News Articles About the Election
10/20/10
Record Searchlight-Letters to the Editor (3)
Well, Is Herger up to the Job?
By Pete Stiglich, Cottonwood
A Record Searchlight editorial last week took Democratic congressional candidate Jim Reed to the woodshed for spreading rumors Congressman Wally Herger might be showing signs of mental fatigue. Pulling no punches, the Record Searchlight accused Reed of “an absurd personal attack,” “rumor-mongering,” “slander” and of taking a “cheap shot” at the republican incumbent.
Frankly, I’d say such editorial dressing-down of Reed was over-the-top.
Sure, questioning the health of an individual can be a profoundly touchy subject. Some might suggest the topic’s off-limits or taboo. Reputations, livelihoods and personal feelings can all be inadvertently or intentionally destroyed. Most assuredly, it’s important one tread carefully, with all good intentions, when entering into such discourse.
Sure, Reed’s motivation can be legitimately questioned. Trailing in the polls, time running out, fighting an uphill political battle, he’s certainly not the best messenger of such inquiry.
But, taboos and motivations aside, one single, critical question remains unanswered. Are voters entitled to know if their elected officials and those seeking office are of sound body and mind?
Dare I say, I believe they are. Those seeking elected office must meet a uniquely high standard of scrutiny. Ensuring they are up to the challenge, in my opinion, only makes sense.
Congressman is Past his Expiration Date
By Dave Bock, Redding
It’s time for a new face.
Wally Herger’s reticence, or should I say refusal, to debate Jim Reed shows his contempt for his constituents. What does he have to fear in a district that is so heavily Republican? Many medications and food products have an expiration or “use by” date.
This is one Republican who suggests that Wally Herger has passed his “use by” date.
North State Deserves Better than Herger
David Kent, Mount Shasta
The following multiple-choice question attempts to answer the question: Why Won’t Wally Herger debate Jim Reed? Choose from the following:
(1) Arrogance. Twenty-four years as a congressman has gone to his head.
(2) Afraid to defend his voting record, including why he voted for the bank bailout when he was receiving calls 100 to one against it.
(3) Diminished capabilities — too enmeshed with party leaders, lobbyists and cronies, all of whom don’t want to lose power.
(4) All of the above.
The answers all lead to the same conclusion: He has something to hide. Unfortunately for Herger, as he recently said, “I’ve never seen so many people paying attention.”
We deserve better than a candidate who will not participate in the democratic process
10/17/10
Oroville Mercury-Register by Bob Hood
Letter: Give Herger the Break He Deserves
Do you believe it? Wally Herger refuses to participate in the League of Women Voters scheduled debate. When I was serving in Vietnam we called those who refuse to answer the call a coward.
Why am I not surprised? The Democratic candidate, Jim Reed is an articulate man, he is clear headed and capable of addressing the important issues of today and Herger is not.
Herger has given us substandard representation in Congress for far too long. He doesn't bring an approach to his job that considers the everyday person. Instead his tenure is bankrolled by insurance companies and other moneyed interests to perpetuate the Republican version of what's best for northeastern California.
While many counties here fare near the national average in distribution of federal dollars, the sad truth is that Butte and Shasta (the two most populous counties in the congressional district) do not benefit similarly.
My interactions with Herger's office have resulted in a battery of robo-calls and broadcast letters that represent slick-style machine politics. Never have I been able to reach a person.
He promised me that he would support vitally needed health reform (in one of his "letters"), and now he is sponsoring a bill for its repeal.
I will be voting to see him returned to the district. And I will be happy to support the Democrat, Jim Reed.
Bob Hood, Paradise
10/16/10
Appeal Democrat Editorial
Our View: Herger Owes His Constituents
Wally Herger has never met a campaign trail photo-op he didn't like. The same can't be said for debate opportunities.
Herger, the 12-term Republican incumbent from California's 2nd Congressional District, refuses to debate his Democratic challenger, Jim Reed, a lawyer who bills himself a moderate on the issues.
Dave Gilliard, the consultant running Herger's campaign, told us there's no way the congressman is going to engage in "any type of forum" with Reed, who has "tremendously stepped up his rumor mongering" — specifically the rumor Herger is suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer's.
Reed fueled the rumor by discussing it in a late September radio interview, which is posted on his campaign website, www.reednow.com.
Appearing together — at least in the same room — at a Kiwanis Club meeting in Red Bluff last week, Reed offered an apology, but Herger refused it. "I've always been taught that you don't reward outlandish behavior and I don't think it would be proper to reward him," Herger said.
Reed, in turn, accused Herger of coming up "with any little excuse to not debate."
We don't condone slimy political tactics, but Herger has it wrong: Debating Reed would not be a reward to his opponent, but rather fulfillment of an obligation to the voters that Herger should honor. The district's constituents deserve to hear the candidates confront each other and air it out on the critical issues.
Herger, whose district includes Yuba and Sutter counties, has found the time to make recent press-the-flesh appearances in Marysville, including Thursday's stop at a fundraising dinner for the homeless. So we extended to his campaign an invitation to return to Marysville at least one more time to participate in an hour-long debate at the newspaper's office, to be carried live on the Appeal-Democrat website.
Herger's camp declined. Herger is "willing to go anywhere and talk to constituents, but he's not going to give Reed the platform" for personal attacks, Gilliard said. Reed, of course, agreed to the debate.
Herger has debated opponents in past elections, so why the disinclination to do so now, including canceling a long-scheduled event co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters?
Herger was ducking debates before the ugly politicking's emergence. He refused to debate Col. Pete Stiglich in the Republican primary. He promised future debates against Reed, but turned down his Democratic challenger's offer of three events, including one in Yuba City, during the summer congressional recess. Herger rejected an invitation from the Shasta County Tea Party, which offered to stage a debate. He chose not to participate with Reed in the Sept. 23 candidates forum co-sponsored by the Appeal-Democrat. (To be fair, Congress was in session that day).
In the wake of Reed's Sept. 28 Progressive News Radio interview that included discussion of the Alzheimer's rumor, Herger bowed out of an Oct. 6 debate that had been scheduled two months earlier. Herger's camp denies making that commitment or that it was then aware of the radio show comments.
Then came the decision to cancel the public television debate scheduled for Oct. 25. Herger's campaign initially said that debate was off until Reed issued an apology.
Reed's public apology last week wasn't enough; Herger's campaign had earlier demanded a private apology and the removal of the radio interview from Reed's website.
Maybe the congressman is just playing it safe this time around. After all, he's a longtime incumbent in an overwhelmingly Republican district — why should he debate when he doesn't have to? The political campaign playbook dictates not giving an unknown challenger any exposure. So Herger can content himself with playing to friendly faces.
Herger apparently isn't worried about the anti-incumbent fever spreading across the country. Or website comments like this one: "I've voted for Herger in every election. This time I think, I'll leave that space blank."
While Reed is touting internal online polling results that show him less than 2 percentage points behind Herger, it seems unlikely Herger will lose the Nov. 2 election, not with his voter registration edge. And Reed faces potential backlash for his personal attack.
However, the real loser in this affair will be the voter.
Politics can be a dirty game, a truth Herger should know after 24 years in Washington. We encourage Herger to drop the indignation and step up to confront his challenger, quash the rumors and tackle the issues. He owes that much to his constituents.
10/16/10
Appeal Democrat by Fred Kawashima
Letter: Choose Reed over Herger
Our incumbent Congressman Wally Herger is running again - for the 13th time. Which reminds me of a saying by Albert Einstein: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
During his 12 terms in Congress, Herger has gotten farm subsidies of more than $2 billion (that's billions … not millions). He has consistently gotten huge subsidies for the farmers, especially the big donors to his campaigns. Since he has gotten the same old, same old results, over and over as expected by his donors, it proves he is not insane.
The rest of us, the nonfarmers, received no subsidies. By the same line of reasoning, those who received no subsidies and kept voting him in must be insane.
It is time to replace Herger and get different results. Please join me and vote for Jim Reed to serve as congressman of the 2nd District of California.
Fred Kawashima, Yuba City
10/15/10
Redding.com
Poll: REP. WALLY HERGER'S CAMPAIGN CANCELED A DEBATE WITH DEMOCRAT JIM REED AFTER REED SUGGESTED HERGER MIGHT BE SUFFERING EARLY SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. WHAT'S YOUR TAKE?
Results:
Reed might be right. Why doesn't the congressman show up to prove he's wrong?
- 57%
Good for Herger. Reed's playing dirty politics and deserved to be called on it.
- 25%
He should reschedule. Reed was wrong, but dropping the debate only punishes the voters.
- 17%
10/14/10
Chico News and Review
CN&R Endorsements
U.S. Representative, 2nd District: Jim Reed
After 24 years in office, Wally Herger is getting tired. His challenger, Fall River Mills attorney Jim Reed, would bring much-needed energy to the job. Unlike Herger, he;s not opposed to seeking federal funding for needed projects, and he's committed to working to bring more dollars -and jobs- into the district.
10/13/10
KRCRTV.com by Jacki Ochoa
Reed Apologizes to Herger
Democratic candidate for Congress, Jim Reed publicly apologized to his opponent and long time incumbent, Republican Congressman Wally Herger on Wednesday afternoon. Their meeting, at the Palomino Room in Red Bluff, was part of an appearance at a Kiwanis Club meeting.
On Monday, Herger had announced that he was canceling all of his scheduled debates with Reed. That is, until Reed apologized to Herger for claiming, during a radio interview, that he may have Alzheimer's.
Wednesday afternoon was the first time the two were in the same room. Reed used part of his time to publicly apologize to Herger, but Herger didn't consider it an apology.
Herger told KRCR News channel 7, he still will not take part in any debates with his opponent, Jim Reed.
"I've always been taught that you don't reward outlandish behavior and I don't think it would be proper to reward him," said Herger.
Reed said, that despite his apology, he didn't expect to get the chance to take Herger on in a debate.
"I'm not at all surprised," said Reed. "He will come up with any little excuse to not debate."
The radio interview that started it all, is still up on Reed's website and he said, it will stay up.
10/11/10
The Record Searchlight by Scott Mobley
Herger Cancels Debate with Reed
Rep. Wally Herger has called off a debate with Democratic challenger Jim Reed scheduled later this month.
Reed, a Fall River Mills attorney, was supposed to debate Herger at the KIXE studios in Redding on Oct. 25.
Dave Gilliard, a Rocklin-based consultant who is managing Herger’s campaign, said he canceled the debate today after Reed refused to apologize for spreading rumors the 12-term Republican may be suffering a mental disease.
“I've been running campaigns over 25 years in California and I consider this the lowest, most vile attack I've ever seen,” Gilliard said.
Reed said he has nothing to apologize for, adding he believes Herger is using the accusation as an excuse to duck the debate.
“I wasn’t the one that brought it up,” Reed said. “The rumors are out there and everyone is hearing about it. We were discussing it.”
Jim Swanson, who created the Progressive News Daily blog, questioned whether Herger is “mentally fit to be re-elected” in a blog post on Sept. 27. Swanson interviewed Reed for his Progressive News Radio the next day.
Reed has posted links to Swanson’s blog post and a pod cast of his radio interview with Swanson on his campaign website.
Asked by Swanson about Herger’s mental state, Reed said Charlie Schaupp and Col. Pete Stiglich, both Republicans, told him they’d heard rumors Herger had a medical condition.
Schaupp has said the rumors aren't true and he later urged Reed not to use them. Stiglich never referred to the rumors in his campaign against Herger during the June primary, Reed told Swanson.
Reed told Swanson he had no way himself of knowing if the rumors are true.
“I'm hoping the rumors are incorrect,” Reed told Swanson. “If the rumors are incorrect, I think Wally has a beautiful opportunity to prove it by debating me.”
Herger’s opponents have had trouble getting the Congressman to debate them.
Herger declined to debate Stiglich during the campaign leading to the June primary, saying he would not engage a fellow Republican.
Reed had first asked Herger for debates in Redding, Chico and Yuba City in August and early September, during the Congressional break. Herger, through his spokesman, declined, saying summer debates were too early. But the Herger campaign agreed to an October date.
The League of Women Voters and the Chico Enterprise-Record scheduled an Oct. 6 debate in Chico. But Herger’s spokesman said the Congressman had a schedule conflict. His campaign offered to send a representative instead.
Herger agreed to a live, televised debate with Reed on Oct. 25. But that’s just a week before the election, Reed said – well after many absentee voters will have sent in their ballots.
Herger accepted the KIXE debate shortly after Reed posted the Swanson links on his campaign website. But a couple days later, Gilliard threatened to cancel if Reed left the rumor-mongering links in place.
Reed has refused to remove them.
“Go to my website and see for yourself if I have anything to apologize for,” Reed said.
Herger will not debate Reed in Redding or at another late October event tentatively scheduled for a city in the southern part of the district, Gilliard said.
“I would not get on the same stage as someone who would stoop that low,” said Gilliard. “It's one thing to get into a debate and challenge each other on issues but it's another when you go on a radio interview and spread rumors your opponent has a mental disease. That's unacceptable.”
10/5/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Katy Sweeny
Herger Skipping Wednesday's Debate in Chico
Two days before a long-planned debate, Congressman Wally Herger's staff informed organizers he won't attend the Wednesday event in Chico.
Challenger Jim Reed was disappointed. "You want to debate sometime when people are still trying to make decisions on who to vote for," Reed said. "There's no reason he couldn't be there...."
The League of Women Voters of Butte County had scheduled the debate between incumbent Herger and Reed, with the Enterprise-Record as a co-sponsor. Reed will attend the event starting 7 p.m. Wednesday in Chico City Council Chambers and Herger's staff will read a statement.
