The other day I was asked if I thought I would ever come face to face with writer’s block.  I had to laugh.  Inasmuch as I generally write about things that annoy, frustrate or just plain drive me nuts, running out of material or losing the impulse to complain in print are among the very least of my worries. 

When you factor in that Barack Obama is my president, Joe Biden is my vice-president, Nancy Pelosi is next in line, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are my senators, Brad Sherman is my congressman, Antonio Villaraigosa is my mayor and Jerry Brown is lurking in the wings to be my governor, do you really think I’ll be turning my pen into a plowshare anytime soon?    

But at least now you might have a better handle on why I look back so fondly on what I have come to regard as the good old days when an American’s major complaint was that he had taxation without representation. 

On top of everything else, I live in Los Angeles and have spent most of my adult life laboring in Hollywood, a place that some people regard as less an actual location than a state of mind.  I agree it is a state of mind in the same sense that paranoia and schizophrenia are states of mind.  (more…)

And for the other bad guys…

A while ago, I wrote a piece titled “Blowing the Whistle on Waxman.”  In case you missed it, I explained that Henry Waxman and I had been friends beginning almost 50 years ago at UCLA.  I also said that we had seen each other infrequently over the intervening years once he went to Sacramento as a state assemblyman and later to Washington as a member of Congress. 

Over the years, I moved politically from left to right, while Henry moved from left to far left to over the edge.  Still, I had a soft spot for him and, as a result, refrained from including his name when I would list the usual suspects, those left-wingers like Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, Boxer and Murtha, who were doing their utmost to destroy America. (more…)

I have a few questions on my mind and, judging by the questions asked by the likes of George Stephanopoulos, David Letterman and the mainstream media, if I don’t ask them, there’s a very good chance that nobody else will. 

First off, I’d like to know why the 535 members of Congress have to congregate in Washington, D.C.  As Dick Morris and Eileen McGann made perfectly clear in “Fleeced,” they don’t do very much in the nation’s capitol that they couldn’t do just as well or just as badly if they stayed home in their bathrobes.  Half the time, the sessions are devoted to naming post offices and other equally earth-shattering events.  (more…)

The allegations raised in “White House Creates ACORN for the Arts” and prior stories about the NEA enlisting artists who receive government grants to support President Obama’s political goals certainly raise a number of issues.  Foremost among them is whether such actions violate White House policy and potentially federal law.  The White House Counsel was concerned enough about the conference call that it was compelled to issue new guidelines for public outreach meetings, noting that some of the comments on the call may have been “misunderstood as seeking to inappropriately politicize activities of the NEA.”  But beyond violating these White House guidelines, which could result in further forced resignations but little else, what is really at issue with the alleged conduct?

By seeking to enlist the private sector in lobbying for the President’s agenda, the alleged conduct may have violated the Anti-Lobbying Act (18 U.S.C. §1913), which as Ben Shapiro pointed out in a previous piece, explicitly provides:

No part of the money appropriated by any enactment of Congress shall, in the absence of express authorization by Congress, be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, a jurisdiction, or an official of any government, to favor, adopt, or oppose by vote or otherwise, any legislation, law, ratification, policy, or appropriation, whether before or after the introduction of any bill, measure or resolution proposing such legislation, law, ratification, policy or appropriation.

The Anti-Lobbying Act, according to government handbooks, prevents government employees from engaging in “substantial ‘grass roots’ lobbying campaigns … expressly urging individuals to contact government officials in support of or opposition to legislation …. Provid[ing] administrative support for lobbing activities of private organizations”

(more…)

I have come clean in the past about having been friends with Rep. Henry Waxman.  We had met in the late 1950s at UCLA and wound up spending a lot of time over the following decade playing cards.  In fact, once, some years later, I received a phone call from a guy profiling Waxman for the Washington Post.  He wanted my impression of the young, pre-Congressional fellow.  I told him that Henry was a terrible poker player, but was very astute at hearts.  I said it made perfect sense because poker is a cut-throat game, every man for himself, whereas hearts is a game that involves constantly changing alliances.  I regarded it as a perfect metaphor for a career in politics.

I knew from personal experience that Henry was a fish when it came to poker, but it was some time later that I found out how truly awful he was.  Before being elected to Congress, he had gone to Sacramento as a state assemblyman.  Wherever politicians congregate, you will find two things — poker games and lobbyists.  As you can imagine, lobbyists are not there to win money from those they spend their lives trying to influence.  But it seems that Henry was so inept that, in spite of their best efforts, they kept beating him.  This so embarrassed the lobbyists that they finally banished him from the game.  (more…)

I am running for Congress for the seat currently held by Henry Waxman and the events of the past week give me the opportunity to highlight the differences in ideas and actions between Congressman Waxman and Myself.

So, what would Ari David do about the NEA and ACORN scandals?

