Senator’s message is grim

Alicia Robinson

The news Sen. Dianne Feinstein brought from Washington, D.C., to

Orange County on Thursday was grim: Between the nation’s nearly

half-trillion-dollar deficit and the filibuster-ending “nuclear

option,” something is bound to explode.

“Eliminating the filibuster is really the final blow to minority

rights in the Senate and the final step in the consolidation of

executive power,” Feinstein (D-Calif.) told an audience of about 400

people at an Orange County Forum lunch at the Sutton Place Hotel.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is calling for new

rules to prevent the filibusters that have blocked Senate votes on 10

of President Bush’s nominees for federal judgeships.

Despite the clamor from Republicans, “There really is no judicial

crisis,” Feinstein said. “The Senate has confirmed 95% of President

Bush’s nominees.”

Feinstein was the first woman elected to represent California in

the U.S. Senate, and she was the first woman to serve as mayor of San

Francisco.

The forum holds monthly events featuring speakers from the

business, education and political arenas.

The federal budget and the ballooning national debt, Feinstein

said, are “my greatest worry as a senior senator from California.”

Feinstein supported President Bush’s tax cuts in 2001, because at

that time the budget was balanced, and the nation had a $128-billion

surplus, she said.

But this year the nation faces a deficit of close to half a

trillion dollars because of the tax cuts and the war in Iraq, she

said. While the federal budget usually projects 10 years into the

future, this year’s budget only covers five years.

“It’s a five-year budget, so no one can see the explosion that the

tax cuts cause when this president leaves office,” Feinstein said.

She voted against this year’s budget, which cuts funding to law

enforcement, education, healthcare and other domestic programs, she

said.

In her talk Thursday, Feinstein also addressed identity theft, the

dangers of methamphetamines, and the privatization of Social

Security, which she opposes.

Feinstein’s audience was appreciative, crowding around afterward

to shake her hand or get a picture with her. But Charles Plows, a

retired doctor from Tustin, said the senator’s speech skipped a

pressing problem.

“I personally think illegal immigration is a priority item and has

to be stopped,” he said. “It’s just sucking everything out of our

economy, and it’s just wrong.”

Shirley Long, a Huntington Beach real estate agent, shared some of

Feinstein’s financial apprehensions.

“I’m very concerned about the budget deficit,” she said. “I’m not

sure why we’re not looking for -- I hate to say it because it’s a

dirty word -- increased taxes.”