Peter Leinau Runs for Congress

Peter Leinau Runs for Congress
Voters in the 19th Congressional District have a Choice
By Mike Rhodes

It was starting to look like voters in the 19th Congressional District were not going to have anyone to vote for, except the conservative Republican incumbent George Radanovich. But, at the last minute, candidate Peter Leinau stepped forward and announced his write-in campaign. Leinau says he is “running because I realized that no one else was, because I realized the George Radanovich was being handed a fifteenth and sixteenth year to continue the Gingrich-Bush failed philosophy into the future. I realized that we would have no choice in the nineteenth district-Vote for Radanovich, or you have no vote. That's not America! I am running because I have a seven year old daughter. I want a future for her that is greener, healthier, and more peaceful and sustainable than anything George Radanovich seems to have imagined over the last 14 years.”

When asked for his positions on the issues, Leinau said “the congress and President are wrong on the economy, and the people know it. . . The transfer of private debt to the public and public treasure to the private sector is not the answer for the PUBLIC good, but for the private good. The market knows that.” His positon on the economic crises is as follows.

1) We need to stop asking the people who got us into this mess how to get out of it, and absolutely not put them in charge of it! We need to restructure the bailout George Radanovich voted for quickly in every means legally available. I believe it should be voided by the next President.

2) The Presidential candidates did not answer the question about what to do to help people tomorrow. State Attorney General Jerry Brown has started us down the right path with BofA/Countrywide- I support a re-setting of mortgage term and rate for homeowners in bankruptcy. Not the principle, unless unlawful practices were employed by the lender. Not for
real estate speculators- for homeowners. This needs to be done immediately, nationwide.

3) Tomorrow we need to expand medicare to include those without health benefits through private insurers to create a health safety net. The structure for universal health care is there, and it works. Those who prefer to keep paying into the private for-profit system are welcome to keep doing so, but as a nation we need to support what works. Medicare works, and provides a more efficient delivery of service per dollar than private for-profit system George Radanovich favors.

4)Tomorrow we need to embark on a green jobs initiative to place solar electric grid-tie and solar water heating panels on every appropriate roof in the country. This would cost far less than the subsidies to nuclear power and the tax breaks to the oil companies, which should be revoked. Existing infrastructure of private home contractors who need work, and newly unemployed who also need work- can be sustained by this new initiative and be the force that moves us to a more sustainable and independent economy.

5) Tomorrow we need to reinvest in Americorp, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Peace Corps and put people to work for positive community outcomes at home and abroad. The war in Iraq is related to the economy and is also it's own issue. We need a new vision of our success in Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow. It is not a military conquest, it is a democratic collaboration with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan as to their wishes for a path to a true restoration of sovereignty and a disengagement of our occupation. Afghanistan and Iraq are not our country! Our goal must be restoration of Iraqi and Afghani sovereignty and return of US troops and resources to the US. It is my position that the ultimate rule of law and equality must be re-
established in this country. With George Radanovich's complicity civil liberties have been eroded, torture has been deployed, secret prisons constructed, domestic spying implemented and immunized, war crimes committed in our name, and the unitary executive and pre-emptive war
perfected. These and the unprecedented use of signing statements by George Bush must be undone, and the persons responsible prosecuted.

Leinau is a registered Democrat, but he says he has “some conservative/libertarian tendencies. I think we need to go beyond the labels and focus on proposed actions and underlying world-view beliefs.”

Here is where Leinau stands on a broad range of issues:

The Community Alliance newspaper asked: Do you support Stem Cell research?
Leinau: Yes.

Community Alliance: Do you believe in Creationism?
Leinau: Not as popularly described.

Community Alliance: Do you think Creationism should be taught in public schools?
Leinau: Yes in a comparative philosophy/religion class, No in a science class.

Community Alliance: Do you support reproductive rights for women?
Leinau: Yes

Community Alliance: Do you believe women should have the right to an abortion on demand? Leinau: Yes, to a point. The courts and medical field will have to negotiate the determination developmentally of when the rights of personhood are conferred. From that point forward abortion could only be considered to save the life of the mother.

