Sarah Palin's 'Mama Grizzlies'

The Daily Beast

Elizabeth Emken is running for Congress in California's 11th District. She recently got this plug: listed as one of Sarah Palin's 11 top prospects.

Hope you will check out the article.

Standing Firm with Israel

America has a long tradition of supporting those on the side of democracy

By, Elizabeth Emken

Republican Candidate for Congress, California’s 11th District

Since 1948, the State of Israel has stood tall as a bulwark for democracy in the Middle East and has been one of America’s staunchest allies. No matter which party occupied the White House, United States foreign policy reflected the importance of our strong relationship with Israel and our understanding that a secure Israel is vital to our own national security interests. The U. S. has always stood strong in support of Israel in its sovereign right to protect itself from the existential threat of Islamic radicalism. President Obama is the first American president to break with that longstanding policy. I support efforts underway to urge the State Department to affirm the United States’ unique and historic relationship with Israel and to conduct relations in a manner that befits longstanding strategic allies.

A bi-partisan group of Members of Congress recently sent a letter to the Obama Administration calling for crippling sanctions against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. I support their effort. Nuclear weapons in the hands of a terrorist-sponsoring regime, such as Iran, pose a threat to Israel’s very existence and to our own security and national interests as well. History is replete with nations ignoring the threats of radical regimes and consequently enduring the tragic consequences. To avoid this fate, I believe we must do more than just support sanctions as an end to themselves. These sanctions must be accompanied by a measurable assessment of whether they are stopping Iran’s determined march toward nuclear weapons. There is strong evidence that Iran will use its strategic alliance with Venezuela and others to circumvent any sanctions. This must be prevented at all costs. Finally, U.S. foreign policy must be driven by the priority of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and not by our investment in the U.N. process.

It is incumbent on the U.S. and Israel together to develop a comprehensive approach to dealing with the threats facing both countries. The web of terrorist organizations sponsored by Iran and its allies are the greatest impediment to the peace process. I share the vision of peace in the Middle East with Israel and an independent Palestine living side-by-side. However, it can only be accomplished through the explicit recognition of Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign state in her historic homeland and through the abdication and renunciation of terrorist tactics to achieve opposing political goals. States that refuse to renounce terrorism as a solution to this conflict should not influence our foreign policy of supporting Israel, nor receive our support. I endorse legislation that will require the recognition of Israel’s right to exist and the renouncement of terrorism as a pre-condition to receiving US foreign aid.

Finally, let us not fall into the trap of minimizing the importance of Israel’s and the United States’ investment in a modern and robust national defense. We must continue to support the unique defense budget burden Israel is forced to carry because of the threats to her in the region. The United States spending on national defense is shrinking as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the Congressional Budget Office and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Their numbers show that since 1962 defense spending has declined from 9.0% of GDP to an estimated 4.7% in 2009, a declining trend that is forecast to accelerate further under the current Administration. Yet the threats to our national security and to that of our ally, Israel, have not subsided. It is time to engage our leaders in a national debate. The first and foremost responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. Our proud tradition as a nation is to stand firmly on the side of our allies. Let us return to that tradition and ensure a safe America and a safe Israel for future generations.

A Pleasant Man Who Wanted to Be President

I am always leery of those who seek power. Reluctant leaders are the most trustworthy in my experience. The ones who would rather be home with their families attending Little League games and barbecuing in the back yard. But the guy who is more comfortable wearing a suit on the weekends, attending a Rotary meeting or a City Council meeting, that guy scares me.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a movie star. Who didn't? I wanted to be famous, I wanted to inspire, I wanted to make people laugh. Long before reality TV shows made any schmo a star I watched Maureen O'Hara stand toe to toe with John Wayne in The Quiet Man, take a swing at him and finally melt in his arms. I wanted to be her. I watched Lucille Ball convince Vivian Vance to go along with another of her harebrained schemes and I laughed and thought it would be great fun to be a comedienne, like Lucy. Problem was, I wasn't a good actress like Maureen O'Hara and I wasn't funny like Lucille Ball. I wasn't qualified. No Hollywood producer would hire me simply because I wanted to be a star.

So can someone explain to me why we vote for people simply because they want to be our president or congressperson? Why don't we delve into their backgrounds, check their qualifications? Why don't we subject them to the kind of scrutiny, at least, as a contestant on American Idol?

