The Ken Calvert Corruption Chronicles are weekly reviews of Ken Calvert’s 18 years in Congress. The series will look into Calvert’s record of hypocrisy, extremism and corruption.
This is Episode 5. 

Episode 5: Health Care Reality Check

Ken Calvert

Ken Calvert has continually voted against historic health insurance reform that would improve Medicare, closing the prescription drug donut hole, and providing insurance for over 110,000 uninsured residents in his district.

With over $160,000 in contributions from pharmaceutical, insurance companies and HMOs, it is no wonder Calvert has repeatedly opposed expanding insurance coverage to children, opposed re-importation of prescription drugs, and opposed low-cost health insurance plans for small businesses. Calvert even saved HMOs some $22 billion with favorable reimbursement formulas after intense lobbying from the health insurance industry.

But this week Calvert has a chance to redeem himself by voting for the Health Insurance Reform Bill that will benefit thousands of residents living in the district.

The benefits for CA-44 district residents are clear.  The health insurance bill will:

• Improve coverage for 518,000 residents with health insurance.
• Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 138,000 families and 13,000 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
• Improve Medicare for 76,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
• Extend coverage to 107,000 uninsured residents.  
• Guarantee that 19,600 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
• Protect 2,200 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Allow 81,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
• Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 2 community health centers.
• Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $15 million annually.
• Reduce the deficit by over $100 billion over the next ten years and by about $1 trillion over the second decade.

Ken Calvert, it’s time to put people above party.  Vote for the Health Insurance Reform Bill.

He’s gone but not forgotten, and Facebook is a great reminder, but please join me in wishing our founder Mike Lawson a happy birthday today.  You rock Mike.  We miss you.

I’d like to pay tribute this week for our number one reader of the week, Orange Joke blogger Sean H. Mill, who has read every word in our posts and comments by other readers with a jaudiced eye to call for truth, justice and the American way.  My fellow LiberalOC blogger Chris Prevatt is the target of Mill’s wrath and that’s all perfectly OK.  But is Sean right or is it just bitching?

Let’s look:

1. Sean demanded we take down a comment to a post on SAUSD that he said was libelous and untrue.  Sean copied members of the Santa Ana city council to express his outrage, threaten us with a libel suit, and mischaracterize our lawsuit against Art Pedroza.  So I had to write back and explain our lawsuit wasn’t about “anonymous” comments on OJ as Sean contended; it’s about Art cybersquatting on my business name and the name of this blog and people associated (and not associated with it), demanding $1000 to $2000 in cash for the names, giving him a web domain I own for free, and routing the URLs to gay porn and NAMBLA, an organization that advocates sex between men and adolescent boys if we didn’t comply with his demands.  I had to set the record straight for Claudia Alvarez and Sal Tinajero.  And Sean reprinted the entire comment on an Orange Joke post.  So if it’s libelous, he too has committed libel. 

Sean then wrote a post on the Orange Joke asserting that there’s a photograph of me dressed as a “pedophile priest” for Halloween and offering a cash reward for said photo.  I still have my digital camera right here and am awaiting the amount of the reward before doing the snap myself.  Art Pedroza claimed Paul Lucas is the source of this revelation which should tell you all you need to know about the truthfulness of the claim.  I have dressed up for Halloween three times in 13 years.  None of the costumes was ever priestly garb.  I did get a Monk’s robe and a “Love Guru” wig and beard so my son could be Rasputin for Halloween last year. Does that count?

If we’re going to start removing comments that are false and libelous, perhaps Sean can start by removing comments on OJ suggesting Claudio Gallegos owes a $1,000 bar tab at the Quill (debunked by the bartender and the owner of said establishment) or that there’s a sex tape of Ryan Trabuco and another man out there in the wild, not to mention that pedo-priest photo of me.

