St. Helena Star - Editorial: Re-Elect Tenacious, Experienced Thompson
October 18, 2012
It would be easy to endorse Mike Thompson for Congress because he is a St. Helena resident.
He grew up here, worked for Bob Pestoni as one of his first jobs, stayed in St. Helena while serving in the California Legislature and later in the U.S. House of Representatives, and still calls St. Helena home. He travels back and forth from Washington, D.C. nearly every weekend and few people are surprised to see him around town. His wife, Jan, works as a nurse at St. Helena Hospital and Mike is the embodiment of “our” local hometown boy.
As the local newspaper, no one would be surprised if we endorsed Mike, because he's one of us.
But as much as we like Mike, our endorsement is not based on any “favorite son” status, but rather on our district's real and consistent experience of Thompson's competence, service and responsible bi-partisan leadership.
Republican Randy Loftin is running against Thompson in the Nov. 6 election. He is committed and passionate about what's wrong with the United States. He said for the past 225 years, the United States has been the most powerful economic engine in the world. But, he added, the U.S. will lose its position because of inefficiencies in a bloated government, an overly complicated tax code, and a crippling debt that's leading the country down the road to ruin.
It's a familiar, nightmarish story. Loftin said he holds all members of Congress, along with President Barack Obama, responsible for the United States' current troubles. He said members of Congress from both sides of the aisle should be in Washington “doing their job” instead of in their districts campaigning “for another job.”
We agree. Except that this Congress, even when they are in Washington, can't get anything done. There is widespread gridlock, with neither the Republicans nor the Democrats willing to talk to one another, work with one another, reach compromises or get anything done.
Thompson said this Congress is worse than the famed “do-nothing” Congress of Harry Truman's day, and blamed the gridlock on extremists in both parties. But, Thompson said, the previous Congress got a lot done.
The congressman added that America has been divided before, and said this time “it's a cakewalk.” Just think about the divisions during the bloody Civil War, or the fight over civil rights or women's suffrage or the Vietnam War. Those were times when America was deeply divided, when big issues split the country.
“Where we are is in a rough patch, but we'll get out of this,” Thompson told the editorial board last week. “We're Americans and the things that make us Americans will pull us together.”
The congressman's view of America is mostly a positive one; his challenger holds a more negative one. Running as a Republican in a mostly Democratic district, Loftin has a tough road ahead of him. He's trying to run his business at the same time he's campaigning, and he's trying to win a seat from an established, skilled and experienced congressman.
It doesn't help Loftin's cause that he's inexperienced. He's never run for office before, nor has he been appointed to any political body. Surely, if he is elected, that inexperience will hurt him when he gets to Washington. It's doubtful that as one member of 435 in the House of Representatives he can make a difference, no matter how committed and passionate he is. He promised that as a congressman, he would compromise with his fellow members of Congress. He defined compromise as two sides going to the middle, “rather than having it done only my way.”
Loftin, 69, has lived and worked in Napa for the past year or so, having relocated his business from Sonoma to Napa to better serve his tax clients, who are mostly in Napa County. He's running on a number of issues, including fixing Social Security and Medicare; solving the problems of America's ballooning national debt, estimated to be $16 trillion, and its unfunded liabilities, which he estimates at $100 trillion; and creating jobs for the poor and unemployed â€" the real unemployment rate is 15 percent, he claims.
One of the differences between the two men is that Thompson co-authored the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act, while Loftin disagrees with putting the 320,000 acres in federal hands.
Both Loftin and Thompson are fiscal conservatives, but Thompson has the voting record to prove it. As a moderate Blue Dog Democrat, he said he was more fiscally conservative than Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's choice for vice president.
Thompson said he and Ryan voted for the federal stimulus bill and the Troubled Asset Relief Program of 2008. But he said Ryan voted yes on Medicare Part D, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and four rounds of tax cuts from presidents Bush and Obama. Thompson said he voted against all of these, because they were not paid for. He also voted for $5 trillion in cuts in the last budget, he said, although not all were approved in the final budget.
We support and endorse Rep. Thompson because he is skilled, passionate, experienced, tenacious, and knows how to get things done. He and his staff provide extensive services to those in the district, whether the agencies are federal, state or local.
A call from Thompson gets action. He told a story about the Willits Bypass, which had been discussed for some 50 years. As part of the process of getting it built, Thompson said his staff held weekly meetings with officials from Caltrans and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which he claims are the “two most difficult agencies to work with in the universe.” Every three weeks or so, Thompson said he'd meet with the heads of Caltrans and the Corps. He and his staff did this for more than 18 months, and their work was instrumental in getting the Willits Bypass approved. He will be part of a groundbreaking ceremony there later this month.
