Tom Del Beccaro in Forbes Magazine 2016 Candidates

On Environment: Farmers bear the brunt of a plethora of regulations

Year after year, government policies have been aimed squarely at California farmers as if they are the bad guy. One of the greatest advancements in the history of mankind occurred when one region of the world was able to produce such a surplus of food that it was able to send it to less fortunate regions. In doing so, they helped to alleviate food shortages and starvation. For more than 100 years, California farmers have played a key role in that effort. You would think that such a valuable economic resource would be cherished, promoted and helped at every turn. Incredibly, that is not the case in California. Instead, the California farmer bears the brunt of many a legislative or regulatory bulldozer.

California Air Resources Board standards on sprinkler pumps; restrictions on insecticides, fungicides and fumigants; and a plethora of government agencies capped by one of the highest income tax rates in the nation--all combine to put us at an economic disadvantage.

Source: Forbes Magazine OpEd on 2016 California Senate race Jan 14, 2015

On Jobs: $15 mandated wages results in lower employment

California Democrats passed a statewide minimum wage increase. Next up, a bill mandating increased overtime pay for workers.

Perhaps a minimum wage of $15 won't terribly affect San Francisco. But in a place where unemployment already is so high, like Mendota, or Huron or other Central Valley towns like them where unemployment is above 20%, higher mandated wages will directly result in even lower employment. You see, the more something costs, the less of it is acquired. That basic law of economics applies to cars and jobs alike.

The same day they voted to raise the minimum wage, five Democratic lawmakers received big campaign checks from the SEIU, the group that pressured lawmakers for the wage bill. Why would the government union do that? That's easy--the minimum wage boost will result in $3.6 billion a year in increased wages for the public employee union workers--none of whom will lose their jobs because they are immune from market forces.

Source: Forbes Magazine OpEd on 2016 California Senate race Jan 14, 2015

On Environment: Increase water supplies rather than fining citizens

California is in the midst of one of its many droughts. To combat the current drought, the otherwise do-nothings of the California Water Resources Board are proposing to fine citizens they call "water hogs" $500 per day. Instead of fining helpless consumers, California's government should do its job for once and seriously increase water supplies. The California governments have done very little to significantly increase water supplies in over 40 years, even though its population has doubled during that period of time.

California has been subject to considerable droughts over the centuries, lasting up to 20 years in a row. The President and others are selling the canard that the current drought is the result of global warming or climate change. The fact that we had decades- long droughts years before industrialization doesn't matter to them as they bloviate over a drought of several years.

Source: Forbes magazine on 2016 California Senate race Jun 7, 2014

On Health Care: More taxes & regulations loom with ObamaCare

We are arguably headed for difficult economic times given ObamaCare's looming implementation, proposed tax increases, and ever more in the way of regulations. Congressional Republicans should pick out significant government programs that are not working. Obviously, that will be incredibly easy. Then they should lay out specific cost savings from those failed programs. For the next two years, the Republicans should hold a monthly press conference on the Capitol steps wherein they explain:

The original purpose of the Non-working Program
Who was originally supposed to have benefited from the Non-working Program
The GOP's Reformed Program
Why the Reformed Program is better for the Nation
How much the Reformed Program will save taxpayers

Source: Forbes Magazine column for 2016 California Senate race Nov 28, 2012

The above quotations are from Forbes Magazine "Candidates Want You to Know" series. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Tom Del Beccaro. Click here for Tom Del Beccaro on all issues.
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018