Free Republic

SACRAMENTO, CA – A recent Los Angeles Times article revealed that California State Controller and gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly helped guide $5 million in pension funds to a venture capital firm run by two well-connected campaign contributors. Taxpayers and public employees should be concerned because this quid pro quo is the latest example of how politicians use California’s public employee retirement systems to benefit their campaign cronies. In 2003, Healthpoint Partners LP, a venture capital fund that invests in medical equipment companies, met with the investment team at CalPERS, the $207 billion pension fund that provides retirement security for 1.4...

House Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was aware of the story being developed against one of her members, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), and his questionable finances and the ensuing political troubles, yet did nothing to act on that knowledge. The Wall Street Journal last week reported that Mollohan's income and assets grew from the mundane (no more than $565,000 in 2000) to the magnificent (about $6 million, give or take a couple hundred thou in 2004). As the weekend wore down, while House Speaker Dennis Hastert was calling for Mollohan to step aside as ranking member on the House Ethics...

Oakland City Council president and mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente admitted Friday to a violation of state ethics laws when he acknowledged receiving more than $2,000 in free valet parking at San Francisco International Airport in 2004. De La Fuente failed to list the pass as a gift as required by law on his Statement of Economic Interest for 2004, an omission that he called "a mistake." The amount was nearly $1,700 in excess of the limit a politician can receive in personal gifts from a single source per year. After initially claiming he didn't use the pass and...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A pile of crisp $100 bills totaling $2,500 was intended to be given to Memphis state Rep. Larry Miller, according to video recorded by an undercover FBI agent involved in the Tennessee Waltz bribery sting. Using a miniature camera hidden in his shirt, Joseph Carroll, posing as corrupt businessman Joe Carson, recorded conversations over a two-day period in a 3.5 hour of video obtained by The Commercial Appeal. In the video, Carroll instructs Charles Love, a lobbyist and former member of Hamilton County Board of Education, to deliver the $2,500 to Miller. Miller has long acknowledged...

Olympia, Wash. -- Washington lawmakers passed a gay rights bill Friday in a major victory for activists who had watched the measure fail in the Legislature for nearly 30 years. The bill passed the Senate 25-23, with a lone Republican joining Democrats in voting in favor. The House approved it 61-37, and Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire said she would sign it on Tuesday. "We don't choose who we love. The heart chooses who we will love," said Republican Sen. Bill Finkbeiner. "And I don't believe that it is right for us to say ... that it's acceptable to discriminate against...

Washington -- Republican leader Newt Gingrich helped the GOP recapture the House in 1994 by portraying Democrats as too corrupt to lead after a series of scandals that led to the resignation of some of the party's top leaders. More than a decade later, the roles are reversed. As the party in power, Republicans now are under fire for ethical problems ranging from Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleading guilty last week to taking $2.4 million in bribes, to the mushrooming scandal involving GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's indictment on charges of violating campaign finance...

When California voters rejected, by a strong 3-2 majority, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget reform measure last week, it left the fiscal status quo intact - and that means that the state's deficit-ridden budget continues to gush red ink. California is still obligated by either law or political mandate to spend roughly 5 percent to 7 percent more than its revenue system can produce, even during a prosperous economy. The deficits have mounted for five years despite steadily improving revenue, covered by borrowing tens of billions of dollars, because Democrats refuse to entertain major spending cuts and Republicans refuse to consider...

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this summer that governments could seize homes and other property to facilitate private development projects, it touched off a political firestorm throughout the nation - including California - and fueled demands for new barriers to misuse of governmental "eminent domain" powers. California's version of the debate centered on the aggressive use of eminent domain - or the threat to use it - by city redevelopment agencies to assemble land for hotels, auto malls, big box retailers and other projects. Although California law says that redevelopment powers can be invoked only to combat "blight," local...

Democrat Ophelia Ford squeaked past her Republican opposition Thursday to win election to the state Senate post formerly held by her bother. Unofficial returns from the Shelby County Election Commission had Ford with 4,332 votes to 4,320 votes for Milling ton businessman Terry Roland, a difference of 12 votes. In early voting, Roland had 1,195 votes to Ford’s 771 votes. John Ford, Ophelia’s brother, had held the seat for 31 years before resigning in May to face federal bribery charges.

