Costa and Cardoza Won’t “Turn On the Pumps” to Solve California’s Water Crisis

July 24, 2009

Costa and Cardoza Won’t “Turn On the Pumps” to Solve California’s Water Crisis

California Congressmen Put Fish Before Families As 80,000 Jobs Are Lost

Washington–California Congressmen Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza voted Thursday to block the consideration of a bill aimed at restoring water to California’s drought stricken lands (H.R. 3105, the “Turn on the Pumps Act”). Costa and Cardoza, once co-sponsors of the bill, easily succumbed to the pressures of their Democratic leaders instead of providing much needed life-support to California workers, farmers and families. By voting to block the bill from coming to the floor, they crushed any hope of reversing San Joaquin Valley’s rising unemployment, which in some cities is at 40 percent. If enacted, The “Turn on the Pumps Act” could significantly improve the suffering Agriculture sector of San Joaquin Valley and surrounding areas.

“You have to wonder what goes through Dennis Cardoza or Jim Costa’s minds as they continue to stand idle while the unemployment rate in San Joaquin Valley soars to unprecedented levels,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Rather than fighting for Californians, Costa and Cardoza caved to their party bosses and proved to be fickle and blind to the needs of their constituents.”

The two California Congressman’s inaction could have dire consequences for California families. As people are struggling to make ends meet, Congressmen Costa and Cordoza are pulling the plug on the life support that could save Californian lands.

In an article in this week’s The Hill, Dennis Cardoza took front-and-center in a profile piece where he was portrayed as a Pelosi insider. Rather than working for Pelosi, Cardoza and Costa should be working on behalf of their constituents and towards reinstating California’s economy.

“When the House Democratic leadership assembles each week in the Speaker’s Conference Room, Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) is the only lawmaker in the meeting with no official title and no leadership staff. He has no real reason to be there. Except that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wants him on hand.

She wanted someone who could keep her tapped into the thinking of the centrists in her caucus. So she turned to Cardoza, a Blue Dog from her home state with a conservative rural district.”

Background:

The Fresno County, California, Board of Supervisors declared the man-made drought has now turned into an economic crisis.
On June 28, 2009 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Fresno County.
According to a recent University of California at Davis study, based on the water reductions outlined in the Delta outlined in the Delta smelt Biological Opinion, revenue losses in the San Joaquin Valley of California for 2009 will be $2.2 billion and job losses at 80,000.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that the unemployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley has reached the highest level in the Nation.
Unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley is nearly 20 percent and as high as 40 percent in some cities.
On April 14, 2009, the Sacramento Bee reported thousands of people have been turned away from local food banks as supplies are not ample enough to meet local needs.

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