My sources tell me that Ben Emery is considering a run for the State Senate seat recently vacated by congressional candidate Doug LaMalfa. I didn’t run into Ben at the parade on Sunday, so we’ll have to wait for his confirmation or denial, but at least seven citizens across the district have pulled papers indicating their interest in the contest. If the field is that crowded when the dust settles, it seems likely that there will be a run-off in January. The fun never ends here in election land.
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America is great. Even totally unqualified people can be somebody. Just like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront!
Todd,
Can’t you go one day without insulting somebody?
Jeez.
Ben Emery is much more qualified than Todd Juvinall, and all the rest of the field. More images at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keachie/collections/72157631493200158/
I appreciate seeing the pictures but it sure would have been nice if the presenter would have taken time to add captions identifying the participants or perhaps a pithy comment.
RL,
You’re correct. We pulled papers on Friday and will be on the primary ballot November 6, 2012, No Party Preference. We believe in a democratic republic and the key for a functional representative government is to have representatives of the people not the leadership of political parties or big money special interests.
Who is “we”?
We is my wife and friends who agreed to help with the campaign, nobody is an island.
That’ll work. Yikes!
If Juvinall can get elected to the board of supes, anything’s possible in this county.
What a hoot! Odachi complains I am insulting and then we have Boardman insulting me. This is too precious. LOL!
Just as a reminder for Odachi and Boardman, BenE has complaineded many times on the blogs about me what you complain I have said. So, what is good for the goose appears to stop at liberals.
Can anybody explain to me the first sentence of Juvinall’s second paragraph?
I didn’t insult him, I questioned the intelligence of local voters. (Wait a minute, did I just insult Emery?)
Ya
Good luck, Ben Emery, whoever you are. Don’t know what you can do in the teenage wasteland known as the State Senate. Are you Pro-Choice? Pro-Choice meaning choice in choosing a charter school. Are you “all of the above” when it goes to energy? All of the above lately means all of the above ground.
Side note: About a year ago I was coming up from Penn Valley and got behind a very slow vehicle that was moving too slow for my liking. Instead of tailgating or being rude, I backed off. I could tell the driver was a nice elderly woman. She had a Ben Emery bumper sticker which I had plenty of time to read countless times being stuck behind the vehicle.
I feel good now knowing I might have been nice to your Mother or a supporter, without her knowledge.
Robert,
Thanks, it could have been my mom. My parents live in Penn Valley. My issues are a bit complex which makes for interesting blogging. I generally get it from both sides which tells me I must be on the correct path. In a nut shell everything will revolve around reforming the legalized corruption of our government and its policies. This includes the decentralization of power both private and public along with campaign/ electoral reform, drug laws/ prison industry, poverty, education, health care, and banking. As the campaign gets along I will be putting out more detailed positions on the issues.
Good luck to you, Ben. Elections are supposed to be about ideas, and those of us who inhabit this corner of the blogosphere know that you are never short of those. We look forward to a spirited campaign.
I wish Ben well. There was a time in this country when we had a citizen legislature and a law degree or owning (or being owned by) a political endorsement was not a prerequisite for service. Ben has a strong independent voice. I am curious Ben, who are the other six people who have pulled papers?
Steve,
Thanks,
We will find out tomorrow when nomination papers are due, as far as I know it is Jim Nielsen and Dan Logue. That is why we decided to throw in our hat. Not much difference between those two, especially for those of us who don’t subscribe to the Tea Party philosophy.
What are the chances the Mr. Juvenile could keep his insipid comments on his own BLOG and let others voice their comments here without derision? Of course the danger there is that someone could start a BLOG and no one would read it.
So you can do your nasty comments without retort? Nope.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I support Ben in his run for the State Senate. Ben offers fresh ideas, intelligence and a huge difference from the status quo. Representation is needed that reflects the ideals of all the constituents, not just factions that focus on a very narrow scope.
So if he gets 2,000 votes and loses 98% to 2%, what should we glean from that? Are his ideas reflective of “all” the constituents or just the 2%?
Ben Emery has less of a chance than he did the last time he ran… it helped to be the Green candidate when the Democratic carpetbagger on the ballot was a certifiable lunatic conspiracy theorist who was referred to as Clint Curtis, D-Mars, in his hometown free press leftist rag back in Florida. Even I voted for Ben, not as a protest against McClintock but in the hope the local Democratic party could have their nose rubbed into the mess they made of the ballot.
Hey Bob, with a little work you might end up with the reputation of being the “nice” blog. All we need to do it get Todd and Greg to settle down a little and focus on actual issues instead of personality and we could be there. Who knows, you might corner the market on local blogging, just like you cornered the market on irony!
Although I do have to give Greg credit, he did not go after Ben!
Steve,
I understand perfectly well when we put our ideas out for public consumption there will be plenty of people who disagree for various reasons. The one thing I hope Greg appreciates the fact that I don’t pander but rather state my opinions and let them stand on their own. If people agree or disagree doesn’t change my position as a candidate but as an elected official my opinion is only a starting place on actual votes cast on behalf of the entire district.
Ben, there isn’t a chance that you will succeed in becoming a State Senator this time around, and I’d expect that to hold in the future.
I’ll leave that to the electorate, Steve.
Most who successfully run for office have been somewhat successful, with both college degrees and some success in their economic life. A “ranch manager” doesn’t need a college education, but a State Senator probably should have one.
So what you’re saying is just bow to the inevitable? Don’t bother running for office, it’s a waste of time? If you don’t have a degree, you aren’t qualified?
Sheesh! You sound like my former editor.
You need more than empty rhetoric to represent the people, RL. Ben’s ideas are half baked at best.
A high school diploma and some record of real accomplishment would be just fine. I even voted for a presidential candidate with only a high school diploma once, the Libertarian Harry Browne, but then he’d had a solid stint in the Army Signal Corps and later wrote 13 books (lightweight as they may be) pertaining to his second career, financial planning and economics.
Going to college doesn’t make an idiot any smarter, but most who go on to earn a 4 year degree are smarter idiots than the ones that don’t, though that might not be the case for that former editor of yours.
RL,
With a quick search I found the Bachelor’s degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2006-2010 of the district. I represent the vast majority of the people of the district.
Butte 24%
Collusa 11%
Del Norte 14%
Glenn 16%
Shasta 20%
Siskiyou 22%
Sutter 18%
Tehama 12%
Trinity 19%
Yuba 12%
Nevada 32%
Placer 34%
That’s right. We have 435 of the brightest, surrounded by an army of lawyers and professors, who can’t seem to put Humpty Doodle back together again. Harvard and Yale. Skull and Bones. They’re more interested in keeping their power than sitting down at the table and hammering out solutions. (Bob Woodward’s new book appears to confirm this.)
At least Ben is willing to make an effort. I probably have as many qualms with his positions as you do, Greg, but I respect his willingness to buck the trend. Ya gotta start somewhere.
Ben, you don’t have to lack a grade school education to represent someone who dropped out of the 5th grade.
RL, I don’t think the solution to the problem is to elect folks who can’t read and understand the legislation their staff writes.
