Just finished voting

Our country is at a crossroads and we need serious people to apply common sense solutions to the enormous problems we’re facing as a nation.

In Liberty,

Steve Foley
Candiate for US Congress

It’s important to know how a man behaves in the little things because that same man will also have some big things to deal with. If he fails us in something small, it’s likely just an annoyance. But if he fails in something big, that’s a different story. So we need to know what a man’s character is before we give him the keys to something big.

Nowhere is this notion more valid than in the political arena.

Which makes it troubling that Gary DeLong has not effectively explained how email addresses submitted for subscriptions to his City Council office’s newsletters and updates on local issues are receiving emails from DeLong’s US House of Representative campaign.

The Council subscription clearly states that emails for that account are not released in any way to anyone else for any purpose. To have done so would be a violation of campaign laws as well. It’s just a little thing, I know. But as I said, it speaks to issues of character and integrity.

That same character and integrity would seem to demand an explanation. DeLong has said he looks forward to providing it. He’s had ample opportunity to do so and has not. Enter little thing #2.

Why hasn’t he responded? Could it be because the Primary is just days away and if he ignores the issue and wins on Tuesday, he will have avoided the people for selfish reasons as opposed to responding to the people in an effort to serve them? Little thing #3.

Too many little things have started stacking up – too many questions about character and integrity; too little response from Councilman DeLong. There’s too much evidence that Gary DeLong is the wrong choice for voters in District 47.

Vote Steve Foley for Congress on Tuesday, June 5th.

Yesterday, we read at the the Orange County Register, how State Senator Alan Lowenthal is accusing Long Beach city councilman Gary DeLong of hiding mail-ballot applications submitted by Democrats and all we could say was… really?

There’s funny business brewing in the race for the newly configured 47th Congressional District, which extends from Long Beach to Little Saigon.

A Republican candidate who’s courting Democratic voters has been accused of hiding mail-ballot applications submitted by some of those Democrats. But the evidence is thin and circumstantial, giving the accused candidate, Gary DeLong, leverage in his argument that his opponent is making the whole thing up.

Really, at this critical time for our nation with record high deficits, outrageous spending, and a US debt at $15.7 Trillion and rising… this is what’s passing for news and what these two so-called front runner candidates are focused on in the race to represent the new 47th district in California?

Instead of inventing clever new ways to garner Democrats votes or waste time crying foul about imagined campaign infractions Steve Foley is talking about the issues that matter most to Americans and providing detailed  Bold Solutions:

As a trusted conservative, Steve’s focus in Congress will be to stop the liberal agenda, restore constitutional principles, and get America working again!

2nd Amendment Rights

• BOLD SOLUTION: Restore Authority over Firearms Policy to the States

Economy

• BOLD SOLUTION A: Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment
• BOLD SOLUTION B: Cut Spending Immediately and Significantly
• BOLD SOLUTION C: Replace Our Antiquated Tax Code
• BOLD SOLUTION D: Roll Back Burdensome Regulations
• BOLD SOLUTION E: Advance Energy Independence
• BOLD SOLUTION F: Audit the Federal Reserve

Education

• BOLD SOLUTION A: De-Fund the U.S. Department of Education
• BOLD SOLUTION B: Restore Educational Decision-Making to the States

Energy

• BOLD SOLUTION A: Get Government out of the Way
• BOLD SOLUTION B: End Energy Subsidies and Let the Free Market Work
• BOLD SOLUTION C: Restore Federal Lands to the States

Health Care Reform

• BOLD SOLUTION A: Repeal Obamacare
• BOLD SOLUTION B: Roll Back Other Regulatory Health Care Mandates

Immigration

• BOLD SOLUTION A: Fully Secure Our Nation’s Borders
• BOLD SOLUTION B: Enforce Existing Federal Immigration Laws
• BOLD SOLUTION C: Eliminate Incentives for Illegal Aliens
• BOLD SOLUTION D: Reform the Legal Immigration Process

Jobs

Steve just received another amazing endorsement in the CD 47 race!  
We’re excited to tell you about it, and when you read the press release below, we know you’ll understand why.