The candidates for the Nov. 2 election are vying for California's 2nd Congressional District that represents parts or all of 10 Northern California counties, including Butte and Glenn.
Congress adjourned Friday. Its session was originally scheduled to run through this week, so Herger had not committed to the event for that reason, said Charley Turner, co-director of voter services with the League of Women Voters.
Herger's campaign staff provided a written statement.
"The congressman has traditionally done two general election debates — one in the northern part of the district; one in the southern part," Zach Whitten, campaign staff, wrote. "He recently agreed to participate in a debate in Redding, broadcast by public TV station KIXE on Oct. 25, which will cover most of the district, including Chico.
"He attended the LWV Butte County debate last ycle, and this year intends to participate in a second debate further south, probably in the Yuba-Sutter or Yolo County area, to reach that portion of the district. We appreciate the invitation and appreciate the LWV being involved in the process."
Herger's campaign staff did not return calls for comment by deadline.... (More)
9/27/10
Progressive News Daily by Jim Swanson
Is Representative Wally Herger Mentally Fit to Be Re-elected?
(Listen to Jim's Interview with Progressive News Radio's Jim Swanson about Wally Herger and the possibility that he has Alzheimer's by clicking here.)
The first time I had face to face contact with Representative Wally Herger (R-CA2) was in 2004 when he arrived at a local group of radio stations in Northern California for an interview with the group’s conservative AM talk radio station. I worked at the group of radio stations and was rather stunned when leaving the building as Wally Herger looked me square in the face and said “Hey, nice to see you again.” I would have thought that was some pretty special memory recall, except I had never met the man. I scoffed it off as the usual Republican glad-handing schmooze and continued on my way. Now, let’s fast forward to September 16, 2010 and a Congressional Ways and Means Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as a witness.
Concerns over our national economy as well as trade with China have been many of late, and this hearing was to discuss the devaluing of Chinese currency and the effects it will have on the United States Economy.
When Congressman Herger was called upon to question the Treasury Secretary about Chinese currency, Herger made quick mention of the reason they were there and then did an about face and grilled Mr. Geithner about the latest tax plans of President Obama.
To quote Mr. Herger from the C-SPAN audio of that day:
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing. I agree that China’s currency policy and the impact on American manufacturings (sic), are an important issue for this committee to consider. Yet, I suspect that if you actually talked to many of the American companies that create American manufacturing jobs, these legitimate concerns about China would take a back seat to an issue that has been neglected by this committee: The threat of major tax increases in the very near future. As members of this committee are well aware, the tax relief passed in 2001 and 2003 (Ed: Under the Bush Administration), is set to expire the end of this year (2010). Unfortunately, the Ways and Means Committee has yet to hold a single hearing on the impact of this looming tax increase.”
This questioning went on for a full seven minutes before Democratic Congressman Becerra of California came to the rescue of the embarrassment:
“Mr. Secretary (Geithner), thanks for being here. And as much as I’d like to engage in this conversation about, uh, whether we should hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage, to give tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% (ED: including Herger?) above and beyond what the middle class would get through this proposal, let me focus on China”.
Unfortunately, this about face in the Way and Means Committee hearing is not the first of Mr. Herger’s confusing behavior.
While speaking with Redding Insurance agent Barbara McClaskey about brand name drugs vs. generic drugs, Mr. Herger was totally unaware of what a generic drug is? Is he really that out of touch with the world? Or is the problem even worse?
I would be the last person on Earth to question someone’s mental stability, especially someone of Mr. Herger’s importance. But I can’t help but wonder if Congressman Herger is showing signs of the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia, which hits about 14.5 million Americans over the age of 60 (Herger is 65). Changes in behavior whether slight or bizarre, are usually noticed by those around the stricken person. The stricken person will be the last to admit they have a problem, while those around him/her will agree that something is wrong.
Mr. Herger’s continued odd behavior is also noted at one of his “town hall meetings” (read that as Herger rally), when one of Wally’s constituents, Bert Stead, famously claimed that he was “proud to be a right-wing terrorist” (video HERE). Stead later said he meant “extremist”. Either way, Herger should have denounced that comment immediately, instead of rallying around it by saying “Amen. Now there’s a great American.”
Couple these examples with Congressman Herger’s failure to get a FEMA Flood Plain redistricting out of committee, then vote “No”, when the same bill was introduced by someone else.
Herger’s voting record has been slightly more than abysmal. For those who may be unaware of California’s second Congressional District, it stretches from just north of the California Capitol of Sacramento all the way to the Oregon border, an enormous 21,758 square miles with a population of 639,000 people (2000 census) who are largely Republican with one of the largest agricultural areas in the country. Yet with all this agricultural space, Herger voted NO on investing in homegrown bio-fuel. (Aug 2007)
Amtrak runs right through the middle of Herger’s entire district, yet the Republican Congressman voted NO on $9.7B for Amtrak improvements and operation thru 2013.
Looking deeper into Mr. Herger’s voting record seems to make for a good case of scratching one’s head as he continually voted against legislation that would help conserve energy and find new ways to power America. In a perverse way, it is understandable as Herger is listed as an oil executive.
More important, though, these recent bouts of odd behavior has to make one wonder if Mr. Herger is, indeed fit to continue to be a member of Congress.
As for this election, he has repeatedly refused to debate his Democratic challenger, attorney Jim Reed. As this date (September 27), a debate co-sponsored by a local newspaper and The League of Women Voters less than two weeks from now is up in the air as no one knows for sure if Herger is going to show up himself, send an aid to debate Mr. Reed or just a be a “no-show”.
At the very least, these questions about Mr. Herger’s mental state should be addressed. Mr. Herger himself needs to answer to these questions. If you recall, one of Mr. Herger’s idols, the late President Ronald Reagan filled the last two years of his second term with identifiable symptoms of the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
It is that serious. Mr. Herger needs to answer these questions today.
9/29/10
The Valley Mirror by Tim Crews
Herger Meets a Slugger in Reed
Maybe a slugfest in the Second Congressional District after all. In the right corner, wearing the red trunks, Wally Herger. A 24-year member of the United States Congress, known for faithfully voting the party line and rarely, if ever, sponsoring legislation. He is 65 and lists Chico as his hometown.
In the left corner, wearing the blue trunks, is Jim Reed. The pro-gun lawyer is 60-years-old. He’s from Fall River Mills, where he says, if you are not a gun rights advocate you are foolish. Law enforcement response is more than an hour.
Mr. Reed has his work cut out for him, even given Mr. Herger’s low-key approach to representing his district. While high on photo-ops like marijuana raids and levy walks, Mr. Herger has failed to come through for the projects that would spare life and limb, like the Hamilton City levee and the South Fork of Willow Creek dam, both designed to prevent flooding and to save lives.
Having just signed the pledge against earmarks, Mr. Herger, however, did bring in a little money for the Maxwell Fish Screens.
Mr. Reed is coming in with some jabs and roundhouse punches, but he’s mostly fighting air. Mr. Herger and his cornermen have failed to rise to three direct debate challenges, says Mr. Reed.
On Sunday, Mr. Reed stopped by to do a few warm-ups and some speedbag work.
It’s clear that the time for genteel Democratic party tactics of the past are out and direct punches are in.
But for every score landed on Mr. Herger, Mr. Reed has a solution, “One of the reasons we are not doing better,” he said of the North State’s horrible slump even in good times, is that Mr. Herger doesn’t advocate with the many federal agencies for a piece of the discretionary money.
With the federal government spending some $18,000 for every rural American, according to a Christian Science Monitor and PBS-Newshour study, Shasta County gets just $10,263 or 57 percent and Glenn County gets $15,415, or 86 percent. But much of that is paid to people who work here but live elsewhere. Also well under the national average are Butte County, 60 percent, Tehama County, 67 percent, Trinity County, 74 percent and Siskiyou County, 76 percent.
If Glenn County would come to par it would mean another $155 million of federal dollar to help pump the local engine.
California’s failure to get even-handed treatment and our share of the pie has long been a subject delivered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mr. Reed snaps a right with the $2 million for his opponents basking in the Maxwell Fish Screen project and then notes that almost simultaneously, Mr. Herger signed the no earmarks pledge.
Well, the earmarks are popularized by the famous “Alaska Bridge to Nowhere.”
What Mr. Herger hasn’t pointed out, says the challenger, is that under the old rule no one would know about an earmark until it was approved. But the new congressional rule earmarks are public records as soon as the money designation hits ink. “That’s why he signed the pledge,” says Mr. Reed, adding, “and only 15 or so signed the pledge.”
But here’s the follow-through: “If he is reelected things here are going to get worse.” Because, says Mr. Reed, Mr. Herger doesn’t really serve the district.
“There’s a clear way to get us up to the national average. Every single (federal) department has discretionary money … ever department has a way to spend money where they want to… it takes hard work on the part of the congressman.”
Well, how does that come into play? “The congressman has to go back (to the departments), go back, go back, go back.”
The congressman has to lobby the agencies?
“Exactly right.”
Mr. Herger has inked only two bills through in 24 years and one of those in a BLM bill in partnership with Diane Feinstein, California’s senior senator, says Mr. Reed.
“The biggest issue,” Mr. Reed says, “is Mr. Herger voted 96 percent of the time the straight party line.
“The fact of the matter is the party line is sometimes alright and sometimes it is not and a congressman should be voting for what is best for the people, the district and the constituents.”
What about the other four percent of Mr. Herger’s votes?
“Absent or he hit the wrong button,” says Mr. Reed with an indulgent smile and a little shake of the head.
What’s Mr. Herger’s staff doing if he just votes the party line, asks Mr. Reed. “There’s no analysis if the boss is voting party line.”
The lack of information at the Second Congressional District office startles Mr. Reed. He tells a story of insurance execs from Redding going to Washington last summer to “put in their two cents worth on what the healthcare reform bill looks like and why there was no provision for generic drugs. “Herger has no idea what they are,” says Mr. Reed of the non-branded much lower priced medicines.
The Mirror has reviewed C-SPAN video of the House Ways and Means hearing on the differential of the Chinese Yuan to the dollar. At one point Mr. Herger interrupted Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner and went into a kind of questioning rant about a purported Obama VAT (value added tax).
After a time Mr. Herger was firmly and patiently told there are no such plans and another congressman asked that they return to the question of the Yuan, a vital topic for the deficit and trade imbalance.
Mr. Reed caught his breath and noted that Mr. Herger was in Marysville last week to take credit for a stimulus-funded levee project. But Mr. Herger voted against the stimulus.
Mr. Reed notes that Mr. Herger voted for big bank bailout TARP, even though he said his constituents were 100 to one against it. The TARP or Troubled Asset Relief Program, was signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on Oct. 3, 2008.
“I think the TARP was the right thing to do but if I thought my constituents were one hundred to one against it, I would have voted against it.” Mr. Reed thinks “Small businesses are over regulated, big businesses under regulated.”
On the prickly question of illegal immigration he is blunt, “We must secure our borders so the problem doesn’t get worse.”
While he opposes amnesty, Mr. Reed supports a path, not an easy path, he adds, for people in the country to become legal.”
Finally, he is concerned that the Democratic base here in the North State is demoralized and wishes they’d get as fired up as he is.
That’s the bell, then and the end of Round One.
9/20/10
The Record Searchlight
Letters to the Editor by Neil Posson
What’s Herger done for the district?
Wally Herger is the incumbent 24-year career politician U.S. congressman from our district. We pay Herger $171,000 plus benefits per year of taxpayer money. What has Herger accomplished in 24 years? If we don’t know who Herger is or what he has accomplished in 24 years, then we need to elect someone else. Jim Reed is a strong, bright well-respected attorney from Fall River Mills who is running for U.S. Congress in our district. Reed has donated large amounts of free legal work to volunteer fire departments, community service districts, libraries and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Posse. Herger has done little of anything of value.
The biggest problems facing our district are high unemployment and high housing foreclosure rates. Reed has clear positions on all the issues on his website (ReedNow.com). Herger has done very little of value on these issues and it is unclear what he really stands for.
Jim Reed wants three televised debates in the next two months. We need these debates to compare the candidates and see what they really stand for. If you are concerned about fiscal responsibility and having a U.S. congressman who really represents you, please contact Herger’s office (223-5898) and demand three televised debates.
8/31/10
The Anderson Valley Post
- Editorial by Pete Stiglich
Stiglich Urges Reed vs. Herger Debate
Democratic congressional candidate, Jim Reed, recently challenged Congressman Wally Herger (R-CD2) to a series of three debates in the North State. The first two would have occurred in August, one in Yuba City, the other in Chico. The final debate in September would have taken place in Redding. Seemed like a reasonable plan to me.
Holding debates in some of the more populated areas of the congressional district would have afforded voters a pretty convenient opportunity to judge first-hand the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.
Unfortunately, Wally refused. Instead, his campaign staff suggested a possible October debate.
Anxious to lock in on a firm date, the Reed campaign then, apparently, approached the Chico League of Women Voters to see if they'd be interested in hosting an October debate. They were. A tentative date of October 6th was selected.
Again, seems like a reasonable plan to me.
A debate in early October would most likely garner a lot of voter interest given its close proximity to Election Day, while also taking place well before absentee ballots began showing up in voter mail boxes.
Unfortunately, Wally refused . . . again.
Although still expressing interest in a single October debate, Herger's campaign staff wasn't quite ready to commit to or even seriously discuss a specific date . . . at least not at the moment. You know the old saying, "Don't call us; we'll call you."
Back during the primary congressional campaign, similar efforts were made to schedule debates between myself, the Republican challenger, and the Congressman. All to no avail.
