Ventura county Star Reporter Timm Herdt destroyed the claim that Buck McKeon was paying Patricia McKeon a fair wage for her work. Click here to read his post.

Rep. Buck McKeon wants to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by importing oil from Canada.

I am not sure why he thinks importing oil from a foreign nation will reduce our dependence on oil from foreign nations. Here is his Facebook post:

We must increase our energy supply but also reduce our energy demand. Our current energy consumption is not sustainable.

Republican Dante Acosta will be running against Republican Buck McKeon. He will be focusing on character and leadership.

Click on continue reading for the press release.

Often incumbents find ways to ignore requests for debates.

But this time it will be hard for Rep. McKeon to not take questions from his opponent.

Dr. Lee Rogers bid on a lunch with Rep. Buck McKeon as a part of a charity fundraiser to support education.

Well played Dr. Lee Rogers. Well played.

What do you think Dr. Lee Rogers should bring up at lunch?

Click on continue reading for the press release.

Have you been following the Countrywide VIP loan scandal? In response to Buck McKeon's claims of not knowing almost anything a reader sent me this note:

Countrywide build a huge loan processing center in Lancaster in McKeon's district.

The developer who built the loan processing center is Frank Visco, former State Party Chair of the Republican Party and a financial backer of Buck McKeon.

Visco has two homes - one in Lancaster the other in Sherwood Country Club. Who was Visco's neighbor in Sherwood? Angelo Mozilo!

I agree with Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt that Simi Valley politics will be much more interesting because of redistricting.

There is a State Assembly race that involves two influential Republicans from Santa Clarita. Scott Wilk and Patricia McKeon both have support from Republican Party activists. The district leans Republican but I expect moderate Democrat Edward Headington to make the top two.

Republicans don't have a declared candidate for the State Senate seat yet but many people think Cameron Smyth will declare soon. Democrats have incumbent State Senator Fran Pavley running and she will be campaigning in Simi Valley soon.

A small part of Simi Valley is in the Ventura based Congressional district that has many strong candidates running for it including Steve Bennett, Tony Strickland, David cruz Thayne, David Pollock, and Linda Parks.

The House seat that includes Simi Valley and Santa Clarita so far has incumbent Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon running for it and a new challenger Dr. Lee Rogers. A major issue in that campaign has been the Countrywide VIP loan program that Rep. Buck McKeon allegedly benefited from. Buck McKeon has denied all wrongdoing.

All of this brings me to Simi Valley City Council Member Glen Becerra. When Rep. Elton Gallegly announced his retirement he was quoted as saying:

Simi Valley City Councilman Glen Becerra said he also will take a serious look at entering the race. "This seat looks like it was designed for a Hispanic Republican," he said. Becerra, like Gallegly, lives in Simi Valley, outside of the district lines, but said that makes little difference. "I was born and raised in Ventura County, and this is a Ventura County district," he said.

I wonder if Glen Becerra might consider running for any one of these positions.

House 26th:
I doubt he would run against Tony Strickland. Tony Strickland has quickly united the Republican Party behind him.

House 25th:
Buck McKeon will be weakened from attacks on paying his wife to run work on his campaigns and benefiting from the Countrywide VIP Home Loan program. The attacks on Patricia McKeon from her opponents will hurt Buck McKeon. Could Glen Becerra be tempted to run for what is considered a safe Republican seat because of the growing charges against Buck McKeon and Patricia McKeon from their opponents?

State Senate 27th District:
If Cameron Smyth runs I don't think Glen Becerra would challenge him. Smyth hasn't declared his intentions. I assumed he was going to run but I am not so sure. Cameron Smyth is holding a fundraiser for State Assembly candidate Scott Wilk. That might be a sign that he isn't worried about upsetting special interest groups that are supporting Patricia McKeon. Now that it looks like State Senator Fran Pavley will be the only Democrat running Republicans will consider that challenging her is going to tougher. Fran Pavely is popular with Democratic activists and she has the ability to raise money. She has represented much of the area and was a popular teacher in Moorpark.

Assembly District 38:
If Glen Becerra ran for the State Assembly seat he could have had a decent chance. With the two Santa Clarita based Republicans dividing support from that area he could have joined the Democrat in the top two based on his base of support in Simi Valley. He has already endorsed Scott Wilk though so that would be pretty surprising. Claiming the endorsement of your opponent would make a great mailer. He isn't going to run against Scott Wilk.