For Immediate Release: May 22, 2012
Contact: (888) 674-0053

STEVE FOLEY WINS ENDORSEMENT FROM THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT PARTY IN DISTRICT 47 CONGRESSIONAL RACE

(Cypress, CA) – The Steve Foley for U.S. Congress campaign announced today that the American Independent Party has endorsed him in California’s 47th District congressional race.

Though Mr. Foley is running as a Republican, he was honored to learn late last week that the American Independent Party of California (AIP) believes he is the right man to serve the 47th District in Washington.

“Gaining the AIP’s trust in this race means a great deal,” Foley stated. The AIP understands the full value and importance of the nation our Founding Fathers established for us, the unalienable rights and personal freedoms with which we have been endowed, and the great personal responsibility we must exercised in order to maintain what we have been given . I am wholly dedicated to representing these strong mutual concerns at the federal level.”

As a recipient of an AIP endorsement, Steve is privileged to stand in the company of others who have consistently and boldly stood for freedom. In 2008, the AIP nominated Alan Keyes as its presidential candidate. A well known and staunch advocate of liberty, Keyes once served the Reagan administration as Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. President Reagan’s instructions to Keyes at the time were to “throw a monkey wrench in the works,” which Keyes effectively did.

Steve Foley aims to take that same spirit to Washington.  ”It’s time to disrupt the dangerous and damaging practices in Washington that are destroying our freedoms and our future,” Mr. Foley asserts. “The best way to disrupt those trends is to begin the crucial process of returning our federal government to its proper constitutional limits.”

For further information on Mr. Foley, his campaign, and his platform, please visit the Steve Foley for U.S. Congress campaign website at: www.stevefoleyforcongress.com.

Where do California candidates stand on private property rights?

The Alliance sent the 2012 Property Rights Protection Questionnaire to all California candidates running for Congress and the State Legislature to determine who shares a strong commitment to protecting private property rights.

The Voter Guide takes into account where candidates stand on limiting government’s power of eminent domain to forcibly seize homes, businesses and places of worship from unwilling sellers. It also takes into account whether a candidate believes your hard earned tax dollars should be used to finance private development like luxury hotels, golf courses, and professional sports arenas – otherwise referred to as redevelopment.

“Defenders of Private Property Rights” embrace the following principles:

• Government’s power of eminent domain should be limited to legitimate public projects, and not used to advance private development.
• Will support legislation reforming eminent domain abuse.
• Opposes taxpayer dollars being used to subsidize private development.

We hope this voter guide serves as a useful tool when casting your vote!

US Representative District 47

Sen. Allan Lowenthal (D)

Peter Mathews (D)

Jay Shah (D)

Usha Shah (D)

Gary DeLong (R)

Steve Foley (R)

Sanford W. Kahn (R)

Steven T. Kuykendall (R)

June Primary Voting Begins Monday

SACRAMENTO – While Election Day isn’t until June 5, millions of Californians who opt for the convenience of voting by mail can begin casting their ballots as early as Monday.

“When your mailbox is your polling place you can vote any time in the comfort of your own home,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, the state’s chief elections officer. “With so many voters choosing to vote by mail, Election Day is more like election month. However, no matter how you vote, make sure your county elections office receives your ballot by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day because postmarks don’t count.”

County elections officials will begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots as early as May 7; ballots have already been mailed to military and overseas voters. Beginning Monday, vote-by-mail voters can cast their June 5 ballots through the mail, drop them off at any polling place within the voter’s county or vote in person at county elections offices. Once county elections officials determine the signature on the vote-by-mail ballot return envelope matches the voter’s signature on his or her
voter registration form, and the voter did not vote elsewhere in the same election, the ballot and the envelope are separated and the ballot is counted. All valid vote-by-mail ballots are counted in every election, regardless of the outcome or closeness of any race.

