EPIC: US Senator Slams Class Warfare Colleague on Tax Reform

Dear Friend, I came up during the Great Depression, living in a ramshackle house built with recycled lumber from the local scrapyard. To give you a taste of our living conditions, the biggest wall in our home was a Meadow Gold Dairy sign that overlooked a living room too small to fit even half the family. We could barely afford the food on our table, much less new clothes for school. So as a boy, I wore ill-fitting hand-me-downs everywhere I went, and was often made fun of for it. Last night, I had heard enough of the tired talking point that Repulblicans are only looking out for the rich. By working as a janitor to put myself through college, I was eventually able to escape the poverty of my youth—but I never forgot about it. I never forgot about going to bed hungry because we didn’t have enough to eat. I never forgot about the sleepless nights spent worrying that my father would lose his job the next day. And I never forgot about the sense of otherness I felt as the poorest boy in school. I have known poverty. I’ve lived it—and I’ve felt it in my bones. So the insinuation that I am in any way indifferent to the suffering of the poor is a personal offense to me. And I made this frustration known Thursday night to one of my Democratic colleagues, Senator Brown. I encourage you to watch the clip above where I tell the Senator about my own experience with poverty and where I set the record straight on tax reform. There are many myths surrounding the Senate tax proposal, which is why I want to make one thing unmistakably clear: My new tax plan is a boon for low- and middle-income Americans. It significantly lowers tax rates, allowing workers to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. And it doubles the child tax credit to $2,000, saving Utah families hundreds—and in some cases, even thousands—of dollars a year. I’ve spent the entirety of my public service fighting for those who don’t have a chance, and I will continue doing so with tax reform. Know that I will never stop working to help those who need our help the most. Sincerely,    Orrin

Hawaii GOP Left Behind: Tupola Normalizes Chronic Homelessness

TURNING LEFT: GOP Leader Andria Tupola Says Homeless Villages are a "Sustainable Lifestyle" for People in Hawaii Aloha, Republicans: With Hawaii homelessness and poverty getting worse each daythanks to decades of failed Democrat policies driving up the cost of living, it's bad enough that Democrats like Willie Espero and Ernie Martin want to create homeless 'safe zones' and camps and villages for what they clearly deem a permanent and unsolvable problem. But now, our shrinking Republican Party's very own leader in the State House believes that permanent homeless villages are a "sustainable lifestyle" which she wants to help keep in place. Minority Leader Andria Tupola -- Beth Fukumoto's replacement and supposed "Republican" -- wants to normalize the homeless lifestyle when she should be leading the GOP assault on Democrats for the harmful policies which cause more than half of Hawaii residents to struggle from paycheck to paycheck. You see, the state is finally getting around to dealing with a huge illegal homeless village sandwiched between Waianae Harbor and Waianae High Schoolwhich has been there for more than a decade.  It contains a population of HUNDREDS of squatters, including children (a.k.a. 'the keiki') who are living daily life on the edge and suffering a subsistence lifestyle of filling water jugs from harbor hoses, waiting for food bank deliveries, hoping for donations of stuff and cash from area residents, making EBT food runs to the convenience store and cashing their parents' welfare checks.  This is NOT sustainable by any stretch of the imagination, except that taxpayers are doing the 'sustaining' of the village. Tragically, instead of encouraging these people get the help they need to start better lives in 2017, Andria Tupola told Hawaii News Now last night that she wants the state to hold off enforcement (i.e. clearing the 'village') because she actually believes that homelessness is a "sustainable lifestyle" worth preserving.  And Tupola wants the state to leave the "village" in place while a nonprofit purchases land for the "villagers" to move to -- permanently!! As Hawaii News Now reported last night, RINO Andria Tupola is even helping the self-appointed "mayor" of the huge homeless village (Ms. Twinkle Borge) to start the nonprofit to acquire a parcel of land for the permanent homeless village. Yes, THIS 'sustainable lifestyle' is what "Republican" Tupola wants to make permanent . . . just like Democrats are doing.  But this is neither sustainable, nor is it a lifestyle.  Auwe!! What the hell has happened to our Republican Party?   Have we completely given up on fixing Hawaii??  Does our platform now support joining hands with Democrats to create permanent homeless villages and now considering these 'safe zones' as 'sustainable living'?  If so, then we have definitely gone through the looking glass where the road to hell is paved with misguided intentions. In keeping with Tupola's progressive outlook, HIRA reluctantly reported last week that she recently joined Democrats by voting in favor of the first step towards starting a new welfare program called Universal Basic Income (UBI).  Liberals around the world are VERY excitedabout the legislation supported by "Republican" Andria Tupola. The program requires the State of Hawaii to cut a regular welfare check to every single Hawaii resident forever.  This is pure socialism.  Where does she think the money for this $10 billion per year program comes from?!? As party leader, Tupola even made sure that each of her four GOP colleagues voted unanimouslyfor the new welfare program along with a unanimous vote of the Democrats.  As HIRA reported, she also voted with Democrats to give tens of thousands of illegal aliens in Hawaii driver's licenses so they can compete for jobs with legal Hawai'i residents.  Yes, for all practical purposes, Amnesty Andria is a socialist who apparently learned too much from socialist Hugo Chavez while she was on her mission in Venezuela. With a record like Tupola's -- and while our party sits silently on the sidelines -- some people actually can't figure out why Hawaii Republicans have a hard time impressing voters.  Auwe!! Stay tuned for HIRA's upcoming story with a powerful and disturbing connection between Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Andria Tupola as well as the latest crazy happenings at the RINO-hijacked Hawaii GOP.  It's insane! Mahalo, ERIC RYAN Member, Hawaii Republican Party (HRP) President, Hawaii Republican Assembly (HIRA) Chairman, HIRA Action SuperPAC P.S.    BEWARE --   Andria Tupola's close associates Paul and Fern Mossman are still     fraudulently raising money by pretending to be the Honolulu County Republican Party; presumably to provide assistance to Tupola's political campaign. Here's the active website for the fake "Republican Party of Honolulu County Central Committee":   http://gophc.us/ [FYI:   the REAL Honolulu County GOP website which is part of the Hawaii GOP can be found here:  www.OahuGOP.com] Here's the registration of the fake GOP "party" and officers with State Campaign Spending Commission: https://csc.hawaii.gov/NCFSPublic/ORG_Report.php?OR_ID=20691 Most of all, beware of Tupola's associates' active fundraising page for the fake Honolulu Republican "party" organization: https://nonprofits.raisethemoney.com/republican-party-of-honolulu-county-cc

