Guest Commentary
by Elliot Schroeder
So at first glance I think it reveals the issues Peters wants to run with in the 2014 election. He is really trying to position himself hard in the middle, but let’s take one at a time:
No Budget No Pay and Balancing the Budget
I like the concept but I have a hard time believing that a guy who donated millions to his campaign will work harder on the budget if they cut his $174,000 pay check. A lot of Congressman are wealthy, this is just for show. If you really want to put the screws on them, how about “No Budget, No Election.” If you can’t do your job to pass a budget then you can’t run for re-election. That would perk things up.
Ensuring Veterans Get the Support They Deserve
I’m not sure what pieces he co-sponsored, but his one bill for homeless vets sounds nice. It’s sad that we have homeless vets, it’s even sadder that it’s often because of drug use. But as a veteran that’s not my overwhelming issue. I think the biggest issue is employment. Veterans have a higher unemployment rate than the civilian sector. People that start off in the civilian sector get more industry experience than those that serve, while moving more quickly into higher positions than their veteran counterparts. For some veterans it feels like their service time takes away from what they would be earning otherwise.
Also leaving active duty and going to the civilian sector is a risky proposition. When I did it the requirement was to give the Army six months’ notice and then find a job, usually located away from one’s base — as military spouses know, there are not that many well pay jobs around a base. In the civilian sector you can job hunt until you find your next job; in the military you have to quit first. Quitting the team is an emotional event and it has larger implications if you don’t find a job and then decide to stay in the military.
VA loans are another one. I don’t know who in the VA sets the rates, but for San Diego its $500,000. Which is nice, but San Francisco is $900,000. The difference is that San Diego is a massive county with rural areas and San Francisco is a city-state (the county and city are the same). So in my expensive CA52 area the VA doesn’t help much. Maybe we can get it set to zip codes? And how about letting us use our VA Loan to refi our underwater houses? Homelessness isn’t a major issue for most of us. Peters isn’t talking to me and my friends here.
Growing San Diego’s Economy, Creating New Jobs
He says nothing here except that 25 percent of our jobs are military and that he scored some plum committees. He then wants to push government projects here. Ignoring that his first topic was “Balancing the Budget,” he doesn’t say anything else. I would like to hear how we can grow more career jobs here. Defense jobs are the only big company career ones. All the other jobs like bio-tech tend to be start-ups that people do for a few years then try to sell them. Once sold the buyer takes the intellectual property and closes shop. Yes, there are exceptions but I think the overall difficulty in San Diego is that people start-up, cash out, then surf. Yes, I’d probably do that too but if someone says they are leader and wants to create jobs here I think they need to explain how they’ll manage that.
Strengthening the “Violence Against Women Act”
I guess this is why it went to my wife, but I’ve never hit her. What’s with that, Peters? Ok, he states how he fought for passage. Well, since the GOP owns the house I’m not sure they really needed your vote.
Getting Results, Taking an Independent View and Keeping in Touch with You
Here he plays up his middle appeal and how he is seen as an independent member of Congress by National Journal. As I posted before, the Democrats have given him leeway because they want him to keep his seat. It’s also easy to be independent and bipartisan when you’re in the out of power minority party. He also notes that he’ll be doing his “Congress on your Corner” meetings, which means he has started campaigning.
The page three survey looks like mostly center right issues. He is really trying to feel us out now.
What are your thoughts?
# # #
Elliot Schroeder is a San Diego County native and graduate of West Point. He served as the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) Commanding General’s War Room Operations Officer during the invasion of Iraq (OIF1). He currently works as a Drone Program Manager in Poway.