For his experience, skill, leadership and tenacity, we recommend you vote for Mike Thompson on Nov. 6.
He grew up here, worked for Bob Pestoni as one of his first jobs, stayed in St. Helena while serving in the California Legislature and later in the U.S. House of Representatives, and still calls St. Helena home. He travels back and forth from Washington, D.C. nearly every weekend and few people are surprised to see him around town. His wife, Jan, works as a nurse at St. Helena Hospital and Mike is the embodiment of “our” local hometown boy.
As the local newspaper, no one would be surprised if we endorsed Mike, because he's one of us.
But as much as we like Mike, our endorsement is not based on any “favorite son” status, but rather on our district's real and consistent experience of Thompson's competence, service and responsible bi-partisan leadership.
Republican Randy Loftin is running against Thompson in the Nov. 6 election. He is committed and passionate about what's wrong with the United States. He said for the past 225 years, the United States has been the most powerful economic engine in the world. But, he added, the U.S. will lose its position because of inefficiencies in a bloated government, an overly complicated tax code, and a crippling debt that's leading the country down the road to ruin.
It's a familiar, nightmarish story. Loftin said he holds all members of Congress, along with President Barack Obama, responsible for the United States' current troubles. He said members of Congress from both sides of the aisle should be in Washington “doing their job” instead of in their districts campaigning “for another job.”
We agree. Except that this Congress, even when they are in Washington, can't get anything done. There is widespread gridlock, with neither the Republicans nor the Democrats willing to talk to one another, work with one another, reach compromises or get anything done.
Thompson said this Congress is worse than the famed “do-nothing” Congress of Harry Truman's day, and blamed the gridlock on extremists in both parties. But, Thompson said, the previous Congress got a lot done.
The congressman added that America has been divided before, and said this time “it's a cakewalk.” Just think about the divisions during the bloody Civil War, or the fight over civil rights or women's suffrage or the Vietnam War. Those were times when America was deeply divided, when big issues split the country.
“Where we are is in a rough patch, but we'll get out of this,” Thompson told the editorial board last week. “We're Americans and the things that make us Americans will pull us together.”
The congressman's view of America is mostly a positive one; his challenger holds a more negative one. Running as a Republican in a mostly Democratic district, Loftin has a tough road ahead of him. He's trying to run his business at the same time he's campaigning, and he's trying to win a seat from an established, skilled and experienced congressman.
It doesn't help Loftin's cause that he's inexperienced. He's never run for office before, nor has he been appointed to any political body. Surely, if he is elected, that inexperience will hurt him when he gets to Washington. It's doubtful that as one member of 435 in the House of Representatives he can make a difference, no matter how committed and passionate he is. He promised that as a congressman, he would compromise with his fellow members of Congress. He defined compromise as two sides going to the middle, “rather than having it done only my way.”
Loftin, 69, has lived and worked in Napa for the past year or so, having relocated his business from Sonoma to Napa to better serve his tax clients, who are mostly in Napa County. He's running on a number of issues, including fixing Social Security and Medicare; solving the problems of America's ballooning national debt, estimated to be $16 trillion, and its unfunded liabilities, which he estimates at $100 trillion; and creating jobs for the poor and unemployed â€" the real unemployment rate is 15 percent, he claims.
One of the differences between the two men is that Thompson co-authored the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Act, while Loftin disagrees with putting the 320,000 acres in federal hands.
Both Loftin and Thompson are fiscal conservatives, but Thompson has the voting record to prove it. As a moderate Blue Dog Democrat, he said he was more fiscally conservative than Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's choice for vice president.
Thompson said he and Ryan voted for the federal stimulus bill and the Troubled Asset Relief Program of 2008. But he said Ryan voted yes on Medicare Part D, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and four rounds of tax cuts from presidents Bush and Obama. Thompson said he voted against all of these, because they were not paid for. He also voted for $5 trillion in cuts in the last budget, he said, although not all were approved in the final budget.
We support and endorse Rep. Thompson because he is skilled, passionate, experienced, tenacious, and knows how to get things done. He and his staff provide extensive services to those in the district, whether the agencies are federal, state or local.
A call from Thompson gets action. He told a story about the Willits Bypass, which had been discussed for some 50 years. As part of the process of getting it built, Thompson said his staff held weekly meetings with officials from Caltrans and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which he claims are the “two most difficult agencies to work with in the universe.” Every three weeks or so, Thompson said he'd meet with the heads of Caltrans and the Corps. He and his staff did this for more than 18 months, and their work was instrumental in getting the Willits Bypass approved. He will be part of a groundbreaking ceremony there later this month.
For his experience, skill, leadership and tenacity, we recommend you vote for Mike Thompson on Nov. 6.