Greg,
I find it funny that you think my ideas are half baked at best. Where do you think these ideas come from? Which ones do you think are the worst. Removing special interest money out of political parties and campaigns, opposing the stripping of our civil liberties, trade policy that protects American manufacturing jobs, tax policy that taxes capital at least the same as labor, holding big banks accountable, reducing our military/ defense budget by reducing our international military bases by 10%, health care for all, decriminalize marijuana, no second class citizens, or decentralizing power both at the public and corporate levels?
My observation is that this entire exchange is very character revealing. The point that it supports my contention above that there are some who participate for intellectual pursuit and some who participate to bolster a weak and insecure ego is just a bonus. Greg’s entire presence on these blogs smacks of the latter; Ben’s reveals the former, a man who is sincerely interested in learning about what other people think and why. I question the idea that a degree reveals the better educated man. This is what I really mean when I observe that the difference between Greg and Todd is merely vocabulary. In their core they are the same man, motivated by a need to demean others in order to perpetuate their own delusion.
“Removing special interest money out of political parties and campaigns”
Ben, your very first example is the least baked of all. “Special interest money” is in play because “special interests” have just as much right to have their speech heard as any not-so-special interest, whoever you may think they are. How to restrict spending without trampling on the Bill of Rights has been an issue on the front burner since Watergate and I think the upshot has been no real change. Perhaps if you’d post on just *how* Ben Emery would define what a “special interest” is and how you would remove their rights to spend to have their voices heard in the public political sphere, we could see if your idea is more or less than half-baked and move on to the second one you list.
” In their core they are the same man, motivated by a need to demean others in order to perpetuate their own delusion.”
Steven Frisch, you’re projecting again. Your entire diatribe of 4:56AM is illustrative of your need to demean others.
Hold a mirror up Greg, I came to the defense of another. I am merely calling your behavior exactly what it is…childish, insecure braggadocio.
I’ll just put it out there right now: I’m voting for Ben and I support about 80% of his platform, which is more than any other candidate running for that office.
What a hoot! Greg is so far advanced in the intelligence quotient it is scary. But keep trying there SteveF. Someday you may measure up.
And his school is doing better too: Among the National Liberal Arts Colleges, Vassar College jumped up four spots to crack the top 10, tying with Claremont McKenna College. Harvey Mudd College rose from 18th to tie for 12th, and Bard College moved up 15 spots, from a tie at 51st to a tie at 36th.
Greg,
What you describe is a perfect example of the disregard for the interests of the people in the district. Rather candidates represent the state/ national party leadership interests instead of the interests of the constituents and people of their districts. We need to make structural changes to our campaign/ electoral systems if we are to ever have a functional representative form of government.
Here is a long excerpt from George Washington farewell address 1796 on political parties.
“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. “
Yes, George Washington knew how to write. Quoting him won’t win you the election.
That is good!
My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
George Washington
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.
George Washington
Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.
George Washington
Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
George Washington
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_washington.html#k2Jh7GKfE4iCLylp.99
Great quotes Robert. Steve Frisch and Jeff Pelline would call him a right wing extremist nazi today.
Todd, we don’t even need to work to show who you are do we? You just perfectly demonstrated Tom Odachi’s point.
You are not denying areyou? What a hoot!
Now, perhaps we should get back to whether or not Mr. Emery’s views would represent our District well.
He certainly has the right to run but his views are too extreme left for the district. He would do better in SF downtown.
I could care less that BenE has a diploma or not. If he wants to run for anything then I say go for it. What fascinates me about the libs on this thread is they trash Mitt Romney ad nauseum and any other well qualified conservative and then tell us someone like BenE is more qualified. Mindless pablum. Partisanship above country. BenE’s view are way too left for the district and he will maybe get 2,000 votes from the 750,000 residents of the district. That is an attack on windmills but this is America and he has every right to pursue the office.
When I or Greg point these realities out, the lefty folks like Odachi and Frisch have a cow. What a hoot.
I have never stated that Mr. Romeny is not qualified to be President. I have never questioned his academic credentials. I have never stated that his experience, both in government and in business, are insufficient for him to be President of the United States. What ‘realities’ are you and Greg pointing out? That you think there is a litmus test for elected service in America? If there was you would never have been elected Supervisor. You are all over the map here Todd. The fact is that you guys attacked his credentials. You said he is ‘unqualified’. Never mind that specific academic qualifications are not spelled out in either the federal or state constitutions that you in particular say we should be hewing to. You are simply a hypocrite here buddy.
Now you want to make the point that the issues or positions that Ben champions are out of step with the people of the district, that is another matter.
But that is not what you lead with….you lead with personal insult…
And by the way, Marlon Brando won a Best Actor academy award for On the Waterfront.
I never said Ben was “unqualified” by only having a high school education, Steve, only that to be elected to office one usually needs to have accomplished *something*. Ben’s main claim to fame is that he was on the ballot as a Green when the Democrat was a certifiable loon, and so got a large protest vote. And he’s been a part time college student for over a decade without any degree to show for it.
RL, it does appear your time zone is off kilter again, showing an hour earlier than reality calls for.
As of right about now, my computer shows it’s 3:05PM Zulu, and 8:05AM Pacific.
First Greg, I was responding to Todd, which would have been clear to anyone, so don’t try to imply I misquoted you somehow.
Second, it is true you did not say “unqualified”; you merely implied and insinuated ‘unqualified’, which is worse in my book, because it shows you don’t have the courage to stand by your statements. Don’t try to dissemble here, the readers are too smart.
Steven Frisch, I can’t see where Todd J stated Ben was unqualified either, so that remains a straw man of your making.
You and Ben have both sat over at the Purple FUE’s Blog and thrown rocks at the likes of Todd J and Rebane. I’ve called Ben on one of his half baked ideas above; let’s hear how Ben Emery would get money out of politics without trampling on the rights of folks he doesn’t agree with.
SteveF, you are too much. You trash as unqualified every Republican and conservative in all these blogs then come ob=ver here and lie through your teeth about that. You must think everyone else is illiterate and can’t read I guess. Also, I am not your “buddy”, I know you libs think you are superior when you say those things. You want to support BenE, then go for it. Door knocking, mail stuffing, coffee klatches, phone work and most of all, money. Start writing those ten grand checks for him.
He is as left as you and that position is a small percentage of the electorate (way left of the democrats too). I represent the majority political philosophy in the district and that just riles you libs. BenE and you have stated numerous times about my “qualifications” but the proof is in the pudding. I actually ran and won and I am grateful the people of my District elected me. You might try some humility in your life since your “qualifications” are pretty suspect. People in glass houses?
Todd you are consistently being fed a crap sandwich by your party who tells you it is caviar. You woof it down with much pleasure and promote this as caviar. Same with many of the Dems. I applaud Ben who knows the current parties are always feeding us crap and Ben is trying to change the menu. We need more people like Ben willing to stand up and try and make a difference. Regardless of the outcome of this election, Ben is getting involved and taking a firm stance. Demeaning Ben as an individual or his ideals while munching on your crap sandwich is pure tunnel vision. You keep enjoying the fodder feed to you by your party. I prefer a new course and a healthier direction.
No one feeds me anything Kenny, But you just keep on attacking those windmills. No wonder you are considered an extremist.
