Politics & Government

Bobko Believes Candidates Should Do What's 'Right'

Patch launches a series of profiles on candidates in the 36th Congressional District race with a look at how the Hermosa Beach City Councilman campaigns for jobs.

An afternoon in May, two decades ago, is one that Hermosa Beach City Councilman Kit Bobko “will never forget,” he said.

During the commencement ceremony for the U.S. Air Force Academy's graduating class of 1991, Bobko walked across the stage to receive his diploma. Waiting at the end of the platform was President George H.W. Bush.

Bush held out his right hand, a young Bobko in uniform did the same, and they shook.

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“Congratulations, sir,” Bush said. 

“Here was the most powerful man on earth and he called me ‘sir’—and my classmates,” Bobko told Patch. “He was a war hero and wore the uniform, and so it was a real meaningful day to me, and I’ll never forget him calling me ‘sir.’ All I said was, ‘Thank you, Mr. President.’ ”

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When asked how his fellow classmates responded to seeing the then-President of the United States at their commencement, Bobko joked, “We were really just happy to graduate,” and then he took a gentle breath and added, “But for him to take the time to do that meant a lot to me. It’s important.”

This importance that Bobko places on service fuels his campaign to fill the 36th Congressional District representative’s seat, which . The district includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and other surrounding communities.

“This is really an extension of my service, and I never forget that I am a servant,” Bobko said. “Winning an election is an assignment, it’s not an award.”

The 11-year Hermosa Beach resident, who was born in 1969 at George Air Force Base in Victorville, CA, grew up in a military family and “was raised by a strong Catholic mother who made sure we did the right thing,” he said.

If elected, Bobko said, he hopes to “have the courage to do exactly what other politicians should do, what they think is right."

What he thinks is "right," among other concerns, is to: cut government spending, allow local government and leaders to decide how education dollars are spent, support innovation in business to ultimately create jobs and “figure out what we’re going to do with Social Security and Medicare,” said Bobko, a Republican.

While on the campaign trail, Bobko recently launched a small-businesses tour, in which he visits one local business a day—as of April 22, he had visited about six, he told Patch.

He said the experience has encouraged him to continue fighting for job growth and shown him that the tax structure for small businesses is “convoluted and complicated."

“I’m not looking for a soft place to land, unlike some other candidates are," said Bobko. "I’m doing this from a spirit of service, because I see something not going well and I want to help. When I’m done helping, I hope to go back to my private life as a beach lawyer.”

Bobko is a litigation partner at the Los Angeles-based law firm of Richards, Watson and Gershon.

Here is how the candidate responded to a Patch questionnaire about issues facing the country:

Manhattan Beach Patch: What do you think is the biggest issue facing our district?

Kit Bobko: There are three big issues facing the district—the first is jobs, the second is jobs, third is jobs. 

Patch: How will you specifically encourage job growth in Southern California?

Bobko: The first thing we have to do is unburden the regulations that constrain, and, many times, are killing small businesses in the crib. There are businesses out there that literally get started or there’s a germ of an idea, and in order to have that idea flourish the business has to jump through hoops. … California is largely indifferent, if you look in the Wall Street Journal today [on April 22] there is an article about California business owners moving to Texas. ... The regulatory climate in this state is not helping businesses succeed.

And the No. 1 thing in addition to the climate is the tax structure. We pummel, absolutely crush, small businesses with a tax burden that is unforgivable and we wonder again why businesses flee the state and don’t grow. … The folks who are the job creators are being taxed into submission [and] we have representatives in Washington who are completely indifferent to that.

We wonder why big corporations move their capital overseas, and the reason is an easy one: If they keep it here, it's taxed away from them. The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. … Under Mr. Obama’s plan, we’re going to increase the tax on businesses. And the smaller businesses can’t escape to overseas, so they get crushed.

Patch: What do you think is the biggest challenge to our nation’s economy and what do you think the federal government should do to facilitate economic recovery? 

Bobko: The No. 1 challenge facing the country is the debt. It was Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, who called it "the red menace" [a term borrowed from the Cold War-era characterization of communism] except this time the "red" meant red ink. ... The problem that we have now is that the debt that this country has amassed is stealing choices from our future. Because we amassed so much debt, you and I will not be able to repay that debt in our lifetime and our children won’t be able to repay that debt. So we’re stealing their choices as well.

The No. 1 thing we have to do is cut spending and reduce the debt. We’re spending what we don’t have, and you can’t fund an economy by printing money. 

Patch: Standard and Poor’s recently predicted the U.S. credit rating would be downgraded if the federal government could not work together to balance the budget. What budget items do you think should be cut, and what needs should have continued or even increased funding?

