Jerry Roberts
By Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers
Speaking from the Washington hotel where he’s quarantined for Covid, Rep. Salud Carbajal confirmed Thursday that he’ll appear for this weekend’s TV debate, as he shed light on negotiations over pandemic economic relief and countered a new campaign attack.
The incumbent Democrat in the 24th Congressional District looked drawn, sounded raspy and appeared to have lost weight, as he checked in with Newsmakers to talk policy and politics, nine days after he tested positive for the coronavirus, following the onset of symptoms.
“The main thing you feel is wanting to be in bed,” he told us, describing more than a week of fatigue, body aches, fever and chills that “come and go,” plus loss of taste and smell, adding, however, that he has begun to feel better. His wife, Gina, has been under quarantine with him.
Conscientious about mask-wearing, social distancing and hand washing, Carbajal speculated that he got the virus via the “HVAC system” of circulating air in the apartment complex where he lives next door to Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Lee, a notorious coronavirus skeptic, tested positive after attending the infamous White House function where Donald Trump introduced Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett last month, which has subsequently been identified as a “superspreader event.”
Despite his lingering mild symptoms, Carbajal told us, he still plans to participate in the virtual campaign debate against Republican challenger Andy Caldwell scheduled for Saturday (Oct. 17) at 4 p.m.
KEYT will broadcast the event live on the NOW channel (Cox Cable 13 or over-the-air 3.2) and also re-broadcast it later.
Caldwell, in an appearance on Newsmakers on Wednesday, attacked Carbajal as a tool of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying that the incumbent’s political marketing brand of bipartisan cooperation is a sham and alleging that Salud votes with her, “100 percent of the time.”
Carbajal fired back in our interview, calling Caldwell’s charge “preposterous.”
Asked to cite a single instance where he has differed with the Speaker, Salud quickly referenced an appropriations bill that, among other things, provided federal funds for wildfire fighting resources; he said he was one of only six Democrats to back the legislation, which the party’s congressional leadership opposed for partisan reasons.
He also ticked off a series of bills which he has co-sponsored with GOP House members and alluded to his membership in the “Problem Solvers Caucus,” a bipartisan group that works to bridge the bitter polarization in Congress.
“It’s all about voting for my district,” he said of where his political loyalties lie.
While the world awaits this weekend’s Caldwell-Carbajal throwdown, here is a rundown of what Santa Barbara’s man in congress had to say on the latest key news events.
Supreme Court
Carbajal blasted Senate Republicans for ramming through the Barrett nomination while continuing to withhold action on a new package of pandemic relief spending. At a time when the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is demanding the expansion of the Supreme Court by four seats if they win the presidency and Senate — a scheme denounced by Republicans as “court packing” – Salud said that “serious consideration should be given to every option that is available,” but stopped short of explicitly endorsing such a plan, saying he needs a better sense of where his constituents stand on the matter.
Pandemic relief
Carbajal demurred to our characterization of “dead,” to describe long-stalled talks among and between Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell over another huge pandemic economic stimulus package: Salud recently voted with other House Democrats for a $2.2 trillion bill put up by Pelosi, but Senate Republicans have refused to spend more than another $500 billion, while Mnuchin has sought to split the difference with a $1.8 trillion proposal. Carbajal defended Pelosi’s outright rejection of the White House compromise, in part because it does not contain substantial funding for embattled local and state governments. Still, Salud insisted, there is a chance of an agreement before the election: “It’s a crisis and we have to act.”
Wildfires
With California enduring its worst fire season in history, Carbajal allied himself with Governor Gavin Newsom, who has pointed to climate change as the key factor driving the size and violence of wildfires, through a combination of drought, high temperatures and aberrant weather patterns. Caldwell has scoffed at that explanation, blaming Carbajal and other liberals who have supported environmental policies that limited controlled burns, leading to huge accumulations of dead trees and dry fuel. While acknowledging that fuel management in national forests should be improved, Carbajal said that aggressive government action to address climate change is the most crucial goal.
Diablo Canyon
With the the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant near Avila Beach set for decommissioning, Carbajal touted his recently-introduced legislation to create “Energy Opportunity Zones” in the area, and near about a dozen other nuclear plants set for shutdown, by “creating and expanding tax credits” for development of renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. With about 1,500 high-paying jobs at stake with the plant closure in San Luis Obispo County, he said his proposal could “offset job and energy losses,” but conceded he is still working to round up necessary Republican support.
Ballot harvesting
Political conflict is raging around the state over the Republican Party’s distribution of ballot collection bins that resemble official government election containers for depositing and collection of mail-in ballots. The state Attorney General and Secretary of State both have ordered the Republicans to cease and desist, accusing the party of illegal “ballot harvesting” with the scheme. Carbajal said he has not received reports of the practice occurring in his district, but expressed confidence that the state’s election systems to ensure the validity of ballots and legitimacy of the election were secure.
The election. Asked about Trump’s refusal to promise a peaceful transfer of power, amid a menacing political landscape featuring right-wing militias and violent anarchists, Carbajal said he believes it is crucial for Democrats to win an “overwhelming” victory on Nov. 3, both for president and Congress, so that there can be no question of a disputed election.
“I urge everyone — please vote!” he said, his voice rising above its Covid-induced hoarseness.
Zoom doom
Our video and audio recording functions failed us for this interview (after an hour on the phone, our highly-paid fancy pants IT consultant used the two most dread words in the English language — “hardware problem”) so we apologize to our readers and the Congressman for the lack of multi-media features with this post.