I don’t have time to answer every charge here so I will leave it with this last thought. If you think Sacramento and DC are working fine then by all means continue voting for cookie cutter party reps with the same old rhetoric and broken ideas that benefit the privileged few while screwing the majority of the people. What we will continue to get in return is a very dysfunctional unrepresentative government and an unhappy populace.
For Greg,
I have put pursuing RN degree on hold until my daughter gets out of High School, she is a senior this year. My options were to move to another city dragging my family with me, leaving them behind, or putting it on hold. My family comes first.
Ben, you asked what was half-baked and responded with a list of issues you were running on. First on that list was getting “special interest money” out of political races. How do you define “special interests” and how would you keep them from spending money without trampling on their constitutional rights?
Two years ago your education was on hold for your congressional campaign. Now it’s because your daughter is still in high school. You’ve written your part time college career started at age 32, and by the calendar, it appears you’re now pushing 43. It just doesn’t seem clear that you are able to set goals and work towards them with any real vigor.
Enjoy the campaign.
Greg,
This will be the last time I will explain my personal life with you. This is a very brief summary of my working towards a RN degree. There is much much more involved than these few words but maybe you will get the picture.
When I started pursuing an RN degree we lived in Colorado. The closest college to where we lived with a RN program was 95 miles away with an 11,000-foot pass in between. At the time my wife and I were running a business and I was working 50 – 60 hours a week and raising two young children. I could only take two classes a semester. I cannot tell you how many times I drove in white out level storms and had 2 hours of sleep. This is when I started drinking coffee. We sold our business and I became the manager for the new owner, which cut down my hours to a normal full time job. I was close to entering into Nursing School when a near fatal car accident happened and my daughter suffered a broken back, fractured skull, and ruptured intestines. My wife got really beat up but didn’t suffer the level of injuries that our daughter did. I took the next semester off dealing with the doctor appointments and buearacracy and immoral practices of the private health insurance industry. The closest specialists for our needs were 70 miles away and a majority of them were in the Denver area, which was 6 hours away. My wife stopped driving until she figured out why she blacked out that caused the accident. This was my first experience really dealing with the private health insurance industry. If it were not for our auto insurance we wouldn’t have been able to afford the health care. We as a family decided to move to California to be near my parents and allow my wife to pursue her dream of working with horses for a living. I started the RN program at Yuba College. I lost many units and entered into the state with the most pre requisites for nursing in the nation. I had at least 3 full time semesters before applying for the nursing school. I am a part time student with two young kids, just made a major move, my wife is trying to start a new business and is out of the area every other week, and I am trying to do some handyman work in between my couple classes and my kids schedules. I landed a job for a couple managing their ranch and properties. I finished all my pre requisites in 2009 and applied for Yuba College Nursing School, which is totally compacted and had a three to four year waiting list. Instead of trying to jump through all the hoops to stay on the list we (as a family) decided for me to wait until both of our kids were out of high school and make a decision then on what to do next.
Just like discussing issues there are tons of nuance and information that isn’t accessible.
Bob, I am sorry to have used your blog to engage in this exchange with Greg and Todd. If Greg responds I am going to STFU now, and let the record stand. I know your readers don’t really want to hear it.
If we want to debate Ben’s views, which he seems to be willing to encourage, I will participate in that discussion.
Actually, Steve, Ben has now bowed out rather than discuss any issue; what a shame, but probably best since his promise to get special interest money out of politics was likely just feel-good empty rhetoric that he cannot rationally support.
Feel free to STFU if continuing just means more of the same personal insults.
Yes, I think debating the issues is what we should be doing here. I’ll start.
Here is Ben’s list from above; I’ll add my comment after each one:
> Removing special interest money out of political parties and campaigns
There is no question that our elections are being bought, but I also agree with GG that money has a First Amendment element, which is why it has been so difficult to heard this cat. I think the best first step is 100% full disclosure of who is behind ALL campaign contributions, including SuperPACs. Also, Citizen’s United must be overturned; corporations are not individual citizens, period.
> Opposing the stripping of our civil liberties
Who can argue with that?
> Trade policy that protects American manufacturing jobs
This one I’m not so fond of, since trying to control a global economy with tariffs can get out of hand very quickly. Some export and import incentives are necessary when markets get out of kilter, but they should be kept to a minimum.
> Tax policy that taxes capital at least the same as labor
Maybe not the same, but closer than what we have today.
> Holding big banks accountable
Agree 100%. We need to re-instate the Glass-Steagall Act.
> Reducing our military/ defense budget by reducing our international military bases by 10%
A good start. The military-industrial complex needs to be completely reformed and audited.
> Health care for all
Agree 100%.
> Decriminalize marijuana
Agree 100%
> No second class citizens
I’m not sure what Ben means by this.
> Decentralizing power both at the public and corporate levels
I’d need to get a better understanding of what policies Ben supports to undertake this gargantuan task. I favor the continuing reduction of public employment but I’m not sure if that has anything to do with “decentralized power,” though I do believe that smaller is better, and local gov’ts should be favored over state and federal bureaucracies. Corporations should be regulated, but I don’t know if that is what Ben means by decentralizing their power.
Michael A.
Mike, all but the first one are purely Federal matters, and Ben is now pretending to run to be our State Senator. I’ve asked him how he’d propose to limit the power of the #1 special interest running Sacramento, the California Teacher’s Association. Maybe Keachie can help him to formulate a policy on how to limit the deleterious effects of unfunded public employee pension obligations on the state’s finances.
You’re right, though I think regarding the MJ issue the state could be a lot more confrontational with the fed so perhaps that is what Ben is suggesting.
I am also interested in hearing Ben’s answer to how to reign in the CTA. With education being almost 60% of the entire state budget, something is clearly broken in the resources-expended/results ratio of our public education system in California.
Ben, would you support declaring the 20-yr.-long charter school “experiment” to be a phenomenal success, and making every school in California a charter school under the Charter Schools Act of 1992?
Michael,
I doubt I would support a 20 year charter school experiment on my understanding at the moment but nothing is out of the question until I do the proper research on the issue. For the record our daughter went to a charter school NCSA.
As for stripping the CTA their power with removing special interests is part of tough changes we have to make if we are going to create a functional government. Piling more laws onto existing laws is a band aid approach that has led to much of the grid lock in Sacramento. Large institutions that have power will never give it up willingly. In the long run it would be better and healthier for everyone.
We are working on our website and will have many of these issues with solutions outlined. Hopefully it will be up soon. Everything has been squeezed into a very short time frame, which is making it tough to run grassroots campaign.
“As for stripping the CTA their power [sic] with removing special interests [sic] is part of tough changes [sic]we have to make if we are going to create a functional government.”
“Tough changes”, indeed. Do you think all pension promises to public employees should be kept no matter the impact on current services?
Also, a question begged by your old website, can you expound upon “the major tenants of the Supply Side/Trickle Down Economics” issue?
Greg,
Pensions are contracts that should be kept.
Trickle Down question It is covered on the website just keep reading all the way through the page.
http://www.benemery.org/economic-reform.html
I read it, Ben. Just who are the “tenants” of Trickle down?
The public pension promises can’t be kept, and that’s the big problem that keeps getting kicked down the road.