The looming special election battle that pits Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and business leaders against Democrats and unions doubtlessly affected - and obviously distorted - the Legislature's just-concluded session. The Legislature's handling of any issue of more than ephemeral weight was programmed with its potential effect on the governor and the special election campaign in mind. Democrats sidetracked anything they calculated would improve Schwarzenegger's battered image - his solar power initiative being a prime example - while lavishing votes on measures that their allies supported, many of which will be vetoed. The session's dynamics provided new evidence that the Capitol is...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may not like the policy implications of some of the high-profile bills Democrats sent him as the legislative session wound down, but his chief political strategist is thrilled. "It's great ammo for him," Mike Murphy said in an interview. "What the Dems have done in the last 48 hours is worth a couple of points for us." Murphy's spin on the legislative session is arguable. Many Democrats obviously disagree. But there's no question Schwarzenegger plans to trumpet his message while campaigning for his Nov. 8 ballot measures that some of the bills underscore the need for reform....

SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers approved hundreds of bills in the last days of a contentious 2005 session that the Senate's leader nevertheless called "a year of wasted opportunities." Many of the biggest measures are headed for vetoes, including bills that would allow gay marriages and let illegal immigrants have driver's licenses. And a massive effort to promote solar energy use was left on the negotiating table when the Assembly and Senate adjourned late Thursday night, a day earlier than they were scheduled to depart. Lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger managed to avoid another lengthy deadlock over a state budget this...

NASHVILLE - All lawmakers can do is watch and wait as a federal probe into bribery and corruption at the state Capitol continues to sink colleagues. Legislators said they have heard the rumors that more arrests are on the way, but don't know if it will include local officials like the one nabbed last week or more state lawmakers. Like in May, when four sitting lawmakers were arrested on their way to work, they expect to be the last to know. "I believe the Department of Justice and the FBI know a lot more about these investigations than I do,"...

SACRAMENTO - After more than seven months of wrangling, negotiating and pleading for votes, California legislators will try to put the finishing touches on about 400 bills as their 2005 session ends this week. Measures that would recognize gay marriages, raise the minimum wage, allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses and promote a massive expansion of solar power need to clear final hurdles in the next few days to reach the governor's desk. Also on lawmakers' agendas are bills that would boost nutrition requirements for school food, require identifying marks on handgun bullets to help solve crimes, allow alternatives...

Employment market fails to match economic surges, researchers sayBERKELEY - Despite a sizzling economic recovery, the job market in California remains a chilly environment for some workers, UC Berkeley researchers said in a report released Sunday.California's economy also has become more vulnerable to a correction in the super-heated housing market because a growing share of the statewide employment base consists of construction and real estate jobs, economists at the school warned in a briefing timed for Labor Day weekend.The bottom line: Californians have seen no more than a modest improvement in employment and wages in the recent recovery, according to...

When Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata laments that "we've wasted most of this year," he might have been referring to Senate Bill 794, a Democratic bill that would have implemented Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's much-needed proposal to shore up the state's deteriorating vocational education system. A third of California's high school students are dropping out without diplomas, but school administrators are slashing programs that might keep some of them in school by providing training for high-paying blue-collar jobs that are going begging for lack of workers. Schwarzenegger proposed a $20 million appropriation to begin restoring what is now called...

NASHVILLE - The tradition of state legislators asking lobbyists and others for political money on the night before they begin making policy decisions may be abandoned on a voluntary basis amid a growing controversy over lawmaker ethics. The House and Senate Republican Caucus chairmen say they will change the date of their annual fund-raising receptions to at least a month before the Jan. 10 starting date of the 2006 legislative session. The House and Senate Democratic chairmen say they are considering a similar change, though they have some misgivings. Disclosures filed with the Registry of Election Finance show the Republican...

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers shift into high gear this week as they try to finish work on hundreds of bills, including measures to legalize gay marriages, raise the minimum wage and allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses. Legislators are scheduled to wrap up their 2005 session next week, and most of the biggest bills of the year and dozens of less significant ones still need final votes. Both the Assembly and Senate plan long sessions between now and Sept. 9, the last day they're scheduled to meet this year. Here are some of the issues still on lawmakers' agendas:...

NASHVILLE - Sen. John Ford joined all his Senate colleagues in giving final legislative approval Monday night to ethics legislation touted in some respects as the strongest in the nation. The Memphis Democrat voted after declaring the law would not apply to his much-questioned consulting fees. The 33-0 Senate vote sends the bill to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who has indicated he will sign it into law. The House passed the bill 92-3 last week. Under the bill, it becomes a crime from July 1 hence for elected officials, including those in state and local governments, to accept consulting fees from...

After three years in litigation, the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District has found itself on the losing end of a lawsuit filed by the Santa Barbara Libertarian Party — a lawsuit that has already taken a $250,000 bite out of the IVRPD’s modest budget. The lawsuit began in November 2001 when Robert Bakhaus, secretary for the local office of the Libertarian Party, sued the IVRPD Board of Directors for committing several violations of the Brown Act, California’s law requiring all meetings of local legislative bodies be open to the public. In a Dec. 23, 2004 decision, Santa Barbara County...