Glen Becerra has won four elections to the Simi Valley City Council, including his first when he beat a more conservative incumbent.

The deadline to file is in March. He might not see opportunities like this again for a long time.

Countrywide had a program in place to give politicians special treatment on their home loans to influence them. The scandal has damaged the reputations of prominent Democrats including former Senator Chris Dodd.

The Ventura County Star reports:

The Countrywide VIP program in question was known as "Friends of Angelo," a reference to Angelo Mozilo, the lender's chief executive, whom federal regulators say personally approved mortgages for favored borrowers in violation of lending standards. Mozilo agreed in 2010 to pay more than $67 million in penalties in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wikipedia links to more resources on the Friends of Angelo program.

Recently the Republican controlled House Government Reform Committee added two local new names to the list of legislators that were a part of the program. Elton Gallegly and Buck McKeon received special treatment according to records from Countrywide.

For McKeon it allegedly included:

McKeon is known to have received a Countrywide mortgage for $315,000, and Mozilo instructed the individual handling his loan to "take off 1 point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc," according to documents reviewed by Cummings.

For Gallegly I haven't seen what supposed benefit he received. The released documents don't mention if it was a reduction in fees, a lower interest rate, or a no document loan.

Both Gallegly and McKeon deny knowing they were given any special treatment. From the latest article:

Gallegly and McKeon, whose newly redrawn congressional district takes in part of Simi Valley, said they had no idea their loans were processed under the VIP program but that they are cooperating with the investigation.

What I find interesting is that a program that has been documented to influence legislators was allegedly unknown to those same legislators. To be blunt: how effective can a payoff be if the target doesn't know they are getting the money?

I am looking forward to learning more about what happened and which legislators from both parties were involved.

Neither Gallegly or McKeon have been proven to have done anything wrong. The House Ethics Committee will be investigating this case.

Both of them should return all donations from Angelo Mozilo and any PAC money connected directly to this issue.

Also, Democrats would be better off if Rep. Laura Richardson was no longer in Congress.

I haven't seen it covered in The Star yet but Elton Gallegly and Howard "Buck" McKeon are being investigated for taking loans from Cpuntrywide with allegations they received preferential treatment.

The House Oversignt Committee Chaired By Republican Rep. Darrell Issa will be investigating it more and so will the House Ethics Committee. They House Ethics Committee is also expected to investigate these loans.

Both of them deny knowing they received special treatment from Countrywide.

Check out the latest news on Howard "Buck" McKeon:

"A follow-up letter sent to Chairman McKeon provided forms for him to sign and stated: 'Thank you for allowing COUNTRYWIDE's VIP TEAM to assist you with your financing needs on the above referenced property,'" Cummings wrote.

and...

Other documents indicated McKeon was referred to the mortgage discount program by Michael J. Ferrell, who was then the head lobbyist at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and had orchestrated the group's effort to block higher fees on mortgage lenders.
McKeon appears to have received a Countrywide mortgage for $315,000, and Mozilo instructed the individual handling his loan to "take off 1 point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc," according to documents reviewed by Cummings.

Both Rep. Gallegly and Rep. McKeon should help rectify this problem by returning any donations received from Anthony Mozilo or Countrywide lobbyists. They should also determine what value the special treatment they received was worth and return that too.

Rep. Elton Gallegly is retiring from Congress. Howard "Buck" McKeon is expected to run against Democratic candidate Lee Rogers of Simi Valley.

Do you agree they should return the money?

Fox News is reporting that Republicans Howard "Buck" McKeon and Elton Gallegly were a part of the Countrywide VIP program for politicians.

From Fox News:

Two veteran House Republicans received discounted mortgage loans from the now-defunct Countrywide Financial Corp. under a VIP program, a congressional official said Friday.

Accepting a discounted loan would be against House Ethics Rules. Both lawmakers deny knowing they received special treatment.

If they determine that either lawmaker did receive a discount the proper course of action would be to return any financial gain.

Both of them should also return any donations connected to this scandal they received. That includes PAC money, personal donations, and donations to a leadership PAC.

Democratic Congressional Candidate Lee Rogers has sent out a press release demanding Buck McKeon release the records related to the Countrywide VIP program.

Returning donations and releasing their records will help help move on to other issues.

Click on continue reading for the press release.