A school district board member resorted to an ad-hominem attack against State Senator Tony Strickland during a phone conversation with one of his staffers, according to a source close to the Republican legislator.
The staffer said the caller identified herself as Ventura Unified School District Board Member Mary Haffner, and she wanted Strickland to support Governor Brown's proposed five-year tax increase.
After hearing the senator's anti-tax increase position,
Haffner apparently said, "We all know he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and
everyone in
Strickland staked out a high-profile position as a deficit hawk, serving as the co-chairman of the newly formed Taxpayers Caucus, the members of which pledged to oppose any tax increases without corresponding tax cuts.
The insult is fairly mild, but still--is denigrating an elected representative to one of his staffers the best way for a school board member to behave?
Haffner did not respond to an e-mail that requested
confirmation of the exchange, and thus passed on an opportunity to set a good
example by owning up to or disavowing the insult, if she did in fact say it.
That would have been something positive I could report on, especially with the growing
tension nationwide between public employee unions and Republicans, a tension
that will soon hit
Amusingly, while I was looking up her contact information to ask her if she wanted to comment on this story, I noticed that the main website listed on her campaign's Facebook page is a blog about a porn magazine.
That's right, it takes you right to "The Playboy Blog," which features articles such as Playboy Goddesses, Playboy: Art or Pornography, and The Interesting History of the Playboy Bunny Costume. Interesting indeed!
Additionally, her Students for Mary Haffner group page also accidentally features a link to the same porn magazine blog.
Now, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed...
...but I wouldn't think elected officials would have something like that for all the public to see, especially on a page geared toward students, especially if said official was fond of questioning the intelligence of other public officials.
Obviously, Haffner didn't know about this or she would have changed it immediately. Her domain name probably expired and it was picked up by someone who has an extreme interest in Playboy Magazine. There's a good chance she's already fixed it by the time you read this.
But somehow, I don't think this sort of thing would happen to Senator Strickland, despite what union callers might say to his staffers about his intelligence.
Eric Ingemunson's commentary has been featured on Hannity, CNN, NBC, Inside Edition, and KFI's The John and Ken Show.
Eric was born and raised in Ventura County and currently resides in Moorpark. He earned a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from California Lutheran University. As a conservative, Eric supports smaller government, less taxation, more individual freedom, the rule of law, and a strict adherence to the Constitution.
I'd rather be known as somebody whose webmaster let a domain name expire than the guy who is working so hard to make sure teachers get laid off and kids lose vital educational programming. Strickland's not even smart enough to bargain for things Republicans want in return for letting the VOTERS DECIDE.
Worse, though, is being the blog shill for Tony Strickland.
It's not a tax increase, it's an extension of already existing revenue. And without it, our schools could lose up to $1,000 per per pupil, after being cut almost $2,000 in the past few years. We're talking drastic changes that will affect children everywhere.
Some day your kids will go to public school and you will understand why a mother would fight for her children.
Oh well, at least somebody finally commented on your blog here, Eric. My guess is everyone else has lost interest...
Eric: Looks to me that you responded to a cheap shot with another cheap shot. I doubt that she had anything to do with that.
I think her comment was way out of line, though. We are very lucky to have Tony Strickland in the state senate.
I'll tell you what....it's ALL better than being the guy who thinks opposing taxes is the equivalent of hating children and teachers. Accepting that false premise proves ignorance.
Here's a question for you....if you elected Governor Brown to implement the vision YOU see fit for CA, why is it okay that he's sending this proposal to the voters? What I mean by that is, he has the ability to implement tax increases or extensions with the same amount of support he needs to pass a tax without having to go through the voters. If the funding for "our children" is that critical and the failure to enact tax increases so devastating, why would he gamble on it? After all, if recent history is any guide, the voters in CA haven't developed a taste for more taxes. Not only that, but it is projected that the special election will cost CA a little shy of one hundred million dollars. But, I'm sure that's just "extra" money lying around.
Also, go to the Governor's website. There are statistics that show since 2008, the state has added approximately 14,000 employees. According to those in education, this CAN'T be teachers. They've been LOSING their jobs. Well then, where are these 14,000 new jobs that are being paid out of the state's budget? Can you tell me where they could possibly exist that would allow you to explain to me how they are more important that keeping teachers employed and K-12 education funded?
People act like these budget problems spring up from nowhere in the 11th hour before the budget vote. THEY DON'T. These problems have slowly accumulated and grown over many, many years. Where were these teachers and parents when Democrats were rapidly expanding government and programs that Republicans said would be unsustainable? Why is it necessary to have government grow at a three hundred percent faster rate than the population?
"VOTERS DECIDE..."
Yes. Obviously ANY time the most amount of options can be placed in front of the voters, the better. I mean, that's just straight democracy. That's why we're going to ALSO give people the option to DECREASE taxes on the ballot. Wait....we're not doing that? Why? I mean, no one in their right mind would vote to decrease taxes at time like this, would they? If not, what's the hesitation then? To get unanimous agreement about putting the extension of tax increases on the ballot, all you have to do is agree to also add the option for tax decreases. Since no sane person would vote for tax decreases with children hanging in the balance, it's a WIN/WIN for the supporters of higher taxes. Still....no dice. Democracy be damned.
Has anyone asked themselves this question...how is it that we passed the largest tax increase in the history of the state in 2009 and we have a larger budget deficit now than we did then? I mean, we were told it was going to fix things and protect the most critical programs. How are we now worse off? Could it be tied to the unemployment made worse by taxation and over-regulation? Could it have anything to do with the fact that California has 12% of the nation's population but 36% of the welfare obligations? And on and on and on....
The fact is, any legislator who agrees to put something forth to a vote of the people is, to a certain degree, endorsing or "blessing" it. They're basically saying "As your representative, these are the best options I can offer". The problem is, it's NOT the best offer. Do you honestly believe that if CA opened the books to every citizen in the state that they'd START the cutting with K-12 education and funding for the elderly and disabled? Not a chance. But, how do you sell a tax increase to weary voters who have seen taxes steadily climb? You hit them where it hurts. Who would be willing to increase taxes if you told them a refusal to do so would mean less bureaucracy, elimination of unnecessary boards with people making six figure salaries, etc. NO ONE. So, you tell people that kids are in front of the line when the budget axe falls and you get parents and teachers in an uninformed, misdirected frenzy for your cause. Genius salesmanship.
The CA prison inmates watching all this unfold on cable TV must think we're all nuts.
By the way, keep it up, Eric. You've got many avid readers. I see a shortage of lefty clowns ROTFLAO-ing all over your comments section as an upgrade for Star blogs.