McCarthy: Obama puts special interests and politics above the American people

 "Rep.  Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) submits his weekly view from Capitol Hill.

 "California has always been a leader in energy development, production and technology. The oil we produce right here in Kern County accounts for over 80% of California’s total - one tenth of all U.S. oil production – and we are leaders in wind, solar, and geothermal technologies. But under the Obama Administration’s failed energy policies, we’ve fallen behind. As gas prices soar past $4.00 per gallon locally, we can see that we desperately need an energy agenda focused here in America.

The day President Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the average price of gas was $1.84 per gallon. Today - after this Administration’s three-year-long war on domestic energy - the national average for a gallon of gas has more than doubled to $3.90 per gallon, with no signs of letting up.

Hardworking American families can’t afford more economic hardship coming from an Administration that seemingly prioritizes the interests of political allies and special interests over taxpayers. From canceling important offshore leases to gambling billions of taxpayer dollars on politically-connected companies like Solyndra to vetoing the Keystone Pipeline, this Administration claims to support all-of-the-above energy strategy but pushes none-from-below policies that have placed a tremendous financial burden on American families and small businesses, impeding our economic recovery.

I believe the way to address our current energy challenges is by producing energy here in America.  That is why this week, I introduced a new set of pro-growth energy initiatives that will help grow our economy, create American jobs, and lead us to energy independence. My House Republican colleagues are fighting for these critical legislative steps that will address rising gas prices, unshackle our domestic energy resources for environmentally sound oil production, and create a friendlier regulatory environment for innovative renewable and alternative energy technologies.

This energy policy package includes measures to freeze job-killing regulations the Obama Administration has slapped on refineries, expedite responsible oil and natural gas production permitting on federal land, and remove the bureaucratic red tape that hampers domestic production. A true all-of-the-above energy strategy, this plan will help increase production and supply to bring fuel costs down, spur economic growth and create jobs here at home.

Vice President Biden recently said that Democrats’ energy policy is “the best it’s ever been.” I disagree, and I invite the Vice President and Congressional Democrats to consider these new House Republican energy initiatives, and also the six bills currently lying dormant in the Democratic-controlled Senate that would help stabilize the price of energy and put Americans back to work.

"We have the opportunity to be the world’s energy leader. Kern County has always played a central role in energy production in our state and in our nation. I will continue fighting to secure America’s energy future and Kern’s leading role in traditional and alternative energy development and production.  By choosing to maximize the abundant natural resources that are available to us in a responsible, effective way, we can put America on a path to energy security and lasting economic growth.

Get ready for the Amgen Tour of California and who was the woman stealing the snap dragon from the gas station?

 * ... AMGEN: I stopped by Rabobank Arena earlier this week for the kick off reception of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race coming in May. Kerry Ryan, owner of Action Sports and one of the key drivers in getting this prestigious race back to Bakersfield, predicted 30,000 people will line the Panorama bluffs to watch the May 17, State 5 time trial showcasing some of the world's best cyclists. Spotted in the crowd were Rabobank's Andy Peterson, local attorney and cycling booster Jay Rosenlieb, City Manager Alan Tandy and wife Kate, City Councilman and supervisor candidate David Couch, Memorial Hospital's (and city councilwoman) Sue Benham, City Councilman Harold Hanson, KBAK TV sales manager Scott Meeks, Action Sports' Sam Ames and wife Andrea, City Councilman and State Senate candidate Rudy Salas, KBAK reporter Keisha Courtney, and David Lyman of the Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

* ... SPOTTED: Gail Oblinger submitted this eyewitness account of some really bad form about town. "The gas station at the corner of Mt. Vernon and University has flowerbeds filled with a lovely selection of spring blooms. While passing in my car Sunday, I noticed a woman bent over with her hands in the flowers and I thought. 'What a shame, she looks like she is picking some.' After I had finished my errand and drove back down the same way, there she was walking along the street. It was worse than I had thought. She had not picked some flowers, she had completely dug up a good sized, yellow snapdragon plant, and was carrying it upside down by the root ball!"