2. Sean takes Chris to task over his Q&A with the county’s public information officer, Howard Sutter, on an email Q&A regarding Hugh (pardon me, “Hieu”) Nguyen’s actual county position.  Howard attributes the information to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, yet Sean’s focus is on the smoke and not the fire.  Sean doesn’t question the accuracy of the answers to the Q&A provided by Sutter’s office from the Clerk of the Board’s office, just the accuracy of the attribution.  Sutter answered every question and we we even added the email exchange to the post to show that the answers came from Sutter’s email.  That’s PR 101.  Running a Q&A and citing information to a person instead of an office in the form of attribution to the County’s PIO: Journalism 101.  Sean asks his readers:  Why is Prevatt claiming that he did a Q&A with Sutter if it never took place?  Why is Prevatt lying to his readers about something so small?  If he is lying about where he got the answers for his questions, what else is he lying about?  First question Sean: It did take place.  Second question: He didn’t.  Third question: Nothing.  Perhaps you should focus on the answers Chris got instead of the questions asked or the manner they were asked.  Perhaps you could focus on the fact that Hieu Nguyen tells different stories to different people, he can’t read a budget (and still hasn’t answered simple email question for “clarity” on his statements he made that Daly’s office was over budget) and is using a misleading and false ballot title that misrepresents his actual job.

3.  Sean implies this blog gives Vietnamese politicians a hard time.  The Orange Joke blog regularly accuses us of being “Jannies” – followers of First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen.  Given the love candidates like Phu Nguyen and Linh Ho have gotten from his blog, I disagree with Sean here.  Most other Vietnamese politicians in OC are Republicans and that’s how we see it first.  And I’m sorry, but Hoa Van Tran was a terrible candidate mostly because of the people that were running his campaign.  I don’t understand how we can be Jannies and anti-Vietnamese at the same time.  Likewise, Art Pedroza has another post that Chris has come out against Anaheim council candidate John Santoianni, a solid Democrat, even though Chris was a member of the host committee for Santoianni’s first fundraising event.  Since Sean has come out for Republicans Hiue Nguyen and Nevada US Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian, I don’t think Sean has a spotless record on Democratic Party support.  And I’m glad Sean brough up Hoa Van Tran, an unsuccessful first district supervisor’s candidate.  It would be nice if Mr. Van Tran could complete his candidacy filing documents to close them out. It’s only been 2-1/2 years.  Isn’t that what a good candidate should have done by now?

4.  Sean makes no bones over the fact he works in the Title industry.  He has a post on Orange Joke today about Harry Sidhu’s deeds and makes a big deal out of all Harry’s properties being listed under the name “Harish Sidhu.”  Sean doesn’t say how he’s come into possession of those deeds.  I sure hope he filed a public records request for this information with Tom Daly’s.  I sure hope Sean didn’t use the access his employer has to records like this to look into Sidhu’s background so he could write a nasty post about Sidhu.  And in that post, Sean shills for Bob Shawn Nelson, or as we called him B.S. Nelson, instead of three Democrats who are running for the seat.  Now, I am not saying Sean obtained this information unethically.  But he doesn’t say how he came about it.  Tell us Sean.

Look, I like Sean Mill.  I really do.  But he’s throwing stones at Glass Houses or he’s just so ticked off at us for the sake of being ticked off. 

Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly

On Thursday, March 18, 2010, Tom Daly filed a legal challenge to Clerk-Recorder candidate Hugh Nguyen’s ballot designation for the County Clerk-Recorder’s race (Case No. 30-2010-00354431-CU-WM-CJC). H/T to Matt Cunningham whose post tipped me off to this information.

The challenge was filed in Orange County Superior Court. Daly’s Attorney is former Garden Grove City Council Member Mark S. Rosen. Rosen is probably the best election law attorney based in Orange County. The case is set for hearing at 1:30 pm on March 23, 2010 before Judge Miller.

As I reported previously, Nguyen has claimed the ballot designation of Assistant Orange County Clerk. There is no such position in the county and specifically; “the Secretary of State (SOS),” County Registrar of Voters (ROV) for County elections, “shall reject as unacceptable any proposed ballot designation which would mislead voters. In making this determination, the SOS/ROV shall determine whether there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonably prudent voter would be misled as to the candidate’s principle profession, vocation or occupation by the candidate’s proposed ballot designation.” Among the elections code violations that are expected to be cited are §§13107. I will post a copy of the complaint as soon as I have one.

Hugh Nguyen

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mr. Nguyen’s actual title is Assistant Clerk, Files Management/Administration Division in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. Nguyen is an administrative manager and the Clerk of the Board’s office. The ballot designation Assistant Orange County Clerk would lead a reasonably prudent voter to conclude that the Orange County Clerk, and the Orange County Clerk-Recorder are related. Absent any further explanation, the designation infers that Mr. Nguyen is an assistant to the Clerk-Recorder. In 1978 the Orange County Board of Supervisor’s adopted an ordinance making the “Clerk of the Board” appointed by them. The office of Clerk-Recorder and County Clerk are two separate offices.