Maybe Keachie can correct Greg’s misrepresentation of lobbying monies in California politics:
“(At left) During a Thursday morning Sacramento news conference, Common Cause Policy Advocate Phillip Ung notes that business and governmental organizations vastly outspent labor unions on lobbying during 2011, a record year for lobbying spending,
California Teachers Association (CTA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) led the 2011 lobbying spending at $6.57 million and $5.00 million respectively, according to Common Cause’s 2011 Campaign Finance and Lobbying Industry Report.
Western State Petroleum Association ($4.27 Million), the City of Vernon ($3.52M) and the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. ($3.01 million) rounded out the top five.
Ung noted that in the aggregate, labor’s total spending of $133.3 million since the year 2000 was outstripped by that of industries including health ($306.4 million), manufacturing ($261.2 million) and finance/insurance ($199.3 million), among other industries.
Source: http://blog.cta.org/2012/02/02/common-cause-labor-unions-top-2011-lobbying-spending-list-but-business-interests-outspent-them/
Greg,
I not willing to hang around to read how your intellect is superior. If you want to have a dialogue on issues, then lets have that dialogue.
Special interests include corporations, lobbyists, labor unions, environmental groups, ect… or do you need to see an entire list. Lobbying government is legal and I don’t object to it. Lobbying government through expensive junkets, dinners, vacation homes, over paid speaking engagements, large contributions to political parties and campaigns, and so on are bribes.
We are supposed to be the government not institutions, groups, or organizations that have accumulated huge sums of wealth. The first three words of the US Constitution are “We The People”. My guess this is where we differ in opinion. I understand that all legal organizations, institutions, and entities get the privilege to legally exist through our government. Our government, we the people, cannot afford to let our representatives and public offices be corrupted by these special interests if we want a government of, by, for the governed. The limit to political contributions should be set at a level that a billionaire has no more influence than does the janitor. Unfortunately the corruption of our two major political parties have set it up that everything in the structure and operations dramatically favor those with the most capital. The operating paradigm of having little choice has to change if we are to ever have a democratic representative form of government.
Check out this story that illustrates my position perfectly.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/383182/20120911/sheldon-adleson-saves-2-billion-romney-tax.htm
“The fact that Sheldon Adelson has pledged to spend $100 million toward Mitt Romney’s election probably seems excessive to most Americans, no matter what their income. But it could be an investment with an incredible 2,200 percent return if the Republican nominee takes the White House in November, according to a new report from the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund.”
You’re off topic, Ben. I’ve not been comparing my intellect to yours or anyone else’s, but I have been asking questions you’re still ignoring.
The California Teacher’s Association is the #1 special interest and power in Sacramento, sometimes referred to as “the owners” by state legislators. What would you propose to do in the State Senate to lessen their impact, assuming you’d have a chance to win even if you had a credible campaign, if the CTA had any idea you wanted to lessen their impact?
Please note that your janitor and Billionaire both have only one vote; they are equal at the ballot box. You’ll have to be willing to settle for that because its settled law that you can’t limit the ability for someone to spend their own money to promote causes they support. That pesky Bill of Rights gets in the way.
Hey RL, it sure would be nice if Mr. Goodnight’s endless stream of insults and personal attacks here where not here. Seems impossible to have a civil discussion on issues here with Mr. Goodnight in the mix.
Greg,
You are wrong again. Slavery, women’s suffrage, inability to form a union and collectively bargain, and illegal abortion were settled law at one point in our history. Thankfully progressive people pushed, educated, and fought for all of these things to be abolished.
Just admit you don’t agree with my issues and lets be on our way. If you don’t like what I have to offer then don’t vote for me. It is that simple.
My issues
Fair Elections- State
Health Care for All- State
Decriminalize Marijuana-State
State Owned Banks – State
Same Sex Marriage- State
Tax Reform- State
Ben, thanks for clearing up that state vs. fed question.
Let’s look at that new list:
Fair Elections- State
Fair to Ben means people with money can’t spend it.
Health Care for All- State
The state is broke.
Decriminalize Marijuana-State
It already is decriminalized by the state; all one needs is an easily purchased permission slip.
State Owned Banks – State
The Bank (not Banks) of North Dakota doesn’t do retail banking, and makes most of its money by handling the cash of the state of ND. Calfornia is in hock to its eyeballs and papering over its debts with smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t have the money to buy any banks nor does it have any constitutional authority (state or federal) to take over any banks.
Same Sex Marriage- State
The state civil union statute already provides every civil right available under California law that is given to heterosexual marriage.
Tax Reform- State
Put it on the table. Somehow, I doubt the Ben Emery view of state tax reform will ring many bells.
Reading Ben Emery’s hot list, one might completely miss that the economy of California is in freefall and the state is nearing bankruptcy.
How about a stand on high speed rail, Ben. A good investment for $100 billion of borrowed money?
Hey, lets just shoot ourselves in the head, its all over anyway!
I see Ben, in coming up with a new list, has gone from “holding banks accountable” to “state owned banks”.
Good luck with that one, and thanks for being a bit more candid: you’re even harder to the left than I imagined.
Greg,
We just finalized our paperwork at the elections office and I need to get to work.
Vote for Logue or Nielson and get more of the same representation in Sacramento. Have a good day.
Not only is a state owned bank not a crazy idea it is being done quite successfully in that bastion of communism, North Dakota….http://banknd.nd.gov/
oops…I see Ben posted more information below…
RL,
Sorry for the repost but I didn’t want it to get lost in the sometimes confusing reply threads. I think it is important.
Greg,
This will be the last time I will explain my personal life with you. This is a very brief summary of my working towards a RN degree. There is much much more involved than these few words but maybe you will get the picture.
When I started pursuing an RN degree we lived in Colorado. The closest college to where we lived with a RN program was 95 miles away with an 11,000-foot pass in between. At the time my wife and I were running a business and I was working 50 – 60 hours a week and raising two young children. I could only take two classes a semester. I cannot tell you how many times I drove in white out level storms and had 2 hours of sleep. This is when I started drinking coffee. We sold our business and I became the manager for the new owner, which cut down my hours to a normal full time job. I was close to entering into Nursing School when a near fatal car accident happened and my daughter suffered a broken back, fractured skull, and ruptured intestines. My wife got really beat up but didn’t suffer the level of injuries that our daughter did. I took the next semester off dealing with the doctor appointments and buearacracy and immoral practices of the private health insurance industry. The closest specialists for our needs were 70 miles away and a majority of them were in the Denver area, which was 6 hours away. My wife stopped driving until she figured out why she blacked out that caused the accident. This was my first experience really dealing with the private health insurance industry. If it were not for our auto insurance we wouldn’t have been able to afford the health care. We as a family decided to move to California to be near my parents and allow my wife to pursue her dream of working with horses for a living. I started the RN program at Yuba College. I lost many units and entered into the state with the most pre requisites for nursing in the nation. I had at least 3 full time semesters before applying for the nursing school. I am a part time student with two young kids, just made a major move, my wife is trying to start a new business and is out of the area every other week, and I am trying to do some handyman work in between my couple classes and my kids schedules. I landed a job for a couple managing their ranch and properties. I finished all my pre requisites in 2009 and applied for Yuba College Nursing School, which is totally compacted and had a three to four year waiting list. Instead of trying to jump through all the hoops to stay on the list we (as a family) decided for me to wait until both of our kids were out of high school and make a decision then on what to do next.