 * ... OVERHEARD: At Trader Joe's recently an impatient woman is heard complaining to her boyfriend about the customer in front of her: "The woman is writing a check and it's taking forever! Nobody writes checks anymore!"


  * ... LAST WISH: This may be highest compliment if you own a restaurant. The Home Depot Rosedale taco stand, owned by Yvonne Torres for the past three years, is well known for its chile verde. But not even owner Yvonne Torres could dream it might be a dying man's last wish to dine on your chile verde. Torres said she was approached at her taco stand by a strange woman recently. "She had been crying and said her father was dying... in the morning her father had Pappy's for breakfast, for lunch he wanted Cafe Med, for a snack he wanted Dewar's ice cream and for dinner he wanted chili verde from Home Depot. Now I feel honored my chili verde was chosen for a man's dying wish... I am truly honored."

 * ... DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that members of the Kern County Union High School class of 1938 meets regularly at Woolgrowers?  That's a lot of memories to share.

* ... BABY ON BOARD: Congratulations to Melissa (Lissa) Dignan, the former KERO TV weather forecaster who recently learned she is pregnant with her first child. Dignan is married to Brian Dignan, who is a coach with the Bakersfield Jam. Lissa said the baby is due in November. Always the animal lover, Lissa said the baby will have a "big sister" in her beloved weather dog Shelby.

Garces Memorial High flash mob; it's one way to get a date

 Nothing like a little creativity from the students at Garces Memorial High School. A flash mob leads to flowers for prom dates. Enjoy.

1954 Kentucky Derby jockey Ray York will appear at North Rotary fund raiser and get ready for another First Friday

 * ... RAY YORK: It's not every day that you meet a former jockey who rode to victory in the Kentucky Derby. But that's what happened to Sheri Horn Bunk, head of the Taft College Foundation, when she found herself talking to the great Ray York the other day. Bunk met York through Taft businessman Bob Hampton. Turns out York, who rode Determine to victory in the 1954 Kentucky Derby, lives on a horse ranch off Highway 119. Always the promoter, Horn won a commitment from York that he would attend North Rotary's annual fund raiser on April 13 at Seven Oaks Country Club, appropriately named "Dinner at the Derby." If anyone is interested in tickets, call Linda Pounds at (661) 619-3344.

 

 *  ... CULTURE SHOCK: We are all used to seeing tumbleweeds blowing about during our windstorms, but not everyone is so amused. Consider this note from reader Carl R. Moreland: "My wife Mary and I were driving down Panorama Drive toward downtown Mexicali with our 10 year old twin grandchildren, Bryn and Thalia, who were visiting from Walnut Creek. At the turn near Garces, all of a sudden one of them became very excited and shouted: 'Look at the big brown balls!' Both girls were amazed at the sight. We finally realized that they were watching tumbleweeds rolling down the street. Very unlike the Bay Area."


* ... FIRST FRIDAY: Make sure you remember for another First Friday this week when the weather promises to be perfect for an evening downtown. I rarely miss this monthly celebration of downtown, and if you haven't been, here's my recommendation for a perfect evening: start with dinner at one of our downtown restaurants. I prefer Uricchio's Trattoria, where you are always greeted with a smile and treated to an excellent Italian meal at reasonable prices. Then stroll the streets in the arts district and enjoy the street musicians and crafts displays, and stop by the antique and specialty stores in the 19th Street corridor. Don't forget The Metro Galleries on 19th Street, where owner Don Martin will be featuring there works of local artist Claire Putney in a show titled "Wish you Were Here." (The show is sponsored by the law firm of Chain, Cohn, Stiles) And finally, grab a nightcap at The Padre, the Alley Cat or even the bar at Uricchio's to end the evening.

 * ... PAJAMAS: A reader dropped me a note to ask if I could "stand one more chapter in the nightwear saga," to which I replied, why of course! So here it is: "Many years ago my sister-in-law and her daughters, who were chronically late, were rushing off to West High in an effort not to be late again. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law was wearing a see-through baby doll shorty nightgown when she ran out of gas on the way home. This was pre-cell phone days and needless to say, whomever she got to stop to help her got an eye-full. Too, too embarrassing.

