laura Matz

Judicial Office  107 *Tony De Los Reyes

Judicial Office  117  *Patricia Vienna

Judicail Office  131  *Maren Nelson

*The judicial reccomendations are from www.JudgeVoterGuide.com whose suggestiona are based on whether a judge is a constructionist or an activist.

Douglas from Torrance asks……What are your stances on social issues? abortion? same sex marriage?

I am pro-life believing that life begins at conception.  As for same sex marriage, I voted yes on Propostion 8 and believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Charles from Los Angeles asks……..What is your position on aid to Israel and the PLO etc?

I believe that Israel is our friend in the region and a long time ally.  Like us (perhaps worse) they face an enemy every day that would like to destroy them.  I think it is our moral obligation to live up to our promise of assistance.  As for the PLO and Hammas, I think we need to stop funding and supporting them.  There will be some tough decisions coming regarding Iran and nuclear weapons.  Whether Israel will strike pre-emptively and will we support them should they strike or be attacked?  We have been a beacon of freedom for the world and must continue to have the character to stand up for freedom and human decency.

Henry from San Pedro asks………There have been many instances over the last 5 - 10 years of sitting members of Congress whose actions have become the focal points of many news reports, yet nothing ever seems to happen to the individuals because of the apparent shielding performed by the Congressional leaders. Wrangel, Dodd, Foley, Murtha, Inouye, Frank, Jefferson, …. yes some of them eventually resigned from Congress, but in the meantime, they have enjoyed complete immunity based on the protection offered by the “leadership” - Reid, Pelosi, etc.  Even Pelosi and Reid have performed at less than honest levels themselves. How do you feel that this lack of accountability to the citizens can be overturned?

We have many serious moral and ethical problems with several members of congress.  The old addage that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutley” certainly comes to mind.  It starts with electing people with limited character.  Then they stay way too long and enjoy way too much power.  Our Founding Fathers vision was that you go serve in Congress and then go home and go back to work.  It is not supposed to be a career. 

Then we have a system as you describe where the leadership covers up the problem to either protect their party/member or to keep something quiet until they can use the information against the other side.  For example, it was discovered that Rep. Foley (FL-R) had a “problem” with  pages nearly a year before it was made public.  The Congressman who knew about the problem had a moral obligation to report it as soon as he was aware.  Instead, he sat on the information for nearly a year until it was a better time to use the information politically.  Both of these congressmen should have been removed from office immediately.  Rep. Foley did lose his job.  The other Congressman who sat on the information got a promotion to White House Chief of Staff.  He is Rahm Emmanuel and he is not fit to serve our country.  He failed to live up to his moral obligation.

This pattern of protection by either side of the aisle must not be tolerated under any circumstances!  The only way we can as you say “overturn” this is to change Washington.  The only way to do that is to change the people in Washington.  We need much tougher ethical standards and sanctions.  This behavior should not be tolerated on either side of the aisle and we the people must do whatever we can to make sure that these kinds of people don’t get to stay in office.  When there is an ethical issue, we the people should not rest until that member is removed from office.  This is our government and we need to make sure those in Washington are well aware of it!!!!!

Henry from San Pedro asks…………The news media this past week has been featuring all of the screaming mob, including the Attorney General of the United States, who are protesting a recent piece of legislation passed in Arizona.  This legislation is modeled after Federal law (and there is a twin to it already in the laws of the State of California). The Cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have become sanctuary cities in order to avoid enforcement of the US and the California laws. Will you as a member of Congress support legislation to completely overturn any and all “sanctuary city” laws and require that local law enforcement agencies support the federal laws regarding illegal immigrants?

There has been an unwarranted outrcy of racism and claims of profiling by our goverment officials and many in the media who havn’t read the bill.  This is the beginning of the “new” AZ law that everyone is so up in arms over.  NO OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE MAY LIMIT OR RESTRICT THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS TO LESS THAN THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY FEDERAL LAW. It does not write any real new law, it just requires the enofrcement of existing laws.  It does go on later to provide for penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants which I believe is a good provision as we have to stop the incentives for people to come here illegally.

I believe we need to eliminate the concept of sanctuary cities.  These cities are violating federal law.  Much of the time we don’t need new laws, we just need to enforce the laws we have.  I would support legislation that would outlaw sanctuary cities.

Elena from Palos Verdes Estates asks…….What is your position on the Senate Amendment to the finance bill that regulates the fees that can be charged when using a debit card?

I don’t think the governmnet needs to get any further involved into private sector business.  Regulating debit card fees far over reaches the authority of the federal government.  This Administration thinks that every problem created by man can be solved by the government.  In fact, most of the time it is just the opposite.  The more the government gets involved in our lives and our businesses the more things go awry.  There is much in this Senate legislation that doesn’t make sense and offers “talking points” without much in the way of substance.  It is also rather frightening to watch some of the hearings and realizing that many of these lawmakers don’t have much of an idea what they are talking about.  We need to get rid of the career politicians who no longer understand what goes on outside of the capitol and elect regular people from a variety of walks of life and industries.  Politics should not be an industry.  Do your service and go home and go back to work.

After hearing from the candidates for the Republican nomination for the 36th district of California the El Camino College Republicans unanimously enodorse Kesterson4Congress to unseat Jane Harman.