In 2012, when multimillionaire conservative Democrat Scott Peters was first elected to a purple San Diego area House seat, it was one of the closest races in the country. He beat GOP incumbent Brian Bilbray 124,746 to 122,086 after outspending him $4,352,737 to $2,772,270. And not just outspending him; Peters ran one of the most self-financed congressional campaigns in history (at that time), having spent $2,757,452 of his own money. Since getting elected, Peters joined the corporate-owned New Dems and amassed a very conservative voting record that found him voting with the GOP on crucial issues as frequently as he voted with progressives. He wasn't popular with Democratic voters in his own district and it was no surprise when the GOP mounted a strong campaign against him in 2014. Luckily for Peters, the Republican, Scott DeMaio, spent the campaign on the front pages of the newspapers defending himself in a conveniently timed series of gay sex harassment cases. He would have won and even with all the tawdry scandal, he nearly did win, Peters eking out a 3 point squeaker of a victory. The DCCC and its House Majority PAC intervened on his behalf with about $3.8 million. What a way to waste a hunk of money on a rich Republican with a "D" next to his name. He has always had an "F" from ProgressivePunch and that year he could also boast the lowest crucial vote score of any California Democrat. This year, one Californian has a worse voting record than Peters-- Blue Dog Jim Costa. Peters has the 7th worst voting record of any Democrat in the House-- and that doesn't count his committee votes where he really lets his freak flag fly.
Last night, for example, the astoundingly corrupt Peters was the only Democrat-- if you want to refer to a DINO as a Democrat-- on the House Budget Committee to vote against the reconciliation bill, the most important part of Biden's and the Democratic Party's Build Back Better agenda. Oh-- and his district is no longer purple. It is now strongly Democratic, with a PVI of D+12. Biden beat Trump there 63.4% to 34.2%. Right now, though, Peters has no primary opponent.
CA-52 is entirely within San Diego County, starting in La Jolla, heading northeast through the Carmel Valley, into wealthy Poway and up to Rancho Bernardo and the San Pasqual Valley. But most of the people live south of La Jolla in San Diego-- from Balboa Park, through the East Village, the Gaslight Quarter, the Marina, Columbia, Little Italy, Ocean Beach and Coronado. It's the richest district in San Diego County and one of the richest in California with a $90,000 median income. Another interesting face: there are almost twice as many Asians as there are Hispanics in the district.
After his first term, Peters was rated one of the 3 worst Democratic freshmen, along with Kyrsten Sinema and Paul Ruiz. He has always worked with the worst elements of the Republican Wing of the Democratic Party to undermine progressive policies and progressive candidates. In return, he has always been backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, essentially a Republican lobbying outfit, whose embrace of Democrats usually leads to their political demise.
Last night, reporting for The Hill, Aris Folley wrote that Peters "joined Republicans in voting against advancing his party’s $3.5 trillion social spending plan, as House leadership aims to vote on the package as early as next week. Peters, a member of the House Budget Committee, voted with 16 Republicans against advancing the measure from the panel on the Saturday afternoon. However, the legislation was able to advance from the Democratic-led committee with 20 votes."
Other New Dems and Blue Dogs on the committee-- Brendan Boyle (PA), Jennifer Wexton, (VA), Steven Horsford (NV), Joe Morelle (NY), Jim Cooper (TN), Seth Moulton (MA) and Stacey Plaskett (VI)-- voted with the Democrats. Peters was one of the 3 anti-working class corporate whores-- along with Kurt Schrader and Kathleen Rice-- who voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drugs prices. Peters takes immense sums of money-- in effect legalistic bribes-- from the pharmaceutical industry to sell out the interests of his own constituents. Since first getting into Congress in 2012, Peters has accepted $860,465 from Big PhRMA. Only 13 currently-serving members of the House have taken more than Peters in their entire careers. Most of them are Republicans and all of them have served in Congress far longer than Peters. So far this current cycle, these are the half dozen House Democrats most blatantly corrupted by Big PhRMA. Notice which scumbag who wants you to pay more for your meds has taken the most:
1- Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)- $88,550
2- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)- $75,410
3- Anna Eshoo (D-CA)- $68,550
4- Liz Cheney (R-WY)- $58,073
5- Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog)- $55,250
6- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)- $53,750
No one thinks Peters' position at the top of that list is coincidental to his vote against the package yesterday. Odd how the wealthiest people are always the most crooked and shady.
Howie You Need An Editor, A Lot Miss Spellings In This Post.
#4 on list is inaccurate…Cheney is not from WI.
4- Liz Cheney (R-WI)- $58,073