Any California voter may vote by mail. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is May 29.

A registered voter may request a ballot by using the application printed on the back of the sample ballot booklet mailed by the county elections office, or obtain an application online at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/vote-by-mail/pdf/fill-in-vote-by-mail-app-instruct.pdf.

Vote-by-mail voting has steadily increased in popularity over the last 34 years since the law was changed to allow any registered voter to vote by mail. Ballots cast by mail comprised 48.4 percent of all ballots in the November 2010 gubernatorial election. Nearly 58 percent of ballots cast in the June 2012 statewide primary were vote-by-mail ballots. In the May 19, 2009, Statewide Special Election, a record 62.2 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail.

The last day to register to vote in the June 5 primary election is May 21. Californians can fill out the Secretary of State’s online voter registration form at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-tovote then just print, sign and mail it. (The form is even pre-addressed to the registrant’s county elections office.) Californians can also pick up a voter registration form at any U.S. post office, public library or county elections office.

Keep up with the latest California election news and trivia by following @CASOSvote on Twitter. To subscribe to state election news via email, RSS feed or Twitter, go to www.sos.ca.gov/multimedia.

In an April 24th press release, Lowenthal attacked the House Committee on Agriculture’s recent recommendation to cut $33 billion over 10 years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), this federal food stamp program is, by the agency’s own admission, rampant with fraud. In fact, a March 2011 USDA summary report acknowledged that trafficking alone, defined as the sale of benefits to food retailers for cash, diverted $330 million between 2006 and 2008. That figure doesn’t include additional fraud perpetrated by program beneficiaries, who sell their benefits to others for a profit. Recent investigative reporting by David Goldstein at CBS 2 in Los Angeles suggests that abuses of this latter type are also widespread.

Stunningly, the USDA claims in the first paragraph of the 2011 summary that such fraud comes at no financial cost to the federal government–aka you and me. It is merely, the report notes, a black mark on the program’s mission and credibility. While one can’t deny the credibility problem, waste, fraud and abuse do indeed come at a high financial cost to taxpayers, particularly in the current challenging economy. Elected officials have a fiduciary duty to track and address such problems so that taxpayers do not continue to pay for programs that fail to work as intended. Throwing good money after bad helps no one, including those who legitimately face financial hardship.

Which reveals additional serious flaws in Lowenthal’s attack…

In the past 10 years, SNAP spending has nearly tripled. Much of that increase has occurred just in the last three years, with program spending more than doubling from $34.9 billion in 2008 to $76 billion in 2011. House Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) acknowledges that SNAP now comprises nearly 80 percent of total USDA spending. These statistics reflect in large measure the Obama administration’s open and active efforts to boost rather than minimize dependence on SNAP through recruitment drives and incentive programs. President Obama did not earn the nickname “the Foodstamp President” without cause.

Ultimately, the $33 billion in cuts proposed by the House Committee on Agriculture represents, over the coming 10 years, a meager 4 percent of this out-of-control, wasteful, and abuse-ridden SNAP spending. More embarrassingly for Senator Lowenthal, the House Committee has plainly stated that the cuts are primarily aimed at closing loopholes and reworking the program’s eligibility triggers in order to minimize precisely this waste and abuse epidemic within the program in order to benefit legitimate SNAP recipients and taxpayers alike. Two incentives for states administering the program would also be on the chopping block. However, in point of fact, not a single dollar of the proposed cuts would prevent the truly needy from receiving SNAP benefits. Nor would the cuts in any way reduce SNAP benefit levels.

Perhaps Senator Lowenthal could explain to us all his particular interest in maintaining fraud, waste, and abuse.

Or is it that, as usual, he just hasn’t done his homework?

Steve Foley
Republican Congressional Candidate, CA-47