For months, I’ve struggled to decide how I would vote in the upcoming 1^st congressional district election.  As a long-time conservative and registered republican, it should have been an easy decision.

The idea of even considering a democrat was a chilling, even frightening, thought.

In the end, though, it boiled down to a vote either for principle or for party.

With less than a month to go before Election Day, I’ve come to a decision.  It was not easy.  But, I’m proud to say, principle wins . . . as it should each and every time.

As John Quincy Adams so aptly put it long ago, “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

According to American Heritage, principle is defined as “a rule or standard, especially of good behavior: a man of principle.”

And, my friends, there’s the rub when it comes to Doug LaMalfa.  Frankly, at least in my opinion, he’s racked up an unacceptable litany of what I’ll simply describe as ‘misbehaviors’.

Sure, democratic congressional candidate, Jim Reed, is far from perfect.  But, I know him to be an honest and principled man.  And that, alone, makes him deserving of my support.

For me, principle always trumps party.

Dare I say, what’s most important to you . . . principle or party?

By Ryan Sabalow, Record Searchlight, February 18, 2012

Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight State Sen. Doug LaMalfa talks with supporters in front of the local Republican headquarters on Hilltop Drive in Redding in  January after announcing he’s running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Wally Herger.

It didn’t take long after Doug LaMalfa announced he was running for Congress last month before a supporter of his Republican opponents went on the attack, zeroing in on just less than $4.7 million of federal subsidies paid to his family rice farm over the last 15 years.

Under the headline “Doug LaMalfa for Congress? Are you kidding me???” Sacramento-area conservative activist Aaron Park posted a logo on his blog showing Republican LaMalfa’s trademark cowboy hat emblazoned with two dollar signs.

The hat was perched atop a bag of rice.

“Nor-Cal Top-10 List of Farm-Aid Recipients,” the caption says.

In an interview, Park says he believes it’s important to point out LaMalfa’s family rice farm in Richvale has received millions of dollars of federal subsidies over the years, something he feels will be one of the biggest issues in the congressional race.

“It’s an issue about honesty and integrity,” Park said. “It’s about presenting yourself as one thing, when you’re not. He really isn’t a fiscal conservative. He’s a liberal  conservative.”

LaMalfa bristled at the attack.

“This guy is a paid mudslinger,” LaMalfa said of Park, who is Shasta County Supervisor Les Baugh’s state Senate campaign manager. “They try it in every campaign. It’s becoming a pretty old story.”

He said subsidies help “breadbasket” crop growers like his family offset the costs of burdensome government regulations, taxes, trade policies and escalating fuel costs that threaten to put them out of business.

The subsidies, he said, keep struggling farmers of rice, corn and other crops “on life support.”

LaMalfa’s family farm received $4.69 million of federal subsidies between 1995 and 2010, according to the Environmental Working Group, an organization that tallies federal farm aid.

When asked about  LaMalfa’s subsidies this week, all four of his opponents said they were aware of the federal payments, although some stopped short of saying they would use them to attack LaMalfa, who has the endorsement of retiring U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico.

Republican Pete Stiglich, of Cottonwood, had no such problem.

Stiglich said it’s hypocritical for a fellow Republican to receive federal farm aid, especially because LaMalfa has billed himself as a leader in the fight against expensive government entitlement programs.

“When it meets his personal interest, it’s not a big entitlement,” Stiglich said.

Gregory Cheadle, a Happy Valley Republican, agreed.

“You can’t condemn welfare recipients on one end then get welfare on the other end,” Cheadle said. “  I mean 5 million bucks? Come on.”

Others were less aggressive about the issue.

The only Democrat to enter the race, Jim Reed of Fall River Mills, said he wasn’t planning to bring up the subsidies, but he will if LaMalfa prompts him to.

“I guess if we’re in the middle of a debate and he’s really going off on small government and reduced spending, it may come up,” Reed said.

“But I’m not planning on using it as weapon at this point.”

Spokesman Mark Standriff said Republican Sam Aanestad’s congressional campaign is for now going to showcase the former state senator’s record, which includes cutting government spending, promoting free markets and job growth.

He said Aanestad’s campaign had no immediate plans to make the subsidies an issue.

However, just minutes after the phone interview ended, Standriff emailed two scanned copies of articles the Chico Enterprise Record published in 2007 detailing Butte and Glenn counties’ farm subsidy  recipients.

LaMalfa’s rice operation in Richvale, Dsl Farms, was the ninth-largest recipient in the northern Sacramento Valley, according to the article.

LaMalfa, a state senator who won his seat after trouncing Republican Rick Keene in 2010, said Keene’s campaign also tried to make the subsidies an issue in that election, and it didn’t work.

LaMalfa said he predicts the other candidates attacking will meet similar fates, because it amounts to attacking the livelihoods of farmers in the rural, agricultural-based 1st Congressional District.

“There’s a good line that comes to mind,” LaMalfa said.

“When you gripe about your farmer, don’t talk with your mouth full.”

End of Record Searchlight Article

* * *

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, published an agriculture backgrounder #2043, entitled How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too, by Brian Riedl and published on June 20, 2007.