We’ll see what happens on Tuesday the 23^rd. These things wrap up quickly because of the time constraints related to the preparation of sample ballots.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Irvine council member and Democratic candidate for Congress in CD-48, Beth Krom, was a guest on the Bill Press radio program this week.  If you missed the program, click on the YouTube file to check it out. 

Bill Press is one of the nation’s leading progessive radio hosts.  Don’t be surprised if Beth doesn’t show on the Ed Schultz Program or Stephanie Miller’s show before too long.

Senator Lou Correa

(Santa Ana, CA) – State Senator Lou Correa and students from his Young Senators program are partnering with the City of Stanton to organize a Community Graffiti Clean-up event on Saturday, March 20^th from 9am-12pm in the City of Stanton.  The residential neighborhood taken over by graffiti is on the corner of Western Ave and Orangewood Ave along the railroad tracks that pass through the city.

“The homes of these hardworking Orange County residents have been ruined by graffiti and because of a worsening economy they cannot afford to keep covering up the graffiti themselves,” stated Senator Lou Correa.  “I’m bringing folks together so we can clean it up and restore safety to this community.”

“The graffiti program of Senator Lou Correa comes at a very important time. Stanton is expanding our own graffiti program to fight this crime in our neighborhoods with increased fines, penalties and restitution along with an intervention program at local schools. This partnership will bring together the Stanton community,” stated Stanton Council Member David Shawver.

WHAT:

Stanton Community Graffiti Clean-up  

WHEN: 

Saturday, March 20^th 2010
9am-12pm

WHERE:

City of Stanton
Corner of Western Ave & Orangewood Ave
Near railroad tracks

WHO:

Senator Lou Correa
California Young Senators
City of Stanton
Home Depot

Materials were generously donated by the City of Stanton and Home Depot.  To participate in Senator Lou Correa’s Stanton Community Graffiti Clean-up please call the district office at (714) 558-4400.

We received the following release from Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) cosponsored a critical budgetary reform bill that will help restore fiscal discipline in government. H.R. 4871, the Spending Reduction Act, would reinstate discretionary spending caps to cut federal spending by over $400 billion over the next ten years. These caps would not necessitate any cuts from any agencies or programs, but rather force a much-needed prioritization of our limited resources.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

“Out-of-control discretionary spending threatens to cripple America’s economy and saddle future generations of Americans with mountains of debt,” said Rep. Sanchez. “Orange County families have been forced to make tough financial decisions, and it’s time for Congress to do the same. Discretionary spending caps will be an important tool in our fight to restore fiscal discipline in government.”

Introduced by fellow Blue Dog Reps. Frank Kratovil and Travis Childers, H.R. 4871 would cut non-security discretionary spending by 2% for each of the next three years and freeze spending levels for the subsequent two years. This discretionary spending cap would force Congress to prioritize our limited resources and make the tough year-to-year decisions necessary for restore balance to the federal budget.

Discretionary spending caps have a proven track record of controlling government spending and reducing the deficit. In the 1990s, under bipartisan agreements, Congress used discretionary spending caps to produce four balanced budgets. But since these caps were allowed to expire in 2002, discretionary spending has skyrocketed from $610 billion in 2000 to over $1.2 trillion in 2009. Together with the recently restored statutory PAYGO law, H.R. 4871 would take concrete action to address our growing deficit and provide fiscal conservatives like Rep. Sanchez with effective budgetary enforcement tools.

Hugh Nguyen

Hugh Nguyen is challenging Tom Daly for the elected position of County Clerk-Recorder. His ballot designation says that he is an “Assistant Orange County Clerk.”

Given that there is no such position in the county personnel classifications, I thought I would ask the the county Public Information Officer, Howard Sutter, a few questions about where Hugh Nguyen works, and what his job classification and title is.

Here is my Q&A with Sutter:

Questions:

1) What is Hugh Nguyen’s current Job Classification?

Administrative Manager I

2) What is Hugh Nguyen’s current Operational Job Title? 

Assistant Clerk, Files Management/Administration Division

3) What are Hugh Nguyen’s job functions in the Clerk of the Board’s office?