 * ... SPOTTED: Teresa Hammett submits this example of having a good neighbor: "Sighted, (on more than one occassion), a mature gentleman walking his black and white dog in the lower Country Club neighborhood of East Bakersfield. This responsible citizen enjoys a good walk with his dog and keeps a grocery bag handy for any trash he sees. I don't know his name or where he lives but I just wanted him to know that his neighborhood walk and litter patrol is much appreciated by his neighbors."

Readers tip a hat to Chalet Basque and medical marijuana will be the focus of Californian Radio, KERN 1180

 * ... CHALET BASQUE: The son of J.B. and Marie Curutchague, former owners of the Chalet Basque, dropped me a note on behalf of his parents to thank their customers all through the years. Christian Curutchague says his father is suffering from a rare disease that has symptoms of both Alzheimer's an Parkinson's, but he is alert enough to remember his years at Chalet Basque. "If you ask them what they miss most about the restaurant business, they will always respond, 'we miss all the wonderful customers we grew to know and love throughout the community and beyond.' Today they look forward to when dad has a good day." When a reader mentioned Chalet Basque in this blog, Christian said it triggered a "bombardment of phone calls from former employees, family and friends. You can’t imagine the joy and happiness my parents felt and will continue to feel."

* ... CANNABIS: The debate over medical marijuana is showing now signs of abating, and Kern County voters will likely be deciding its fate at the ballot box. Law enforcement generally hates it, believing that cannabis storefronts attract crime, but others believe it's time to accept it for its medicinal attributes. On Monday at 9 a.m., join me on Californian Radio KERN 1180 when I will be speaking with Jeff Jarvis, one of more vocal proponents of medical cannabis, who will give us his perspective on the debate.

* .... PAJAMAS: Pat Gracey of Tehahapi doesn't really care if folks wear pajamas when they take their children to school, but she does add this caveat. "In 1943 my mother took my father to work at 6 a.m. and was wearing her white chinelle house coat (robe). Innocent enough until another lady, also in said nightwear rear ended our 1937 Lincoln Zephyr on Chester Avenue. Only the bumpers were entangled and both ladies were, in their nightdress, out jumping on the bumpers trying to disentangle them. A man came by and completed the task for them. With that picture in mind, I never drive a 'foot' or a 'mile' without being completely dressed."

 * ... SPOTTED: Friend Pete Wonderly posted this on his Facebook page: "To the woman driving slowly and erratically on 178, while eating a hamburger and texting: Jesus loves you - but I sure don't."

 * ... JAMES MCKINNEY: If you are a Bakersfield old timer you no doubt know the story of James McKinney, the outlaw who shot and killed two law enforcement officers in downtown Bakersfield back in 1903. Reader Linda Polston wrote to say that it was her great uncle, John Kelly, who helped organize the posse that tracked down McKinney at the old Chinese Joss house. McKinney was killed but not before he took down Deputy Sheriff Will Tibbett and Constable Jeff Packard.

McCarthy: Obama's budget double downs on a dysfunctional structure that saddles our nation with debt

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield and House Majority Whip, gives us his weekly report from Capitol Hill. In his words:

 "Just like American families sit around the kitchen table and prioritize their spending to make ends meet, so too should the federal government. I believe that structure dictates behavior and, unfortunately, the budget that the President proposed this year doubles down on a dysfunctional structure that saddles generations to come with our crushing debt.
 "Since the President took office, federal discretionary spending has skyrocketed, piling on $5 trillion more in debt.  After a record-breaking four straight years of trillion-dollar deficits, our national debt now exceeds our GDP, and we continue suffering from unacceptably high unemployment. The President’s latest budget proposal increases spending by $1.5 trillion, amasses another $11 trillion in debt over ten years, and still doesn’t balance the budget.  Fortunately, the House recognized that the President’s budget blueprint would move our country in the wrong direction; when it was brought to a vote, it failed 0-414, a bipartisan and unanimous repudiation to the status quo of overspending and over-borrowing.

