California - The Death Spiral State

Thank you, Bill Clinton!

Your open doors immigration policy successfully turned California into a one-party state and opened the door to the kind of ridiculous situation where California Democrats can continue to serve in the Senate after being convicted of corruption.

Besides laws are for the little people:

California State Senator Roderick Wright has been found guilty of living outside his Inglewood district when he successfully ran for his state seat in 2008.

Wright was found guilty by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury who deliberated less than two days before finding the Senator guilty of eight counts, including two counts of perjury, one count of filing a false declaration of candidacy and five counts of fraudulent voting in elections in 2008 and 2009, all felonies.

Why didn't the media catch this before?

Maybe it was too busy monitoring the donations of conservative voters.

Federal corruption charges against state Sen. Leland Yee, accused of soliciting campaign donations from undercover agents who sought political favors in return, put new light on donations he received while voting on legislation affecting his contributors.

California allows lawmakers to accept political donations while the Legislature is in session, so it is not unusual for money and votes to coincide. Yee has said his votes reflected his conscience, not his campaign accounts.

In his votes, Yee sometimes broke ranks with the Democratic Party and with his own San Francisco area delegation. A Times analysis of campaign reports by The Times, included in a story published Friday, shows that when he did, he often received money from the special interest he sided with, including a plastic bag manufacturer, chemical companies and casino interests.

"He was seen as pro-business," said Richard Temple, a Republican consultant, explaining why his firm agreed to do much of the work for a political committee that spent $670,000 in the 2011 San Francisco mayoral race in hopes of swinging the vote for Yee.

The committee, City Residents Opposing Ed Lee, officially was formed by labor organizations. Finance reports show at least half the money came from major corporations and business interests. The money included a $50,000 check from Philip Morris on the day of the election, even though Yee had boasted of refusing funding from tobacco companies.

Now that everyone knows he's a crook, the media decides to report on it.

Apparently, it's no longer in their interest to protect him.

//The Chronicle review of his voting record in the Legislature, where he is currently in his 12th year, shows more than 30 instances dating back to 2003 where he cast votes that were arguably counter to his stated positions or the interests of his constituents in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, and then received large campaign contributions from the industries that benefited. Those included chemical, oil and insurance companies, campaign contribution records show.

Corrupt Democrat within an ace of becoming California Secretary of State.

Thank you, news media, for keeping us informed!

I wonder if Yee's exit from the secretary of state race led to gnashing of teeth at the local Society of Professional Journalists chapter that so recently hailed Yee for his support of good government. I'm sure there was much glee from gun owners, who bristled at Yee's support for gun control.

Read the article for an object lesson that our government and our media are either totally corrupt or totally incompetent.