Politics & Government

Bono Mack: A Vote for Ruiz is a Vote for Pelosi

The congresswoman, who is up for reelection, met with several businesses and organizations around the area this week.

Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack made several stops in and around the San Gorgonio Pass this week to meet with and speak to potential voters as the June 5 primary election nears.

One of her stops , in which some 125 people showed up to listen to the politician speak, and take part in an interactive question and answer session.

“We’d like to welcome you back to the Pass area,” one excited luncheon-goer said during the session, held Wednesday at in Banning.

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Issues discussed during the meeting included the fight to overturn healthcare reform legislation, or “Obamacare,” as Bono Mack referred to it, the need to lower corporate taxes and her belief in the necessity of a stronger national defense.

“It’s cheaper to have a stronger national defense rather than fight a war later,” Bono Mack said, to the applause of many of those in the audience.

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“Thank you for your support,” she said as she was wrapping up—adding that though she “might not do everything” area voters want, everyone is encouraged to ask her why, and she’ll happily sit and discuss those issues.

While making the rounds, the congresswoman also paid a visit to a local business, to hold a more informal meet and greet with approximately 20 people there.  Poison Spyder, a shop specializing in off-road equipment was the host of this event.

Banning Beaumont Patch caught up with the congresswoman there, and asked her why Pass voters should vote for her over Dr. Raul Ruiz in the upcoming election for the newly redrawn 36th Congressional District.

“A vote for Raul Ruiz is a vote for Nancy Pelosi and her big government liberal agenda,” she said.  “Raul Ruiz is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, it’s a vote for a big government, it’s a vote for the government takeover of our healthcare and for fewer freedoms.  And again, the experiment in big government is over, people in America are saying ‘We’ve had enough of this.’ They’re fed up.  They’re fed up with the notion that higher taxes and more regulation is going to improve our country.”

“Right now folks here are saying ‘Just get the government out of our way, we want to be entrepreneurs, we want to create jobs, and the government’s in our way.’ That’s what I’m hearing, that’s what I’m hearing from everybody.”

After a few more stops around town like The Farmhouse Restaurant, Bono Mack also headed out to the San Jacinto area to make the rounds there.

Following a Thursday visit in Palm Springs—in which she was —the congresswoman wrapped up her week in the Pass with a speaking engagement at the Pass EDA meeting, at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa.

One of Bono Mack’s messages was made clear throughout these stops: she’s thrilled to be back in this area.

“Fantastic, just fantastic,” she said when asked how it would feel to represent the Pass once again.  “I mean I never left it, I just haven’t been the representative, and it just feels great.  I’m so happy to have it back if I win the election.”

Bono Mack goes head-to-head against Dr. Raul Ruiz, an emergency room doctor from Coachella who is widely known in the Coachella Valley for his humanitarian work and volunteerism within the community, in June.

Though he currently does not have any major events planned to appear in the Pass area, campaign organizers tell Banning Beaumont Patch that he does plan on heading out this way soon.


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