Legislation in California is not based on need, concern or for the good of the people. It is based on power politics, the Nanny State and extortion. Extortion? Yup. Like organized crime politicians run a game on corporations. Either give us large donations or we will regulate or tax you out of business. Like profits, give us donations to tax “the other fella”—you survive.
Democrats want “campaign finance reform”, yet they succeed based on any finance laws—since they control legislation. This is why a supermajority hurts us all…but that also means the Republicans can not vote for tax increases or AB 32 type legislation. Pass this on, let others know that government school textbooks showing how legislation becomes law is just a fairy tale.
See the full story by clicking on the blue headline
Editorial by Stephen Frank, California Political News and Review, 6/17/13
About a week ago Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association wrote about how the Sacramento Democrats extort money from Big Corporations, for pro-tax increase and other bad State ballot measures.
The system is simple. A Democrat Assemblyman or Senator introduces a bill to say, raise the tax on soda. The Democrat Party goes to the soda makers and tell them “if you donate to raise taxes by $6-7 billion a year on “commoners”, then we won’t pay a soda tax.
The Coupal article is called “Shakedowns”
For example, not long ago soft drink manufacturers rushed to contribute millions to Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 campaign to increase taxes on everyone else knowing that — as social pariahs who scheme to make children obese — they were being targeted by the tax-and-spend majority in the Legislature. Helping Brown and his legislative allies with a broad-based tax hike was putting a huge deposit in the “favor bank.”
By introducing bills threatening taxes on interests that can afford to defend themselves, and then tabling the measures for reconsideration next year, members of the majority party have another 12 months to run their highly profitable shakedown racket, pressing politically vulnerable industries for campaign contributions.”
Now we have a multi-billion scam by the Governor to build a “Delta Tunnel”, which moves water from north to south—but does not create a single drop of new water. The water will be used in the Central Valley for two products—agriculture and fracking (the drilling process to get oil out of the ground using water as a main ingredient to the process.
The Democrats introduced several bills that would make it impossible to use fracking California. And, if they did, it would add high regulatory costs to the product, meaning Texas and North Dakota would not have any competition from California for fracked oil.
The Los Angeles Times explained how these bills magically disappeared. “In the two years ending Dec. 31, 2012, oil companies Chevron, British Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Valero Energy contributed $464,450 to state legislators, according to MapLight, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization.
Of 12 bills on fracking, 10 stalled or were voted down by the deadline last month, including one, AB 1323, that would have imposed a moratorium.”
But, this is money given by the oil companies directly to legislators. The Democrat Party had to get money as well. But, they set up a separate PAC to accept oil money. That is because Democrats openly hate oil companies, so can not take their money. Instead the unions and the Democrat Party were “pleased to see” the creation of “Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy”—which by the way ONLY donates to Democrats. Leticia Perez the Democrat candidate for State Senate in the Central Valley Special Election has received over $100,000 from this PAC, Andy Vidak, the Republican, $0.
Chevron since April 17, 2013 gave the Committee $250,000. Here is a list of the last 25 donations to this anti-worker, anti-job Democrat PAC:
Last 25 contributions to Californians For Jobs And I
Strong Economy
0611212013: Occidental Oil And Gas Corporation (Los Angeles, CA) $2S,O0O
061 1212013: Chevron Corporation (Sacramento, CA) $1 OO,OOO
o011212013: Ca Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee (Los Angeles, CA) $4,200
0611212013: Technology Network Technet California pac (palo Atto, CA) g2,5OO
0611212013: Covanta Energy Corp (Morristown, NJ) $S,OOO
0611212013: Gmri, lnc, (Sacramento, CA) $25,000
O5l12l2013i Anthem Blue Cross (Mason, OH) $15,000
0411712013: Union pacific Railroad Company (Sacramento, CA) US,OOO
041 1712013: Chevron Corporation (Sacramento, CA) $100,000
0411712013: ca-Nevada conference of operating Engineers pac (sacramento, cA) g5,ooo
o411712013: Farmpac (Sacramento, CA) $3,000
0411712013: Associated General Contractors pac (West Sacramento, CA) $g,OO0
0410712013 Eisai Inc (Woodctiff Lake, NJ) $8,000
04107 12013: Entertainment Software Association (Washington, DC) $3,000
0410712013: Agricultural Council Of California pAC p (Sacramento, CA) $3,500
0410712013: Tejon Ranch Company (Sacramento, CA) $5,OOO
0410712013: Enterprise Holdings, Inc. pac (St Louis, MO) 93,OOO
0410712013 Aetna, Inc. (Hartford, CT) $S,OOO
04107120131 Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. (Granite Bay, CA) g7,SOO
Note that unions have not given to the pro-union spending PAC. Why should they? Crony capitalists, buying favors in Sacramento are donating the money used for Democrat candidate to beat pro-worker, pro-job, pro-freedom Republican candidates.
The good news for the corporations is that bills increasing taxes on them, like the oil severance tax and fracking moratorium efforts, have been killed. The bad news for the people of California is that consumers are providing the money for crony capitalists to donate money to Democrats, to assure the poor and middle class are highly taxed. When will corporations stand up to the Democrat bullies and out them as extortionists.