Community Alliance: Do you think Roe vs. Wade should be reversed?
Leinau: Absolutely not.

Community Alliance: Do you think that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq was a mistake? Leinau: Clearly

Community Alliance: Do you support the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq?
Near term. It needs to be negotiated among the Iraqi leaders and perhaps through a citizen referendum in Iraq- with alternatives engaging NGO's and neighbor-states.

Community Alliance: Do you support a US attack on Iran?
Leinau: Only in response to unprovoked attack, and in a measured and strategic fashion. No collective civilian punishment.

Community Alliance: Do you support offshore drilling and opening up of the Arctic Refuge in Alaska to drilling?
Leinau: No

Community Alliance: Do you think undocumented workers should be eligible to get a California drivers license?
Leinau: Yes

Community Alliance: Do you think the US should continue building a fence on the border with Mexico?
Leinau: Not as currently executed.

Community Alliance: Do you think the US tortures prisoners?
Leinau: Yes- It is a matter of record

Community Alliance: Do you think the US should torture prisoners?
Leinau: Absolutely not- It is a national and international crime, and a moral affront and outrage.

Community Alliance: Do you support universal health care?
Leinau: Yes- Single payer through expansion of Medicare

Community Alliance: Do you support an ordinance that would require the City of Fresno to pay a Living Wage to its employees?
Leinau: As an Oakhurst resident I've not followed this issue and am not aware of the details of current compensation, comparable compensation in similar cities, and collective bargaining history. In general, I support the right of workers to organize and negotiate fair compensation and working conditions.

Community Alliance: Do you support Obama or McCain for president?
Leinau: Kucinich, then Edwards, then Obama.

Community Alliance: Do you support NAFTA?
Leinau: No, not as written. I support Fair sustainable trade

Community Alliance: Do you think NAFTA has been good for the US economy?
Leinau: Certain entities have benefitted in import-export, but overall the effect has been to drive down worker conditions to the lowest common denominator globally and to shift capital out of the country.

Community Alliance: Do you think the police and Homeland Security over reacted against protestors in Saint Paul (during the Republican convention.)?
Leinau: I was not there- but there was every appearance of pre-emptive intimidation and force that violated the rights of citizens.

Community Alliance: Do you think those protestors should be charged with "terrorism enhancements?"
Leinau: The prosecutor has the right to proceed with the prosecution as they see fit- However, I would anticipate a vigorous defense. I am not aware from media accounts of the events of any that would be reasonably described as "terrorism".

Community Alliance: Do you think the corporate media has a left or right bias?
Leinau: Hmmm Hard to say- The media seems at the very least to be more sensitive to criticism from the right of left-bias than they are to criticism from the left of right wing bias... so the effect favors the right.

Community Alliance: Do you support the War on Drugs?
Leinau: Not as executed currently at home and abroad.

Community Alliance: Do you think marijuana should be decriminalized?
Leinau: Medical marijuana needs to be supported and placed in the hands of physicians and patients. Recreational use seems to more appropriately fall in the misdemeanor range.

Community Alliance: Do you think the Prison Industrial Complex needs to be expanded, is about the right size, or that there are too many people in prison?
Leinau: Alternatives must be expanded for perpetrators of victimless crime.

Community Alliance: Do you support gun control?
Leinau: Yes. Expand background check requirements, limit ownership to sporting or home-defense appropriate.

Community Alliance: Do you think Global Warming is caused by humans?
Leinau: Yes

Community Alliance: Do you have a plan for what Fresno residents can do to stop Global Warming?
Leinau: Yes, every roof with appropriate solar day exposure needs solar water heat and solar electric (grid-tie, time-of-use metered). Efficient rail routing from San Diego to Sacramento and San Francisco for freight and passenger needs to be established. The CA emissions standards need to be enforced. Funds should be derived from windfall profits taxes on petroleum industry, an end to nuclear subsidies, and direct investment of tax dollars.

Community Alliance: Do you support the death penalty?
Leinau: No- Life without parole.

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Mike Rhodes is the editor of the Community Alliance newspaper.