The border states are seeing voters voice immigration and the security of our borders as a prime factor on how and for whom they are going to vote. Bill Hedrick, Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 44th District, realizes the pressing concerns immigration poses for his constituency and has offered four focal points for immigration that he will devote himself to if elected.

Hedrick promises to legislate on behalf of building a literal physical barrier complete with elaborate, high-tech monitoring systems to secure the border along with better trained and better equipped border patrol teams. He calls for a sensitive immigration policy that is oriented towards paving a way for immigrants to attain legal citizenship and become productive contributors to our economy rather than just sending them back to where they came from. He supports implementing a stricter legal policy to punish American companies who hire illegal workers instead of American citizens. Lastly, a stronger commitment to our education systems and making college more accessible, more affordable to lower and middle class Americans, according to Hedrick, is paramount to securing our economic future and safety.

According to Bill Hedrick:

"The war is damaging to long term American interests, and has proven to be politically, militarily, financially, and morally ruinous... Our troops need to be withdrawn from this quagmire.... Our fighting men and women have performed admirably in a tremendously challenging environment... But, it is clear that this intervention has been directed by leaders more concerned about oil and profits than freedom and democracy... This ill-advised mission needs to end before more lives are lost and further damage to our national interest and prestige is incurred... Congress has the power to end this war by refusing to fund it. I will vote to do so immediately."

If you're against the Iraq War and favor setting a firm timetable to withdraw, then Bill Hendrick is your man.

Bill Hedrick is the type of leader that the fighting 44th District needs. The ruinous policies of Rep. Calvert over the past four terms have left the 44th in a much weaker position than it has been in years. We need some new blood to help drive change and get Southern California back to an economic and educational beacon for the country.

VP Dick Cheney hosted a reception honoring Ken Calvert last month in Southern California to show his support for Calvert and his approval for Cheney's favored energy policies, which include off-shore drilling and the MORE proposal.

A large group of San Clemente residents were up-in-arms at Cheney's presence and protested Calvert's policies with a peaceful march. Many of the residents see Calvert's desire for drilling as puppetry for Cheney and the Republican party.

Bill Hedrick is exactly the type of leadership that the 44th District needs.

A lifetime public servant, Hedrick has over 33 years of experience as an educator and over 25 years serving on the Board of Education of the 51,000 student Corona-Norco Unified School District. He has served four terms as President of the Board, representing 250,000 residents of the 44th district, and deals with an annual budget in excess of $400,000,000.

Bill knows firsthand the difficulty of sending off a child to fight in Iraq, as his two eldest sons and his daughter in-law are all veterans of the Iraq war. He also realizes the financial toll that the war is taking on our country.

In a recent statement on the war in Iraq, Hedrick stated, "Just one year of the Iraq War could have funded health care, affordable housing, adequate port security, university scholarships, and many other services. Instead, we have purchased international ill will, reduced security for our citizens, and created a weakened economy. Congress has the power to end this ruinous war by refusing to fund it further. I will vote to do so immediately."

In his career, he has fought to bring about the change on a local level that our country now needs on a national level.

Congressman Calvert has voted for both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill (see here and here). This is not a reason to be enthusiastic about Hedrick but is just an incentive to remove everyone from Congress who supported the measure, even if there is only one alternative on the ballot. This district's voters should warn Hedrick now to reject any more spending like this.

With globalization moving the international environment closer at a rapid pace, candidates for Congress cannot rely solely on their domestic political stances to win their elections.

Bill Hedrick (D) would serve California's 44th District positively, as well as United States' foreign involvements.

He takes a critical stance on the No Child Left Behind Act (http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml), which has been able to accomplish little in ensuring the US is committed to educating its youth.

Hedrick will augment health care in his district, as well as nationally by championing coverage of preexisting conditions, as well as portable health insurance (http://www.ncpa.org/pub/special/20060130-sp.html).

Hedrick's Congressional candidate's website (http://hedrickforcongress.com/index.html) sites that the Bush Administration's War on Iraq has cost Riverside County $2.7 billion! With which, "Riverside County could have provided 1,122,393 people with health care for one year, 4,858,815 homes with renewable electricity for one year, or 409,827 scholarships for university students for one year." It has cost the American people "more than $512 billion, or $341.1 million per day. That's $4,681 per household."

Hedrick goes beyond these domestic costs to list the perils bestowed upon Iraq and its citizens, as well as the damage to the reputation of the United States in the political arena.

It is this kind of combined thought, both domestic and international, that makes Hedrick a good (and necessary) choice for the House of Representatives.

John W. Whitehead, founder and president of The Rutherford Institute and author of The Change Manifesto, has listed Rep. Ken Calvert (R) as one of the congressmembers who were involved in "neglecting their constituencies to engaging in self-serving practices, including the misuse of eminent domain, earmarking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracting in return for personal gain and campaign contributions, having inappropriate ties to lobbyist groups and incorrectly or incompletely disclosing financial information" (www.rutherford.com). Whitehead's research has been aimed at identifying the sorts of malpractice at the federal level that may have contributed or cast a blind eye to the developments that led to the market meltdowns of the past few months.

Calvert, Whitehead claims, "has been accused of using his position to increase his personal wealth through land deals, purchasing property with a group of investors at depressed prices and then pushing through earmarks for such things as freeway construction and commercial development that make the land more valuable. Calvert is under investigation by the FBI."

This predicament essentially puts Calvert in a similar boat as Sen. Ted Stevens in Alaska and offers just another race in which a Democratic candidate such as Bill Hedrick sees his or her chances of unseating the incumbent getting better and better as the days count down to November.

Hedrick has the right approach to education, to the environment, and to the economy. As the son of a teacher, I can appreciate his background as and educator in the California school system- which is as Byzantine a hornet's nest as you'll ever find. If he can handle that, he can handle the House of Representatives. His approach to energy- finding alternative sources that are green- will create new jobs right here. As for his opponent, this is a relic of the old school of thinking that got our economy where it is today- and on top of that, he's a bit of a hypocrite. (see link below for amusing story)