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Some context for that year in CA politics: State Senator Ron Calderon was indicted by the feds in a pay-to-play sting on a film tax credit, State Senator Rod Wr

by ceades 11y ago

Some context for that year in CA politics: State Senator Ron Calderon was indicted by the feds in a pay-to-play sting on a film tax credit, State Senator Rod Wright was sentenced to 90 days in prison for breaking the law about living in your district (he served only a few hours, CA prisons are too overcrowded), and then State Senator Leland Yee was indicted by the feds in a sting that was actually meant to get Raymond Shrimp Boy Chow but ensnared a State Senator by chance. The State Senate actually suspended all three members. CA remains a popular target for federal stings, Shrimpscam was a famous example of a federal sting that ensnared many members way back, but now there are much more recent examples. It was a crazy year, and the indictment for Leland Yee was nuts, it read like a crime novel.

imglorp 11y ago
One might argue that political corruption has a huge negative impact on society and democracy. There are absolutely victims at all levels, for many years after their dirty deeds. Contrast this to all people in jail for crimes that really haven't hurt anyone. The real crooks are the ones that should be smacked extra hard.
DrScump 11y ago
Interesting thing about the Wright case: Many CA legislators were infamous about running for districts in which they did not live. One of these was David Roberti, a member of the Democrat leadership who built his career on firearms ban (CA's first "assault-weapon ban" was officially the Roberti-Roos act). The CA media generally refused to report on this until he was term-limited out. I always wondered if one of the reasons that Wright was left to twist in the wind was that he dared oppose the Democrat leadership on some issues... like gun bans. <The State Senate actually suspended all three members.> I don't know if any was suspended before suffering felony indictments. Calderon was not only not suspended, he officially remained in office (drawing full salary and benefits) for the rest of his term. Wright was not suspended until after his felony convictions.

by ceades 11y ago

imglorp 11y ago

One might argue that political corruption has a huge negative impact on society and democracy. There are absolutely victims at all levels, for many years after their dirty deeds. Contrast this to all people in jail for crimes that really haven't hurt anyone. The real crooks are the ones that should be smacked extra hard.

DrScump 11y ago

Interesting thing about the Wright case: Many CA legislators were infamous about running for districts in which they did not live. One of these was David Roberti, a member of the Democrat leadership who built his career on firearms ban (CA's first "assault-weapon ban" was officially the Roberti-Roos act). The CA media generally refused to report on this until he was term-limited out. I always wondered if one of the reasons that Wright was left to twist in the wind was that he dared oppose the Democrat leadership on some issues... like gun bans. <The State Senate actually suspended all three members.> I don't know if any was suspended before suffering felony indictments. Calderon was not only not suspended, he officially remained in office (drawing full salary and benefits) for the rest of his term. Wright was not suspended until after his felony convictions.