The FR has obtained a copy of a letter sent to Congressman Jerry Lewis from Shawn Steel, Chairman of the California Club for Growth, that in no uncertain terms calls on the Congressman, who is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to quit from Congress.

Here is the letter:

CALIFORNIA CLUB FOR GROWTH
SHAWN STEEL, CHAIRMAN

November 12, 2006

Jerry Lewis
Member of Congress, California District-41
Chairman of House Appropriations Committee
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Lewis:

On behalf of the California Club for Growth, we are asking you to resign or not seek re-election.

The reasons for this request ought to be obvious given the Democrat blowback of November 8th.

As chairman of Appropriations, you were instrumental of preventing and stalling congressional budgetary reforms. In a remarkably prescient editorial published by the Wall Street Journal on April 13, 2006 [read it here], you were labeled as the “Minority Maker, a clever GOP strategy for defeat in November. “

Essentially, your efforts to promote congressional free-spending ways led to the demoralization of conservatives and betrayed the GOP spirit of 1994. Worse than that, under your leadership you personally obstructed, a modified line-item veto, refused to support “sun-setting” useless  government agencies, enhanced shameful “earmarking”  or  pork barreling to historic atmospheric levels, as well as larded more spending into “supplemental” spending bills.

Your career, as a long term big government, anti growth Republican, is an outdated and clearly dangerous strategy. Your work has contributed to Republican defeat by discouraging conservatives and losing a huge number of seats throughout the country. In, other words, the Journal was right, when they predicted that you might be practicing to take “orders from Speaker Nancy Pelosi next year.”

Sincerely,

Shawn Steel
Chairman, California Club for Growth

This entry was posted on Monday, November 13th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.