Local seniors gather for "Bowzer" and to question congressional candidates

By Ed Martin, Editor
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, a founding member of Sha Na Na, and currently president of Social Security Works, spoke to seniors at a Congressional forum sponsored by the California Alliance for Retired Americans.
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, a founding member of Sha Na Na, and currently president of Social Security Works, spoke to seniors at a Congressional forum sponsored by the California Alliance for Retired Americans.

An audience consisting mostly of senior citizens gathered Tuesday afternoon at the Hanford Fraternal Hall to hear an urgent message from Jon “Bowzer” Bauman – yes that Bowzer, one of the legendary members of the rock and roll group, Sha Na Na.

Bowzer didn’t disappoint. He was indeed entertaining – the former rocker plays Chopin by ear. The talented musician performed a perfect rendition of one of the master’s compositions. But his real message was sandwiched around the music, and it came in the form of his support for senior citizens. Bauman is president of Social Security Works, a political action committee that advocates for senior citizens, and he was in Hanford Tuesday stumping for Democratic candidates.

T.J. Cox, who is running against District 21 Rep. David Valadao, makes a point during a "Seniors Vote" forum Tuesday at the Hanford Fraternal Hall.
T.J. Cox, who is running against District 21 Rep. David Valadao, makes a point during a "Seniors Vote" forum Tuesday at the Hanford Fraternal Hall.

“I don’t want to return to a time before Social Security and Medicare,” he told the crowd. “They were the most successful programs in U.S. history, and we need to keep them,” he reminded the audience between Chopin interludes.

Baumann told the audience that his organization, Social Security Works, grades members of Congress on social issues, and both David Valadao and Devin Nunes earned “a big fat zero, nada, nothing,” he said. “How low can you go.”

Baumann, a native of Brooklynn, New York, earned his musical chops at the famed Julliard School of Music, where he enrolled as a 12-year-old. He said it was his mother who forced him to take his piano lessons.

Baumann was invited to Tuesday’s forum by the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), an organization that advocates on behalf of seniors. Tuesday’s discussion was part of CARA’s “Seniors Vote” project, working to get out the senior vote in 2018. “Seniors Vote” is targeting five Congressional districts in 2018 where incumbents continue to whittle away at social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

The primary purpose of Tuesday’s forum was to introduce seniors to this year’s slate of congressional candidates vying for two Valley seats, the positions held by Valadao and Nunes. Both incumbents were invited to the forum, but neither bothered to show up or respond to the invitation. There were two empty seats on the podium with the candidates’ names.

T.J. Cox spoke first at Tuesday’s event. He is challenging Valadao in the 21st District while political newcomers Bobby Bliatout and Ricardo Franco are hoping to knock off long-term incumbent Devin Nunes in the 22nd District.

The Democratic “Blue Wave” could very well hit the Central Valley come November when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election. Included in the “wave” may be the seats held by the area's Republican incumbents.

A large audience, mostly senior citizens, was on hand Tuesday afternoon in the Hanford Fraternal Hall and heard from three distinct and impressive candidates, intent on sending the two long-term incumbents packing. The candidates’ messages were all very much similar: Congress is slowly but surely chipping away at the social networks that help Americans receive health care and comfort in their senior years.

Cox is an engineer, agricultural entrepreneur and small businessman who holds a chemical engineer degree from the University of Nevada and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. He is married to Kathleen Murphy; a pediatric intensive care physician and they are the parents of four children.

Cox labels Valadao as someone who puts partisan politics above the needs of the valley, and someone who works for special interests, not for the people of his district.

He said that actions by Congress are tearing away at the fabric of our social safety net, primarily Medicare and Social Security.  “They are taking away our dignity,” he said. “There should always be a social safety net.”

Bobby Bliatout, the son of Hmong immigrants who fought alongside American soldiers during the Vietnam War, is the top executive at Health and Life Organization, Inc. and Greater Fresno Health Organization which provide medical and dental services to more than 100,000 patients and employs nearly 300 persons.

He said he decided to run when Nunes and Congress began to chip away at the Affordable Care Act. “I want him out. I think you do too,” he told the crowd. One in five Americans, he said, is living in poverty. “I would make sure we never cut these programs,” he said. “No one should ever live in poverty.”

Also vying for the Nunes seat is Ricardo Franco, a Clovis West High School graduate and an alum of the Wharton School of Business, an Ivy League school based in Pennsylvania. Following his graduation, he returned to the Central Valley and got involved in the business world.

“We have to put people before profits,” he said, condemning the current system of private health care. “It simply doesn’t work. They (health companies) take your premiums and put it in the stock market,” he said. “We have to put people before profits.”

Nan Brasmer, CARA’s president and one of its founding figures, was pleased with the forum. “They pretty much seem to be experienced and appear to know what they’re talking about,” she said after the forum's conclusion.

Can these candidates ride that Blue Wave and knock off an entrenched Nunes or Valadao? The odds aren’t exactly with the newcomers. “We can only hope,” said an optimistic Brasmer. “I think any of the three of them would be very good. They did their homework,” she said. “We sent them questions in advance, so they knew we would focus on Medicare and Social Security. They did their homework, and they were able to articulate (their answers to the questions) when they were speaking, so the audience could understand they’re pretty much on the same page as we are.”

She said Valadao and Nunes could get knocked off if the people get out and vote, and that includes seniors, said Brasmer. “We want people to learn to think about it, and if they think about it … they will vote the way then need to vote which will turn the tide.”

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