  "The budget that ended up passing the House – the new Path to Prosperity budget (H. Con. Res 112) – tackles the drivers of our debt with comprehensive structural reforms and a true all-of-the-above energy strategy that will spur entrepreneurship, create new American jobs, and put us on a path to fiscal sustainability and a balanced budget.  
 "The Path to Prosperity budget would cut over $5 trillion in spending and reduce deficits by over $3 trillion, eventually creating the budget surpluses necessary to pay off our debt by 2040. By simplifying our tax code and closing loopholes, this budget blueprint keeps taxes low for Americans and sends a welcome signal to job creators. The House Republican budget also makes America more competitive through pro-growth domestic energy initiatives. With gas prices approaching $4.50 per gallon locally, the President now claims to support an all-of-the-above energy policy – something I agree with and have supported since coming to Washington – but his rhetoric doesn’t match his Administration’s actions. Our budget proposes increased renewable and alternative energy development and responsible domestic oil and natural gas production that will keep gas prices affordable, create American jobs, and secure our energy independence.

 "Finally, as the Supreme Court wrestled with the constitutionality of Obamacare this week and is set to rule on this later this spring, I will continue working with my colleagues to repeal the fundamentally-flawed healthcare law and replace it with stronger reforms that preserve the doctor-patient relationship, prevent government bureaucrats from rationing care, and safeguard Medicare for current and soon-to-be beneficiaries.

 "Americans expect real leadership from Washington, and Republicans have pulled their chairs up to the kitchen table and passed a budget blueprint that delivers on that expectation. Path to Prosperity isn’t just a band-aid fix – it actually reforms the structural problems driving our debt. This budget is a step in the right direction to ensure that the America we pass on to our children and grandchildren is as bright and full of opportunity as the one we inherited.

New dormitories could transform Cal State Bakersfield and celebrating a good deed

* ... CSUB: There's an important development over out at Cal State Bakersfield that has been overshadowed by the serious cutbacks affecting the entire university system. The Cal State Board of Trustees has approved the funding for new dormitories that will feature 500 beds for students, the first phase of a project that will slowly allow CSUB to evolve from a commuter school to a more residential environment. Why is this so important? It's all part of President Horace Mitchell's plan to bring a more authentic college experience to the campus, and that can only be achieved by having students live on the campus. Can you imagine the campus with 500, 1,000 or even 5,000 students living there? The smaller older dorms (now 40 years old) will be phased out, replaced by the new dorms featuring suite-style rooms with bedrooms connected to a bath. The master plan calls for three phases of dorm building on the soccer fields fronting Stockdale Highway. If things go as planned, the first phase will be ready for fall 2014. The funding is coming via new revenue bonds.

 * ... SPOTTED: A young couple braves the rain recently to take a hot cup of coffee to a homeless man who was standing in the downpour protecting his belongings.


* ... SAM THE HIPPO: Harry Love, a retired teacher at Foothill High School, chimed in with his memory of Sam the hippopotamus who once lived at the old Larson's Dairy in town. "I was teaching Social Studies at Foothill High School. I think it was in the early 1970s. I had students who were passing out bumper stickers that read 'Save Sam the Hippo.' They went to different classes, charging $1 for them. It was a publicity stunt to get the county to purchase land for Sam and other animals at the small zoo in Hart Park."

* ... PAJAMAS: A reader's note mentioning she "spotted" a mother walking her children to school while wearing a robe and pajamas has triggered a healthy little debate. Is this another example of how lazy we've all become, or should the mother be applauded? Raymond S. Pederson wrote to send "kudos to Pam Cheatwood for pointing out the simple but unavoidable truth that getting children to school, even in if mom wore pajamas, is a noble act.  How many people would not have taken their children to school under these conditions. You would think that with the present rate of drop-outs in Kern County, getting the kids to school so that they might move on to eventual graduation represents a true effort on the part of the mother, regardless of outward appearances. Thanks to a mom who cares enough to make sure her children get a good start on the path to a better future through education."