Bobko: We have to cut spending. The problem is, currently we’re selling bonds and debt to foreign countries and they’re buying it. … Forty-seven percent of American debt is bought by foreigners and 29.2 percent of all that debt is owned by China. When the rest of the world decides the dollar is no longer a reserve currency and decides to stop lending us money, we will have to make our debt more attractive to the lenders by increasing the interest rates we pay to borrow from them. If the interest rate goes up, we’ve got a real problem, because we’ll have to repay with more dollars that we don’t have for debt we’ve already accumulated.

We also have to stabilize and strengthen the dollar.

As a nation, one thing we have to do is figure out what we’re going to do with Social Security and Medicare. … Social Security is spent as soon as it's collected, and we need to figure out how we’re going to fund it going forward. The other thing that will sink us is "Obama care." We cannot afford to enact another entitlement to 30 million Americans. Where does that money come from?

And, finally, this idea that we can tax the "rich" … When people in the IRS and Washington talk about the "rich," in reality, you should think "small business." It’s really talking about another restrictive measure on small businesses, and that’s where jobs and wealth are created. If you tax everyone who made more than $100,000 a year this year, you still would not generate enough to cover the deficit in Mr. Obama’s budget.

Patch: Where do you stand on No Child Left Behind? What would you do to improve the state of education in this country and in California?

Bobko: The most important thing for the federal government to do on education is to leave it to local choice and local control. Parents and the local government know what’s best. Parents and teachers in the district care the most, know the most about what is going on, and they know what’s best to spend those dollars on. They know which facilities will have the best impact on children in the district. I cannot imagine that someone in Washington could know those things as well as someone in the district… That money should be used as a block grant so it’s given to folks in the district, in the neighborhood, to spend.

Patch: Where do you stand on federal environmental policy? The Supreme Court is now considering the merit of a nuisance lawsuit against electric companies over their greenhouse gas emissions. Do you think the courts should get involved in climate change policy, or is this role better suited for Congress?

Bobko: I supported it [renewable energy] on the Hermosa Beach City Council and will continue to. But the best way to do this should be with a mix of technologies. … Ultimately, it would probably be some combination of different methods and technologies, and the markets will find those faster than government will.

Patch: As a member of Congress, which health care legislation do you support or oppose?

Bobko: I do not support socialized medicine. I do not believe that more government intervention is a good thing. Just from a practical standpoint, Mr. Obama’s plan to put 30 million more people into a government program that we can’t afford, for me, it seems to be bad policy. And the fact that people are somehow denied health care—I reject that premise.

I have a brother who is a doctor in an emergency room here in California. And he sees people who not only receive care, but folks from other countries, specifically a country to our south, come here specifically to receive care for free because they can't get it at home. … Tort reform is the way we should go. Fifteen percent of all expenditures in medicine is defensive medicine, which is doing tests and procedures. They do them to cover their bases in case the lawyers show up afterwards.

And then, there are only two ways in my view to ration something: One is with a queue or by price. In England, they have something called the ‘NICE board,’ which basically rations certain procedures in medicine, [and] when someone can’t have a certain surgery, they fly over the pond to New York to have it. … Where do you go to make those choices for your family? The answer would be there’s nowhere to go if we socialize medicine in this country. That would be a tragic thing to lose.

By the way, I haven’t heard anybody in small business tell me that they’re waiting to hire more people until Obama care passes.

Patch: What is your position on America’s involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya?

Bobko: I’ll start with Libya. I’m still waiting for the commander-in-chief to identify the American interest in Libya. I was raised in a military family, and I believe that the only time Americans should be put into harm's way is when there is a national interest at stake ... not every time there's an injustice in the world.

Secondly, I believe in the War Powers Act. The commander-in-chief has the right to deploy forces, but at some point, he has to make a case to Congress as to why it is that men and women are being committed to combat. So far, he hasn’t made a case. 

As far as Iraq goes, history will prove our involvement in Iraq was the right choice. It is now one of only two functioning democracies in the Middle East, other than Israel…. I believe a strong Israel is good for the United States and good for peace in the Middle East.

Afghanistan. I, again, think that we went into Afghanistan for good reasons. But I’m not sure that it’s a winnable conflict. I think that we lack a clear and strategic vision as to what we want to achieve. … I don’t think the U.S. military is a proper means to build a country.

The key to Afghanistan is probably Pakistan. ... I think the United States will face serious problems if Pakistan ever becomes a radical Islamist state, because it’s a nuclear state. ... When Mr. Ferdinand Marcos left [the Philippines] there was a transition to a democratically elected leader, and I think the United States knows how to foster democratic successions—we know how to support democracies around the world.

Editor's Note: This is one of a series of profiles of candidates running for the 36th Congressional District seat. Come back to Patch for more profiles and campaign coverage.


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