Yo, Ricky! You Got Some 'Splainin To Do!
Ed Yoon, who is leading the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund efforts in CA-11, has forwarded this story on to SNTP:
Local residents of the 11th Congressional District held press conferences in San Ramon and Stockton to challenge Rep. Richard Pombo to a town hall during the August congressional recess to “explain himself” as to why he is known as one of the most corrupt members of Congress.These two press conferences were held last Tuesday, and received good media coverage from the local CBS affiliate, TV-30 (Tri-Valley TV), and the Pleasanton Weekly. The letter to Rep. Pombo was signed by more than 100 of his constituents. You can click on the image below to enlarge it:
More than 100 of Rep. Pombo’s constituents have signed a letter requesting a town hall meeting, and copies of the letter with their signatures were hand-delivered to his district offices following the press conference in each city.
“I am a life-long Republican who has voted for Congressman Richard Pombo in the past, including the last election, but I need some good explaining from him this year on a series of apparent ethical lapses that he is known for,” said Peter Petroski, a resident of Danville. “I’m joined by more than a hundred others who live and vote in his district to ask him to a public town hall to explain himself.”
The hand-delivery of the constituents’ letter to Pombo’s district offices, including the request for a town hall meeting during the August Recess, were met by surprise, feigned ignorance, and consistent evasion from the Pombo district office staff. In Stockton, Pombo’s chief scheduler in Washington, DC even told nearly 30 constituents who gathered at his district office, “We can’t schedule anything because the computer is down.”
“Why did Congressman Pombo use taxpayer money for a family vacation in an RV to seven national parks and not pay the money back to the government?” asked Norm Rhett, a resident of San Ramon. “Congressman Pombo needs to explain himself.”
Now, I’m sure that Richard Pombo would like to paint these voters as wild-eyed, liberal, environmental nut-jobs from Berkeley. Yeah, right. This is the group from San Ramon:
And here’s the thing: We know Congress is recessed for the entire month of August, and we know Pombo's in town for most of the month. Now, we also know Richard Pombo is a pretty busy guy, what with the big private fundraiser he's holding that will be attended by GOP Majority Leader John Boehner on August 25 in the district — and, of course, all that Celebrity NASCAR eats into his schedule.
But don't these folks deserve a few minutes of his time, as well? You’d think the least he could do is meet with his concerned constituents and answer their questions.
You have to ask yourself, “Why is Richard Pombo so afraid of these people?”
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posted by babaloo @ 2:17 PM
5 Comments:
Richard is a liars and he say's he has never lied, while in congress. He said all he has ever done is what he did for his family and the people of the 11th district. So we assume then that all the people that voted for Pombo are also liars. Now understand that is Pombo's statement, and if you voted for him and you are unhappy with him the only way to redeam yourself is to vote Pombo out. He is and was corrupted by special interest. So when he says he wants to sell the park lands and the ports and allow more illegal immigrants into America and Drilling off shore and in ANWAR. That's your fault. Not mine. So those out there that don't like me, it's your loss.
Vote Pombo out of Office.
Tom Benigno
This is Tom's wife Joyce Benigno. Tom has struggled with this issue of congressman Pombo for many years. Tom wanted no more than to represent the 11th district that he has lived in worked in, and raised his family in had businesse's in and yes went to school in. The damage to farming, and the environment, and just plain living and the quality of life that Pombo's ideas and ethics have caused Tom much anger. His whole being is to see Pombo is not rellected. Help us vote Pombo out.
Joyce Benigno
Where has Rocky been???
Maybe hes pissed about the flip flopping?
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006607300328
I strongly suspect that the people who signed the letter are Pombo friendlies - not Pombo hostiles - who have supported him in the past and want to support him again for reasons of their own. But all this talk of DeLay, Dolittle, Abramoff, Marianas, etc etc etc have left them nervous and wondering. They likely firmly believe (for now) that he has good explanations, if only he would meet with them and give those explanations. Then, they could go on supporting him and more importantly, those durn Democrats, bloggers, and newspapermen would back off and let him do his job!
But of course he can't show up and start giving any explanations, because he doesn't have any that will make sense to his constituents. He can't say, 'Well, I paid all that money to my wife because, what the heck, a feller has to take care of his own, if ya know what I mean.'
I suppose he could start lying - what am I saying?? - he could continue lying, but perhaps he either sees that they would be too transparent or someone he trusts told him not to, that they would be too transparent.
Perhaps he is following his policy with Vote Smart, which was SHADDUP! And let the other guy make all the noise... and all the mistakes!
Maybe his Daddy once told him that it is better to say nothing and let people think you a fool than to open your mouth and prove it to them!
It was General Wesley Clark who said "To change politics as usual, we have to vote for someone besides the usual politicians." But even gives Pombo too much credit, in that he is not a 'usual politician' but a crooked on. Perhaps that IS politics as usual for the modern Republicans, which is why those with integrity have endorsed Jerry, a man who is certainly not a politician.
Just to follow up, Byron Roberts, the gentleman who was speaking on the phone in the last photograph, wrote a letter to the editor which was published in today’s Tracy Press. It reads, in part, as follows:
”I’m shocked to read that the response from Pombo’s representative is so cavalier.
“At the time, we presented our letter of concern regarding ‘allegations’ questioning Pombo’s ethics and motives tied to his campaign contributions of $240,000 from oil and natural gas companies and other big corporate interests and $450,000 in campaign funds he paid his wife and brother for ‘consulting fees.’ We clearly stated we were not protesting or making charges. We explicitly stated we were concerned about the ‘allegations,’ and wanted to give him a chance to respond.
“To this date, neither I nor anyone else, to my knowledge, has heard from Pombo or anyone from Pombo’s office to set a date and time for him to respond to these ‘allegations.’ One can only conclude from this non-response that the ‘allegations’ must not just be allegations.”
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