* ... THRIFT STORE:  A new thrift store has opened to serve the neediest in our community. It's called the Blessing and Bargains Thrift Store and is located at 2141 South Chester Avenue. This is a project of the Chester Avenue Community Church, which member Paul Warner describes as "small but we have strong faith." Stop by sometime and if you have leftover items from a garage sale, or other donations, they will be happy to take them off your hands.

 * ... WHO KNEW? Did you know that the giant fiberglass Indian statue now at Ethel's Old Corral Cafe is a “Muffler Man Indian” and once stood on the Garces Circle? The Vision 2020 Image Committee says there are different versions of Muffler Men all over the country. There is even a website devoted to Muffler Man sightings.

Spending too much time on Facebook? You may be a narcissist at heart, "obsessed with self image and shallow friendships." Or so say some researchers

 * ... FACEBOOK: If you're spending too much time on Facebook - posting pictures of your latest love interest or announcing to the world what you did today - you likely have extreme narcissistic tendencies. That's according to the British newspaper The Guardian, which reported that researchers have established "a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the degree to which you are a 'socially disruptive' narcissist, confirming the conclusions of many social media skeptics." Surprising? Maybe not when you consider all the folks who post updates of their latest boyfriend or girlfriend, achievement or interest, but then that's the nature of the beast isn't it. But he Guardian added: "People who score highly on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire had more friends on Facebook, tagged themselves more often and updated their newsfeeds more regularly. The research comes amid increasing evidence that young people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, and obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships."

* ... SPOTTED: Jim Hankins and his wife were stopped at a red light last weekend in the fast lane of northbound Stine Road at Wilson. "We could see a box like object in the middle of our lane on the other side of the intersection. I contemplated how I was going to maneuver around it. We then saw a well dressed older gentleman get out of his car in the southbound left turn lane. He pulled a box fan from the lane to the center divider, reentered his car and made his turn when the light turned green. My wife and I swelled with pride for our neighbors in Bakersfield. Kudos to that gentleman."

 * ... CLOSE CALL: Here's a story you really don't want to experience yourself. Duane Keathley, a partner at the local CB Richard Ellis commercial property group, was headed to Mammoth recently with his 17-year-old son Robert, a student at Bakersfield Christian High School. Thirty miles south of Bishop, at around 9:30 p.m., Keathley's new black Chevrolet Suburban slammed into a cow crossing Highway 395. "The airbags went off in an instant and it all happened in a flash," he told me. "Robert asked me if I was okay and instantly the OnStar system came on and asked if we were okay. The CHP was there in two minutes." The Suburban, the airbags, OnStar and the CHP all performed as expected and father and son continued, rented a car and enjoyed a fly fishing trip that held its own special memories.

  * ... BASQUE FOOD: Gary Corbell tipped me off to a story in the latest Smithsonian magazine titled The Basque Revolution. "The first two paragraphs spoke of Bakersfield, Merle Haggard, Buck Ownes, Dewars, Luigi's, Pyrenees, Benjis, Wool Growers and Noriega Hotel. Interesting reading to know that the Basque influence has helped put Bakersfield on the national stage. My only regret is that they did not mention the Chalet Basque especially when it was owned by J.B. and Maria. At that time, in my opinion, the Chalet was second to none in Basque cusine in Bakersfield." (photo of Noriega's courtesy of The New York Times)

 * ... POST OFFICE: How is your service at your local local Post Office? Carole Cohen wrote to defend local postal employees, whom she described as "kind, courteous, and extremely helpful.  I especially enjoy visiting the downtown post office. The lines are short, there is always plenty of help, and they have - on more than one occasion - gone way out of their way to find me an appropriate shipping box, pack my items for me, and look for the most expedient and inexpensive way to ship.  All this without knowing from day to day whether or not they will have a job!  Hats off to anyone who deals with the public on a daily basis and can maintain their sense of humor as well as provide good service."