Just like discussing issues there are tons of nuance and information that isn’t accessible.
Not to minimize the tragedy and heartache of the injury to your daughter, I’ll call your car accident and raise you seven close relatives dying of natural causes from 2000 to 2005, including my college sweetheart, wife and mother of our then 12 year old son in 2001, of ovarian cancer, courtesy of her Swiss-German bloodline; her goal was to live until he graduated from high school but fell short by six years. All of our son’s grandparents passed away in a very short time. None of them lived to see him graduate from high school, college or to see him get his pick of graduate schools.
Would you want to switch places?
We all have our struggles, Ben. Don’t assume you’re a special case.
For Christs sake Greg, he was not claiming to be a special case, nor was he referencing that his life was any tougher than yours in any way. I am sorry for both of your losses…I wish you peace when remembering and loving your loved ones…but the chip it has left on your shoulder is a goddam boulder.
Classic, classic, Gregory Goodknight the Pilot’s, oneupsmanship on full self pity display. Sockitohim!
Greg,
What a childish response. I don’t play games with fellow human being heartaches and suffering. Contrary to your beliefs I consider myself a very successful human being as do most people who know me.
More ad hominem remarks from the current Harold Stassen of local elections.
Face it, Ben, you just never took education seriously, and choose to blame external events for your failure to follow through. Were it not for your last campaign web site’s choice to highlight your status as a returning student just taking a year off for the campaign I’d not have bothered with it.
Why did you feel a need to invent an educational success if you were such a “successful human being”?
For those who are interested in learning more about Public Banking/ State Owned Banks. The issue has already been picked up by some in the state legislature. Outside the box thinking is desperately needed in Sacramento.
Here is Bank of North Dakota President Eric Hardmeyer explaining the funding and how the idea works.
“Our funding model, our deposit model is really what is unique as the engine that drives that bank. And that is we are the depository for all state tax collections and fees. And so we have a captive deposit base, we pay a competitive rate to the state treasurer. And I would bet that that would be one of the most difficult things to wrestle away from the private sector—those opportunities to bid on public funds. But that’s only one portion of it. We take those funds and then, really what separates us is that we plow those deposits back into the state of North Dakota in the form of loans. We invest back into the state in economic development type of activities. We grow our state through that mechanism.”
http://publicbankinginstitute.org/
“I-bank projects are funded by issuing bonds to investors. A state-owned public bank is capitalized by state investment funds and the deposits would be from liquid accounts currently in place with private, Wall Street banks. A public bank, using the Bank of North Dakota model, would be able to then issue credit to Main Street businesses through the existing community bank network in California. The existing I-bank is not currently setup to do this.”
I had assumed you were talking about the four year BS Nursing program at Sac State, a much harder commute and program than the more vocational program at Yuba City. So, you applied to Yuba for their Associate of Arts Nursing program in 2009 but didn’t choose to ‘jump through the hoops’ to stay on their wait list which is three or four years long. So, you’ll reapply in late 2013 expecting to be able to actually begin taking classes by 2016?
Checking google maps, that campus is a 22 mile drive from Penn Valley. Call it a half hour. Not a particularly hard commute, is it?
A suggestion: you might consider not discussing your status as a non-traditional college student in your new campaign bio. It doesn’t bear close attention.
For some, life surely is nasty. brutish and short.
Save yourself the commute, Greg, sell the plane and move to East Palo Alto. Geez the things you find to kvetch about!
Since only Douglas Keachie has the delusion that I’ve ever commuted to Palo Alto, and remains upset that I’m a pilot (thanks to a non profit collegiate flight school in my undergraduate years) and he never will be, I’d say my suspicions that “Tom Betterman” is yet another Keachie sock puppet are confirmed.
Right now, there’s a 1/3 partnership in an airplane that looks like mine at the local airport, going begging for 10K. Nothing stopping you Keach, you too can be derided by the Keachies of the world as a 1%-er for the cost of a chevy.
No airport in East Palo Alto, but literal Greg will find it difficult to avoid San Carlos and San Jose. From here on out, Greg will spend his days identifying Keachie as the “Betterman.” Lovin it!
Ben:
I would be willing to be on your “Ph.Ds for Emery” committee. Your participation on the blogs is typically measured, thoughtful, and informed. I hope that there is some way you can take that approach to Sacramento while remaining independent of the monied interests, including the Indian casinos, corporate money and union money.
You’ve already taken money out of the campaign by not accepting many campaign contributions. That’s a real good start in my book. Do you need money to win? Perhaps. But I am also not really keen on supporting someone who has accepted a lot of other people’s money, like the (at least) two Republicans you are running against.
Tony
Tony, I don’t think the issue for Ben is winning, but rather just not coming in last. The 2010 election for that seat had the Republican getting 68% of the vote and it doesn’t look like the area has changed much.
Not accepting many campaign contributions is a great way to keep the money out and it’s also a fine way to explain away not having many contributions to speak of. He may be a great hit and a perfect fit for the CSU Chico faculty lounges, though since the 22 mile drive to Yuba City College was a hardship for him and his family, it’s unclear whether he’ll be appearing very often.
Tony,
As you can see Greg seems to live in a different world where time and money don’t seem to exist or matter. He has no idea what he is talking about and obviously has no understanding of how average people live.
Ouch, you nailed me with that one, Ben. You’re absolutely right, I don’t have a clue. I didn’t grow up in an average family, go to below average public schools before actually managing to be way above average in a high stakes exam (without any test prep) that got me into a top college, where I met and fell in love with a lass from another average family and below average public schools who also managed a high score in the same high stakes exam.
And our kid has managed to survive below average schools, partially because I threw my career under the bus in order for him to have at least one parent after his mom died, and to help care for his grandparents who all started to die at about the same time.
That’s right, Ben, I just don’t have a clue how real people have to make tradeoffs. The idea that you should make selfless choices for one’s family just isn’t in my book.
With some focus, if you started working on an AA at a community college at age 32, you could have had that degree at age 34. For that matter, had you thought an education was important you could have had it done at age 20, long before you were married and a father.
Thanks Tony,
Everything has happened since Friday so we are trying to get our team back together and put forward a good campaign. More will be coming soon.
Ben
Ben:
You may be drawing to an inside straight, but good luck with it! We need people who are willing to challenge the status quo.
Tony
Tony,
It might be more like a inside straight flush but until we get concerned citizens sanding up and challenging the status quo we will keep getting horrible representation and government.
“It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want and get it.”
Eugene Debs
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Wake up Judith, the election is over! Ben won!
Now go back to sleep, don’t worry about the state, it’s in good hands.
Bob – just catching up with the crotchety dinosaurs of N.C. this sad day – expecting the worst in spin from the usual contrarian suspects (blame the “Kenyan” and “Ragheads”) and getting exactly that, when I stumbled across your blog.
Good on ya for the effort, but as witnessed above, screw free speech!
Purge these obvious haters before your attempt at providing a platform for rational (or at least moderately civil) discourse is lain to tatters by those with a history of such shredding (just search the interwebs for GG to glimpse his history).
Douche-nozzles, all.
Ben, do your thing. They are but a fringe in the “last throes”.
