John MacMurray and La Habra Councilwoman Rose Espinoza
“The 72nd Assembly District is heavily GOP — the Secretary of State’s most recent tally shows about 43 percent registered Republicans and 34 percent registered Democrats,” according to the Sacramento Bee.
I would not blame voters in that area if they were to vote for the Democratic candidate, John MacMurray, to show their disgust with the GOP – the party of pervy Mike Duvall.
But who is John MacMurray?
He is a public school teacher who ran for the 72nd in 2008. He lost to Duvall by 13,000 votes. Now the same forces that elevated Duvall to the State Legislature, despite the fact that he had only a high school education, are trying to do the same with Republican Linda Ackerman, another GOP candidate who apparently did not finish college.
Here are a few excerpts from MacMurray’s bio, which is on his campaign website:
I was born and raised in Southern California, attended Earl Warren High School in Downey, then graduated from Fullerton Community College and Cal State Fullerton. And recently completed my Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Missouri.
My wife Ida and I have lived in La Habra since we were married in 1976. We have three sons, Ian, Sean, and Ryan, and three grandkids, Emily, Scotty and Damien. Our family has been active for many years in youth sports, Scouts, and church activities and I am a member of Cornerstone Masonic Lodge in La Habra, Santa Ana Scottish Rite, and El Bekal Shrine Temple.
I made a career change in 1990, leaving the high tech world to teach public school and have been with the Fullerton School District since 1993. After spending my first year teaching Kindergarten at Valencia Park School, I moved to Ladera Vista Junior High, where I teach 7th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies.
The issues that MacMurray is espousing include jobs, taxes and education. Here is his take on taxes:
Nobody likes to pay taxes, but it hurts worse when we have to pay for somebody else. California loses more than $60 billion a year in unpaid fees and taxes from people and companies who under-report and just don’t pay.
MacMurray’s endorsements include:
- Hon. John Garamendi, Lt. Governor
- Hon. Bill Lockyer, California State Treasurer
- Hon. Jack O’Connell, Superintendent of Public Schools
- Hon. Karen Bass, Speaker of the Assembly
- Hon. Kevin DeLeon, Assemblymember
- Hon. Betty Karnette, Assemblymember
- Hon. John Laird, Assemblymember
- Hon. Mark Leno, Assemblymember
- Hon. Tony Mendoza, Assemblymember
- Hon. Carole Migden,State Senator
- Hon. Adam Schiff, Member of Congress
- Hon. Tom Torlakson, State Senator
- Hon. Alberto Torrico, Assemblymember
And of course he has the support of various organized labor organizations.
How would MacMurray solve the state’s budget crisis? Here is what he told the League of Women Voters, “Look to other sources of revenue, like a business would. Impose an extraction fee for oil (California is the only state without one). Step up collections on undeclared income, unpaid fees, and other revenue losses to the state.”
MacMurray took a swipe at Duvall in his candidate’s statement, “Thanks to former Assemblyman Mike Duvall, we have no Assembly representative in Sacramento, Orange County has been mocked on national television and California taxpayers will have to shell out nearly half a million dollars for a special election.”
MacMurray also wrote that “that he will try to preserve funding for public education, parks and the environment and will work to create new jobs to replace the “good jobs … building cars, airplanes and even spacecraft” that have left the region.”
Can MacMurray prevail in this election? His only hope, realistically, is to force a run-off election, if neither of the Republican candidates, Chris Norby and the aforementioned Ackerman, can get 50% of the vote.
Click here to contact MacMurray.
I canvassed in Fullerton on behalf of Mr. MacMurray yesterday. He is a great guy and the only candidate to vote for in this election. The time is now to have someone in office we can trust and respect.
He will “will work to create new jobs to replace the ‘good jobs … building cars, airplanes and even spacecraft’ that have left the region”? How’s he going to do that? The private sector creates jobs. The public sector destroys them. Maybe they don’t teach that in the school of Ed.
Rogue Elephant,
Now you know why I am a Libertarian and not a Democrat – I just cannot abide such stances either.
But I would not blame folks in the 72nd for voting for MacMurray just to spite our corrupt OC GOP.
Elephant,
Last time I checked, Boeing, Lockheed and even GM are more Government subsidized than the Main Street cleaners.
Government does bring jobs, its the only thing that does.
For those of you who emigrated to the Golden State: “There are two things that bring development: Freeways and water” Jesse Unruh.
Hmmm… unpaid, owed taxes – that’s different from raising taxes. The extraction tax on oil is long overdue, and we need to end the corporate tax cut that Arnold shoved into the budget. These are all very fair and viable ways to address our severe revenue shortage until the economy picks up again.
It’s conceivable that while Hackerwoman and Norby snipe at each other, John could get the 50% + 1. Then in November he’ll have the advantage of running as a winner and an incumbent. And we’ll be that much closer to the 2/3 in the legislature we need to get California alive and kicking again. Maybe that will be my first post.
I worked the phones for John last Thursday night and I’ll be doing it again this Thursday, and walking north county precincts over the weekend – these midterm elections are fun! If you want to join us, sign up here: http://macmurray4the72nd.com/index.php?option=com_volunteer&Itemid=54
Kanllaynotdead,
Firstly, your obsession with Ken Lay is unhealthy. Get help.
Secondly, your statement that “Government does bring jobs, its the only thing that does” isn’t grounded in even basic economics. If your statement were true, then we could best promote social welfare by abolishing the private sector altogether. There a few problems with that, though.
First, this approach has failed every time its been tried, producing misery rather than prosperity.
Second, you miss the basic and undisputed economic truth that government has no money because it is not the productive sector of the economy. It must confiscate money from the private sector, destroying savings and investment (thereby reducing social welfare). Government spending (including your examples) distort the economy, using political decision-making to divert resources towards the politically influential.
Using your example, every job “created” by government for defense contractors destroyed other private sector jobs savings by diverting resources away from other private sector savings and investment. (Consider, that every dollar individuals pay in taxes to pay for those jobs is a dollar those individuals can’t spend on their family’s food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, or other personal items that would reflect their individual choices.) Likewise, every job for a corresponding government worker destroyed private sector jobs for the same reason.
The concept is simple, as is the math. Government is zero-sum. When it creates something, its destroys something else. The private sector (the real economy) is not zero sum because it based on voluntary transactions between consenting individuals. The private sector produces. The public sector confiscates the fruits of private sector labor.
This debate is one of those “false dichotomies” we often see in our wonderful media outlets. Why does it always have to be one or the other. Both the private sector and the public sector are vital to a strong balanced economy and both have their limitations. BTW, the private sector can “destroy” other private sector jobs (and businesses)just ask small business owners in the downtown areas of any cities across the U.S. I do like the carefully selected word, “confiscated” , to describe how money moves across sectors, it certainly reveals your contempt for the public sector. Of course it is prudent to be suspicious of a candidate’s campaign promises/statements. But considering Duvall had the world by the balls in a cushy gerrymandered district and wasn’t doing much for the 72nd anyway, I’m open to newcomers.