Last spring U.S. Senate candidate Steve Garvey struck out in his first two at-bats in the Debate Series for U.S. Senate from California. Tuesday evening I was surprised he hit a home run in his debate with Rep. Adam Schiff. Unlike me, the former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres kept the baseball analogies to a minimum.
Garvey has spent the ensuing months traveling around the state, listening to Californians and their problems. Almost every answer brought an anecdote about how the needs of the people are not being met by Schiff and the Biden-Harris administration.
Schiff was as intense as when he was harassing Trump during the Ukraine impeachment ordeal. Which now seems ancient history after the hideous Ukraine War erupted under the watch of Biden-Harris, supported by Schiff.
Alas, the Sept. 26 Public Policy Institute of California poll conducted Aug. 29 to Sept. 9 showed Schiff leading Garvey 63% to 35%. Garvey’s debate victory should help him narrow that lead, but not nearly enough to get close.
As I lamented in my column on the vice-presidential debate, the moderators seemed barely aware of foreign policy issues. Even though that’s the most important task by far of U.S. Senators, who pass judgment on all treaties and approve all appointments for the secretaries of Defense, State and Homeland Security, and the directors of the FBI and CIA.
The exception was a question on the previous day marking the first anniversary of the horrible Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel. Both candidates strongly backed Israel. As do Biden and Harris, Schiff favored a “two-state solution,” meaning the Palestinians would get their own state. Garvey said that wouldn’t happen because “one of them will devastate the other,” meaning the Palestinians would devastate Israel.
On domestic issues, again the most important issue was missed. The morning before the debate, the Congressional Budget Office announced the federal budget deficit for the year ended Sept. 30 hit $1.83 trillion, up 13% on the year. The federal debt soon will stagger us at $36 trillion. When Schiff took office on Jan. 3, 2001, the debt was $5.6 trillion and the budget actually was balanced.
We got a question on the soaring cost of living, especially housing. Garvey used the old Reagan line from 1980 against Jimmy Carter, “Under Mr. Schiff’s watch … we’re much worse off than four years ago.” Schiff called for “building a lot more housing and building it fast” through low-income housing credits, and to “incentivize local housing,” which obviously is a local issue, not a federal one.
On taxes, Schiff demanded higher rates on rich people and corporations. Which would dry up capital and send it funding businesses and jobs in China and India. He said Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, expiring next year, “increased taxes on the middle class.”
I’m in the middle class and got a $1,000 a year tax cut from 2017 until now, $8,000. With my rent soaring to $2,450 a month for a matchbox in Irvine, I couldn’t have survived. If Schiff kills my tax cut, I’m leaving this state. Garvey said, “The Trump tax plan worked.”
On health care, Schiff backed Medicare for All – Sen. Bernie Sanders’ socialized medicine scheme. Garvey favored more medical competition through “free-market capitalization.”
On guns, Schiff said, “I would support an assault-weapons ban,” even though “assault weapons” are just mean-looking rifles. The Brady United gun-control group numbers 20 million such weapons in the country. How would Schiff seize them all?
He touted his own bill, “which would strip away the NRA’s immunity from liability.” But the NRA is a political activist group which the Supreme Court just ruled enjoys First Amendment protections. Schiff branded the current court “packed with reactionary justices.” But that decision was unanimous, and the NRA was backed by the liberal ACLU.
Schiff twice attacked Trump as a “dictator” and promised he “will take on even a corrupt president.” Schiff again wants to play Captain Ahab to Orange Moby-Dick, with Californians in the role of minnows.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at: johnseiler.substack.com