I would unleash Congressional hearings on ACORN and hearings on all of the government officials involved in the NEA propaganda conference call. I would also immediately call a press conference and do whatever I could to make the media cover the story. One perk of being in public life is being able to draw attention to an issue. These scandals are issues that are screaming for more public attention. (more…)

Henry Waxman, who for most of his years in Congress has fancied himself a crusader against corruption in government, voted against a House bill that cut all federal funds to the embattled group ACORN.

ACORN has been involved in a myriad of scandals and it is not unreasonable for any Congressman from either side of the political aisle to question ACORN’s recent actions out of concern over the way they conduct business. Judging from the results of the vote to cut their funding, many Democrats did just that. (more…)

Imagine the glee I felt when I heard that my wonderfully approachable (yeah, right) Congressman, Henry Waxman, was making a rare visit on August 21st to the district he represents.  He wants to hear from us, his loyal constituents, at a town hall style discussion at UCLA focusing on the Cap and Trade legislation.

As a citizen, candidate, and voter in Mr. Waxman’s district, I thought that this would be a plum of a chance for Rep. Waxman to hear what’s on my mind.

That is when it got weird.

Firstly, I found out that one had to RSVP to the event to reserve a space. OK, I thought, Henry Waxman’s personal popularity has never been higher and people really want to be around him so his magic can rub off on them. Maybe they expect quite a throng and thus must have crowd control in place to make sure that the event runs smoothly. (more…)

Did you ever have an encounter with a thief? If not, how many times have you read or heard about their sudden attacks in newspapers or TV and thought or gasped, “I hope that never happens to me”?

Well, it is happening. As I write this, we have politicians all over the country stealing from us. Many of you are now more than aware of this new Cap and Trade bill brought to us by “our” representative in the 30th district of California, Mr. Henry Waxman. Well, you may also want to know that Mr. Waxman has been quite busy these days not only promoting the biggest tax in history, but also by helping to give away land he does not own.

Whose land?

The land of our revered Veterans. (more…)

Last Friday I got back from a hike and saw that my Uncle Luciano (we’ve always called him “Tío Chano”) had taken the car. He left me a note saying that he was going to go see “an Army movie.”

Somehow, I knew he was going to be disappointed.

My Name is Ari David

Many of you have read my blogs. I have been a producer, writer and stand up comedian in LA for about 10 years. I am now taking on a new project by running for Congress and in so doing, challenging Henry Waxman for his seat.

A wise man once made the observation that all politics is local and a critical issue that I am challenging Henry Waxman on is how local television and film production are disappearing from the LA area.

Henry Waxman has been in office since 1975 and has presided over a massacre in the local entertainment business and been completely out of touch with the constituents’ needs on this issue. If a Congressman from any other district in the nation allowed a local mill or industry to go out of business or move away, that elected official would have had to answer to his constituents and would have been forced to pay attention to the local crisis and provide solutions and financial relief for the industry in order to preserve the jobs and livelihoods dependent upon the industry’s existence. Henry Waxman has done none of this and now is the time for the people of this district to show him the way to a new job and elect me, a leader who is in touch with the district’s needs to save and protect this industry.  (more…)

That’s right. Obama’s putting everyone on notice. Dare not oppose him and bet not against him. Enough of the chatter.

I keep waiting for the liberal cynics to step up and be, oh, I don’t know…CYNICAL about this guy, but maybe George Lucas is right. Maybe Obama is a Jedi.  Because when there is cynicism, it melts…

“Henry Waxman’s in charge of the health plan?” says the cynic, “Oh, Lord. He’s an idiot! This thing’ll never happen!”

Obama appears, waving his hand like Obi-Wan Kenobi, “I’m putting you on notice.” (more…)

This week’s Washington Times column:

Sometimes I just don’t get the Republican Party.

Back in 2004, a smart, good-looking moderate Republican Hispanic ran for Congress. At the time Victor Elizalde was just under 40 years old and working as an executive at a big-time Hollywood studio. As an ethnic minority, a family man and a rare open conservative in an industry dominated by liberals, Mr. Elizalde represented hope and change for the Republican Party.

Yet because he was running for Henry A. Waxman´s safe seat, Mr. Elizalde got no support from the Republican Party . In fact, no one in the party´s leadership took notice of him. As a result Mr. Waxman trounced Mr. Elizalde with 71 percent of the vote. (more…)

Dear Rep. Waxman,

My congratulations on your reelection to the 11th Congress of the United States and promotion to Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. As a national leader charged with overseeing the improvement of the quality of our air, the safety of our food and drugs, health care, and a growing telecommunications industry, I want to appeal to you on behalf of millions of my peers in their teens and twenties.

You’ve shown yourself to be a leader in education, women’s health research and reproductive rights for my generation. So I cannot help but wonder, why are you consistently supporting policies that are destroying an entire generation of young people my age? Your tireless campaign for abortion on demand and “comprehensive sex education” has contributed to the death of 35 million people during your tenure in the House, not to mention the countless millions of young people that have been emotionally and physically damaged as a result of aborted pregnancies and STIs. (more…)