To their credit, the Bostonian Tea Party and Chico League of Women Voters tried to get Wally to participate in their respective debates.
He declined all offers, citing a convenient ‘longstanding policy' preventing him from engaging in political discourse with fellow Republicans.
All personal political considerations aside, candidates seeking elected office should welcome the opportunity to engage in rigorous political debate. In fact, they should pursue it. What better opportunity to showcase one's command of the facts and leadership on critical issues?
I risk being accused of jumping onto the Reed bandwagon by supporting his call for debates. Trust me . . . nothing could be further from the truth. My conservative roots run long and deep. Rather, I've jumped on the bandwagon of folks demanding accountability, honesty, and a healthy command of facts from all those who seek or hold office.
Dare I say, "Let the debates begin."
- Pete Stiglich, Cottonwood
8/8/10
The Record Searchlight - Letter to the Editor by Jim Reed
North State isn't Getting its Share
I appreciated the support of the Record Searchlight in publishing my request for three debates with Wally Herger. Herger’s spokesman indicated that Herger would debate me, but not until October, rather than August and September while Congress is in recess, as I had suggested. The history of Pete Stiglich’s request for a debate is informative; in that case Herger’s spokesman left the possibility of a debate open until the last minute and then issued a response declining a debate, stating that Herger had a policy of not debating fellow Republicans.
Your editorial stated that one of my main issues in the campaign is increasing federal spending in the north state, which, given the conservative district’s overwhelming concern with the runaway deficit, probably will not get much traction. Although this is truly one of the main issues, I do not think the Record Searchlight’s characterization does it justice.
According to a recent survey by Patchwork Nation, aired on the PBS News Hour, Shasta County gets only about half the average federal spending other rural counties across our country receive. Federal spending doesn’t just mean earmarks. It includes Social Security, Medicare, defense, veterans’ benefits, education and farm subsidies. Shasta County is more than $1 billion below the yearly national average, meaning we do not get back our fair share of the federal taxes we pay. That’s something I would change back in Washington.
Shasta County and the other northern counties in the district have a persistent unemployment rate far above the national average. If Shasta County received just average federal spending, it would create enough jobs to reduce the unemployment rate by half. Herger recently signed a pledge that he would no longer request federal money for earmarks in his district. Although this may sound like good politics, it will mean even fewer jobs in Shasta County over time.
I believe the federal budget must be balanced, but I also have the energy and desire to fight in Congress for our fair share. While I have pledged to implement my own “term-limit” of eight years, I am certain I can accomplish more in that time than we have seen from Herger in almost three decades.
7/31/10
The Record Searchlight - Editorial
Editorial - Herger Should Take Challenge to Debate Reed
Would you like a chance to size up Rep. Wally Herger and his Democratic challenger side by side as the November election approaches? What red-blooded American voter wouldn’t?
And Jim Reed, the Fall River Mills lawyer who hopes to oust the 12-term congressman, wants to give 2nd Congressional District residents ample and early opportunities to do so.
Reed has challenged Herger to a series of three debates in August and September around the district — suggesting dates and locations in Yuba City (Aug. 14), Chico (Aug. 23) and Redding (Sept. 9). Conveniently enough, the House of Representatives will recess Monday for its summer vacation — or rather, “summer district work period” — and won’t meet again until mid-September.
Herger often keeps up a busy schedule of town halls and the like during recesses, but he’s not booked up with congressional business in Washington. It shouldn’t be much a stretch to find time to debate his opponent.
Of course, Reed’s motive is obvious. He’s twice run for judge in Shasta County, losing narrowly in 2008, and thanks to those campaigns is at least a vaguely familiar name in the Redding area. In the rest of the sprawling district, which stretches from Woodland to Hornbrook, he’s basically unknown.
Even if he gets his message out, he’ll still have a steep hill to climb. Reed styles himself a moderate Democrat, but the main plank of his campaign is that he’d spend more federal money on rural Northern California. Given the district’s conservative leanings, the motivation of Republicans this year and in particular the heartburn over massive federal deficits, it’s hard to see complaints about inadequate spending gaining traction.
Still, voters can make up their own minds. And they deserve every chance to hear from the candidates firsthand.
Herger’s campaign spokesman, Dave Gilliard, said the congressman is happy to debate his Democratic opponent — in October, after Congress adjourns and voters are more engaged. That might be traditional, but these days, with more and more ballots cast by mail weeks before Election Day, voters are taking a greater interest earlier in the campaign season. Why not accommodate them?
Reed’s laid down a challenge. Congressman Herger should take it up and make the August recess interesting and informative.
7/19/10
Daily Kos by Smileycreek
Worst Congressperson in the World
Just last December, Wally Herger of CA-02 introduced one of his go-nowhere bills that was supposed to ease the pain of homeowner's insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps. This affects a great many people along the Sacramento River in northern California's Second District.
I say it was a go-nowhere bill because Herger is famous for his grandstanding political ploys that do nothing for his district. This is how worthless Herger is: His last successsful bill, the Quincy (another small mountain town) Library Act, was 12 years ago. This means that during the eight years of the Bush administration, back when deficits didn't matter, Herger got absolutely nothing helpful done for his district. Zip, zero, nada.
As always, Herger's bill went nowhere, as it was introduced purely for show.
Last week the House passed HR 5114, a flood relief bill that would ease the pain of homeowner's insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps.
HERGER VOTED NO ON THE BILL. Why?
Because it was introduced by a Democrat. And Herger votes with the Republican party 96 % of the time. Pretty much the only time he doesn't vote with the Republicans is when he accidentally hits the wrong voting button. That's right-- Herger voted against his own constituents and against the same concept he himself proposed only 7 months earlier because he's the rubber stamp of the Party of No.
Nice work if you can get it, never having to think for yourself. At this point I don't think Wally is even capable of thinking for himself...
7/15/10
Record Searchlight Blog by Bruce Ross
And It's Election Season
Jim Reed's campaign fires what appears to be its first shot across Rep. Wally Herger's bow:
Jim Reed: Wally Herger Either Misunderstands or is Deliberately Distorting Financial Reform Legislation. Redding, California, July 15, 2010 - Banking bailouts have infuriated Democrats and Republicans alike. With the Senate vote happening today America will be one step closer to completing the toughest financial reform bill since the Great Depression, taxpayers won't ever be stuck with bailing out failing banks again. Yet Wally Herger, R-CA-02, who votes with the Republican party 96% of the time, voted against the financial reform bill that passed the House. Herger has grabbed on to Republican talking points in opposing the bill, nonsensically claiming that "Congressional Democrats made bailouts a permanent part of our financial system" by passing financial reform. Herger's opponent, moderate Democrat Jim Reed, said, "Either Herger doesn't understand the law as it's written, or he is deliberately distorting the facts to appeal to his base. I believe Wally has become lazy and lost focus - he simply does what his party leadership tells him to do. The people of the Second District deserve a Congressman who will fight for all of them, Republican, Democrat and Independent alike, not someone who fights against desperately-needed reforms."
Reed affirmed that, despite Herger's distortions, "The Financial Reform bill ends bail-outs." Reed, a small business owner and attorney who holds a Masters Degree in taxation, explained, "The bill creates a separate liquidation fund the banks pay into which ensures that tax-payer funds are not given to distressed banks for bail-outs."
Herger's website claims, "The Dodd-Frank bill failed at its most essential task--to end the era of "too-big-to-fail." Jim Reed noted that Paul Volker, Secretary of the Treasury under both Carter and Reagan, called the reforms "the antithesis of too-big-to-fail" by setting up mechanisms for promptly liquidating failing banks. Only 3 Republican Senators voted for the Brown-Kaufman amendment which would have forced the break-up of the 10 largest banks. "Now that was strong 'too big to fail' medicine," Reed said, noting that Herger did not complain or criticize his Senatorial colleagues' inaction. "Where was Wally then on this issue, if he really felt too-big-to-fail is so important?
7/14/10
Mt. Shasta News by Paul Boerger
Fall River Democrat Challenges Herger
Jim Reed, the Democratic candidate for the Second Congressional District, visited Mount Shasta July 4 to ride in the parade and promote his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Wally Herger in the November election.
Reed hails from Fall River where he owns a ranch and runs a law practice that boasts 10 employees. According to the campaign website, Reed has an electrical engineering degree, is a licensed private pilot and claims many hours of pro bono legal work for community organizations.
“Wally Herger has gotten lazy,” Reed said while in Mount Shasta for the Fourth of July. “He used to have an organization with offices in the district to help people. Over his 24 years in Congress, it has fallen apart.”
Reed points out that District 2 federal funding falls behind the national average for rural communities.
“The national average is $18,000 per person. District 2 is approximately $13,000. When you take into account the population, that is a difference of $100,000,000,” Reed said. “We need someone in Congress who will represent the interests of the people.”
Reed says that Herger's record shows he votes the Republican party line 94 percent of the time.
“Herger is not representing us,” Reed said. “He is representing the Republican party.”
Reed says he is a fiscal conservative and a moderate on social issues.
“A Republican can vote for me knowing I’ll be working hard,” Reed said.
On Afghanistan, Reed supports President Obama sending more troops and the withdrawal deadline.
“The Afghan government needs to know that we are leaving so they step up and take charge,” Reed said.
On abortion, Reed supports a woman’s right to choose even though he does not like the procedure.
“If a woman asked if she should get an abortion, I would tell her not to,” Reed said. “But I do not have the right to deny her the Constitutional right to chose. I believe that a good education is the best way of avoiding unwanted pregnancies.”
On health care, Reed supports the reforms and the public option.
“Doing nothing was not an option,” Reed said. “The public option would have created needed competition to lower prices.”
Reed said he is still researching the Klamath dams issue.
“We need to come up with a solution that benefits all the stakeholders,” he said.
Reed’s campaign literature includes pointing to Herger’s appearance in Redding where he declared to a professed “proud right wing terrorist,” “Amen, God bless you, there’s a great American.”
“Herger’s comment was very inappropriate,” Reed said.
6/26/10
Record Searchlight by Ryan Sabalow
Wally's Wealth: Herger in Top 10% of House
U.S. Rep. Wally Herger hasn’t felt the financial sting of the Great Recession like many of his constituents.
Although the value of the 65-year-old Chico Republican’s assets took a dip during the financial plunge, he has more assets now than he did in 2004.
According to 2009 financial disclosure statements analyzed by the Record Searchlight, Herger reported between $3 million and $12.1 million of assets.
That’s at least $1 million more than what he reported five years earlier.
In an election year, it’s a figure that invites political posturing from both sides.
To Herger’s Republican base, the wealth is a sign of a man who practices the free enterprise that he preaches, and who understands business. To Democrats, it’s evidence that he’s out of touch.
Herger reported earning between $60,005 and $130,400 of investment income in 2009.
The figures are on top of the minimum $174,000 annual salary each of the 435 voting members of House of Representatives makes each year.
Herger’s other assets
The financial disclosures were posted last week by the Center for Responsive Politics on the congressional watchdog site OpenSecrets.org.
Lawmakers are required to post only general income ranges, so the numbers don’t provide exact figures.
Herger’s family ranch in Rio Oso is valued between $1 million and $5 million. The rental income earned off the ranch was reported at between $50,001 and $100,000. Aside from his family propane business and his real estate holdings, Herger also has between $500,001 and $1 million invested in an annual annuity, from which he collected no income in 2009, according to his financial statements.
The Center for Responsive Politics ranked Herger in 2008 as the 41st-wealthiest member of the House of Representatives. The center hasn’t yet tallied the rankings for 2009.
Herger was unavailable to comment Friday. But spokesman Matt Lavoie said that Herger’s assets are made up primarily of his family’s ranch land and a propane business, which have been in his family for three generations.
As a successful small-business owner, Herger particularly understands the challenges his overtaxed constituents face as they try to build their own businesses and create much-needed jobs in the faltering economy, Lavoie said.
“Congressman Herger is fighting for Northern Californians every day,” Lavoie said by phone from Washington, D.C.
Opponents attack
Many of Herger’s constituents have found their fortunes shrinking as the recession wears on.
In Shasta County, the unemployment rate in May was 15.4 percent, the highest for that month since 1990.
Adjusted for inflation, the U.S. Census Bureau reports the average income in the 2nd Congressional District was around $22,876 in 2008. The same year, Shasta County’s year-over-year income growth was the lowest it had been in a decade, according to federal income figures.
Herger is running for his 13th term in office, after having served 23 years in Congress. He’ll face off in November in the overwhelmingly Republican district against Democrat Jim Reed.
Herger’s Democrat critics suggested his wealth puts him out of touch with the needs of his constituents.
“He started out saying he was this poor, little farmer,” said Ann Nelson, a member of the Shasta County Democratic Central Committee.
Reed responds
Reed, a lawyer who in 2008 ran an unsuccessful campaign for Shasta County Superior Court judge, would say only that his assets total less than $1 million.
“I’m not in the same ballpark” as Herger, he said, “Let’s put it that way.”
Reed owns a ranch in Fall River Mills. He also has law office there and in Lafayette, in the San Francisco Bay area.
His campaign website says he loves to fly, and he owns his own airplane. Reed said his law practice has taken a hit in the Great Recession.
He suggested Herger can do more.
“Maybe because he isn’t feeling the pain or it’s because he’s tired or he’s getting old or lazy or whatever it is ... but he’s not working hard to bring money into his district like he should be,” Reed said...
6/4/10
Herger STILL Promotes Offshore Drilling Because It “Won’t Hurt Environment”
Taken directly from Wally Herger’s website Here.
