CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014, OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“STATE
SENATE MUST DO MORE TO RESTORE TRUST”
Ever since San Francisco’s Leland Yee
joined his colleagues Ron Calderon of Montebello and Roderick Wright of Los
Angeles on the state Senate’s indicted/convicted list and then all three were
suspended, other senators have recognized they must restore the public’s trust.
That
won’t happen if suspensions are all those other senators are willing to mete
out against their allegedly crooked brethren. Nothing less than expulsions and
quick special elections for replacements can prove the Senate still knows why
it exists.
The proven and alleged crimes of the
Senate Three would be enough to justify severe action, just as a state senator
indicted for bribery was expelled in 1905.
Meanwhile,
keeping Yee, Calderon and Wright on suspension – with pay, no less – leaves
almost one-tenth of Californians unrepresented in their Senate. Remember, all
three men purveyed one common message during their many election campaigns:
Only they could provide the most effective service available. So much for that.
Today they provide no service. In
sustaining the trio's similar struggles for political survival and personal
freedom, other senators appear to have forgotten they were elected not just to
collect paychecks and perks, but to represent Californians and further the public
good. In each case, the public would be best served by not letting the Senate’s
alleged crooks hang on for many months while their cases and appeals play out.
None of the three has yet shown the
slightest willingness to consider stepping down. Calderon, accused of political
corruption, and Wright, convicted of using a false address when filing to
run for office, are both stonewalling and their mostly Democratic colleagues
keep enabling them even though their legal woes reduced the party’s Senate edge
below the magic two-thirds majority margin needed to pass some laws.
With Wright and Calderon first on
leave and now suspended while their cases play out, Democrats failed to push
through several measures, including a key bill aiming to force revelations of
“dark money” contributors to political campaigns. Not one Republican voted for
that one, all it would have taken for passage, but if the Democrats still had a
two-thirds margin, the predictable GOP solidarity against sunlight would
not have mattered.
Now comes Yee, indicted in late March
for both firearms trafficking and political corruption. He may yet resign his
post – from which he’ll be termed out by year’s end anyhow. For sure, his
candidacy for secretary of state, California’s chief elections officer, ended
with his arrest.
Yee’s absence puts the Democrats
another vote shy of the supermajority they reveled in for about a year after
the 2012 elections. If the three troubled senators left or were booted, voter
registration numbers in their districts assure those seats would remain
Democratic. Their stubborn attempts to continue political life make it clear
they care less about public policy than personal interest. One thing each
retains (besides their salaries) even while suspended is a possible plea
bargain negotiating chip: At some point, prosecutors may offer the option
of resigning in exchange for lighter treatment.
Said Yee’s fellow San Francisco state
Sen. Mark Leno, “Every indictment, every arrest, every arraignment, even every
suspicion or allegation, reflects very poorly on each of us and all of us (in
the Senate).”
Mere words like those are not enough.
Until the Senate is willing to expel and not just suspend members when they
fall into disgrace, voters will be justified in figuring most senators care
more about their own skins and pocketbooks than the policies to which they
claim devotion.
Yee’s case is classic for this. If
convicted of the firearms charges against him, the longtime gun-control
advocate will be exposed as one of the greatest hypocrites in California
history.
It all raises the question of why
other state senators have been so reluctant to throw out their disgraced or
convicted colleagues. One possible answer to that question might be that many
have skeletons in their own closets or fear they might someday.
There is, of course, no proof of this,
but who could blame voters for believing it?
The bottom line: If politicians were
more concerned about policy than their own skins, they’d be gone the moment
they can no longer represent their constituents and further policies they
claim to love.
-30-
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
Elias is author of the current book “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government's Campaign to Squelch It,” now available in an updated third edition. His email address is tdelias@aol.com
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