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Candidate for U.S. Senate shares platform

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The state’s water crisis, taxes and divisive periods in the nation’s history took center stage when U.S. Senatorial candidate Tom Del Beccaro took the microphone as guest speaker at the Ramona Tea’d meeting Saturday.

A small business attorney, former chairman of the California Republican party, publisher of PoliticalVanguard.com and author of the book, “The Divided Era,” Del Beccaro is running for Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seat. Boxer, a Democrat, announced she will not seek another term in the 2016 election.

Del Beccaro said his candidacy is dedicated to the national effort for a flat tax, which he believes will help move the economy.

“This is one of the key issues of our time. And it’s a big issue freedom-wise,” he said.

An intensively progressive tax code tears society apart, slows the economy “and keeps the poor, poor,” he said.

“This is why I’m for a flat tax. Because a flat tax doesn’t say who’s better than others. It just causes the economy to grow, creates opportunity, restores freedom and gives a chance for people to succeed,” said the Republican candidate.

According to Del Beccaro, the most divisive government policy in United States’ history has been taxes. Today, taxes are threatening to consume society and are creating class warfare, he said.

“Never has class warfare helped a civilization. The poor never do better in a slow economy and high taxes produce a slow economy,” said Del Beccaro.

The candidate talked about subject matter in his book, “The Divided Era,” which uses historical perspectives to explain how larger government and the competition for its spoils is creating a political divide in the U.S., according to the book’s summary. He said the three most divisive periods in the history of the U.S. were: from the mid-1760s “when we start with our revolutionary thoughts up to the adoption of the Constitution”; Lincoln’s election through reconstruction; and the Gilded Age, which is the last 25 years of the 1800s. What the three periods had in common was that the government was making “very large and consequential decisions,” he said.

Del Beccaro talked about how the government has continued to grow since the nation was founded, and said over half the population is reliant on a government check of some form. He also touched on government regulations’ impact on the population.

“Today the mattress you sleep on, the light you turn on, the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the gas you buy, the car you drive, the work you do...every element of your life is regulated by government,” he said.

Del Beccaro was asked by an audience member why he favors a flat tax over the Fair Tax. Del Beccaro said the Fair Tax is a national sales tax, and he does not want to see a Fair Tax and income tax at the same time. A flat tax will reduce the power of the Internal Revenue Service, he said, and he plans to roll out more details of his tax proposal on Sept. 29.

He said the water crisis in California is also a key issue for his candidacy. The State is not offering any solutions, and the crisis is man-made, initiated by the environmental left, said Del Beccaro.

“The environmental left does not want you to have the water. They want less people in California. They want less agriculture,” he said, adding that they want to “return the state to its natural state.”

“The solution to the water crisis is stunningly simple. It’s better water management. It’s increased supply and all the technology exists,” said Del Beccaro.

According to the candidate, residential water use accounts for about 9 or 15 percent of water in the state, depending on reports, while many experts say 10 percent of water use is from old municipal water pipes leaking.

“There’s a comprehensive plan to regulate groundwater. There’s no comprehensive plan to regulate and fix broken municipal pipes, which are wasting way more water than you can ever ration,” he said.

Replacing old water mains are shovel-ready jobs, he added.

He also supports forest thinning, saying overgrown forests cause root systems to battle for water. By thinning forests, less water would be consumed by the vegetation and that could offset the Central Valley’s use of water, said Del Beccaro.

“It’s a non-partisan issue,” he said.

At the meeting, Ramona Tea’d conducted a straw poll for the top three presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat. The results were:

  1. Ted Cruz
  2. Donald Trump
  3. Dr. Ben Carson
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