“In my view, putting our energy security in the hands of volatile regimes around the world is simply irresponsible from an economic and security standpoint. I've long supported efforts to allow for the exploration of oil and natural gas in a small section of the frozen "ANWR" tundra in Alaska. ANWR spans nearly 20 million acres, but energy exploration would only occur on 2,000 acres, or .01 percent of the land area. And importantly, 21st Century technology would also allow us to recover energy resources without harming the environment. Energy exploration in ANWR is conservatively estimated to be able to produce 1 million additional barrels of oil per year - about the same amount we now import from Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. In addition, America's offshore resources could prove even more beneficial than ANWR, with estimates coming in at up to 115 billion barrels.” – Wally Herger
6/3/10
AppealDemocrat.com by Howard Yune
Herger's 12 Term Tenure Questioned
Nearing a quarter-century in Congress, Wally Herger is upholding his legislative experience against two challengers arguing his long tenure has become a liability. The Chico Republican and Rio Oso native is seeking a 13th term in the House while facing Pete Stiglich in the GOP primary on Tuesday. The primary winner will run in the November general election against Democrat Jim Reed, the party's only candidate in the race for the 2nd District.
Herger defended his work battling expanded federal spending, including his introduction of a bill last week seeking to repeal the new health care overhaul meant to expand coverage but also require insurance policies for most Americans. He pointed to his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee — with jurisdiction over health care, taxes and Social Security — as a valuable platform to advance the fight.
"The question is whether or not you're going along with the status quo in Washington, and I think I'm clearly fighting to change it," he said Thursday by telephone from Redding. The committee seats "help me be in position to lead the fight to return government to the people. A freshman would have a lot more difficulty being effective, even if they're trying to do the right thing."
However, Stiglich, a retired Air Force colonel from Cottonwood, decried the congressman's support of expanded Medicare coverage of prescription drugs and a $700 billion bank rescue package in 2008 — which Herger conceded he made against heavy Mid-Valley opposition — and pledged to wage a fiercer fight to curb federal spending if elected.
"He hasn't been challenged in years and it's a healthy thing for the party and the nation to hold folks accountable," Stiglich said Tuesday. "What I'm challenging is his lack of leadership. You're hard-pressed when you try to discover things he has done of any significance in the last 10 years in new legislation, or reining in the growth of government.
"More than ever, we need strong conservatives in Washington, not just backbenchers. I don't think he has the energy or stamina to do that anymore," Stiglich said.
The lone Democrat facing Herger, Reed promised a moderate course, balancing support for gun owners' rights, curbs on executive pay over $1 million, and efforts to steer more federal money to Shasta County and other North State areas that traditionally have received below-average funding for health and social services.
Reed called such unwillingness to cross the party lines Herger's greatest weakness.
"In 24 years, he's voted the GOP line 94 percent of the time; I've seen that instead of representing the people he's representing the party," the Fall River Mills lawyer said Wednesday. "If you're voting that high a percentage on party lines, you're not truly representing the people."
Should either of Herger's opponents prevail this year or in the future, both have promised shorter Congressional careers — no more than a decade for Reed and six years for Stiglich...
5/17/10
Red Bluff Daily News by Richard Mazzucchi
Positive Point: Wally's World Vs. Real World
Wally Herger says: In keeping with what seems to be an all-too-familiar occurrence in Washington these days, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman defied public opinion by unveiling legislation to impose a damaging cap and trade' scheme to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The so-called American Power Act' is yet another 1,000-page piece of legislation that would dramatically raise energy prices, kill jobs, and stifle our economic growth with a damaging new tax on the American people.
Reality suggests: The time has come for humans of all nationalities to realize the consequences of industrialization and extensive combustion of fossil fuels on our environment....
Come next November it will be time to retire the likes of Mr. Herger from government service by electing new representatives to act responsibly and aggressively to address our local and global environmental imperatives, and seize opportunities to build new industries and ways of doing business that will ensure American competitiveness and productivity serving the needs of our evolved society. I encourage everyone to examine the platform of the progressive democratic caucus at www.progressivecaucuscdp.org and the skills of candidate James Reed at www.reednow.com before rewarding Mr. Herger for his apparent lack of concern about our planet and inability to help us secure a sustainable future....
5/13/10
Record Searchlight by Scott Mobley
Herger Challenged by Democrat, Republican in Race for Congress
Congressman Wally Herger, R-Chico, will face challenges this year from the moderate left and the rigorous right.
Herger, 64, has represented the reliably Republican 10-county 2nd Congressional District for nearly 24 years. He sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, a gatekeeper for federal spending. Herger has voted with his party colleagues 96 percent of the time during the current Congress, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Opponents say Herger has too little to show for all his years in office. The north state is long overdue for a leadership change, they say....
Jim Reed, a Fall River Mills attorney, has criticized Herger for not bringing enough earmarks and other federal funding to rural interior Northern California.
Reed will run unopposed in the Democratic primary June 8 to face Herger or Stiglich in November.
Reed, 59, supports Obama administration stimulus spending for the economy, strong banking regulation, tax code simplification and higher taxes on incomes over $250,000.
He’s also a green energy proponent who believes laser-ignited fusion will render oil drilling and nuclear fission obsolete within a decade.
Reed grants that Republicans outnumber Democrats by 8 percent throughout the 2nd Congressional District. But decline-to-state voters are 20 percent of the electorate and could swing an election in his favor, he said.
Reed said he’s no fan of earmarks, and would happily see that style of pork barrel spending eliminated. But as long as earmarks are the coin of the realm in Washington, a congressional representative should bring the money home, Reed said.
Reed cited a recent study claiming Shasta County residents receive only $10,000 per person per year in federal spending, compared to an average of $18,000 per person in other rural counties nationwide. He estimates that north state unemployment would be 5 percent lower if the federal government spent as much here as it does elsewhere.
“Wally gets $174,000 a year for being a congressman,” Reed said. “He doesn’t lose anything by failing to go after the money. It’s the people in his district who suffer.
5/12/10
Progressive News Daily
Interview with Jim Reed
The 2010 Congressional election in California is heating up. The June Primary sees an opponent in the Republican Party for incumbent Republican Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA2).
But THE person to take into consideration for both Republicans and Democrats is Democratic Candidate Jim Reed.
Our sister site, Progressive News Radio, currently has an interview with candidate Reed that you can listen to in mp3 format, either on the site or by downloading the program.
Jim Reed discusses his positions on abortion, gun control and what’s not only needed for the Second Congressional District in California, but what he thinks needs to change for the country.
Wally Herger, the incumbent Republican drew attention last fall when a constituent spoke up at a “town hall meeting” and said that he was “proud to be a right wing terrorist. (Video Below)....
Letter to the Editor
by Neil Posson, Mt. Shasta
Wally Herger is the U.S. Congressman representing our district and has
done so for 24 years. In 24 years Herger has never written a bill that
has been passed into law, has never been the chair of any important
committee and does not seem to have brought any significant grants or
projects to our district. Herger is a strong supporter of continuing the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but neither he nor any of his nine children
have ever served in the military. In a town hall meeting in Redding when
a spectator described himself as “ a proud right wing terrorist “ Herger
stated “God bless you. There goes a great American”. Timothy McVeigh was
a proud right wing terrorist.
Wally Herger is paid $174,000 per year plus benefits of tax payer
money. For this Herger has done basically nothing for us. We need to
hold our elected officials accountable for what they have done, or in
Herger’s case for what he has not done. The only time we see or hear from
Herger is when he wants to get re-elected. Herger is wasting our taxes and
political power. I recommend we vote Herger out of office. We deserve
better.
03/31/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Quentin Colgan
Letter: Herger Misses a Chance to Help
What did Wally Herger have to say in his constituents' behalf when it came to controlling runaway costs and protecting their hard-earned resources in these tough times?
Herger said, "No."
Which isn't too surprising.
When told that some reform would be needed to keep 50 of his constituents from dying every year due to the overarching greed inherent in our health care system, Herger said, "No."
When asked if he would stop taking thousands and thousands of dollars from the health care industry and instead represent the people of his district, Herger said, "No..."
When you refuse to participate, you are not representing your constituents. You are not doing the job you were elected to do.
Thanks for nothing, Herger.
03/29/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Maria Phillips
Letter: Herger Stands in Way of Change
Tuesday morning's E-R contained two articles on the just-voted on health care reform: One of them reported on potential gains and deficits (when they will kick in and/or manifest themselves); the other reported on reactions to the bill by local interested parties. Both articles were instructive, even-handed, and I felt appropriately enlightened (what I'm looking for when I read reports on experts' views). All good until I got to Wally Herger's script.
His tired view is of a dark, bad road paved and graded by big government (who's been paying his salary and health insurance for a quarter century) and filled with "bureaucrats [who] take the place of doctors" and will take away our "individual freedoms" and our money.
My view is that he's standing in the way of the light and hoping we won't be able to see around him to find our way out of the morass that our greedy for-profit insurance industry has set us in. He needs to get out of the way.
Please begin to think about voting for Jim Reed, the reasonable alternative from Shasta County. He's running not as a career politician funded by the insurance companies but as a principled individual whose life experience has prepared him to serve as our representative able to lead us out of the morass. He'll do it with intelligence and class and, unlike Herger, he won't fan the flames of extremism.
03/02/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Robert Woods
Letter: Bring Back Sensible Government
I read in the newspaper that one of Congressman Wally Herger's beloved "right-wing terrorists" has crashed his airplane into a federal building in Austin, Texas. Seems a bit reminiscent of Timothy McVeigh blowing up a federal building in Oklahoma City some years back. These right-wingers play for keeps, though often take the coward's way out by killing themselves in the process. Wally Herger may love the extreme conservatives but if we're ever going to get anything done in Congress for the American people we must replace Herger with someone better qualified for the job.
Recently a Democrat from the small town of Fall River Mills in Shasta County filed for the office in the coming election, and bears a second look. Jim Reed is a seasoned lawyer who knows his way around the courtroom and knows the issues that are important in the north state. He could help the Obama administration get us a decent health care plan as well as more jobs and a cleaner environment.
Once we had a Democratic congressman and senator named Clair Engle from Tehama County.
He called himself "an old apple knocker from Manton," and helped pass vital legislation in the 1960s.
Jim Reed might be the person to lead us back to sensible government. Let's listen to the man.
02/27/10
The Record Searchlight Editorial
GOP Stimulus Complaints are Pure Politics
Republican politicians, including the north state's Rep. Wally Herger, have staked immense political energy on attacking last year's federal stimulus program, one of President Barack Obama's signature early initiatives. When they turn around and help constituents bring home a share of it, the hypocrisy is too palpable to ignore....
Where Herger goes off-track, though, is in his simplistic, knee-jerk opposition to all things stimulus - a position that shifts depending on who's in the White House...
02/18/10
The Record Searchlight
Lively Opening Volley Starts Political Year
Jones Valley resident Bert Stead's declaration at a town hall meeting last summer that he was "a proud right-wing terrorist" was a joke, though liberals didn't appreciate the humor.
But Democrats hope to laugh all the way to the bank this election year. They've recycled the crack and especially Rep. Wally Herger's amused reply that Stead was "a great American" into a fundraising mailer, seeking donations to Democrat Jim Reed's campaign against the longtime Republican congressman...
02/18/10
Chico's NewsReview.com
Opinions - Politics Beat
It just so happens that this 89-year-old lady has been following Wally [Herger] for a good many years, having come to Redding in ’78. Whatever the Tea Partiers are about, they’ve got one thing right: Twenty-three years of letting the country down is enough.
Wally’s favorite stunt is showing how little he cares about the Constitution he took an oath to uphold by ignoring the question and changing the subject. He’s a smart politician with a nice smile, but that’s not why he was elected to office. Obama got one thing right: It’s time for change—but in the right direction, of course!
Incidentally, who voted for NAFTA, TARP, most-favored nation for China? You guessed it! Mr. Herger.
(Mrs.) Dorothy Robbins
Shasta
02/15/10
The Record Searchlight by Ryan Sabalow
Democrat's Talking Mailer Blasts Herger
"Jim Reed, a Democratic challenger running against longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, has sent out 2,500 mailers that when opened, play audio recordings of Herger lauding a man who called himself “proud right-wing terrorist.”
Reed’s campaign manager, Crystal Martin, said this morning that using the audio mailers — similar to greeting cards that play songs when they’re opened — is a first of its kind in national politics.
The mailer includes a recording of Bert Stead, 67, of Redding calling himself “a proud, right-wing terrorist” at a Redding town hall meeting in August and Herger’s response:
“Amen. God bless you. There’s a great American.”
The recording also plays audio from liberal TV commentator Keith Olbermann, who called Herger “Worst Person in the World” on his MSNBC “Countdown” show after the remarks went national thanks to the video being placed on YouTube..."
02/13/10
DailyKos.com
"Talking Mailpiece" Blasts Right Wing Terrorists
"(From the diaries. This is definitely a great campaign innovation, and used to fantastic effect given the subject matter it features -- kos)
Today I opened up what I thought would be an ordinary campaign mailer, only to hear the voice of our infamous local Republican Congressman Wally Herger, CA-02, praising a self-proclaimed "Right Wing Terrorist" as a "Great American...'"
11/05/09
Chico News & Review by Tom Gascoyne
Wally’s World: Catching up with our congressman after a summer of town-hall craziness
"This past summer, for the first time in the 23 years he’s represented the 2nd Congressional District, Wally Herger, a genial and predictably conservative but heretofore obscure Republican, was thrust into the national media spotlight for a comment he made Aug. 18 during a town-hall meeting on health-care reform..."
Record Searchlight-Letters to the Editor (3)
Well, Is Herger up to the Job?