Unfortunately, I believe you are tilting at windmills, but as with our current, fairly elected, figurehead ‘leader’ – I am all for at least voting in a representative more reflective my core values, and at least attempting change.
Another sock puppet fighting the bad fight, unwilling to use their own name, lest their multiple personalities be seen on the same thread at the same blog.
I’ve never been a birther, thrower of racial epithets or any of the other bad things Mr.Guano is trying to tar me with. RL, I think this one really does reach the level of slander.
Mr. Goodnight’s endless personal attacks are shameful. Sad this is allowed to go on and on and on here.
Call it into the Sheriff, Greg,for the blotter, and find your listing disposed of as CBC.
Seems clear and impossible to have a civil discussion on issues here with Mr. Goodnight in the mix. His endless, pointless, needless and very personal attacks are shameful. Are there any standards here?
After 105 total posts I will re-iterate:
“Hey Bob, with a little work you might end up with the reputation of being the “nice” blog. All we need to do it get Todd and Greg to settle down a little and focus on actual issues instead of personality and we could be there. Who knows, you might corner the market on local blogging, just like you cornered the market on irony!”
September 11, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Ben always has the option of not responding to Greg. While Greg does tend to over-personalize his criticism, most of the policy questions are relevant. As a candidate for office, Ben will have to deal with them as he sees fit.
Steven Frisch, if the “candidate” can’t be held accountable for his own campaign biography, what else isn’t a valid subject for discussion? Then there were the pure and invalid ad hominems Ben tossed my way. Name calling by the candidate.
Ben will be revamping benemery.org but for now, his old bio remains online and on the record:
http://www.benemery.org/biography.html
Ben can’t stand the heat and won’t be allowed near the kitchen.
Steve – I doubt that my blog will ever be construed as “nice”. Also, I’m not always here in front of the computer to herd the wildcats, which is why some new readers don’t see their comments show up right away. I’m inclined to let the conversation go as long as it doesn’t venture into libel and slander.
Can you imagine the howls of derision that would be emanating from the usual suspects had any non-leftist candidate taken 11 years to get part way to a two year Associate of Arts degree?
No where in my comments did I suggest enforcing niceness, I was hoping that some gentle peer pressure to act like a decent human being might get certain people to act civilly. But I see that is impossible…..GG is just a friggin’ bully. So we will live with it, and name the behavior.
Steven Frisch, I’d have little to “bully” Ben Emery with had he not engaged in shameless stretchings of the truth in his last campaign biography. And Ben, like you, has been known to throw slimeballs over the fence from the relative safety of his Purpleness The FUE’s sandbox.
You wouldn’t be whining if you didn’t have anything cogent to support Ben’s claims. Really Steve; imagine what you’d have written had Tom McClintock’s bio, with some simple math and loose lips of the candidate, revealed he’d been working on an AA degree at a junior college or two, part time, for over 10 years, with a one year break to campaign for office.
Okay, Greg, now that I’ve let you have your say it might be time to show some class and stop the insults, if it is possible for you to allow anyone else to have the last word.
From his additional posts it’s clear Mr. Goodnight failed to take RL Crabb’s request “to show some class and stop the insults” and it’s also clear Mr. Goodnight can’t “allow anyone else to have the last word”.
There is not an academic test for public service Goodknight. All Ben has ever asked for was to be judged on his ideas…but you never want to talk about those, you simply seek to demean. I always find it amazing how your ilk bemoans the point that we were once citizen soldiers and farmers,; but when someone is a citizen farmer, throw crap around like that they are unqualified. Frankly, if I were you I would be worried that the only person here willing to defend your behavior is Todd.
It was Ben’s academic history that was embellished by his bio, and Ben doesn’t like his ideas being found to be half baked, either. Even Mike Anderson seemed to be siding with me on the 1st Amendment problems Ben’s plans on limiting campaign spending surely have.
Certainly, if the Democrats running for the State Senate seat aren’t far enough to the left for you, vote for Ben; it might leave the leftmost liberal near-mainstream Democrat short of a runoff spot. Your choice, toots.
Only a complete (pick your favorite term) believes that a college degree is the only royal road to worthy wisdom. Did the Dalai Lama go to college?
If A endorses “home schooling” for K-12, WTF is he doing, CLAIMING A COLLEGE DEGREE IS THE ONLY PROOF OF AN EDUCATED MIND, for higher ed?
“Only a complete (pick your favorite term) believes that a college degree is the only royal road to worthy wisdom. Did the Dalai Lama go to college?”-Keachie/Betterman
If Ben didn’t think some college was important to be taken seriously, he wouldn’t have embellished his bio. And I gave an example of a Presidential candidate I voted for who only had a high school diploma, along with a whole lot more work and life experience than Ben has detailed.
The life of the Dalai Lama is one of a religious academic, so I’d say you picked a bad example. He’s also more socially conservative than the Pope.
Glad to see that you recognize Keachie is the Betterman! Keep it up, Mr. (not Doctor) Nuggets.
Mr. Goodnight’s endless, insluting and very personal attacks are shameful. Sad this is allowed to go on and on and on here as it undermines the opportunity for civil discusion. So very sad.
Steve O, whoever you are, rather than just flinging crap into the fan, why not try actually writing something of value for a change?
In the meantime, would you want your State Senator to make more than one year’s academic progress over more than a decade of being a part-time student? And, according to his campaign biography, an impressive 3.7GPA to boot!
Or is misleading campaign puffery OK in “Steve O.”‘s book?
Ben thought some nice words about his academic prowess would flesh out his bio nicely. I agree.
Once again Mr. Goodnight proves my point with this comment.
Here is the link to the fact sheet from the author of SB 810 Health Care For All. Why invent the wheel twice.
http://sd03.senate.ca.gov/sb810/fact-sheet
Excerpt
Health care costs negatively impact California’s economy and state budget, limiting access and quality for Californians and rapidly increasing costs for employers and families.
The U.S. spends over $2.5 trillion (17.6% of our GDP) on health care—twice as much as other wealthy nations—and health insurance premiums annually grow 4 times faster than wages.
Despite our high spending, our health care system ranks a dismal 37th in the world according to the World Health Organization. Studies show that the quality of care in the U.S. is falling behind other wealthy nations[1]. California can do better.
The bogus WHO study that puts us at 37th has as its #1 metric how similar the financial structure is to the French health care system. Not surprising since the WHO study was made in France. It wasn’t about healthcare outcomes, it is about how socialized the system is. Right up Ben’s alley.
SB810 was too far to the left even for the Democratically controlled state senate, which is why it died in January. A bad law, they knew Arnold would veto it, but when Brown became governor enough Dems abstained from voting to kill it without voting no.
Single payer is going nowhere fast.
The #1 most important healthcare reform wouldn’t cost a dime. Make healthcare employment benefits taxable, while adjusting the tax tables (federal and state) to be revenue neutral. The self employed and those either without or with lousy benefits will see take home pay rise along with more companies wanting to sell them insurance, and the folks with gold plated plans insulating them from all cost increases will be screaming at the prices they didn’t realize they were paying. Then we’ll have *some* market forces at work.
I agree GG. And this could very well be another element of PPACA. Can you do it within the stricture?
