Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) has recently decided to lead an attack on the estate tax from the Democratic side of the aisle. Yesterday, he announced that he is sponsoring H.R. 4042, the Family Farm, Small Business and Home Tax Relief Act. Here's how a local newspaper reported on McNerney's proposal:

Two local papers in Rep. Jerry McNerney’s district yesterday carried full-page ads calling on voters to contact their Congressman and urge him to "stop the cuts" on Medicare and "stand up for the quality skilled nursing care California's seniors need." These ads were placed by the American Health Care Association and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care.

Yesterday, the WaPo published an article about Democrats softening on Iraq under the title "Senator Calls for Maliki's Ouster." As part of that article they quoted statements made by Rep. Jerry McNerney after his trip to Iraq at the end of July: That followed comments by Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) suggesting that his trip to Iraq made him more flexible in his search for a bipartisan accord on the future U.S.

On November 8, 2006, I celebrated along with the rest of the country over the election of Jerry McNerney. As one of the principal writers on the blog SayNoToPombo, I had worked incredibly hard to get McNerney elected, first in the primary and then again in the general. So you can imagine my confusion two weeks ago when McNerney returned from a weekend trip to Iraq spouting off Republican talking points.