Heading into the Memorial Day weekend, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) brings us up to date on the goings on in Washington.
"This week in Washington, I participated in several meetings on the economy and financial services issues. My colleagues and I on the Capital Markets Subcommittee had a bipartisan dinner with former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Princeton professor Alan Blinder to discuss regulatory reform as it relates to the Fed. It was very valuable to hear their candid thoughts on this important issue. Also, National Economic Council Chair Larry Summers met with Republican Members of the committee to talk about the economy and share his thoughts on financial industry regulatory changes.
"I also joined my colleague Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) in cosponsoring the Absentee Ballot Track, Receive and Confirm (TRAC) Act (H.R. 2510). This legislation will help many voters who cannot determine whether their absentee ballots were actually sent out, received and counted by helping states establish absentee ballot tracking systems. On a military matter, I introduced legislation that would provide travel reimbursement costs for military members at Edwards Air Force Base who have to travel down to UCLA for specialty medical care for their families. Given Edwards’ remote location, it is appropriate that government help ensure military families’ healthcare needs are met.
This next week I will be back home for a district work week.
On Monday, I will be attending Memorial Day Services at Union Cemetery and Hillcrest Memorial Park. Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for our nation. I am grateful for the brave American men and women who have served and sacrificed. Throughout this past year, I have witnessed how our community continually strives to honor those who have served in the Armed Services. This Memorial Day, we remember the brave Americans who have fallen defending our nation, and those courageous men and women who are serving in distant lands today protecting our freedom.
"Tuesday morning, tune into 1400AM KERN radio as I will be a guest of Danielle Sullivan at 9am. Later that afternoon, I plan on interviewing local veterans about their war-time experiences, and then sending their stories to the Veterans History Project. The Veterans History Project is an initiative by the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov/vets) that collects personal stories of our war veterans so that generations do not forget their sacrifice Tuesday evening I will be hosting an Identity Theft Prevention Town Hall that will start at 5:30p.m. at the Kern County Board of Supervisors. To attend this event please email my office at RSVP.McCarthy@mail.house.gov or call my district office: (661) 327-3611. Every year an estimated 9 million Americans have their identity stolen. To help protect against this growing problem, the town hall will include official representatives from law enforcement and government agencies to listen to concerns and provide safeguards against identity theft.
"On Thursday, the House Republican American Energy Solutions Group will be hosting an Energy Summit in San Luis Obispo County, at CalPoly. I will be leading the Energy Summit with Congressman Devin Nunes and other Members of Congress. The American Energy Solutions Group is working to craft legislative solutions that will help lower energy prices for American families and small businesses, and put America on a path towards energy independence. This event, one of several being held across the United States, is an opportunity for Members of Congress to join with leading local and national experts on energy in a discussion about renewable and alternative energy technologies. This summit is open to the public, so if you are in San Luis Obispo County on Thursday, please join us to participate in the discussion.
"Thanks for reading, have a good Memorial Day weekend.
8 comments:
Why do you run this stuff from McCarthy? It's nothing more than his own PR -- me, me, me, I'm doing so much great stuff for you -- and can't I get that at his website or his blog? It's so boring.
He's our congressman and I don't have any philosophical problem giving him a forum. I personally am curious as to what he views as the priorities of the day. I'd equally have no problem providing a similar forum to the sheriff, the city manager or the police chief. These are folks we entrust with our tax dollars and to make good decisions. There's a time for a "Meet the Press" type grilling and a time to let them have their say.
It just seems like the "old journalism," the DBI (dull but important) stuff you complained about in your Jarvis entry. I'm not looking for a grilling, just something interesting.
An interesting exchange to date. Allow me to join in with three comments. First, Bakersfield is represented in the House by not one, but two individuals, the other being Jim Costa. A quick look at a map of congressional districts shows Mr. McCarthy does not represent all of Bakersfield. Second, not only are Mr. McCarthy's updates duplicated in this blog, they also are printed in the Californian, apparently verbatim. Because Mr. McCarthy is reaching so many people by having his updates printed at no charge in the paper, would he be willing to do his part to reduce the federal deficit by giving up his franking privileges (free mail to constituents)? Third, you mention you would have no problem printing similar updates from others, such as the City Manager. As you know, Mr. Tandy already provides an update to the City Council each Friday that is available to your reporter. I do not see those weekly updates printed in your blog or in the Californian. However, I am not suggesting you do so because, boy, would you have a lot of stuff to include!
What's the response, Mr. Beene? Why not run Jim Costa's same schmoozing baloney that McCarthy gets to run in your paper or at least in your blog, if paper is too expensive? It seems like the right thing to do. Even the idea that Tandy's stuff might be interesting enough for your blog is intriguing. (Did you know that your reporter gets those updates weekly?)
Anon:
First, you need to differentiate between my blog and my position at the paper. This is a personal blog that doesn't earn me a dime. I write about what interests me or about things, like the arts or high achieving kids, that I find important for our community. I'm an unapologetic cheerleader at times, I often feature people I know or schmooze with, and I'm under no obligation to be "fair" to anyone. And if the mood strikes me, I kind of enjoy being snarky from time to time. I asked Kevin McCarthy to write because I think he is someone to watch. He's interesting and I personally like his moderate politics. When I mentioned other voices, like Tandy or even Jim Costa, I did so in the philosophical sense that - in media - I do believe in openness. But this is a blog, not a mass media product, and my choice is to limit who I give a forum to. From your remarks and the fact that you prefer to write anonymously, I assume you are either a political gadfly or you are working in media - possibly at TBC - or did so at one time. What I detect from your remarks is the old longing to "control" the conversation. Why else are you baiting me with the fact that I allow a politician a forum? Here's some free advice: get over it. The days of journalists being "gatekeepers" to content are over. The news sites that succeed will be "open source" in the sense that they will welcome outside input, from "citizen journalists" to politicians and - yes - perhaps even a link to Alan Tandy's weekly report. I have no issue with that and in fact you I bet you will see much more of that both in print and on our website in the near future. So there it is. Thank for the input.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Your comments are well-taken and I appreciate the fact that you acknowledge that you wish to promote your friends on the blog, which is your perogative; I would find it more refreshing if you openly identified them as such. It's nice that you volunteer your time without any financial benefit in providing this blog to the public. I appreciate that, too. You say that news sites/organizations that will succeed will apparently follow this same free-for-all blog-like format without any substantiation proving that this format can be successful. We can respectfully agree to disagree; I look forward to your next pearls of wisdom.
Nice job, Thanks
Post a Comment