Letter to Santa Monica Bay -- To the Argonaut Readers

Waxman: 38 Years is Enough!

To the residents of Santa Monica, Venice, and the coastal regions of the Santa Monica Bay:

This year, following the unprecedented electoral reforms of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission and the Open Primary, Congressman Henry Waxman, a political fixture of the West Los Angeles area for thirty-eight years, will be facing off against Independent businessman Bill Bloomfield of Manhattan Beach in the newly-drawn 33^rd Congressional District, which takes in the entire Santa Monica Bay.

I am well aware of the good that Waxman has done for some individual constituents. I wish that Republicans had pursued the waste and fraud in Iraq during the Bush Administration, as Waxman did. Yet after thirty-eight years in office, with no revisions of the Clear Water Act, with frequent Oversight hearings with little to show for his efforts, and ongoing inaction on unsightly budget deficits and unconscionable national debt, Mr. Waxman has become more removed from the interests of the Santa Monica Bay and more moved by the interests of Beltway Big Government. Waxman’s latest signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, is a crippling tax forcing hospitals to close, while forcing up premiums, forcing out health insurance provides, thus forcing down access to health care.

Stirring up the political waters in Waxman’s home constituency, I know that I am stepping into dangerous territory. Nevertheless, after thirty-eight years, the Southern California region, from Palos Verdes to Malibu, is still waiting by the side of the stagnant political waters for some angel to stir up and resurrect individual liberty, private enterprise, and greater local control with lower taxes and less spending. Waxman is no longer that angel. Mr. Bloomfield, on the other hand, has refused all corporate and special interest donations. He touts a track record of education reform, tort reform to limit frivolous lawsuits, and a successful business savvy. He is the new messenger who will represent us, and not special interests.

Waxman’s thirty-eight years is enough. To every Republican, Independent, and reform-minded Democrat in the Santa Monica Bay, please elect Bill Bloomfield to represent the 33^rd Congressional District, from the South Bay to the Valley.