Is Doug Lamalfa really one of us?
The primary purpose of any elected representative is to support the interests, promote the general welfare and be an advocate on behalf of all their constituents. We, the voters, can and should monitor our representatives by staying abreast of their voting record and by holding our elected representatives accountable when they vote against our interests.
Unfortunately, we are so divided in our country that party affiliation sways our judgment and clouds our collective ability to rationally examine what our representative in congress is really doing on our behalf. Doug Lamalfa proclaims he is “one of us” but unless “us” includes multi-millionaires, corporations and blind Trumpism, are we really the constituents he represents?
We have seen that radical conservative ideology does not favor small business but rather supports big corporations in their insatiable quest for profit over people. Lamalfa has consistently voted against workers’ rights, against workplace discrimination policies, against raising the Federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15/hour, against protecting older workers from discrimination and against protecting workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace.
Lamalfa has voted against affordable health care, against lowering prescription drug costs, against capping cost-sharing for a month’s supply of insulin products at $35 and against requiring private health insurance plans to cover treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects. He also voted to allow states to remove preexisting conditions protections from state health care plans.
Lamalfa has chosen to represent the interests of corporations over what is best for us. He believes representing corporations will serve him better than doing what is economically best for us. Why do we keep reelecting Lamalfa when he doesn’t truly represent us? Are his supporters just voting the Republican party line, somehow thinking that’s best for them or is it because he keeps telling us that he is one of us?
He is only one of us if you are a multimillionaire. If Lamalfa is one of us, then why is 87 percent of his campaign funds coming from outside California with most of his California campaign funding coming from outside his district.
Max Steiner, campaigning to be our new congressman, will support workers’ rights and interests against corporations and will protect union workers. Max will vote to lower our prescription drug costs, prevent states from removing pre-existing conditions protections from state health care plans and support affordable health care.
Max Steiner is truly one of us, not just faking it like Lamalfa does. Max joined the Army and served two years in Iraq as an infantryman and after his active service, transitioned to the Army Reserves. Max truly knows what it is to be a veteran and understands the needs of our veterans unlike Lamalfa who only supported veterans’ needs 74 percent of the time.
Max will always support veterans’ needs 100 percent of the time, no matter what.
We have an important choice to make this year. We can replace Lamalfa with Max Steiner, who will truly treat us as his primary constituents rather than corporate America. Max will always support our interests, promote our general welfare and be our advocate 100 percent of the time. Max Steiner is truly one of us.
Tom Laurent is a retired soil scientist with the U.S. Forest Service who lives in Yreka in Siskiyou County. He has previously written columns for the Siskiyou Daily News called “Siskiyou Voices.”