Orange County Conservative Lou Correa Still Calls Himself A Democrat For Some Reason

Lou Correa, California's worst Democrat in Congress

Back before the November election, we warned Democrats that the leading "Democratic" candidate. Lou Correa had a long and horrible record from his time in the state legislature as a fake Democrat. Correa's Orange County district-- CA-46: Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange-- is very blue. Obama beat Romney 61.4% to 36.2% and Hillary did even better against Trump-- 66.3% to 27.9%. She won every Orange County congressional district but CA-46 was the biggest victory. The jungle primary resulted in a D vs D race, conservative Lou Correa and progressive Berniecrat Bao Nguyen. In a contest that reflected ethnic loyalties Correa won 103,475 (69.9%) to 44,652 (30.1%). So a nice blue district with one of the most conservative Democrats from the Republican wing of the party.

Correa is a realtor who took advantage of the mortgage crisis to build up an empire of rental properties all over Orange County-- particularly Anaheim and Santa Ana-- and one of the sleaziest realtor lobbyist groups, the National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund, spent $535,000 on his campaign, trying to make sure they would have another sleazy ally against consumers and homeowners inside the House Democratic caucus. But corporate special interests is a huge part of the Correa brand, another reason he fits in so well with the New Dems and Blue Dogs.

In a majority Latino district, Correa wasn't just keeping it quiet that the joined the New Dems and Blue Dogs, but also that he voted against SB60, which would have made drivers licenses available for all qualified Californians regardless of immigration status. His vote was a complete betrayal of the Hispanic population. Although he's on record of having voted against it, when confronted with the vote he just lies and claims he voted for it. No wonder the Blue Dogs and New Dems love this guy!

Nor is that the only time he voted with the Republicans in the legislature against working families-- far from it. Although Correa claims when he campaigns that he's committed to affordable higher education, that sure isn't what his record in Sacramento shows. When Assembly Speaker John Perez proposed AB 1500 and 1501, the Middle Class Scholarship Act, to provide scholarships covering 60% of fees and tuition at all California State colleges and universities for families with household incomes of under $150,000, Correa crossed the aisle and voted with the GOP again. Perez took the unusual step of going on the record and singling out Correa for killing the bill "because he wanted a $300 million (tax) carve out [for out-of state corporations including his campaign contributor International Paper]. "Today was an opportunity for the State Senate to join the Assembly in approving tax fairness for California businesses and college opportunity for middle class families. Unfortunately, even though most Senate Democrats supported the Middle Class Scholarship Act, we could not reach agreement with Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) or Senate Republicans that would achieve the two-thirds vote necessary... It is disturbing that Senator Correa and so many Republicans would refuse to stand up for the middle class and instead continue to support a tax giveaway that favors out-of-state companies over our own." In a disturbing pattern that defines Correa's life, he pocketed campaign contributions from International Paper-- which vehemently opposed the bill-- 10 days before he voted against AB 1500, and more loot three weeks after the disgraceful vote.

If killing the Middle Class Scholarship Act wasn't bad enough, Correa also helped kill SB 935 which was an attempt by Democrats in the legislature to raise the minimum wage in 2014. Although 63 of his fellow Democrats were co-sponsors of the bill, he claimed he voted with the Republicans against it because it was too long and he didn't know what it meant. It's almost as though he was already practicing to be a New Dem or Blue Dog!

He also worked with the GOP to restrict women's access to family planning and abortion services and to push the NRA's agenda. Planned Parenthood gave him a big fat ZERO rating and labeled him anti-Choice, the only Senate Democrat who didn't receive a 100% rating in 2009. The DCCC likes this guy; can he really be anti-Choice? You tell me-- this is is record on women's reproductive health in the state legislature:

• voted to prohibit state funding of family planning service providers
• voted to limit state funding for abortion services
• voted to ban ban abortion procedures that he disagrees with (and, no, he's not a doctor)
• voted to require parental consent before a minor can access abortion care
• voted to force women to look at biased and unscientific information before they can access abortion care

This is how patriarchal Republicans vote on Choice issues, not how Democrats vote. Although it certainly works in real well with the Blue Dogs and the rest of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Ditto on his cozy relationship with the gun nuts in general and the NRA in particular. He has actively supported loopholes to make sure assault-style military weapons would wind up in California neighborhoods. Again, Correa's sick record is not what Orange County Democrats and independents (nor even Republicans) want to protect society from gun massacres.

• voted against banning high capacity ammunition magazines and conversion kits (AB 48)
• voted against making it illegal to knowingly store loaded firearms that are accessible to minors (AB 231)
• voted against extending the waiting period for gun purchases when the background check reveals potential criminal and/or mental health history requiring further investigation to determine eligibility to purchase weapons (AB 500)
• voted against requiring registration of homemade guns and assault rifles, AKA "Ghost Guns" (SB 808)
• voted against restrictions on ownership of Assault Weapons and .50 Caliber Browning Machine Guns (AB 170)
• Correa opposes license requirements for purchase of guns, despite overwhelming public support, even among gun owners and voted against requiring a valid Firearm Safety Certificate in order to purchase a firearm (AB 683)

Since taking his seat in Congress in January, Correa has earned an "F" from ProgressivePunch and has the worst record of any California Democrat-- a crucial vote score of 35.71. Only 3 Democrats have worse records, although none of them are in strong Democratic districts the way Correa is. Friday the Orange County Register spoke with Central Valley Republican Jeff Denham about Correa's propensity to cozy up with Republicans. Denham wishes there were other Democrats as happy to back the Republican agenda as Correa is. "He's certainly a standout. He's getting well known and making a lot of relationships. He is the kind of member you wish they all were. Some people follow (party) leadership. He's one of those people who thinks on his own."

Thinks is maybe the wrong word, but Correa is certainly a knee-jerk voter for most of what Ryan and McCarthy want. Remember, when Correa was in the state Assembly in Sacramento, basically voting with the Republicans on almost everything, he roomed with Assembly GOP Leader Scott Baugh. Martin Wisckol, who wrote this post, has never understood the difference between a "moderate" and a right-wing conservative and always insists on referring to Correa as a "moderate." It's a little language trick. Correa is a Democrat when it comes to issues that directly speak to Latinos as Latinos. otherwise, he's a Republican with a "D" next to his name. "Besides his burgeoning relationships on both sides of the Congressional aisle," wrote cheerleader Wisckol, "this approach manifests itself in his membership in two moderate [note the word "moderate again to describe very corrupt and very conservative groups] Democratic Capitol Hill groups, the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democratic Coalition. He’s also building a reputation of lending early support to GOP-sponsored bills he agrees with." Yes, indeed. And there is no one challenging him in a primary, at least not so far.

A gaggle of corrupt conservative Democrats snuck in and out of the meeting so no one would know who attended, but no one doubts that Correa was one of the right-wing Blue Dogs sniffing around to see what was in it for them to sell out the party and to sell out working families. Last Monday, Marc Short, the Regime's director of legislative affairs met with 15 of the slimiest Blue Dogs to discuss the Trump legislative agenda to see what it will cost to get them to step in when Freedom Caucus and mainstream Republicans say no to Trump on specific issues. This is exactly the climate a piece of shit like Correa thrives in and why he's involved in politics. Our sources say the attendees were Correa plus the 3 co-chairs (Dan Lipinski, Henry Cuellar and Jim Costa) as well as Kyrsten Sinema, Jim Cooper, Stephanie Miller, Charlie Crist, Tom O'Halleran, Brad Schneider, Kurt Schrader, Josh Gottheimer, Collin Peterson, Sanford Bishop and Vicente González.