Tom Steyer: Rich, Leftist 1%-er What Wants to Endanger Californians

What is the  Big Green billionaire Tom Steyer up to now?

He's at the California Democratic Party convention today.

What is he sending out eblasts for, though?

"It's not enough to be rich.
I have to make the rest of you poor!"

He's not running for state party chairman, although pundits have suggested he might want to be the next Governor of Californa.

Here's the eblast:

Arthur,

Greetings from the California Democrats State Convention.

Right now, I am meeting with fellow progressives from across California to plan how our state will continue to lead the resistance and defend our democracy. Together, we will uphold the values and ideals that truly make America great.

The battle isn’t only about what is happening in Washington. It’s about the special interests pulling the strings in Sacramento as well — and we need your help to fight back.

In the next two weeks, lawmakers in Sacramento will have an opportunity to vote on crucial legislation that will help protect Californians. But corporate special interests are fighting tooth and nail to prevent these significant reforms from being passed.

Transparency for drug prices Californians are currently left in the dark about our prescription drug prices. Senate Bill 17 will prevent drug companies from dramatically raising prices with no warning, and will require health insurance companies to disclose what portion of our premiums go towards prescription drugs.

Sign the petition to support SB 17

Reforming California’s money bail system California's current bail system is discriminatory and and keeps poor people locked up simply for being poor. Senate Bill 10 and Assembly Bill 42 will create a more just and effective replacement for California’s money bail system. These bills will make sure that bail is set at a reasonable level based on a person’s ability to pay, and take better account of non-monetary factors when considering whether a person can be released.

Sign the petition to support SB 10 and AB 42

We can’t move forward unless we break the grip of special interests in our politics — in California and throughout our country.

Thanks for speaking up,

Tom Steyer
President
NextGen Climate

The argument that people are locked up for being poor is all wrong.

Men and women are incarcerated because they are suspects of a crime, and on trial. What are people talking about? This misplaced compassion is underminig our criminal justice system and making people less safe.

These arguments are fraudulent and immoral. Of course, billionaires like Tom Steyer don't have to worry about crimes committed in our streets since he lives in gated communities far away from the times and trials of daily life. The Democratic Party's increasingly anti-prosperity, pro-poverty agenda is pushing out the middle class and creating a two-tiered system of abject inequality.

And all this talk about transparency?

I wish that Steyer would come clean about all the money he makes from the Crony Big Green Agenda!

This guy is not happy with being rich.

He wants you to be poor, too!

Californians: It's time to rise up and put a stop to this Left-Wing madness!

First Impressions of Sacramento: So Much Poverty

Sacramento, California.

The last time I visited the state capitol, I was finishing my last year in college.

I saw what everything looked like from the upstairs galley surround the state senate floor, but that was it.

I did not spend a lot of time in the city, either, since I was just passing through that year.

15 years later, I visit Sacramento for real and really walk the town and talk to the people.

I decided to stay at a Motel 6 rather than stay at the more expensive Regency Hyatt. For that, I ended up seeing much of the city which I had not expected to make contact with.

The first and dominant feature throughout Sacramento?

The abject poverty.

I can't believe how many people I have seen in Sacramento who are on the street.

I expect the dinginess and rampant homelessness in Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Not as beautiful as advertised

But Sacramento?

Even though the city is smaller that those two larger urban areas, the moral decay is stifling.

After driving around the city, I noticed so many hanging out in fast food restaurants.

I visited one fast food place, and an elderly woman had been standing out in front with her walker.

Later tonight, she was still there.

This is incredible, and incredibly depressing.

This is the state capital of California, yet a dingy malaise of poverty and misfortune just hovers over everything.

The city does not look or feel clean. A sense of dull failure just dominates the city.

Downtown is better, perhaps, but the majority of people in this city live ... all around the city.

This is the best that Sacramento leaders could provide? Really?!

This is terrible.