Hey, Kevin McCarthy: Since you’re no longer speaker, why not act for the Valley? | Opinion

Greetings and salutations, Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Now that you’re no longer speaker of the House and your name will soon disappear from the headlines, there’s no better time for a reinvention.

A shift in priorities, if you will.

Rather than devoting yourself to the accumulation of political power and having to placate the deplorable right wing of your own Republican party, you have an opportunity to start fresh.

Mainly due to your own doing (i.e. sucking up to Donald Trump, scapegoating Democrats over the budget impasse), overseeing the House of Representatives is no longer your responsibility.

But you know what is? Representing the people of California’s Congressional District 20, many of whom you barely know following redistricting and had little time for amid your wheelings and dealings in Washington, D.C.

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Because of your relationships and fundraising prowess, it seems unlikely you’ll wind up a back-bencher. Still, no matter how far you fall politically, there will always be a group of people willing to catch you.

Those people are your constituents, Kevin, myself included. And we could sure use a congressman who cares about local and regional issues, rather than the constant pursuit of national clout.

Devin Nunes, your predecessor in the Fresno County and Tulare County portions of your district, hardly paid us any mind. After waging unsuccessful battles over water rights, the dairy farmer threw himself into foreign affairs until he wound up chest deep in Trump’s manure pile.

Instead of following that same path — which seems unlikely based on how recent events unfolded — why not turn over a new leaf? The main criticism against you is that you lack any deep convictions or principles beyond what it takes to win the next election. Here’s a chance to prove the detractors wrong. Become a policy maker and bread-winner for the central and southern San Joaquin Valley.

Focus on immigration, Highway 99

Thanks to the whims of the California Redistricting Commission, you have been handed one of the safest seats in Congress. It’s a long shot that anyone besides a Kern County-based Republican ever serves until the squiggly lines are redrawn in 2031.

The thing is, many of the issues that continue to plague your district and the Valley as a whole don’t really have an inherent political bias. If a politician or group of them stepped up to resolve them, all of us living here would benefit.

The most glaring is immigration. Our region’s largest and top-producing industry — agriculture — is built on the backs of farm laborers, about half of whom are undocumented immigrants.

These are people who live among us and contribute to our economy. Yet there’s not even a guest worker program available for them, let alone a path to citizenship. Forcing them to live in constant fear of deportation.

Now that Trump and his stupid acolytes are no longer your problem, congressman, forget the made-up border “crisis” and focus on real solutions for immigration.

Here’s another glaring regional sore spot unlikely to start any political disagreements: Highway 99.

In short, it’s horrible and Caltrans appears over its head. Around Bakersfield, Merced and Selma-Kingsburg, the same segments of 99 have been under construction for years — with no end in sight.

Eons ago, there was talk of getting 99 redesignated so it would be part of the interstate highway system (rather than a state highway) and thus eligible for more federal transportation funds.

D.C. dealmaking know-how

I don’t know how far those efforts got, but we could sure use a congressman with D.C. dealmaking know-how to pick up that ball and carry it into the end zone.

Congressman McCarthy, why should your constituents have to put up with a freeway that’s like driving in a Third World country? What are you going to do about it?

In the last congressional session, you sponsored a bipartisan bill to help prevent our remaining giant sequoias from being consumed by wildfire. That didn’t go unnoticed. However, it was also something of a rare occurrence.

The extreme flooding that portions of the Valley experienced last spring proved how woefully unprepared we are for such events, not to mention the glaring lack of regulation over flood control. If the state refuses to do anything, perhaps that’s a task for you and your Capitol Hill colleagues.

In decades past, the federal government built a system of reservoirs and conveyance systems in California to move water. Why can’t we do the same thing now, except store that water underground?

I realize that none of these local and regional concerns are as sexy as banging the speaker’s gavel or serving as the GOP leader in the House. To wield so much power must feel intoxicating, so there will definitely be an adjustment period.

But despite your fall from grace, you’re still a congressman — our congressman. And we deserve active, engaged representation, not someone who sits around licking his wounds while plotting his big comeback.