By Pete Stiglich, Cottonwood
A Record Searchlight editorial last week took Democratic congressional candidate Jim Reed to the woodshed for spreading rumors Congressman Wally Herger might be showing signs of mental fatigue. Pulling no punches, the Record Searchlight accused Reed of “an absurd personal attack,” “rumor-mongering,” “slander” and of taking a “cheap shot” at the republican incumbent.
Frankly, I’d say such editorial dressing-down of Reed was over-the-top.
Sure, questioning the health of an individual can be a profoundly touchy subject. Some might suggest the topic’s off-limits or taboo. Reputations, livelihoods and personal feelings can all be inadvertently or intentionally destroyed. Most assuredly, it’s important one tread carefully, with all good intentions, when entering into such discourse.
Sure, Reed’s motivation can be legitimately questioned. Trailing in the polls, time running out, fighting an uphill political battle, he’s certainly not the best messenger of such inquiry.
But, taboos and motivations aside, one single, critical question remains unanswered. Are voters entitled to know if their elected officials and those seeking office are of sound body and mind?
Dare I say, I believe they are. Those seeking elected office must meet a uniquely high standard of scrutiny. Ensuring they are up to the challenge, in my opinion, only makes sense.
Congressman is Past his Expiration Date
By Dave Bock, Redding
It’s time for a new face.
Wally Herger’s reticence, or should I say refusal, to debate Jim Reed shows his contempt for his constituents. What does he have to fear in a district that is so heavily Republican? Many medications and food products have an expiration or “use by” date.
This is one Republican who suggests that Wally Herger has passed his “use by” date.
North State Deserves Better than Herger
David Kent, Mount Shasta
The following multiple-choice question attempts to answer the question: Why Won’t Wally Herger debate Jim Reed? Choose from the following:
(1) Arrogance. Twenty-four years as a congressman has gone to his head.
(2) Afraid to defend his voting record, including why he voted for the bank bailout when he was receiving calls 100 to one against it.
(3) Diminished capabilities — too enmeshed with party leaders, lobbyists and cronies, all of whom don’t want to lose power.
(4) All of the above.
The answers all lead to the same conclusion: He has something to hide. Unfortunately for Herger, as he recently said, “I’ve never seen so many people paying attention.”
We deserve better than a candidate who will not participate in the democratic process
10/17/10
Oroville Mercury-Register by Bob Hood
Letter: Give Herger the Break He Deserves
Do you believe it? Wally Herger refuses to participate in the League of Women Voters scheduled debate. When I was serving in Vietnam we called those who refuse to answer the call a coward.
Why am I not surprised? The Democratic candidate, Jim Reed is an articulate man, he is clear headed and capable of addressing the important issues of today and Herger is not.
Herger has given us substandard representation in Congress for far too long. He doesn't bring an approach to his job that considers the everyday person. Instead his tenure is bankrolled by insurance companies and other moneyed interests to perpetuate the Republican version of what's best for northeastern California.
While many counties here fare near the national average in distribution of federal dollars, the sad truth is that Butte and Shasta (the two most populous counties in the congressional district) do not benefit similarly.
My interactions with Herger's office have resulted in a battery of robo-calls and broadcast letters that represent slick-style machine politics. Never have I been able to reach a person.
He promised me that he would support vitally needed health reform (in one of his "letters"), and now he is sponsoring a bill for its repeal.
I will be voting to see him returned to the district. And I will be happy to support the Democrat, Jim Reed.
Bob Hood, Paradise
10/16/10
Appeal Democrat Editorial
Our View: Herger Owes His Constituents
Wally Herger has never met a campaign trail photo-op he didn't like. The same can't be said for debate opportunities.
Herger, the 12-term Republican incumbent from California's 2nd Congressional District, refuses to debate his Democratic challenger, Jim Reed, a lawyer who bills himself a moderate on the issues.
Dave Gilliard, the consultant running Herger's campaign, told us there's no way the congressman is going to engage in "any type of forum" with Reed, who has "tremendously stepped up his rumor mongering" — specifically the rumor Herger is suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer's.
Reed fueled the rumor by discussing it in a late September radio interview, which is posted on his campaign website, www.reednow.com.
Appearing together — at least in the same room — at a Kiwanis Club meeting in Red Bluff last week, Reed offered an apology, but Herger refused it. "I've always been taught that you don't reward outlandish behavior and I don't think it would be proper to reward him," Herger said.
Reed, in turn, accused Herger of coming up "with any little excuse to not debate."
We don't condone slimy political tactics, but Herger has it wrong: Debating Reed would not be a reward to his opponent, but rather fulfillment of an obligation to the voters that Herger should honor. The district's constituents deserve to hear the candidates confront each other and air it out on the critical issues.
Herger, whose district includes Yuba and Sutter counties, has found the time to make recent press-the-flesh appearances in Marysville, including Thursday's stop at a fundraising dinner for the homeless. So we extended to his campaign an invitation to return to Marysville at least one more time to participate in an hour-long debate at the newspaper's office, to be carried live on the Appeal-Democrat website.
Herger's camp declined. Herger is "willing to go anywhere and talk to constituents, but he's not going to give Reed the platform" for personal attacks, Gilliard said. Reed, of course, agreed to the debate.
Herger has debated opponents in past elections, so why the disinclination to do so now, including canceling a long-scheduled event co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters?
Herger was ducking debates before the ugly politicking's emergence. He refused to debate Col. Pete Stiglich in the Republican primary. He promised future debates against Reed, but turned down his Democratic challenger's offer of three events, including one in Yuba City, during the summer congressional recess. Herger rejected an invitation from the Shasta County Tea Party, which offered to stage a debate. He chose not to participate with Reed in the Sept. 23 candidates forum co-sponsored by the Appeal-Democrat. (To be fair, Congress was in session that day).
In the wake of Reed's Sept. 28 Progressive News Radio interview that included discussion of the Alzheimer's rumor, Herger bowed out of an Oct. 6 debate that had been scheduled two months earlier. Herger's camp denies making that commitment or that it was then aware of the radio show comments.
Then came the decision to cancel the public television debate scheduled for Oct. 25. Herger's campaign initially said that debate was off until Reed issued an apology.
Reed's public apology last week wasn't enough; Herger's campaign had earlier demanded a private apology and the removal of the radio interview from Reed's website.
Maybe the congressman is just playing it safe this time around. After all, he's a longtime incumbent in an overwhelmingly Republican district — why should he debate when he doesn't have to? The political campaign playbook dictates not giving an unknown challenger any exposure. So Herger can content himself with playing to friendly faces.
Herger apparently isn't worried about the anti-incumbent fever spreading across the country. Or website comments like this one: "I've voted for Herger in every election. This time I think, I'll leave that space blank."
While Reed is touting internal online polling results that show him less than 2 percentage points behind Herger, it seems unlikely Herger will lose the Nov. 2 election, not with his voter registration edge. And Reed faces potential backlash for his personal attack.
However, the real loser in this affair will be the voter.
Politics can be a dirty game, a truth Herger should know after 24 years in Washington. We encourage Herger to drop the indignation and step up to confront his challenger, quash the rumors and tackle the issues. He owes that much to his constituents.
10/16/10
Appeal Democrat by Fred Kawashima
Letter: Choose Reed over Herger
Our incumbent Congressman Wally Herger is running again - for the 13th time. Which reminds me of a saying by Albert Einstein: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
During his 12 terms in Congress, Herger has gotten farm subsidies of more than $2 billion (that's billions … not millions). He has consistently gotten huge subsidies for the farmers, especially the big donors to his campaigns. Since he has gotten the same old, same old results, over and over as expected by his donors, it proves he is not insane.
The rest of us, the nonfarmers, received no subsidies. By the same line of reasoning, those who received no subsidies and kept voting him in must be insane.
It is time to replace Herger and get different results. Please join me and vote for Jim Reed to serve as congressman of the 2nd District of California.
Fred Kawashima, Yuba City
10/15/10
Redding.com
Poll: REP. WALLY HERGER'S CAMPAIGN CANCELED A DEBATE WITH DEMOCRAT JIM REED AFTER REED SUGGESTED HERGER MIGHT BE SUFFERING EARLY SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. WHAT'S YOUR TAKE?
Results:
Reed might be right. Why doesn't the congressman show up to prove he's wrong?
- 57%
Good for Herger. Reed's playing dirty politics and deserved to be called on it.
- 25%
He should reschedule. Reed was wrong, but dropping the debate only punishes the voters.
- 17%
10/14/10
Chico News and Review
CN&R Endorsements
U.S. Representative, 2nd District: Jim Reed
After 24 years in office, Wally Herger is getting tired. His challenger, Fall River Mills attorney Jim Reed, would bring much-needed energy to the job. Unlike Herger, he;s not opposed to seeking federal funding for needed projects, and he's committed to working to bring more dollars -and jobs- into the district.
10/13/10
KRCRTV.com by Jacki Ochoa
Reed Apologizes to Herger
Democratic candidate for Congress, Jim Reed publicly apologized to his opponent and long time incumbent, Republican Congressman Wally Herger on Wednesday afternoon. Their meeting, at the Palomino Room in Red Bluff, was part of an appearance at a Kiwanis Club meeting.
On Monday, Herger had announced that he was canceling all of his scheduled debates with Reed. That is, until Reed apologized to Herger for claiming, during a radio interview, that he may have Alzheimer's.
Wednesday afternoon was the first time the two were in the same room. Reed used part of his time to publicly apologize to Herger, but Herger didn't consider it an apology.
Herger told KRCR News channel 7, he still will not take part in any debates with his opponent, Jim Reed.
"I've always been taught that you don't reward outlandish behavior and I don't think it would be proper to reward him," said Herger.
Reed said, that despite his apology, he didn't expect to get the chance to take Herger on in a debate.
"I'm not at all surprised," said Reed. "He will come up with any little excuse to not debate."
The radio interview that started it all, is still up on Reed's website and he said, it will stay up.
10/11/10
The Record Searchlight by Scott Mobley
Herger Cancels Debate with Reed
Rep. Wally Herger has called off a debate with Democratic challenger Jim Reed scheduled later this month.
Reed, a Fall River Mills attorney, was supposed to debate Herger at the KIXE studios in Redding on Oct. 25.
Dave Gilliard, a Rocklin-based consultant who is managing Herger’s campaign, said he canceled the debate today after Reed refused to apologize for spreading rumors the 12-term Republican may be suffering a mental disease.
“I've been running campaigns over 25 years in California and I consider this the lowest, most vile attack I've ever seen,” Gilliard said.
Reed said he has nothing to apologize for, adding he believes Herger is using the accusation as an excuse to duck the debate.
“I wasn’t the one that brought it up,” Reed said. “The rumors are out there and everyone is hearing about it. We were discussing it.”
Jim Swanson, who created the Progressive News Daily blog, questioned whether Herger is “mentally fit to be re-elected” in a blog post on Sept. 27. Swanson interviewed Reed for his Progressive News Radio the next day.
Reed has posted links to Swanson’s blog post and a pod cast of his radio interview with Swanson on his campaign website.
Asked by Swanson about Herger’s mental state, Reed said Charlie Schaupp and Col. Pete Stiglich, both Republicans, told him they’d heard rumors Herger had a medical condition.
Schaupp has said the rumors aren't true and he later urged Reed not to use them. Stiglich never referred to the rumors in his campaign against Herger during the June primary, Reed told Swanson.
Reed told Swanson he had no way himself of knowing if the rumors are true.
“I'm hoping the rumors are incorrect,” Reed told Swanson. “If the rumors are incorrect, I think Wally has a beautiful opportunity to prove it by debating me.”
Herger’s opponents have had trouble getting the Congressman to debate them.
Herger declined to debate Stiglich during the campaign leading to the June primary, saying he would not engage a fellow Republican.
Reed had first asked Herger for debates in Redding, Chico and Yuba City in August and early September, during the Congressional break. Herger, through his spokesman, declined, saying summer debates were too early. But the Herger campaign agreed to an October date.
The League of Women Voters and the Chico Enterprise-Record scheduled an Oct. 6 debate in Chico. But Herger’s spokesman said the Congressman had a schedule conflict. His campaign offered to send a representative instead.
Herger agreed to a live, televised debate with Reed on Oct. 25. But that’s just a week before the election, Reed said – well after many absentee voters will have sent in their ballots.
Herger accepted the KIXE debate shortly after Reed posted the Swanson links on his campaign website. But a couple days later, Gilliard threatened to cancel if Reed left the rumor-mongering links in place.
Reed has refused to remove them.
“Go to my website and see for yourself if I have anything to apologize for,” Reed said.
Herger will not debate Reed in Redding or at another late October event tentatively scheduled for a city in the southern part of the district, Gilliard said.
“I would not get on the same stage as someone who would stoop that low,” said Gilliard. “It's one thing to get into a debate and challenge each other on issues but it's another when you go on a radio interview and spread rumors your opponent has a mental disease. That's unacceptable.”
10/5/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Katy Sweeny
Herger Skipping Wednesday's Debate in Chico
Two days before a long-planned debate, Congressman Wally Herger's staff informed organizers he won't attend the Wednesday event in Chico.
Challenger Jim Reed was disappointed. "You want to debate sometime when people are still trying to make decisions on who to vote for," Reed said. "There's no reason he couldn't be there...."
The League of Women Voters of Butte County had scheduled the debate between incumbent Herger and Reed, with the Enterprise-Record as a co-sponsor. Reed will attend the event starting 7 p.m. Wednesday in Chico City Council Chambers and Herger's staff will read a statement.
