House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy raps Obama on the Syrian refugee question, the Padre Hotel menu gets a makeover and remembering the South Chester Drive-In

 * ... SYRIAN REFUGEES: Is there are hotter issue domestically than the question of allowing thousands of Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States? Citing humanitarian concerns, the president wants to allow some 10,000 Syrians into the country, an idea the House of

Representatives shot down Thursday by voting to halt the program. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader, took the floor to remind the president that "our duty is to protect the American people," adding that is it "against our values to give terrorists the opening they are looking for" to sneak into the country. McCarthy noted the United States spends some $6.5 billion in humanitarian aid alone, and that pausing the resettlement was necessary until all refugees can be property vetted. The House measure also called for the heads of the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Intelligence to personally vouch that those admitted aren't a threat.

* ... INDIGNANT: A handful of readers wrote to correct the misspelling of the word "indignant" in a recent post on student protests. It should have read like this: "The activities of students at two universities remind me of Al Capp’s name for similar students of the 1960s and 1970s in his Li’l Abner comic strip – Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything." One reader, Richard Rivera, showing a bit of indignation himself, offered this: "Try wildly indignant if you and your reader wish to mock these students who are raising legitimate concerns."

 * ... SPOTTED ON TWITTER: "The difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted."

 * ... FOODIE: The chef at The Padre Hotel and given its bar and restaurant menus a complete makeover, and it's worth checking out. The Brimstone bar now offers a full array of "craft burgers" along with mussels and a variety of flatbreads.

* ... BOOK SIGNING: A Highland High graduate is returning to town this weekend for a book signing for his recently released children's book, 'Baxter Bu's Epic Beach Day.' Shaun Sturz, who went on to graduate from Westmonth College and later became a "manny" for Kenny G's children, will appear at Amy's Hallmark on Oswell this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. Sturz was noted to be the top “manny’ in Beverly Hills by Los Angeles Magazine and was cast on ABC Family’s reality show "Beverly Hills Nannies,” where he was one of ten high class nannies chosen for the series. Sturz was also approached by Brooke Burke of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” to blog for her popular mommy site, modernmom.com, where he gave advice and shared fun stories from his perspective as a male nanny.

 * ... BAKERSFIELD SIGN: Bryan Kelly read the story about the city of Lamont refurbishing its welcome sign and had this to say: re: "What we need to do is resurrect the old BAKERSFIELD-SUN-FUN-STAY-PLAY sign, only this time make it read BAKERSFIELD-SUN-FUN-STAY-PLAY-LITTER... perhaps people traveling through at least might think we do this on purpose and we're not just a bunch of pigs."

 * ... MEMORIES: You may be a Bakersfield old-timer if you remember going to the South Chester Drive-In. Built in 1945 to hold some 600 cars, the drive-in went out of business and was torn down in the early 1980s.

McCarthy: Time for Congress to make the necessary spending cuts

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) gives his weekly update from Capitol Hill. In his words"

 "I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their friends and family. President George Washington issued the first national thanksgiving proclamation in 1789 at the request of Congress. During the Civil War, in 1863, President Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as day of thanksgiving and called on the country to seek healing and national unity.
 " However it was not until 1941, that Congress made the 3rd Thursday of every November a national holiday. I believe it is important that as a nation we continue to use this day as a time to reflect on what we are thankful for not only as a nation, but in our personal lives as well.

  "When Congress is back in session next week, all Americans will have a chance to choose what spending cuts they want the House to act on. There will be three items up for a vote and the item with the highest
number of votes will be taken to the House floor for an up or down vote.  Item one: eliminate unnecessary Congressional printing.  For example, when a member of Congress introduces a bill or resolution,
the Government Printing Office prints 200 hard copies and last Congress over 14,000 were introduced amounting to over 2 million printed paper copies.  An alternative to mandatory printing is just
keeping all bills and resolutions online for all to see and potentially saving over $35 million over 10 years.    "Item two: redirect the National Archives to just manage Federal records rather than spending $10 million a year on grants to help state and local governments preserve their records. 
"Item three: get rid of Federal agency broadcasting facility grant programs that have already finished their work, which could save taxpayers $250 million over ten years. To read more about these and to place your vote online or through text message, please visit: http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/.

  "As we work to turn our state and country around, elected officials have the responsibility ensure accountability in our government. Recently there have been a number of questions floating around
regarding the California high speed rail project. I believe as this project moves forward we have a responsibility to ask the tough questions and demand a realistic assessment. Since the project was
envisioned 14 years ago, the California High Speed Rail Authority predicted the project would cost $43 billion or more.  At a time with such economic uncertainty, it is important to ensure that we have an
honest discussion regarding the high speed rail project before obligating future generations with additional costs and debt.

  "Thank you to all the troops overseas and at home who sacrifice so much so that we at home can enjoy the freedoms that make America the greatest nation on earth. Enjoy the weekend and some of the big games,
and I hope to see some of you at the 33rd Annual Kern River Valley Christmas Parade in Lake Isabella on Sunday.

