Does anybody doubt there are corrupt people in Sacramento? Democrat Senate Wright was convicted of eight felony counts. Sen. Calderon was indicted on 24 counts. And Democrat Senator Yee was selling AK-47 and bazooka’s he received from Muslim terrorists, to be shipped to New Jersey.
But, what do you think of a candidate for Assembly that gets $148,000 from a union, where the members are forced to join or not be allowed to work.
“Wright has been a long time scandal for Sacramento Democrats. In 2010 Senate leaders secretly approved a $120,000 settlement with public dollars in a harassment claim against Wright, and they sealed the details of that suit. No further action was taken until Wright was finally convicted of his voter fraud charges. Wright should have been an easy decision and been expelled immediately upon his conviction this January. As a felon he can no longer vote in the general election process, but he could still pass laws for the rest of us?”
Makes you proud? Angry yet? This article was written by my good friend Robert Jeffers of the Central Coast.
The nexus between crime and politics runs over Sacramento
Robert Jeffers, 4/2/14
Something is rotten in the state of California. In a state that has been virtually a one-party political machine for the last three decades we are now reaping the spoiled fruits of a powerful and corrupt political class to rival any Netflix special series. One state Senator, Roderick Wright, has been convicted of eight counts of voter fraud and perjury. Another, Senator Ronald Calderon, has been indicted under a Federal bribery sting. Now we find a third indicted for arms trafficking and public corruption – Senator Leland Yee is now home only after posting a half-million dollar bail.
It goes far beyond those convicted and indicted – it goes beyond even those who are still under the eye of the Federal Investigation, including Yee’s fellow gun-grabbing colleague Senator Kevin De León and even Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. The charges and convictions, as shocking as they are, are only part of a greater problem festering in Sacramento. As stunning as Yee’s ties to gun-runners may be, or even that Yee will be able to use his campaign coffers to pay his own legal defense, these facts are nowhere near as disconcerting as a legislature, capable of passing laws for the rest of us, that is unwilling to deal with criminal activity right in their midst.
On Friday, the California State Senate finally voted to suspend Senators Wright, Calderon, and Yee. This single action only happened after the scale of Yee’s indictment drew global attention to the Senate’s dirty laundry – Wright was convicted two months prior to the Senate finally suspended him this week. The indicted Calderon similarly surrendered to Federal prosecutors in February, but it took to the last Friday in March for Senate Democrats to finally be willing to discipline him. Until now, both men have only been on voluntary leaves of absences, but Steinberg refused to do any more than request they resign – they refused, of course. While actually being a convicted felon, Roderick Wright actually could have come off his leave and served in the Senate chambers – consider that.
“At least the Senate finally acted” you might say – but what kind of action? The Senate chose to suspend the three – not expel them – so their seats stay safe from special elections, and they will still receive their cushy $95,000 salaries while they sit out their suspensions. Yes, their combined salaries mean little towards reigning in the largess that is Sacramento spending, but the unwillingness to go any further with these disciplines is very disturbing.
Steinberg claims the suspension was only as far as he could go considering that Yee and Calderon are not yet convicted. It’s a convenient excuse for the immediate action but it does nothing to explain why Wright wasn’t handled as an individual case, or what he and his Democrat majority have done up to the vote Friday.
Wright has been a long time scandal for Sacramento Democrats. In 2010 Senate leaders secretly approved a $120,000 settlement with public dollars in a harassment claim against Wright, and they sealed the details of that suit. No further action was taken until Wright was finally convicted of his voter fraud charges. Wright should have been an easy decision and been expelled immediately upon his conviction this January. As a felon he can no longer vote in the general election process, but he could still pass laws for the rest of us? Steinberg danced around the Wright conviction for a full two months, despite numerous calls to at least suspend him. Even Calderon was given the option by Steinberg to take a leave of absence, instead of facing the immediate suspension by his Senate colleagues.
This isn’t even a crime of omission – Senate Democrats acted twice to block efforts of the Republican minority to deal with Wright and Calderon – first blocking a resolution to expel Wright upon his conviction in January. “Senator Wright has already left the building,” Steinberg said at the time from the floor, adding that he would not come back unless the judge overturns the jury’s verdict against him. That still allowed Wright to collect a salary while denying the constituents of Wright’s district their right to representation. They did it again earlier this month when Republican minority leader Bob Huff put forward resolutions to at least suspend both Wright and then-recently-indicted Calderon. Steinberg again called the resolutions “unnecessary”. He and fellow Democrats instead voted to send all the above to die in Steinberg’s purgatory – the Senate Rules Committee – to die and be forgotten.
Steinberg and his Democratic majority intentionally stood astride this process until Yee grabbed the headlines and the public started paying attention. There’s no point even questioning the change of heart because it’s simple: it’s election season and the corrupt closed-room deals don’t sell well with the voters. “Accountability” is good for turnout! But as soon as the media circus dies down, will all the concerns for accountability and visibility vaporize back to politics as usual? Steinberg’s unwillingness to keep his own house in order will keep a black cloud over the Capitol building so long as Steinberg remains in leadership – the whole while Yee, Wright, and Calderon will continue to profit off of California taxpayers.
As a Tea Partier and an equal opportunity basher of both parties, I do have my criticisms for Capitol Republicans. Most have not done their duty to protect the integrity of the political process they swore to uphold. Minority Leader Bob Huff supported Steinberg in his actions to quietly send Wright away on a leave of absence. Even his eventual resolution against Wright in March was only to suspend him. In fact, only three Republicans stood up to call for Wright’s expulsion – Senators Joel Anderson, Andy Vidak, and Steve Knight. Only one was brave enough to call for the expulsion of all three – Senator Anderson. Despite every opportunity to take a firm stand, Democrats only allowed Steinberg’s “wrist-slap” resolution to pass. Anderson viewed his resolution as “disingenuous” – which earns him the understatement award for 2014.
The Republican minority is allowing Steinberg to brush this under the rug by not doing what they can to make this the big issue it should be. Not only is it bad form, It’s not even smart politics – a united Republican minority could not block the suspension resolution, so at the least Yee, Calderon and Wright would have still been suspended. But it would have put the Republicans in the limelight as the ones standing against the soft-pedaling of corruption in Sacramento. It would have fired up the base, and it would have realigned Republicans with voters who have grown suspicious of the party’s integrity. It would have kept the media spotlight on the Democrats even longer, potentially exposing more corruption – but it looks like that moment is now gone.
So this is where we stand – and it rivals any political thriller: Politicians are now passing laws that empower crime lords against their own constituents, and cronyism and bribery run amok. Democrat leaders are shielding criminals through omission and commission to protect their own political ambitions. Convicted felons are enjoying a taxpayer funded vacations in perpetuity and using honest-given campaign dollars to fund their legal defense. And the Republican minority is again missing a golden opportunity to take a stand that realigns them with the public on an issue we all can agree on for once.
The biggest political scandal since Watergate will be brushed under the rug, to be forgotten under the theater of a primary election. Will the bad guys get away with it? Not quite the resolution that makes for happy television. As Californians, we’ve become pretty complacent about Sacramento corruption – it’s almost become an expectation that mob and public politics share offices. We used to demand more of our leaders – and some of us still do. That’s why there’s a Tea Party – and we won’t let this corruption issue die without a fight.
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Robert Jeffers is the Communications Coordinator for the Tea Party California Caucus - an organization mobilizing conservatives within the California Republican Party. Robert is a former district chairman for the Santa Barbara County Republican Party, and does transportation and environmental policy research for several municipalities throughout the state. He currently lives