He manages the purchasing, petty cash, space needs/modifications, telephone usage/modifications, safety compliance, disaster recovery plan, department document storage and retention, public record act requests, building signage, etc. for the Board of Supervisors and Clerk of the Board.

4) Is Mr. Nguyen working full or part time?

Full time but has volunteered additional furlough days without pay to assist the department’s budget needs

5) Is Hugh Nguyen’s full or part time classification consistent with the Job Classification he holds? (i.e.; is his Job Classification normally a full or part time position?)

Yes, Full time position

6) If Mr. Nguyen is working other than full time, is their a specific reason for that arrangement?

Volunteered additional furlough days without pay

7) Is there a position in the COB office, other than that held by Ms. Novak, with the job title Assistant Orange County Clerk? 

Ms. Novak’s title is Chief Deputy, Clerk of the Board and no one else holds that title.  In additional to Mr. Nguyen’s Assistant Clerk title, Robin Stieler is Assistant Clerk, Board Services Division and Pat Martinez is Assistant Clerk, Assessment Appeals Division.

Well, that seems clear enough.

Hugh Nguyen is NOT an Assistant Orange County Clerk. He is an Administrative Manager I with the function title of Assistant Clerk, Files Management/Administration Division, in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

For the record, the Clerk of the Board office is in no way related to the office of the County Clerk-Reorder. Yep, just one more example of truthiness according to Hugh Nguyen.

UPDATE:  To clarify, the “Q and A” with Howard Sutter took place via email. Here is the complete email I received from Mr. Sutter, from which the above information was developed. Only the email addresses and a phone number have been redacted.

Chris,

The answers to your questions were provided by the Clerk of the Board. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Questions:

1) What is his current Job Classification? Administrative Manager I

2) What is his current Operational Job Title? Assistant Clerk, Files Management/Administration Division

3) What are his job functions in the Clerk of the Board’s office? He manages the purchasing, petty cash, space needs/modifications, telephone usage/modifications, safety compliance, disaster recovery plan, department document storage and retention, public record act requests, building signage, etc. for the Board of Supervisors and Clerk of the Board.

4) Is Mr. Nguyen working full or part time? Full time but has volunteered additional furlough days without pay to assist the department’s budget needs

5) Is his full or part time classification consistent with the Job Classification he holds? (i.e.; is his Job Classification normally a full or part time position?) Yes, Full time position

6) If Mr. Nguyen is working other than full time, is their a specific reason for that arrangement? Volunteered additional furlough days without pay

7) Is there a position in the COB office, other than that held by Ms. Novak, with the job title Assistant Orange County Clerk? Ms. Novak’s title is Chief Deputy, Clerk of the Board and no one else holds that title.  In additional to Mr. Nguyen’s Assistant Clerk title, Robin Stieler is Assistant Clerk, Board Services Division and Pat Martinez is Assistant Clerk, Assessment Appeals Division.

Howard Sutter

CEO Community/Media Relations

Yesterday, we received the following release from Assemblyman Solorio on the status of the state sale of the OC Fairgrounds.

SACRAMENTO, CA – In a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger dated today, Ronald Dietrich, acting director of the California’s Department of Public Services, stated that he has “rejected all bids” for the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Assemblyman Solorio submits legislation on the Assembly floor to repeal the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Assemblyman Jose Solorio, (D-Anaheim), author of legislation to stop the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds, was pleased with the announcement. “We knew from the beginning that the process was not designed to garner the highest bid, and the local community didn’t want the fairgrounds sold at all,” Solorio said. “This is good news for the state, Costa Mesa, and all Orange County residents who enjoy the OC Fairgrounds.”

The Department of General Services was authorized to conduct an auction for the fairgrounds through AB X4 22, legislation enacted to balance the 2009-2010 budget. The proposed sale ignited a groundswell of local opposition and prompted Assemblyman Solorio to author his bill.

Katrina Foley

Costa Mesa City Council member Katrina Foley, a prominent figure in the stop-the-sale movement, praised Solorio for his efforts on all fronts to help the local community keep the fairgrounds. “It’s a bright day for Californians,” she said. “Constituents can be heard and can make a difference.”

The rejection of the bids is not the final chapter in the OC fairground sale. Diedrich said he is still committed to selling the fairgrounds and will look for “alternative means” to achieve that goal. One option could be selling the fairgrounds to local OC governments.