The candidates for the Nov. 2 election are vying for California's 2nd Congressional District that represents parts or all of 10 Northern California counties, including Butte and Glenn.
Congress adjourned Friday. Its session was originally scheduled to run through this week, so Herger had not committed to the event for that reason, said Charley Turner, co-director of voter services with the League of Women Voters.
Herger's campaign staff provided a written statement.
"The congressman has traditionally done two general election debates — one in the northern part of the district; one in the southern part," Zach Whitten, campaign staff, wrote. "He recently agreed to participate in a debate in Redding, broadcast by public TV station KIXE on Oct. 25, which will cover most of the district, including Chico.
"He attended the LWV Butte County debate last ycle, and this year intends to participate in a second debate further south, probably in the Yuba-Sutter or Yolo County area, to reach that portion of the district. We appreciate the invitation and appreciate the LWV being involved in the process."
Herger's campaign staff did not return calls for comment by deadline.... (More)
9/27/10
Progressive News Daily by Jim Swanson
Is Representative Wally Herger Mentally Fit to Be Re-elected?
(Listen to Jim's Interview with Progressive News Radio's Jim Swanson about Wally Herger and the possibility that he has Alzheimer's by clicking here.)
The first time I had face to face contact with Representative Wally Herger (R-CA2) was in 2004 when he arrived at a local group of radio stations in Northern California for an interview with the group’s conservative AM talk radio station. I worked at the group of radio stations and was rather stunned when leaving the building as Wally Herger looked me square in the face and said “Hey, nice to see you again.” I would have thought that was some pretty special memory recall, except I had never met the man. I scoffed it off as the usual Republican glad-handing schmooze and continued on my way. Now, let’s fast forward to September 16, 2010 and a Congressional Ways and Means Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as a witness.
Concerns over our national economy as well as trade with China have been many of late, and this hearing was to discuss the devaluing of Chinese currency and the effects it will have on the United States Economy.
When Congressman Herger was called upon to question the Treasury Secretary about Chinese currency, Herger made quick mention of the reason they were there and then did an about face and grilled Mr. Geithner about the latest tax plans of President Obama.
To quote Mr. Herger from the C-SPAN audio of that day:
“Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing. I agree that China’s currency policy and the impact on American manufacturings (sic), are an important issue for this committee to consider. Yet, I suspect that if you actually talked to many of the American companies that create American manufacturing jobs, these legitimate concerns about China would take a back seat to an issue that has been neglected by this committee: The threat of major tax increases in the very near future. As members of this committee are well aware, the tax relief passed in 2001 and 2003 (Ed: Under the Bush Administration), is set to expire the end of this year (2010). Unfortunately, the Ways and Means Committee has yet to hold a single hearing on the impact of this looming tax increase.”
This questioning went on for a full seven minutes before Democratic Congressman Becerra of California came to the rescue of the embarrassment:
“Mr. Secretary (Geithner), thanks for being here. And as much as I’d like to engage in this conversation about, uh, whether we should hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage, to give tax cuts to the wealthiest 2% (ED: including Herger?) above and beyond what the middle class would get through this proposal, let me focus on China”.
Unfortunately, this about face in the Way and Means Committee hearing is not the first of Mr. Herger’s confusing behavior.
While speaking with Redding Insurance agent Barbara McClaskey about brand name drugs vs. generic drugs, Mr. Herger was totally unaware of what a generic drug is? Is he really that out of touch with the world? Or is the problem even worse?
I would be the last person on Earth to question someone’s mental stability, especially someone of Mr. Herger’s importance. But I can’t help but wonder if Congressman Herger is showing signs of the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia, which hits about 14.5 million Americans over the age of 60 (Herger is 65). Changes in behavior whether slight or bizarre, are usually noticed by those around the stricken person. The stricken person will be the last to admit they have a problem, while those around him/her will agree that something is wrong.
Mr. Herger’s continued odd behavior is also noted at one of his “town hall meetings” (read that as Herger rally), when one of Wally’s constituents, Bert Stead, famously claimed that he was “proud to be a right-wing terrorist” (video HERE). Stead later said he meant “extremist”. Either way, Herger should have denounced that comment immediately, instead of rallying around it by saying “Amen. Now there’s a great American.”
Couple these examples with Congressman Herger’s failure to get a FEMA Flood Plain redistricting out of committee, then vote “No”, when the same bill was introduced by someone else.
Herger’s voting record has been slightly more than abysmal. For those who may be unaware of California’s second Congressional District, it stretches from just north of the California Capitol of Sacramento all the way to the Oregon border, an enormous 21,758 square miles with a population of 639,000 people (2000 census) who are largely Republican with one of the largest agricultural areas in the country. Yet with all this agricultural space, Herger voted NO on investing in homegrown bio-fuel. (Aug 2007)
Amtrak runs right through the middle of Herger’s entire district, yet the Republican Congressman voted NO on $9.7B for Amtrak improvements and operation thru 2013.
Looking deeper into Mr. Herger’s voting record seems to make for a good case of scratching one’s head as he continually voted against legislation that would help conserve energy and find new ways to power America. In a perverse way, it is understandable as Herger is listed as an oil executive.
More important, though, these recent bouts of odd behavior has to make one wonder if Mr. Herger is, indeed fit to continue to be a member of Congress.
As for this election, he has repeatedly refused to debate his Democratic challenger, attorney Jim Reed. As this date (September 27), a debate co-sponsored by a local newspaper and The League of Women Voters less than two weeks from now is up in the air as no one knows for sure if Herger is going to show up himself, send an aid to debate Mr. Reed or just a be a “no-show”.
At the very least, these questions about Mr. Herger’s mental state should be addressed. Mr. Herger himself needs to answer to these questions. If you recall, one of Mr. Herger’s idols, the late President Ronald Reagan filled the last two years of his second term with identifiable symptoms of the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
It is that serious. Mr. Herger needs to answer these questions today.
9/29/10
The Valley Mirror by Tim Crews
Herger Meets a Slugger in Reed
Maybe a slugfest in the Second Congressional District after all. In the right corner, wearing the red trunks, Wally Herger. A 24-year member of the United States Congress, known for faithfully voting the party line and rarely, if ever, sponsoring legislation. He is 65 and lists Chico as his hometown.
In the left corner, wearing the blue trunks, is Jim Reed. The pro-gun lawyer is 60-years-old. He’s from Fall River Mills, where he says, if you are not a gun rights advocate you are foolish. Law enforcement response is more than an hour.
Mr. Reed has his work cut out for him, even given Mr. Herger’s low-key approach to representing his district. While high on photo-ops like marijuana raids and levy walks, Mr. Herger has failed to come through for the projects that would spare life and limb, like the Hamilton City levee and the South Fork of Willow Creek dam, both designed to prevent flooding and to save lives.
Having just signed the pledge against earmarks, Mr. Herger, however, did bring in a little money for the Maxwell Fish Screens.
Mr. Reed is coming in with some jabs and roundhouse punches, but he’s mostly fighting air. Mr. Herger and his cornermen have failed to rise to three direct debate challenges, says Mr. Reed.
On Sunday, Mr. Reed stopped by to do a few warm-ups and some speedbag work.
It’s clear that the time for genteel Democratic party tactics of the past are out and direct punches are in.
But for every score landed on Mr. Herger, Mr. Reed has a solution, “One of the reasons we are not doing better,” he said of the North State’s horrible slump even in good times, is that Mr. Herger doesn’t advocate with the many federal agencies for a piece of the discretionary money.
With the federal government spending some $18,000 for every rural American, according to a Christian Science Monitor and PBS-Newshour study, Shasta County gets just $10,263 or 57 percent and Glenn County gets $15,415, or 86 percent. But much of that is paid to people who work here but live elsewhere. Also well under the national average are Butte County, 60 percent, Tehama County, 67 percent, Trinity County, 74 percent and Siskiyou County, 76 percent.
If Glenn County would come to par it would mean another $155 million of federal dollar to help pump the local engine.
California’s failure to get even-handed treatment and our share of the pie has long been a subject delivered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mr. Reed snaps a right with the $2 million for his opponents basking in the Maxwell Fish Screen project and then notes that almost simultaneously, Mr. Herger signed the no earmarks pledge.
Well, the earmarks are popularized by the famous “Alaska Bridge to Nowhere.”
What Mr. Herger hasn’t pointed out, says the challenger, is that under the old rule no one would know about an earmark until it was approved. But the new congressional rule earmarks are public records as soon as the money designation hits ink. “That’s why he signed the pledge,” says Mr. Reed, adding, “and only 15 or so signed the pledge.”
But here’s the follow-through: “If he is reelected things here are going to get worse.” Because, says Mr. Reed, Mr. Herger doesn’t really serve the district.
“There’s a clear way to get us up to the national average. Every single (federal) department has discretionary money … ever department has a way to spend money where they want to… it takes hard work on the part of the congressman.”
Well, how does that come into play? “The congressman has to go back (to the departments), go back, go back, go back.”
The congressman has to lobby the agencies?
“Exactly right.”
Mr. Herger has inked only two bills through in 24 years and one of those in a BLM bill in partnership with Diane Feinstein, California’s senior senator, says Mr. Reed.
“The biggest issue,” Mr. Reed says, “is Mr. Herger voted 96 percent of the time the straight party line.
“The fact of the matter is the party line is sometimes alright and sometimes it is not and a congressman should be voting for what is best for the people, the district and the constituents.”
What about the other four percent of Mr. Herger’s votes?
“Absent or he hit the wrong button,” says Mr. Reed with an indulgent smile and a little shake of the head.
What’s Mr. Herger’s staff doing if he just votes the party line, asks Mr. Reed. “There’s no analysis if the boss is voting party line.”
The lack of information at the Second Congressional District office startles Mr. Reed. He tells a story of insurance execs from Redding going to Washington last summer to “put in their two cents worth on what the healthcare reform bill looks like and why there was no provision for generic drugs. “Herger has no idea what they are,” says Mr. Reed of the non-branded much lower priced medicines.
The Mirror has reviewed C-SPAN video of the House Ways and Means hearing on the differential of the Chinese Yuan to the dollar. At one point Mr. Herger interrupted Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner and went into a kind of questioning rant about a purported Obama VAT (value added tax).
After a time Mr. Herger was firmly and patiently told there are no such plans and another congressman asked that they return to the question of the Yuan, a vital topic for the deficit and trade imbalance.
Mr. Reed caught his breath and noted that Mr. Herger was in Marysville last week to take credit for a stimulus-funded levee project. But Mr. Herger voted against the stimulus.
Mr. Reed notes that Mr. Herger voted for big bank bailout TARP, even though he said his constituents were 100 to one against it. The TARP or Troubled Asset Relief Program, was signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on Oct. 3, 2008.
“I think the TARP was the right thing to do but if I thought my constituents were one hundred to one against it, I would have voted against it.” Mr. Reed thinks “Small businesses are over regulated, big businesses under regulated.”
On the prickly question of illegal immigration he is blunt, “We must secure our borders so the problem doesn’t get worse.”
While he opposes amnesty, Mr. Reed supports a path, not an easy path, he adds, for people in the country to become legal.”
Finally, he is concerned that the Democratic base here in the North State is demoralized and wishes they’d get as fired up as he is.
That’s the bell, then and the end of Round One.
9/20/10
The Record Searchlight
Letters to the Editor by Neil Posson
What’s Herger done for the district?
Wally Herger is the incumbent 24-year career politician U.S. congressman from our district. We pay Herger $171,000 plus benefits per year of taxpayer money. What has Herger accomplished in 24 years? If we don’t know who Herger is or what he has accomplished in 24 years, then we need to elect someone else. Jim Reed is a strong, bright well-respected attorney from Fall River Mills who is running for U.S. Congress in our district. Reed has donated large amounts of free legal work to volunteer fire departments, community service districts, libraries and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Posse. Herger has done little of anything of value.
The biggest problems facing our district are high unemployment and high housing foreclosure rates. Reed has clear positions on all the issues on his website (ReedNow.com). Herger has done very little of value on these issues and it is unclear what he really stands for.
Jim Reed wants three televised debates in the next two months. We need these debates to compare the candidates and see what they really stand for. If you are concerned about fiscal responsibility and having a U.S. congressman who really represents you, please contact Herger’s office (223-5898) and demand three televised debates.
8/31/10
The Anderson Valley Post
- Editorial by Pete Stiglich
Stiglich Urges Reed vs. Herger Debate
Democratic congressional candidate, Jim Reed, recently challenged Congressman Wally Herger (R-CD2) to a series of three debates in the North State. The first two would have occurred in August, one in Yuba City, the other in Chico. The final debate in September would have taken place in Redding. Seemed like a reasonable plan to me.
Holding debates in some of the more populated areas of the congressional district would have afforded voters a pretty convenient opportunity to judge first-hand the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates.
Unfortunately, Wally refused. Instead, his campaign staff suggested a possible October debate.
Anxious to lock in on a firm date, the Reed campaign then, apparently, approached the Chico League of Women Voters to see if they'd be interested in hosting an October debate. They were. A tentative date of October 6th was selected.
Again, seems like a reasonable plan to me.
A debate in early October would most likely garner a lot of voter interest given its close proximity to Election Day, while also taking place well before absentee ballots began showing up in voter mail boxes.
Unfortunately, Wally refused . . . again.
Although still expressing interest in a single October debate, Herger's campaign staff wasn't quite ready to commit to or even seriously discuss a specific date . . . at least not at the moment. You know the old saying, "Don't call us; we'll call you."
Back during the primary congressional campaign, similar efforts were made to schedule debates between myself, the Republican challenger, and the Congressman. All to no avail.