Here is a link to a short video on Carbajal’s Facebook page in which he discusses his medical status. You also can watch our one-on-one interview with Carbajal from earlier in the pandemic via this link, or via YouTube below.
Read more about local news and politics at Newsmakerswithjr.com
Does it SAY it’s an endorsement? No. It’s an update from our elected rep on covid and the state of things in the house. Caldwell is not our elected rep.
SBLOCAL – what’s your beef? Why are you upset he was in the USMC (after working in ag)? So what if he was in the reserve, he served in the Gulf War. What have you done? Why does it matter if he had a non-government job?
@12:59, You make some valid points.
Still have to go through boot camp- how many people can do that? Was mobilized during 1992 war but luckily only had to go to a base in NC so wasn’t exposed to chemical fires and depleted uranium in Iraq. Are you saying he doesn’t compare to the private company crooks in Enron and Countrywide and Wells Fargo?
This is a Jerry Roberts article, not Edhat’s. You can do an interview with Andy Colab and they will publish it also. But you won’t do that because it is too much work.
NotGetAlong, he didn’t immediately check himself into a hospital like your leader and his sychophant Chris Christie to make sure he got medicines not available to the public. That seems laudatory to me.
Why so nasty all the time?
here is a link to the interview with Andy Caldwell Newsmakers posted a day earlier. https://www.newsmakerswithjr.com/post/andy-caldwell-on-salud-nancy-pelosi-s-getting-two-votes-we-re-getting-none
Not too many people want to hear from that cockroach.
Forget the emotion here – vote who you really think will get us out if this mess the status quo has gotten us into.
Glad he’s getting better. I had a chance to talk with Salud at a non profit fundraiser a couple years ago. I said I would like to talk gun control. He was all ears until I said the citizens need to be trained to safely use firearms.
I once saw a movie where only the police and military had guns. It was called Schindler’s list!!!!
In other words, he was all ears until he realized you didn’t understand the problem.
Its the same hospital and care that Obama would have gotten if he needed it.. The President of the United States deserves the best care possible. I’m sure you noticed Trump also lives in government subsidized housing. Have you complained about that?
The problem is we are becoming just like my last sentence. i understand the problem. The 2nd amendment wasn’t written to protect deer hunters.
Hahahaha! Blame the Republicans. Typical. Glad he is feeling better and up and around again though. No one wants to go through that.
As you’ve just made clear, you adhere to the wannabe traitor interpretation. The real problem, as every rigorous epidemiological and criminological study has shown, is that we are awash with firearms, and more firearms mean more needless death. A firearm in a home is orders of magnitude more likely to kill or injure a member of the household than do anything else.
Ballots work better than bullets for preventing tyranny.
has Salud ever held a job outside of the government?
Lions and tigers and bears oh my.
SBLOCAL – he was a US Marine. Do you not consider that a “job?”
Salud is a veteran of this country. What have you done?
No – I do not consider serving as a reserve in the USMC a non-government job. I am talking about getting a paycheck from an employer who pays payroll taxes.
“When the mine closed, the family moved to Oxnard where Salud’s father became a farmworker and Salud spent summers working with his father in the fields. Attending junior high and high school in Oxnard, Salud applied himself and focused on his education.”
“Salud earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his master’s degree in organizational management from the Fielding University. He served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty service during the 1991 Gulf War, where he was mobilized to Jacksonville, North Carolina.”
https://www.saludcarbajal.com/meet-salud
He worked in the agricultural fields and decided to pursue higher education while also serving 8 years in the Marine Corps Reserve. All seem like hard jobs to me.
Hmm I wonder if edhat is biased. Lmao.
Biased because this is an update on our locally elected representative who is combatting COVID? Okkaaaayyyyyy
Nice try. It looks more like an advertisement and a push for a vote. READ the headline. It’s about much more than his “health”.
Is this an endorsement? Wonder if edhat will give the opponent equal time?
“” The main thing you feel is wanting to be in bed,” he told us…”
“looked drawn, sounded raspy and appeared to have lost weight, as he checked in with Newsmakers to talk policy and politics, nine days after he tested positive “, “ adding, however, that he has begun to feel better”
So it was a bad flu fir him? Middle aged, overweight, Hispanic.
No ICU? No respirator? No hospital stay?
So why is the news giving Trump a hard time for a speedy recovery?
Is Salud Hispanic? Per the news Covid kills minorities. This is why the new metrics per the news reports.
The news doesn’t start by saying dense housing, like what the CA & our local govt wants. They start with the race card, Covid is racist.
———
He told Noozhawk he is “Conscientious about mask-wearing, social distancing and hand washing, Carbajal speculated that he got the virus via the “HVAC system” of circulating air in the apartment complex where he lives”
That’s sound science from a politician.
So wearing a mask and social distancing is not “fool proof”.
What does his comments mean about apartment buildings? Or office buildings?
What about stores, in door dining, etc….
New mask mandate. Where one 24/7 regardless of where you are.
Andy Caldwell brought incivility to SB County long before Trump appeared. Remember how he called the women supervisors twisted sisters? He knew d…..well what he was saying and even after being called out on his sexism, he continued using this derogatory label. He has some pretty right wing extremist views on education. Just read his past columns about the” debauchery” at UCSB. He is nothing but a one-man lobbying company (COLAB). Check out their financials online. He has raked in some pretty big bucks. He gets paid to attend BOS meetings while everyone else who wants to speak up to protect the county from his positions has to take time off from work or volunteers to be there.