This year’s expiration of federal agriculture policies gives Congress an
important opportunity to take a fresh look at the $25 billion spent annually on
farm subsidies. Current farm policies are so poorly designed that they actually
worsen the conditions they claim to solve. For example:

• Farm subsidies are intended to alleviate farmer poverty, but the majority of
  subsidies go to commercial farms with average incomes of $200,000 and net
  worths of nearly $2 million.
• Farm subsidies are intended to raise farmer incomes by remedying low crop
  prices. Instead, they promote overproduction and therefore lower prices
  further.
• Farm subsidies are intended to help struggling family farmers. Instead, they
  harm them by excluding them from most subsidies, financing the
  consolidation of family farms, and raising land values to levels that
  prevent young people from entering farming.
• Farm subsidies are intended to be consumer-friendly and taxpayer-friendly.
  Instead, they cost Americans billions each year in higher taxes and higher
  food costs.

Lawmakers would be hard-pressed to enact a set of policies that are more
destructive to farmers, taxpayers, and consumers than the current farm policies.

For these and other reasons, organizations representing taxpayers, consumers,
environmentalists, international trade, Third World countries, and even farmers
themselves have united around the shared conclusion that the current farm
subsidy system is failing and in dire need of reform during this year’s
reauthorization.

“Into the Wild Blue Yonder”

Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo, California is a place of honor, dignity, reverence and reflection. It’s a very special place, especially to America’s military veterans, their families and friends. A quiet, yet uniquely proud, place. A place where many of our nation’s heroic soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen have come to rest with their comrades-in-arms.

One day in the not too distant future, five new memorials will be incrementally added to these hallowed grounds. One memorial for each of the five military services, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. They will be placed geometrically around the cemetery’s main flag circle, the favored site of such programs as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Wreaths Across America.

In November 2011, Secretary Peter J. Gravett, California Department of Veterans Affairs, formally approved the service memorial project concept. Included in this approval was the go-ahead to begin work on the first of the five service memorials, this one dedicated to the men and women of the United States Air Force. If things go as planned, a dedication ceremony of the Air Force memorial is slated for 2013.

“Although it will be the first service-oriented monument at the state-operated facility, it will likely not be the last”, said Stephen Jorgensen, cemetery administrator.

“We included the concept of memorials for all five branches of service — the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard — along with this proposal and that concept has been approved by Secretary Gravett. Now we have a place for each service memorial and we have set parameters for height and size for all of them,” Jorgensen explained.

The 14-foot tall bronze and stainless steel memorial, a symbol of the Air Force’s history and mission, is titled “Into the Wild Blue Yonder”. When constructed, it will include a bronze globe 6-feet in diameter resting atop a 3-foot high pyramid with an 8-foot square base. Encircling the globe and thrusting 6 to 8-feet upward will be a stainless steel contrail or aircraft path ending in a deltoid-shaped aerospace vehicle.

“Each side of the pyramid base will feature a different inscription including a memorial dedication, an explanation of the memorial’s symbolism, lyrics to the Air Force song and the evolution of the Air Force”, explained retired Air Force Colonel Pete Stiglich of Cottonwood, who is chairing the Air Force memorial committee comprised of local veterans and civilians. Assisting with design development is local artist/sculptor, Gideon Carl Turner III, of Redding.

“What we are doing is creating a shrine to our Veterans, both living and dead,” Jorgensen explained. “It has never been my vision for this place to simply be a cemetery. A shrine must contain a variety of memorials where people can come to appreciate the history, sacrifice and military contributions of the countless veterans who have served our country so unselfishly.”

Kellie Jokela, who chairs the Northern California Veterans Cemetery Support Board, said of the Air Force monument, “I cannot think of a better way to show our appreciation for the dedication of those who served in the U.S. Air Force than to have a memorial erected in their honor,” Jokela said.

Fundraising is underway to cover the costs of creating the memorial and constructing it on-site at the veterans cemetery. Inscribed pavers are being sold that will be used to create the pad upon which the memorial will be placed. Donations are also being accepted from individuals and corporations. Other fundraising opportunities are being planned.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Air Force memorial or wishing to purchase an inscribed paver for a loved one is invited to visit the Air Force Memorial’s official website at www.usafmemorial.org. Donations can be mailed to NCVC-SB, P.O. Box 177, Redding, CA 96099-0177. Please make checks payable to NCVC-SB, and indicate on the memo line the donation is intended for the Air Force Memorial project.

If you’d prefer to make personal contact, please call Colonel Pete Stiglich at (530) 347-9276.

Friends,

I am proud to announce that last night the Shasta County chapter of the California Republican Assembly (CRA) endorsed my candidacy to be the US Representative for the 1st Congressional District.

The CRA is said to be the largest conservative, grassroots organization in California and was referred to as the ‘conscience of the Republican Party’ by President Ronald Reagan.

Thank you Shasta CRA for a great evening and for your special endorsement!

Well, we’ve received our campaign flyers last week and I’m thrilled to report I’ve begun walking the 1st Congressional District.

Plans are to win this campaign the ‘old fashioned way’….I’m going to earn it by walking and meeting as many folks in the district as humanly possible.

To-date, I’ve covered the downtown areas of Cottonwood, Anderson and completed Red Bluff yesterday.

Nothing like hitting the streets and meeting the folks to learn what they’re thinking and  how they’re feeling.

Next stop on the walking tour is Redding and Shasta Lake City.

See  you on the road!

God bless.

By a vote of 36-2, LaMalfa’s former and current Chiefs of Staff
were expelled from the California Republican Assembly by its Board of
Directors.

The CRA, California’s largest conservative grassroots organization and referred to by President Ronald Reagan as the “conscience of the Republican Party”, booted these gentlemen for committing membership fraud and for being disruptive.

So, what was LaMalfa’s role in all this?

At a minimum, you’ve got to question his judgment when he surrounds himself with advisers like this.

Friends, it’s time to begin “Putting America First”.