To their credit, the Bostonian Tea Party and Chico League of Women Voters tried to get Wally to participate in their respective debates.
He declined all offers, citing a convenient ‘longstanding policy' preventing him from engaging in political discourse with fellow Republicans.
All personal political considerations aside, candidates seeking elected office should welcome the opportunity to engage in rigorous political debate. In fact, they should pursue it. What better opportunity to showcase one's command of the facts and leadership on critical issues?
I risk being accused of jumping onto the Reed bandwagon by supporting his call for debates. Trust me . . . nothing could be further from the truth. My conservative roots run long and deep. Rather, I've jumped on the bandwagon of folks demanding accountability, honesty, and a healthy command of facts from all those who seek or hold office.
Dare I say, "Let the debates begin."
- Pete Stiglich, Cottonwood
8/8/10
The Record Searchlight - Letter to the Editor by Jim Reed
North State isn't Getting its Share
I appreciated the support of the Record Searchlight in publishing my request for three debates with Wally Herger. Herger’s spokesman indicated that Herger would debate me, but not until October, rather than August and September while Congress is in recess, as I had suggested. The history of Pete Stiglich’s request for a debate is informative; in that case Herger’s spokesman left the possibility of a debate open until the last minute and then issued a response declining a debate, stating that Herger had a policy of not debating fellow Republicans.
Your editorial stated that one of my main issues in the campaign is increasing federal spending in the north state, which, given the conservative district’s overwhelming concern with the runaway deficit, probably will not get much traction. Although this is truly one of the main issues, I do not think the Record Searchlight’s characterization does it justice.
According to a recent survey by Patchwork Nation, aired on the PBS News Hour, Shasta County gets only about half the average federal spending other rural counties across our country receive. Federal spending doesn’t just mean earmarks. It includes Social Security, Medicare, defense, veterans’ benefits, education and farm subsidies. Shasta County is more than $1 billion below the yearly national average, meaning we do not get back our fair share of the federal taxes we pay. That’s something I would change back in Washington.
Shasta County and the other northern counties in the district have a persistent unemployment rate far above the national average. If Shasta County received just average federal spending, it would create enough jobs to reduce the unemployment rate by half. Herger recently signed a pledge that he would no longer request federal money for earmarks in his district. Although this may sound like good politics, it will mean even fewer jobs in Shasta County over time.
I believe the federal budget must be balanced, but I also have the energy and desire to fight in Congress for our fair share. While I have pledged to implement my own “term-limit” of eight years, I am certain I can accomplish more in that time than we have seen from Herger in almost three decades.
7/31/10
The Record Searchlight - Editorial
Editorial - Herger Should Take Challenge to Debate Reed
Would you like a chance to size up Rep. Wally Herger and his Democratic challenger side by side as the November election approaches? What red-blooded American voter wouldn’t?
And Jim Reed, the Fall River Mills lawyer who hopes to oust the 12-term congressman, wants to give 2nd Congressional District residents ample and early opportunities to do so.
Reed has challenged Herger to a series of three debates in August and September around the district — suggesting dates and locations in Yuba City (Aug. 14), Chico (Aug. 23) and Redding (Sept. 9). Conveniently enough, the House of Representatives will recess Monday for its summer vacation — or rather, “summer district work period” — and won’t meet again until mid-September.
Herger often keeps up a busy schedule of town halls and the like during recesses, but he’s not booked up with congressional business in Washington. It shouldn’t be much a stretch to find time to debate his opponent.
Of course, Reed’s motive is obvious. He’s twice run for judge in Shasta County, losing narrowly in 2008, and thanks to those campaigns is at least a vaguely familiar name in the Redding area. In the rest of the sprawling district, which stretches from Woodland to Hornbrook, he’s basically unknown.
Even if he gets his message out, he’ll still have a steep hill to climb. Reed styles himself a moderate Democrat, but the main plank of his campaign is that he’d spend more federal money on rural Northern California. Given the district’s conservative leanings, the motivation of Republicans this year and in particular the heartburn over massive federal deficits, it’s hard to see complaints about inadequate spending gaining traction.
Still, voters can make up their own minds. And they deserve every chance to hear from the candidates firsthand.
Herger’s campaign spokesman, Dave Gilliard, said the congressman is happy to debate his Democratic opponent — in October, after Congress adjourns and voters are more engaged. That might be traditional, but these days, with more and more ballots cast by mail weeks before Election Day, voters are taking a greater interest earlier in the campaign season. Why not accommodate them?
Reed’s laid down a challenge. Congressman Herger should take it up and make the August recess interesting and informative.
7/19/10
Daily Kos by Smileycreek
Worst Congressperson in the World
Just last December, Wally Herger of CA-02 introduced one of his go-nowhere bills that was supposed to ease the pain of homeowner's insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps. This affects a great many people along the Sacramento River in northern California's Second District.
I say it was a go-nowhere bill because Herger is famous for his grandstanding political ploys that do nothing for his district. This is how worthless Herger is: His last successsful bill, the Quincy (another small mountain town) Library Act, was 12 years ago. This means that during the eight years of the Bush administration, back when deficits didn't matter, Herger got absolutely nothing helpful done for his district. Zip, zero, nada.
As always, Herger's bill went nowhere, as it was introduced purely for show.
Last week the House passed HR 5114, a flood relief bill that would ease the pain of homeowner's insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps.
HERGER VOTED NO ON THE BILL. Why?
Because it was introduced by a Democrat. And Herger votes with the Republican party 96 % of the time. Pretty much the only time he doesn't vote with the Republicans is when he accidentally hits the wrong voting button. That's right-- Herger voted against his own constituents and against the same concept he himself proposed only 7 months earlier because he's the rubber stamp of the Party of No.
Nice work if you can get it, never having to think for yourself. At this point I don't think Wally is even capable of thinking for himself...
7/15/10
Record Searchlight Blog by Bruce Ross
And It's Election Season
Jim Reed's campaign fires what appears to be its first shot across Rep. Wally Herger's bow:
Jim Reed: Wally Herger Either Misunderstands or is Deliberately Distorting Financial Reform Legislation. Redding, California, July 15, 2010 - Banking bailouts have infuriated Democrats and Republicans alike. With the Senate vote happening today America will be one step closer to completing the toughest financial reform bill since the Great Depression, taxpayers won't ever be stuck with bailing out failing banks again. Yet Wally Herger, R-CA-02, who votes with the Republican party 96% of the time, voted against the financial reform bill that passed the House. Herger has grabbed on to Republican talking points in opposing the bill, nonsensically claiming that "Congressional Democrats made bailouts a permanent part of our financial system" by passing financial reform. Herger's opponent, moderate Democrat Jim Reed, said, "Either Herger doesn't understand the law as it's written, or he is deliberately distorting the facts to appeal to his base. I believe Wally has become lazy and lost focus - he simply does what his party leadership tells him to do. The people of the Second District deserve a Congressman who will fight for all of them, Republican, Democrat and Independent alike, not someone who fights against desperately-needed reforms."
Reed affirmed that, despite Herger's distortions, "The Financial Reform bill ends bail-outs." Reed, a small business owner and attorney who holds a Masters Degree in taxation, explained, "The bill creates a separate liquidation fund the banks pay into which ensures that tax-payer funds are not given to distressed banks for bail-outs."
Herger's website claims, "The Dodd-Frank bill failed at its most essential task--to end the era of "too-big-to-fail." Jim Reed noted that Paul Volker, Secretary of the Treasury under both Carter and Reagan, called the reforms "the antithesis of too-big-to-fail" by setting up mechanisms for promptly liquidating failing banks. Only 3 Republican Senators voted for the Brown-Kaufman amendment which would have forced the break-up of the 10 largest banks. "Now that was strong 'too big to fail' medicine," Reed said, noting that Herger did not complain or criticize his Senatorial colleagues' inaction. "Where was Wally then on this issue, if he really felt too-big-to-fail is so important?
7/14/10
Mt. Shasta News by Paul Boerger
Fall River Democrat Challenges Herger
Jim Reed, the Democratic candidate for the Second Congressional District, visited Mount Shasta July 4 to ride in the parade and promote his campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Wally Herger in the November election.
Reed hails from Fall River where he owns a ranch and runs a law practice that boasts 10 employees. According to the campaign website, Reed has an electrical engineering degree, is a licensed private pilot and claims many hours of pro bono legal work for community organizations.
“Wally Herger has gotten lazy,” Reed said while in Mount Shasta for the Fourth of July. “He used to have an organization with offices in the district to help people. Over his 24 years in Congress, it has fallen apart.”
Reed points out that District 2 federal funding falls behind the national average for rural communities.
“The national average is $18,000 per person. District 2 is approximately $13,000. When you take into account the population, that is a difference of $100,000,000,” Reed said. “We need someone in Congress who will represent the interests of the people.”
Reed says that Herger's record shows he votes the Republican party line 94 percent of the time.
“Herger is not representing us,” Reed said. “He is representing the Republican party.”
Reed says he is a fiscal conservative and a moderate on social issues.
“A Republican can vote for me knowing I’ll be working hard,” Reed said.
On Afghanistan, Reed supports President Obama sending more troops and the withdrawal deadline.
“The Afghan government needs to know that we are leaving so they step up and take charge,” Reed said.
On abortion, Reed supports a woman’s right to choose even though he does not like the procedure.
“If a woman asked if she should get an abortion, I would tell her not to,” Reed said. “But I do not have the right to deny her the Constitutional right to chose. I believe that a good education is the best way of avoiding unwanted pregnancies.”
On health care, Reed supports the reforms and the public option.
“Doing nothing was not an option,” Reed said. “The public option would have created needed competition to lower prices.”
Reed said he is still researching the Klamath dams issue.
“We need to come up with a solution that benefits all the stakeholders,” he said.
Reed’s campaign literature includes pointing to Herger’s appearance in Redding where he declared to a professed “proud right wing terrorist,” “Amen, God bless you, there’s a great American.”
“Herger’s comment was very inappropriate,” Reed said.
6/26/10
Record Searchlight by Ryan Sabalow
Wally's Wealth: Herger in Top 10% of House
U.S. Rep. Wally Herger hasn’t felt the financial sting of the Great Recession like many of his constituents.
Although the value of the 65-year-old Chico Republican’s assets took a dip during the financial plunge, he has more assets now than he did in 2004.
According to 2009 financial disclosure statements analyzed by the Record Searchlight, Herger reported between $3 million and $12.1 million of assets.
That’s at least $1 million more than what he reported five years earlier.
In an election year, it’s a figure that invites political posturing from both sides.
To Herger’s Republican base, the wealth is a sign of a man who practices the free enterprise that he preaches, and who understands business. To Democrats, it’s evidence that he’s out of touch.
Herger reported earning between $60,005 and $130,400 of investment income in 2009.
The figures are on top of the minimum $174,000 annual salary each of the 435 voting members of House of Representatives makes each year.
Herger’s other assets
The financial disclosures were posted last week by the Center for Responsive Politics on the congressional watchdog site OpenSecrets.org.
Lawmakers are required to post only general income ranges, so the numbers don’t provide exact figures.
Herger’s family ranch in Rio Oso is valued between $1 million and $5 million. The rental income earned off the ranch was reported at between $50,001 and $100,000. Aside from his family propane business and his real estate holdings, Herger also has between $500,001 and $1 million invested in an annual annuity, from which he collected no income in 2009, according to his financial statements.
The Center for Responsive Politics ranked Herger in 2008 as the 41st-wealthiest member of the House of Representatives. The center hasn’t yet tallied the rankings for 2009.
Herger was unavailable to comment Friday. But spokesman Matt Lavoie said that Herger’s assets are made up primarily of his family’s ranch land and a propane business, which have been in his family for three generations.
As a successful small-business owner, Herger particularly understands the challenges his overtaxed constituents face as they try to build their own businesses and create much-needed jobs in the faltering economy, Lavoie said.
“Congressman Herger is fighting for Northern Californians every day,” Lavoie said by phone from Washington, D.C.
Opponents attack
Many of Herger’s constituents have found their fortunes shrinking as the recession wears on.
In Shasta County, the unemployment rate in May was 15.4 percent, the highest for that month since 1990.
Adjusted for inflation, the U.S. Census Bureau reports the average income in the 2nd Congressional District was around $22,876 in 2008. The same year, Shasta County’s year-over-year income growth was the lowest it had been in a decade, according to federal income figures.
Herger is running for his 13th term in office, after having served 23 years in Congress. He’ll face off in November in the overwhelmingly Republican district against Democrat Jim Reed.
Herger’s Democrat critics suggested his wealth puts him out of touch with the needs of his constituents.
“He started out saying he was this poor, little farmer,” said Ann Nelson, a member of the Shasta County Democratic Central Committee.
Reed responds
Reed, a lawyer who in 2008 ran an unsuccessful campaign for Shasta County Superior Court judge, would say only that his assets total less than $1 million.
“I’m not in the same ballpark” as Herger, he said, “Let’s put it that way.”
Reed owns a ranch in Fall River Mills. He also has law office there and in Lafayette, in the San Francisco Bay area.
His campaign website says he loves to fly, and he owns his own airplane. Reed said his law practice has taken a hit in the Great Recession.
He suggested Herger can do more.
“Maybe because he isn’t feeling the pain or it’s because he’s tired or he’s getting old or lazy or whatever it is ... but he’s not working hard to bring money into his district like he should be,” Reed said...
6/4/10
Herger STILL Promotes Offshore Drilling Because It “Won’t Hurt Environment”
Taken directly from Wally Herger’s website Here.