Our president has claimed to be many things. He has said he was a college professor but now we learn he was a lecturer; big difference. We were told he is the smartest president ever to sit in the Oval Office, but for some reason his academic records are sealed, off limits to the public. Populism goes only so far these days. He promised his policies ($787 billion in stimulus courtesy of the taxpayers to begin with) would create jobs but unemployment seemed to accelerate almost as soon as those policies were put in place. We were offered Hope and Change by this president but the only thing that has Changed is that we no longer seem to have any Hope.

He is a pleasant man we are told. He is trim and athletic. And he really really likes being President. He has given more speeches, made more appearances and commanded more of the airwaves than any president in my lifetime. He has opinions on anything and everything and is not one bit shy about sharing them. Or twisting arms to turn them into law.

He reminds me of FDR. The four term president. The one whose policies extended the Great Depression and launched the Big Government thinking so popular today. Read what Walter Lippman wrote of FDR: "a pleasant man who, without any important qualifications for the office, would very much like to be president."

There are many parallels between Obama and Roosevelt and between the economic climate then and now. That is not meant to be a compliment. Rather it is a warning. A warning that it is time for each of us to wake up, to join forces for Liberty and economic freedom and take our country back. It is not too late, there is still time.

And one of the first places we can start is by supporting citizen candidates who simply want to fix this mess and then return home to their families and businesses. Who are reluctant leaders and wary of power. Who respect the hard work of their fellow citizens. And feel a responsibility to future generations not to spend their legacy recklessly and irresponsibly.

Pleasant men and women who simply want to do the right thing.

A Nation Founded and Built by Immigrant Families

Legal immigrants have made the U.S. the greatest nation in history

By, Elizabeth Emken

Candidate for Congress, California’s 11th District

Most every American can proudly claim they are children, grandchildren or great grandchildren of immigrants. We are a nation founded and built by immigrant families who came to our country legally, seeking American citizenship and the opportunity for a better life. It takes exceptional people to meet the requirements of American citizenship which is as it should be--we are an exceptional country.

Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution charges Congress to “establish a uniform rule of Naturalization.” Yet, Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat controlled Congress has shamelessly politicized the immigration debate with amnesty as their ultimate goal. In the wake of Arizona’s much discussed and much distorted immigration bill signed into law this past week, it is important to keep the rights of U.S. citizens, legal immigrants and the need for a secure border front and center. The current obfuscation by the left is designed to upend uniformity and punish the efforts of honest, law abiding immigrants who have followed the rules of the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) to become legal citizens.

In California, illegal immigration is adding enormous costs to an already deficit burdened state. According to a 2004 study conducted by the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) a non-partisan, national public interest organization, illegal aliens cost the state of California approximately $10.5 billion per year. At the end of 2004 when the study was completed, FAIR estimated the annual cost to each California household was $1,183 to educate, incarcerate and provide health care to illegal aliens. Imagine the cost in 2010.

Some have said that illegal aliens are willing to do jobs that California’s won’t. With over 12% of the state’s population unemployed, that argument withers. Others have argued it is impossible to verify citizenship. Or that we simply can’t stop the flow through our porous borders. I emphatically disagree. My good friend, Congressman Ed Royce (CA-40) was a co-sponsor of the Secure Fence Act that would establish double fencing in the areas of highest border traffic. The bill passed by overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. Subsequent bills passed by Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat controlled Congress have undermined the Secure Fence Act and put up numerous bureaucratic and legal hurdles to prohibit completion of the fence.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 67% of voters believe illegal aliens are a significant strain on the U.S. budget. And 68% say “gaining control of the border is more important than legalizing the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States.” Yet Nancy Pelosi and her gang refuse to listen to the people. Once again.

Of the four candidates running in the Republican primary (June 8th) for California’s 11th District, I offer the strongest stand on immigration policy. As your member of Congress I will take targeted steps to deal with the crisis at the border including reinstating funding for the Secure Fence Act and advocating a military presence until the border is secure. I will advocate increased usage of the E-Verify program by employers, and enhanced prosecution of those employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. I will fight to remove the incentives--free education and health care--for illegal aliens and assist them in returning home. I will stand by my oath to establish a uniform rule of Naturalization according to the Constitution. And I will continue to support and encourage all those seeking a better life in the United States to follow the legal immigration process.

Oh yes, and there is one more thing I promise to do if elected: help take back the gavel from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.