Illegal deductions targeted

True to his past stance on illegal immigration, Huntington Beach

Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher recently signed on as a cosponsor of

a bill that would prevent employers from deducting from their federal

taxes any wages and benefits paid to illegal immigrants.

The New Illegal Deduction Immigration Act was introduced in late

June by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). Rohrabacher has said ending

benefits to illegal immigrants is the best way to deter illegal

immigration, and he wrote a 2004 bill under which hospitals would

have checked the immigration status of patients and shared the

information with the federal government.

“In this day and age, there is simply no excuse for employing

someone of questionable legal status,” Rohrabacher said in a news

release. “This is no longer just a matter of economic security, it is

a matter of national security. This bill will provide consequences

for businesses that knowingly employ illegal aliens, who are a drain

on the system and provide cover for terrorists trying to enter the

U.S.”

FOREVER YOUNG

After winding up three years as president of the Orange County

Young Republicans, Lee Lowrey of Corona del Mar has been elected to a

second two-year term as treasurer of the Young Republican Federation

of California. In the treasurer’s post, Lowrey will keep the group’s

books, handle donations and further the agenda of the group’s new

chairman, Matthew Harper of Huntington Beach.

“The goal is to have an organization in every county in

California,” Lowrey said. “We’re almost there.”

The group won’t need to concentrate on Orange County, where the

Young Republicans have a robust membership of more than 300 people.

So, exactly how young are young Republicans? Lowrey, who just

turned 35, said the bylaws say members must be between 18 and 40

years old, but Orange County’s members tend to be in their late 20s

to early 30s.

THE CAMPBELL STRIKES BACK

With apparent unconcern that they might appear to protest too

much, campaign consultants for state Sen. John Campbell on Tuesday

ripped a recent poll that said former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer

could beat Campbell in a Congressional race. Campbell and Brewer are

running for the House seat likely to be vacated if Rep. Chris Cox is

confirmed as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A statement from Campbell consultants Dave Gilliard and Chris

Wysocki said a poll commissioned by Brewer skewed results by listing

former Rep. Jim Rogan -- who has said he’s not running -- as a

candidate, and for mischaracterizing Campbell’s positions on various

issues.

“In a sense, the survey commissioned by Marilyn Brewer concluded

that if people believed everything good about Marilyn Brewer,

everything bad about John Campbell, if Jim Rogan were in the race,

and John Campbell did nothing over the course of the campaign, the

end result would be within the margin of error,” the statement read.

GOING OUT FOR A DRIVE

Opponents of Armando Ruiz, the Coast Community College District

trustee whose retirement and subsequent reelection offended many in

the district, have begun their petition drive to recall him from

office.

Twenty people -- including fellow trustee Jerry Patterson, Share

Our Selves founder Jean Forbath and Newport-Mesa Unified School

District board member Martha Fluor -- signed a petition. Political

consultant David Kidd, who is leading the drive, said althoughthe law

requires him to garner 36,000 signatures, he would push for 45,000 to

have a margin for error.

Kidd and Patterson said the petitioners had started accumulating

signatures among friends and would expand through mailers and

door-to-door lobbying.

“It’s a grass-roots movement,” Kidd said. “A lot of it is word of

mouth and networking.”

Many in the district and the community were angry with Ruiz in

October when he retired from two state jobs simultaneously -- his

trustee job with the college district and a full-time counseling

position with the South Orange County Community College District --

which allowed him to receive full pensions for both jobs. He then ran

for reelection to the board of trustees and won as an incumbent.

-- Staff writer Michael Miller

contributed to this story.