“In my view, putting our energy security in the hands of volatile regimes around the world is simply irresponsible from an economic and security standpoint. I've long supported efforts to allow for the exploration of oil and natural gas in a small section of the frozen "ANWR" tundra in Alaska. ANWR spans nearly 20 million acres, but energy exploration would only occur on 2,000 acres, or .01 percent of the land area. And importantly, 21st Century technology would also allow us to recover energy resources without harming the environment. Energy exploration in ANWR is conservatively estimated to be able to produce 1 million additional barrels of oil per year - about the same amount we now import from Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. In addition, America's offshore resources could prove even more beneficial than ANWR, with estimates coming in at up to 115 billion barrels.” – Wally Herger
6/3/10
AppealDemocrat.com by Howard Yune
Herger's 12 Term Tenure Questioned
Nearing a quarter-century in Congress, Wally Herger is upholding his legislative experience against two challengers arguing his long tenure has become a liability. The Chico Republican and Rio Oso native is seeking a 13th term in the House while facing Pete Stiglich in the GOP primary on Tuesday. The primary winner will run in the November general election against Democrat Jim Reed, the party's only candidate in the race for the 2nd District.
Herger defended his work battling expanded federal spending, including his introduction of a bill last week seeking to repeal the new health care overhaul meant to expand coverage but also require insurance policies for most Americans. He pointed to his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee — with jurisdiction over health care, taxes and Social Security — as a valuable platform to advance the fight.
"The question is whether or not you're going along with the status quo in Washington, and I think I'm clearly fighting to change it," he said Thursday by telephone from Redding. The committee seats "help me be in position to lead the fight to return government to the people. A freshman would have a lot more difficulty being effective, even if they're trying to do the right thing."
However, Stiglich, a retired Air Force colonel from Cottonwood, decried the congressman's support of expanded Medicare coverage of prescription drugs and a $700 billion bank rescue package in 2008 — which Herger conceded he made against heavy Mid-Valley opposition — and pledged to wage a fiercer fight to curb federal spending if elected.
"He hasn't been challenged in years and it's a healthy thing for the party and the nation to hold folks accountable," Stiglich said Tuesday. "What I'm challenging is his lack of leadership. You're hard-pressed when you try to discover things he has done of any significance in the last 10 years in new legislation, or reining in the growth of government.
"More than ever, we need strong conservatives in Washington, not just backbenchers. I don't think he has the energy or stamina to do that anymore," Stiglich said.
The lone Democrat facing Herger, Reed promised a moderate course, balancing support for gun owners' rights, curbs on executive pay over $1 million, and efforts to steer more federal money to Shasta County and other North State areas that traditionally have received below-average funding for health and social services.
Reed called such unwillingness to cross the party lines Herger's greatest weakness.
"In 24 years, he's voted the GOP line 94 percent of the time; I've seen that instead of representing the people he's representing the party," the Fall River Mills lawyer said Wednesday. "If you're voting that high a percentage on party lines, you're not truly representing the people."
Should either of Herger's opponents prevail this year or in the future, both have promised shorter Congressional careers — no more than a decade for Reed and six years for Stiglich...
5/17/10
Red Bluff Daily News by Richard Mazzucchi
Positive Point: Wally's World Vs. Real World
Wally Herger says: In keeping with what seems to be an all-too-familiar occurrence in Washington these days, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman defied public opinion by unveiling legislation to impose a damaging cap and trade' scheme to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The so-called American Power Act' is yet another 1,000-page piece of legislation that would dramatically raise energy prices, kill jobs, and stifle our economic growth with a damaging new tax on the American people.
Reality suggests: The time has come for humans of all nationalities to realize the consequences of industrialization and extensive combustion of fossil fuels on our environment....
Come next November it will be time to retire the likes of Mr. Herger from government service by electing new representatives to act responsibly and aggressively to address our local and global environmental imperatives, and seize opportunities to build new industries and ways of doing business that will ensure American competitiveness and productivity serving the needs of our evolved society. I encourage everyone to examine the platform of the progressive democratic caucus at www.progressivecaucuscdp.org and the skills of candidate James Reed at www.reednow.com before rewarding Mr. Herger for his apparent lack of concern about our planet and inability to help us secure a sustainable future....
5/13/10
Record Searchlight by Scott Mobley
Herger Challenged by Democrat, Republican in Race for Congress
Congressman Wally Herger, R-Chico, will face challenges this year from the moderate left and the rigorous right.
Herger, 64, has represented the reliably Republican 10-county 2nd Congressional District for nearly 24 years. He sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means, a gatekeeper for federal spending. Herger has voted with his party colleagues 96 percent of the time during the current Congress, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Opponents say Herger has too little to show for all his years in office. The north state is long overdue for a leadership change, they say....
Jim Reed, a Fall River Mills attorney, has criticized Herger for not bringing enough earmarks and other federal funding to rural interior Northern California.
Reed will run unopposed in the Democratic primary June 8 to face Herger or Stiglich in November.
Reed, 59, supports Obama administration stimulus spending for the economy, strong banking regulation, tax code simplification and higher taxes on incomes over $250,000.
He’s also a green energy proponent who believes laser-ignited fusion will render oil drilling and nuclear fission obsolete within a decade.
Reed grants that Republicans outnumber Democrats by 8 percent throughout the 2nd Congressional District. But decline-to-state voters are 20 percent of the electorate and could swing an election in his favor, he said.
Reed said he’s no fan of earmarks, and would happily see that style of pork barrel spending eliminated. But as long as earmarks are the coin of the realm in Washington, a congressional representative should bring the money home, Reed said.
Reed cited a recent study claiming Shasta County residents receive only $10,000 per person per year in federal spending, compared to an average of $18,000 per person in other rural counties nationwide. He estimates that north state unemployment would be 5 percent lower if the federal government spent as much here as it does elsewhere.
“Wally gets $174,000 a year for being a congressman,” Reed said. “He doesn’t lose anything by failing to go after the money. It’s the people in his district who suffer.
5/12/10
Progressive News Daily
Interview with Jim Reed
The 2010 Congressional election in California is heating up. The June Primary sees an opponent in the Republican Party for incumbent Republican Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA2).
But THE person to take into consideration for both Republicans and Democrats is Democratic Candidate Jim Reed.
Our sister site, Progressive News Radio, currently has an interview with candidate Reed that you can listen to in mp3 format, either on the site or by downloading the program.
Jim Reed discusses his positions on abortion, gun control and what’s not only needed for the Second Congressional District in California, but what he thinks needs to change for the country.
Wally Herger, the incumbent Republican drew attention last fall when a constituent spoke up at a “town hall meeting” and said that he was “proud to be a right wing terrorist. (Video Below)....
Letter to the Editor
by Neil Posson, Mt. Shasta
Wally Herger is the U.S. Congressman representing our district and has
done so for 24 years. In 24 years Herger has never written a bill that
has been passed into law, has never been the chair of any important
committee and does not seem to have brought any significant grants or
projects to our district. Herger is a strong supporter of continuing the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but neither he nor any of his nine children
have ever served in the military. In a town hall meeting in Redding when
a spectator described himself as “ a proud right wing terrorist “ Herger
stated “God bless you. There goes a great American”. Timothy McVeigh was
a proud right wing terrorist.
Wally Herger is paid $174,000 per year plus benefits of tax payer
money. For this Herger has done basically nothing for us. We need to
hold our elected officials accountable for what they have done, or in
Herger’s case for what he has not done. The only time we see or hear from
Herger is when he wants to get re-elected. Herger is wasting our taxes and
political power. I recommend we vote Herger out of office. We deserve
better.
03/31/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Quentin Colgan
Letter: Herger Misses a Chance to Help
What did Wally Herger have to say in his constituents' behalf when it came to controlling runaway costs and protecting their hard-earned resources in these tough times?
Herger said, "No."
Which isn't too surprising.
When told that some reform would be needed to keep 50 of his constituents from dying every year due to the overarching greed inherent in our health care system, Herger said, "No."
When asked if he would stop taking thousands and thousands of dollars from the health care industry and instead represent the people of his district, Herger said, "No..."
When you refuse to participate, you are not representing your constituents. You are not doing the job you were elected to do.
Thanks for nothing, Herger.
03/29/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Maria Phillips
Letter: Herger Stands in Way of Change
Tuesday morning's E-R contained two articles on the just-voted on health care reform: One of them reported on potential gains and deficits (when they will kick in and/or manifest themselves); the other reported on reactions to the bill by local interested parties. Both articles were instructive, even-handed, and I felt appropriately enlightened (what I'm looking for when I read reports on experts' views). All good until I got to Wally Herger's script.
His tired view is of a dark, bad road paved and graded by big government (who's been paying his salary and health insurance for a quarter century) and filled with "bureaucrats [who] take the place of doctors" and will take away our "individual freedoms" and our money.
My view is that he's standing in the way of the light and hoping we won't be able to see around him to find our way out of the morass that our greedy for-profit insurance industry has set us in. He needs to get out of the way.
Please begin to think about voting for Jim Reed, the reasonable alternative from Shasta County. He's running not as a career politician funded by the insurance companies but as a principled individual whose life experience has prepared him to serve as our representative able to lead us out of the morass. He'll do it with intelligence and class and, unlike Herger, he won't fan the flames of extremism.
03/02/10
Chico Enterprise Record by Robert Woods
Letter: Bring Back Sensible Government
I read in the newspaper that one of Congressman Wally Herger's beloved "right-wing terrorists" has crashed his airplane into a federal building in Austin, Texas. Seems a bit reminiscent of Timothy McVeigh blowing up a federal building in Oklahoma City some years back. These right-wingers play for keeps, though often take the coward's way out by killing themselves in the process. Wally Herger may love the extreme conservatives but if we're ever going to get anything done in Congress for the American people we must replace Herger with someone better qualified for the job.
Recently a Democrat from the small town of Fall River Mills in Shasta County filed for the office in the coming election, and bears a second look. Jim Reed is a seasoned lawyer who knows his way around the courtroom and knows the issues that are important in the north state. He could help the Obama administration get us a decent health care plan as well as more jobs and a cleaner environment.
Once we had a Democratic congressman and senator named Clair Engle from Tehama County.
He called himself "an old apple knocker from Manton," and helped pass vital legislation in the 1960s.
Jim Reed might be the person to lead us back to sensible government. Let's listen to the man.
02/27/10
The Record Searchlight Editorial
GOP Stimulus Complaints are Pure Politics
Republican politicians, including the north state's Rep. Wally Herger, have staked immense political energy on attacking last year's federal stimulus program, one of President Barack Obama's signature early initiatives. When they turn around and help constituents bring home a share of it, the hypocrisy is too palpable to ignore....
Where Herger goes off-track, though, is in his simplistic, knee-jerk opposition to all things stimulus - a position that shifts depending on who's in the White House...
02/18/10
The Record Searchlight
Lively Opening Volley Starts Political Year
Jones Valley resident Bert Stead's declaration at a town hall meeting last summer that he was "a proud right-wing terrorist" was a joke, though liberals didn't appreciate the humor.
But Democrats hope to laugh all the way to the bank this election year. They've recycled the crack and especially Rep. Wally Herger's amused reply that Stead was "a great American" into a fundraising mailer, seeking donations to Democrat Jim Reed's campaign against the longtime Republican congressman...
02/18/10
Chico's NewsReview.com
Opinions - Politics Beat
It just so happens that this 89-year-old lady has been following Wally [Herger] for a good many years, having come to Redding in ’78. Whatever the Tea Partiers are about, they’ve got one thing right: Twenty-three years of letting the country down is enough.
Wally’s favorite stunt is showing how little he cares about the Constitution he took an oath to uphold by ignoring the question and changing the subject. He’s a smart politician with a nice smile, but that’s not why he was elected to office. Obama got one thing right: It’s time for change—but in the right direction, of course!
Incidentally, who voted for NAFTA, TARP, most-favored nation for China? You guessed it! Mr. Herger.
(Mrs.) Dorothy Robbins
Shasta
02/15/10
The Record Searchlight by Ryan Sabalow
Democrat's Talking Mailer Blasts Herger
"Jim Reed, a Democratic challenger running against longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, has sent out 2,500 mailers that when opened, play audio recordings of Herger lauding a man who called himself “proud right-wing terrorist.”
Reed’s campaign manager, Crystal Martin, said this morning that using the audio mailers — similar to greeting cards that play songs when they’re opened — is a first of its kind in national politics.
The mailer includes a recording of Bert Stead, 67, of Redding calling himself “a proud, right-wing terrorist” at a Redding town hall meeting in August and Herger’s response:
“Amen. God bless you. There’s a great American.”
The recording also plays audio from liberal TV commentator Keith Olbermann, who called Herger “Worst Person in the World” on his MSNBC “Countdown” show after the remarks went national thanks to the video being placed on YouTube..."
02/13/10
DailyKos.com
"Talking Mailpiece" Blasts Right Wing Terrorists
"(From the diaries. This is definitely a great campaign innovation, and used to fantastic effect given the subject matter it features -- kos)
Today I opened up what I thought would be an ordinary campaign mailer, only to hear the voice of our infamous local Republican Congressman Wally Herger, CA-02, praising a self-proclaimed "Right Wing Terrorist" as a "Great American...'"
11/05/09
Chico News & Review by Tom Gascoyne
Wally’s World: Catching up with our congressman after a summer of town-hall craziness
"This past summer, for the first time in the 23 years he’s represented the 2nd Congressional District, Wally Herger, a genial and predictably conservative but heretofore obscure Republican, was thrust into the national media spotlight for a comment he made Aug. 18 during a town-hall meeting on health-care reform..."
Contact us for questions about the campaign by emailing us at info@reednow.com or by calling (530) 336-5050