McCarthy: brace yourself for taxes to rise across all income levels

  Our weekly update from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield.) In his words:

"As the Bull and West fires raged this week, many local families have been forced to evacuate their homes.  To help those in need, County Fire Chief Nick Dunn and the District Ranger for Sequoia National
Forest Rick Larson have updated my office with information for local, state, and federal resources.  I also joined local residents for a town hall in Kernville Friday evening to hear the latest updates and
what we can expect next.  For more information, check my website: www.KevinMcCarthy.house.gov.

  "Personally, I am very proud of the hard work our Kern County Red Cross volunteers, local businesses and citizens have put forward to help all those in need. When our neighbors and friends have needed assistance,
our community has always been able to come together and answer their call for help.  As our community has been battling these wildfires, I was saddened to hear of the passing of a great fire fighter and
community leader this week, former Kern County Fire Chief, Robert Williams.  Bob was an avid outdoorsman and a loving father and grandfather dedicated to his family.  I am truly honored to have known
Bob and our community will certainly miss him.

  "In Washington this week, my colleagues and I continued to push for cuts in wasteful spending and interestingly enough, this week’s YouCut choice was put forward by Congressman John Adler, a Democrat from New Jersey.  Rep Adler’s proposal outlined a plan that would terminate the Advanced Earned Income Tax Credit (AEITC), and save taxpayers $1.1billion over the next 10 years.  Unfortunately, in spite of bipartisan support, the bill failed to pass and again this majority proved they are not serious about cutting spending or getting this nation’s fiscal house in order.  Since YouCut’s inception, my colleagues and I have
offered over $120 billion in cuts to wasteful spending, and until our nation’s debt is under control, we will continue to push for commonsense cuts despite the Majority’s opposition.

  "Another fiscal issue that will be on everyone’s mind soon is taxes. In 154 days, the Congressional Majority and the Administration is scheduled to increase taxes on all Americans.  All families and individuals in every tax bracket, as well as small businesses owners, will be affected.  This tax increase would be the largest increase in our nation’s history and could not come at a worse time.  Since the stimulus passed, more than 3 million jobs have been lost and national unemployment is still hovering close to 10%; a tax increase is the last thing Americans and their small businesses need.  More than 60 million individuals are employed by small businesses nationwide, and start-up companies create an average of 3 million jobs annually. A tax increase on these job-creating engines could be catastrophic.  Rather than levying a punitive tax on hard-working Americans and their families, we should focus on creating jobs and getting our national debt under control.

  "Also this week, I was able to meet with a unique visitor who recently has come to call Bakersfield a home away from home.  On Wednesday I met with Jean Baptiste Mugaruar.  Jean is from Rwanda and he and his
wife Julia have been living in Bakersfield since July 2009 as she has been treated for cancer.  Jean wanted to let me know that Bakersfield has been so welcoming and supportive of him and his family and he was
pleased to announce that Julia is cancer free and they will be returning to Rwanda in August.

  "Finally, I wanted to let you know that I taped an interview with C-SPAN this week that will air this Sunday, at 7am or 3pm, if you would like to tune in.  Have a good weekend.

McCarthy puts spotlight on kids from Stockdale High and Fruitvale Junior High

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) gives us his view of Capitol. Hill:


 It was winners’ week in Washington D.C.  First up, Sona Shah, a junior at Stockdale High School and winner of the Congressional Art competition for the 22nd district was on Capitol Hill.  Sona was in
town to take part in the opening ceremony for the exhibit where her charcoal and pastels piece, “Playing Art,” will hang for a year.
  Fruitvale Junior High was also here for a visit after they took first place at the National History Day competition.  Their topic was Disturbing the Peace: The Freedom Rides, an Innovation that Changed
the Civil Rights into a National Movement.  Coincidently, while talking with them on the Capitol steps, I was able to introduce them to Congressman John Lewis (D-GA).  Congressman Lewis was a major leader in the Civil Rights Movement and an organizer and keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in 1963.  He gave them a first-hand account of the history they had been studying.

 

  Looking through the suggestion cards from my America Speaking Out town hall, a common theme was that Californians need jobs.  I could not agree more, last year at this time, state unemployment was 11.3%, and today it is 12.4%.  While some believe the $787 billion spend and borrow stimulus that was signed into law in February of 2009 is working, our national unemployment numbers have yet to support such assertions.  There are better ways to gain jobs without government programs spending billions of dollars we don’t have, and I have supported solutions that would have crated twice the jobs at half the cost of the stimulus, as well as a no-cost jobs bill.  We need more commonsense alternative solutions on how to get our economy going again, and I encourage you to join the discussion at AmericaSpeakingOut.com.

  Each week I give you an update on how my colleagues and I are trying to rein in Washington spending through YouCut, where you vote to cut wasteful Washington spending initiatives.  This week, we proposed an idea that even the President endorsed the day after we announced it-amend federal law to allow for the accelerated sale of unneeded federal properties which could save taxpayers up to $15 billion.
While several Democrats joined Republicans in supporting this cut the American people voted for, there were not enough of them to make this savings a reality. To vote for next week’s round of cuts, go to:
http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut.

  My office also welcomed Cassie Reeves from Bakersfield for a summer internship.  She started working in the Bakersfield office this week and will finish out her internship in Washington D.C.  She is a graduate of Bakersfield Christian High School and is a junior English major at Cal Poly SLO.

  Have a great weekend.