Friday, May 19, 2006
Is the CA-50 in Virginia? Um... No
Francine Busby (Democrat) and Brian Bilbray (Republican) are vying for a seat in Congress (the CA-50 was recently vacated when Duke Cunningham resigned in bribery scandal). But something doesn't add up. Mr. Bilbray has his permanent residence listed as Fairfax County, Virginia. But Congressmen have to live in the district they represent(NOTE: see David Daitch's comment to this post - I was wrong about this statemtnt), so Mr. Bilbray also has his permanent residence listed as Carlsbad, CA (where CA-50 is). But wait... there's more. Bilbray also owns a House in Imperial Beach, south of San Diego.
Where does this guy live? How many counties does he vote in? Exactly how illegal is this? It's not just that he's a carpetbagger, it's that this is VOTER FRAUD. I know Members of Congress often have multiple residences since they spend half the year in DC and half the year in their home district, but legally they can only have one permanent residence (as any other citizen) and it must be in their home state.
So now, not only did he get his but kicked by Susan Davis (D-CA-53) a couple years ago (when he was running in that race), now he is gonna get his but kicked by a Democrat in a signigicantly more Republican district (CA-50) becuase he is such a schmuck that he has 3 permanent residences. Oy Vey. What these people will do...
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1. Mrs. Davis represents CA-53, Duke never did.
2. CA-53 does not cover Carlsbad.
3. Brian lives where he always did, in CA-53. Most members/former members who do stuff around Washington also maintain a place to live around the DC area - and Brian is wealthy enough to keep a place both in DC and in SD (or two places in SD if what you say is true).
4. Reread your constitution. Specifically, Article 1, Section 2, second paragraph. Members do NOT need to live in their districts, but only live in the state they represent ("...when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.")
2. CA-53 does not cover Carlsbad.
3. Brian lives where he always did, in CA-53. Most members/former members who do stuff around Washington also maintain a place to live around the DC area - and Brian is wealthy enough to keep a place both in DC and in SD (or two places in SD if what you say is true).
4. Reread your constitution. Specifically, Article 1, Section 2, second paragraph. Members do NOT need to live in their districts, but only live in the state they represent ("...when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.")
# posted by 
: 3:00 AM
: 3:00 AM
Of course you're right about not having to live in the district to run. Thats completely my bad (and I am a little embarrassed since I usually look these things up)
But on your other points, I have to disagree. It's not just that Bilbray has two or three houses - lot's of people have that. It is that he has listed at least two, possibly three of them as his permanent residence - giving him voting rights there and tax exceptions unique to permanent residence there. This is illegal. It is called voter fraud. A Congressman can have two houses, but only the one in the state he represents can be his permanent residence.
And about the CA-53 thing, I never said Duke lived there. I only said Bilbray got his but kicked by Susan DAvis in the CA-53 race, and now he is running in the CA-50 race (a more conservative district) where Duke used to be, and it looks like he is gonna get his but kicked again.
But on your other points, I have to disagree. It's not just that Bilbray has two or three houses - lot's of people have that. It is that he has listed at least two, possibly three of them as his permanent residence - giving him voting rights there and tax exceptions unique to permanent residence there. This is illegal. It is called voter fraud. A Congressman can have two houses, but only the one in the state he represents can be his permanent residence.
And about the CA-53 thing, I never said Duke lived there. I only said Bilbray got his but kicked by Susan DAvis in the CA-53 race, and now he is running in the CA-50 race (a more conservative district) where Duke used to be, and it looks like he is gonna get his but kicked again.
As I have nothing better to do, I would like to look at the accusations of Brian having multiple primary residences. First, at no point in the recent past (according to the article you linked to at least) did he ever claim his Imperial Beach as a primary residence. So allow us to discount that, as there is no law against congressional candidates owning multiple homes. While he claimed it as a residence on his taxes, that is allowed because (a) his children live there and (b) it passes the 2-in-5-years test that the IRS uses.
So now he has two houses in question. One in Carlsbad, the other in VA. Let us use a bit of common sense here - Brian is running for congress in California. Should he win, of course he will spend weekdays during session in the VA house. But who honestly thinks that he is going to be dumb enough to run for congress in CA while living in VA? Perhaps he broke that deed of trust thing and there were no "extenuating circumstances" to prevent him/his wife from using the house as a primary residence, but that is not voter fraud. He can be sued in VA court for breaking the deed and if what you say is true, he will be (and should be) found guilty and will pay a hefty fine.
Finally, I would like to address the issue of you declaring him a carpetbagger. Remember that about a third of the CA-50 was taken from the district he already represented. Second, the article you posted says he registered to vote in Carlsbad in June 2005. That was 6 months before Duke resigned. Remember that in June of 2005, people knew something was up with Duke, but didn't expect him to be leaving congress for some time to come. So how is representing a district you just bought a house in, and previously represented a substantial portion of being a carpetbagger?
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So now he has two houses in question. One in Carlsbad, the other in VA. Let us use a bit of common sense here - Brian is running for congress in California. Should he win, of course he will spend weekdays during session in the VA house. But who honestly thinks that he is going to be dumb enough to run for congress in CA while living in VA? Perhaps he broke that deed of trust thing and there were no "extenuating circumstances" to prevent him/his wife from using the house as a primary residence, but that is not voter fraud. He can be sued in VA court for breaking the deed and if what you say is true, he will be (and should be) found guilty and will pay a hefty fine.
Finally, I would like to address the issue of you declaring him a carpetbagger. Remember that about a third of the CA-50 was taken from the district he already represented. Second, the article you posted says he registered to vote in Carlsbad in June 2005. That was 6 months before Duke resigned. Remember that in June of 2005, people knew something was up with Duke, but didn't expect him to be leaving congress for some time to come. So how is representing a district you just bought a house in, and previously represented a substantial portion of being a carpetbagger?
# posted by : 1:05 PM
: 1:05 PM << Home
