No shit, Sherlock?

Dennis Cardoza (DINO-CA)

---

The La La Land Times:

Reporting from Washington – As President Obama’s approval ratings sag and the mood of voters sours, some Democratic congressional candidates are distancing themselves from the White House, with the back-channel blessing of party officials.

The candidates are positioning themselves as independent voices no less frustrated with the Obama administration than people back home.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat who represents a California Central Valley district burdened by high unemployment and home foreclosures, said in an interview: “The Obama administration has failed miserably in trying to solve the problem.”

That’s my blue dog congresscritter they’re talking about:

Cardoza is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, which is sitting on the fence on health-care reform at the moment. His district, ours, was reported last week by the San Francisco Chronicle to have the highest number of uninsured people of any congressional district in the country. The district’s median household income, according to 2007 figures, is a little more than $34,000, putting our district at about the median for the top Blue Dog Coalition leaders. It is nearly identical to the 3rd CD of Louisiana, which, outside of New Orleans, bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina in that state. The national median is a little more than $50,000. Where Cardoza’s district stands out, surpassing even representative Mike Ross’ Arkansas district and Charlie Melancon’s south Louisiana district, is in the poverty rate: Cardoza’s district’s poverty level was 22.7 in 2007. Ross and Melancon’s, high by Blue Dog standards, are about 18 percent. In 2007, the national average poverty level was 12.5 percent.

(Dennis decided not to hold any town hall meetings last summer.)

Around here the housing bubble didn’t just pop, it exploded. There are hundreds of vacant houses here, several within 2-3 blocks of my home.

My brother-in-law is a realtor and he says there are twice as many foreclosed homes just sitting there empty as there are on the market because the banks don’t want make prices go any lower than they already are. Not only that but as long as the houses don’t sell they can keep them on their books at the value they were appraised at when the now-foreclosed loan was made.

My neighbors across the street spent the weekend moving out of their 4 bedroom/2 bath tract home they had lived in for 15 years because the wife lost her job and the husbnd’s income wasn’t enough to meet the mortgage payments, especially in a house that is now worth $100K less than they owe. Yes, they have kids.

Do y’all recall the first time I mentioned Dennis?:

Today, United States Congressman Jim Costa (CA-20) and United States Congressman Dennis Cardoza endorsed Barack Obama for president. Congressman Cardoza previously supported Senator Hillary Clinton.

[...]

Congressman Cardoza said, “This is the most important election of my lifetime. While I continue to greatly respect and admire Senator Clinton and feel she has made history with her campaign, I believe that Senator Obama will inevitably be our party’s nominee for President. He has proven himself to be a thoughtful, knowledgeable, and inspirational leader and will take America in a new direction, which we desperately need.

[...]

“I am deeply concerned about the contentious primary campaign and controversy surrounding the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan – two states Democrats need to win in November. I will not support changing the rules in the fourth quarter of this contest through some convoluted DNC rules committee process. Yet, we must find a resolution to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates so these states’ voters are represented at the Convention. I believe we need to avoid this potentially divisive situation by uniting behind one nominee and bringing the party together immediately. Therefore, I have made the decision to support Senator Obama at the Democratic Convention in my role as a super delegate.”

---

---