MA, Republicans tried to get that reform through but ObamaPelosiCare proponents killed it, and it’s mostly the big unions and other Dem sacred cows that have the gold plated care. If Obama wins again, their perks are safe.
I agree, too with GG on eliminating the deductions for health insurance. We should have had tort reform with PPACA, too. But both should have been in the context of universal coverage whether through single payer, or requirements for coverage such as in Obama Care. But the Republicans did not play poker on either issue, so we have what the Democrats cooked up on their own.
Hey, I’m all for paying taxes on Healthcare income, having been corrected on that a few months ago. That makes sense. What I am not in favor of, is a Progressive Tax (a double tax in effect) policy on those of us who choose expanded coverage as we have in Obamacare. The so-called “Cadillac” tax.
But if I receive income as apart of that expanded coverage, then go ahead and tax it. I have no problem with that. Income is income.
Steve,
Let Greg spin his wheels all he wants. Only someone who is looking to find something negative would take the position he is taking. It’s fine, we disagree and I can expect his vote going to another candidate.
Good reply, Ben. You must have Super Duck’s-Back water repellant in your tool kit. Probably a good thing, if you are running for public office.
My suggestion for you would be to concentrate on how the state will be implementing PPACA. Once Obama is re-elected, the hand-writing will be on the wall and the insurance agencies will be trying to cut separate deals with each state.
The deep south will get f*cked by the insurance companies, because it is the deep south and they have been getting f*cked for over 300 years. The beauty of PPACA is that the deep south will now be allowed to continue f*cking themselves and those of us who live in First World states will be able to move forward with real reforms.
I have always been a fan of leading by example, which is why if Romney becomes president, and certain states start to ban abortion, we can continue with the Great Divide which will only line the east and left coasts’ pocketbooks with gold.
Good times ahead, for sure…no matter who is president on January 20, 2013.
It isn’t about wanting to be negative, Ben, it’s just that just about every position you take is ill advised and half-baked. Then there’s your choice to embellish your bio; this will be following you:
“College started late for Ben at age 32. He has attended class’s part time and has maintained a 3.7gpa while juggling all of the other responsibilities in his life. He is pursuing a degree as a Registered Nurse.”
Face it, your aren’t.
Then there’s another curious statement in your bio: ” Since living in Nevada County he has joined together with a US Constitutional advocacy group.”
What group is that, Ben?
The Clampers?
Hey Greg, you are not negative, you are merely, ” ill advised and half-baked.”
Greg how did Ben embellish his bio? Is it because Ben hasn’t completed his education yet? Sorry but you don’t get to set the time schedule for his education. That is between Ben and his family only. Not embellishment. It specifically states Ben IS pursuing a degree. I don’t see where Ben claims to be an RN. Furthermore your focus on this “embellishment” has nothing to do with Ben’s stated positions.
My father had a PhD in Education and had this quote in his office:
“I never let my schooling get in the way of my education.
— Mark Twain”.
Think about it Greg.
Ben made it clear in explanation that he never actually started the nursing program. There was a waiting list and he chose not to ‘jump through the hoops’ to stay on the waiting list.
The “He is pursuing a degree as a Registered Nurse.” is a direct quote from benemery.com, his campaign bio. What I believe he was trying to communicate was that he was pursuing a degree to become a Registered Nurse, but he just didn’t choose the right words, yet another indication he might not have the language skills to be an effective author of legislation. That claim would also not be literally true, as we do know he hadn’t actually enrolled in the AA(RN) program at Yuba. A more accurate statement would be that he was ‘considering someday entering an AA program that might lead to him becoming a Registered Nurse by passing the national exam after getting the degree’.
That’s embellishment. If you are blessed with a living father, you might run it by him.
Plunk your magic twonger, Greggie!
Greg: Why do you hold Ben to such a high standard, and not the other candidates? I could easily pick apart Logue’s (or Nielsen’s) press releases in the same way you do Ben’s web site. But what would the point be?
Of the three, Ben is the only truly independent voice committed first to the people of this district rather than the corporations or unions who buy off the other candidates.
Ben also writes and reasons well which is something you should concede, even if you do not agree with his starting assumptions. If you don’t the solution is to vote for someone else, like Nielsen or Logue, as Ben suggested.
Tony
Tony, expecting truth in a self published bio isn’t a particularly high standard, nor is expecting some demonstrable history of achievement, whether it is academic, business or political.
There are six in the race, and Ben is only one of three who are decline to state, including someone currently on the Chico Unified school board, Jann Reed. Do you know of her?
My experience is that Ben does not reason well in the face of valid arguments to the contrary. Just fine if you’re in an echo chamber like his Purpleness’ blog, but when out in the open he tends to end with his usual ‘if you think everything is perfect now vote for the other guy’, which dodges the need to actually make a cogent argument and adds a one size fits all, off the shelf straw man.
The Sec’y of State has released a document with all on the ballot listed, with email and website addresses:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/special-election-2012/notice-candidates.pdf
Ben is the one who has the most checkered affiliation background, and the only one besides Levine who made a change to unaffiliated in 2012:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/special-election-2012/party-preference-history.pdf
Jann Reed from Chico is the only candidate who has been unaffiliated for the last 10 years, and she’s likely to have a constituency as, unlike Ben Emery, she’s actually captured an entry level office before reaching higher.
Yes, I did look at Logue’s bio, and he had enough real experience to fill out a page without any obvious embellishments. There’s nothing I know about him that would lead me to vote for or against him and, depending on their ballot statements and future info, I may well choose not to vote in the race at all. I’d vote against Ben but there’s little chance he’ll be in the top 3.
Ben has withdrawn his candidacy for the 4th Senate seat, but he may win the Guinness World Record for the shortest campaign in history.
http://yubanet.com/regional/Ben-Emery-Withdraws-State-Senate-Candidacy.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YubanetRegional+%28YubaNet.com+-+Sierra+Nevada+News%29
I admire the fact that he actually told us why he dropped out, instead of using the usual faux “to spend more time with my family.” His reason makes sense and I salute his integrity in the matter.
RL,
You might be correct about the world record. What a roller coaster two weeks when virtually almost nothing happened. Life is funny that way.
Michael,
Thank you
Ben,
Sorry to see you go.
Tony
Good seeing you driving your Hybrid up 20/49. Keep on rolling, you’re doing great, elections or no.
Thanks Tony and Doug,
It was an easy decision to make. Hospitality House is way to important for to many people to take any chance.
Doug I liked the tandem bike, my little work rig with the dogs. It drives my wife nuts that the car is so dirty. I work on a ranch and have tools, wires, and sprinkler heads, and so on inside along with carting two dogs around with me everywhere I go. My dogs are like family members and ride inside the car not on the roof.
How did I know this would happen?
Sorry to have slept through most of this discussion, but it got very boring with all the rancor and insults.
Ben, you are too nice a man to become a politician, once you get into their club you become one of them. Happens every time.
The ugliness you experienced on this blog absolutely pales before what you would have faced in an actual political ring.
Just grow good food for folks, finish your degree, help the homeless, make your wife happy and you will be doing more than your share toward helping humanity through these tough times.
Thank you Judith.
Well, it was a spirited campaign while it lasted. My (unsolicited) advice is to try for an office closer to home. These Assembly and Senate seats involve too much geography. Think local, Ben.
RL,
Being a “politician” has never been the goal but rather trying to bring real issues to the debate. If I wanted to be a status quo politician I would have joined one of the major parties, taken the 2 or 3 title positions offered to me after 2010, would have joined the numerous clubs/ organizations that almost all politicians seem to join, and I would have compromised my principals to give into the idea that the ends justify the means and done all of the things mentioned above. If there is a race that has no diversity of ideas in the future I will more than likely jump into it to stir things up. I will always campaign to win but with integrity and if I do win would engulf myself into the duties of the office to become the best-educated and compassionate statesman I could be.
Ben, until you actually won and were sworn into office (or, in other words, hell freezing over) there would be no possibility of a conflict of interest from your work with the homeless shelter. Hypothetically speaking, even after being sworn in, you could have dodged any semblance of a conflict of interest by not casting any votes that directly affected the place, or by resigning from that Board before casting a vote,
In any case, good call to drop out before it went any further, and I’m sure the reason you gave will help you save face among your peers. If you’re living within the city limits, you might consider a City Council seat as your entry level elective office.
Greg,
As both you and my peers know I have plenty of issues to talk about and have no problem campaigning. What I have learned from our 2010 campaign is to not let people like yourself get under my skin. It happens every once in awhile but rarely. It is easy to see all the problems and fix the world from you armchair typing on a computer or yelling at your tv. It is a completely different thing to be being actively pursuing towards the solutions you feel need to happen. I choose the latter and I don’t have any idea about what you do. I will leave it with a saying of the late great Utah “Bruce” Phillips
“There are too many people doing too many good things for me to afford the luxury of being pessimistic.”
I don’t yell at my TV, Ben, nor do I yell at NPR or BBC Radio Worldservice, my usual radio fare. What stereotype did you dredge up for that one?
Greg you are perhaps the most bitter and angry person on this blog. I would suggest it will be when hell freezes over when the day comes that you compose a post sans anger and bitterness. It really must suck to be you Greg.
Angry? Bitter?
Couldn’t be happier at the moment. Sorry to disappoint you.
Ben needed a reality check, and apparently got it.
I think you live in an alternate reality Greg if you don’t consider yourself bitter or angry. Seek help. And I am not disappointed, just a happy individual that is even happier to live in my world not yours.
Curious. And how often do you make such pronouncements about total strangers?
Ben has a history of flinging mud at people that don’t share his worldview; please note that all of the mud I tossed back his way came from his own website.
I’m still curious about the identity of the “US Constitutional advocacy group” Ben joined after moving here. It was important enough to mention he’d joined it, but he didn’t bother to reveal its name.
Perhaps he was a volunteer sheriff’s watch person? Gee Greg, why not make a list of them all in this county and then assign each one a spot on a dart board and start shooting?
For someone who started a fight with a total stranger so long ago, over a silly math problem, you are a strange one to talk about how to talk to strangers.
He could also be a member of a child rights, or gay rights, or bicycle riders rights organization, or even a crime victims rights organization. Pick a hobby horse, and there will be a Constitutional and rights tie-in. Why is it so important to you, Greg? Huh? Greg? Why? Greg. Huh, huh, why, why, What’s my bleeeping grade Greg? Thousands are awaiting your sure to be colorful and entertaining answer, just reach back and bring out a few more of your favorite NUGGETS!
Had Ben been a real candidate, his bio would have been given a thorough vetting. Think of this not-all-that-fine-toothed comb as a delayed public service.
Now, to your whining about the simple fraction division you booted over a decade ago. Talk about bitterness and grudges! Get a grip, Doug Keachie (the fist in the TB sock puppet).
On a long ago Nevada County listserver, I related a simple observation from Liping Ma’s book, Teaching and Understanding Elementary Mathematics, how a large number of US elementary teachers were unable to evaluate fractions like 1 3/4 divided by 1/2. No one forced Doug Keachie to jump in and show his mastery of the subject by getting it wrong (the answer is 3 1/2) just like too many of his peers in the US teacher corps, and no one forced Doug Keachie to follow with claims that word problems were tricky (it isn’t a word problem) and that there was no real significance of dividing by one half (also wrong).
That Doug Keachie is still holding that grudge for more than a decade tells you something about why Doug Keachie is still inventing sock puppets to do his defamations for him.
Heck Greg, I thought these libs called me the most angry and bitter. Darn it. I want to know what universe or planet Jones lives on or in if he isn’t in or on the same one you are. Could it be a magical place?
Greg you have nailed Ben’s excuse for withdrawing. Anyone with a conflict just abstains from the debate and the vote. My guess is he came to realize he would be trounced but I give him credit for his two weeks.
Ben response about being involved and tossing barbs at some straw man who sits in front of a TV is specious. I know you and you are a very successful man as are your kids. We all do good things in our community but some need to tell everyone they do. You don’t.
I hate to sound like my Mother, but can we just move along and stop with this back and forth stuff? It’s too small of a town to carry on like this. I would eventually like to buy a round of drinks for all of you at Cirino’s (in Grass Valley). Maybe two if Michael denounces his love of the Giants.
Ben is a good guy. He and I have a few disagreements, but his aim is true. He just wants what’s best for the the County, State and Country. And he’s fiercely independent, which I think at a minimum reflects the way we think up here above 2000′.
Greg wrote: “Ben, until you actually won and were sworn into office (or, in other words, hell freezing over) there would be no possibility of a conflict of interest from your work with the homeless shelter.”
Yeah, that’s a little simplistic Greg. The reality is that Utah’s place is trying to raise a huge amount of money in a very short amount of time. Some of the money will be coming from gov’t sources and “campaigning Ben” would have been at odds with “board member Ben.” It’s unfortunate that this was pointed out to Ben after he pulled papers but hey, life is messy.
Like I said before, I admire Ben for telling us what actually happened. He made the right decision. Beating Ben up for this decision doesn’t strike me as being fair, just, reasonable, or rational. Let it go, Greg.
“As so often happens at Hospitality House, the final step is a leap of faith. We need to raise a lot of money in a short time—$450,000 by November. Thankfully, our faith is not misplaced, as we’ve always lived out the truth of something Utah Phillips used to say: ‘Do the work, and the money will follow.’
Joanna Robinson — http://hospitalityhouseshelter.org/news/
My information is the place got an estimate of 400K to do building improvements (with 100K on hand) and that “prevailing wages” (union scale) will be required to be paid. Now maybe BenE and the leftwingers will get a feel for what we on the right have been trying to fix.
Mike, a time conflict is entirely different than a conflict of interest. Had Ben simply stated he didn’t have the time to both help raise money for HH and tilt the State Senate campaign windmills, that would have been something else. Still a fig leaf, but at least logical.
“He and I have a few disagreements, but his aim is true. He just wants what’s best for the the County, State and Country. And he’s fiercely independent, which I think at a minimum reflects the way we think up here above 2000′.”
In the 60’s, Tom Lehrer wrote and sang the following for a similar circumstance:
“We are the Folk Song Army
Every one of us … cares!
We all hate poverty, war and injustice
Unlike the rest of you squares.”
Everyone wants what is best for the County, State and Country, but Ben’s aim is so far off to the left as to completely miss the target.
Michael,
You get it, thanks.