Senator Facing Corruption Charges Looks for His Day in Court

by Brian Leubitz

Say goodbye to that Senate Supermajority, as Ron Calderon has announced that he will be taking a paid leave of absence to focus on the corruption charges he faces.

“This is not a resignation since I still have my day in court,” Calderon said in a statement. “However, due to the nature and complexity of the charges, and the discovery materials that I will have to review, I expect this to be a lengthy period of absence continuing until the end of the session in August.”(SacBee)

Now, I’m not sure that there were going to be a ton of supermajority votes coming up this session, so perhaps that takes away a bit of the sting. However, don’t tell MSNBC that, as they have a big headline on their homepage announcing that “Corruption suit costs Dems control of state” despite it actually doing nothing of the sort. (UPDATE: It now says “Dems lose supermajority in key state.” Not sure why they couldn’t say California, but hey, headline writers, amiright?)

On the more practical side of things, surely this will be annoying for Calderon’s constituents. However, the fact that he is not actually resigning means that the rather expensive process of a special election will likely be avoided.  The election would have been for a seat that has been redistricted out of existence, and would only have been filled for a few months by the time all is said and done. So, perhaps Calderon drawing a paycheck is actually the best of some pretty rotten choices.

Embattled Senator Faces Rules Committee to Keep Committee Assignments

by Brian Leubitz

Ron Calderon’s had a no-good, awful, very bad few days. But being named in an FBI investigation generally doesn’t make for good times. And while Sen. Steinberg notes that he doesn’t want to play judge and jury for the San Gabriel Valley senator, he would like to pull him off his committees to limit any appearances of improprieties. Sen Steinberg:

I am asking the Senate Rules Committee to temporarily remove Senator Ron Calderon as chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, pending resolution of the United States Attorney’s investigation into his conduct. I will also ask the Committee to temporarily remove Senator Calderon from all other committee assignments, pending the same investigation.

I do not make this request lightly, nor do I judge the truth of the publicly reported allegations. I am concerned, however, about keeping Senator Calderon in his positions. The allegations, though yet unproven, are serious enough to cloud any interactions the Senator might have with colleagues, advocates, and the public on issues within his jurisdiction.

The allegation that an elected official accepted money and other favors in exchange for official acts is perhaps the most serious breach of the public trust and the institution in which they serve. In other highly sensitive public situations that do not involve proven allegations of misconduct, public employers take similar actions. The public and the Senate deserve no less protection in the current situation.

Calderon has made no comment, and seems unlikely to fight the “temporary” changes. He’ll likely need to save his energy for a prospective prosecution and general fight for the future of the Calderon political dynasty. But George Skelton points out a little something about our political system: there is far too fine of a line between bribery and legal contributions.

In politics, there’s sleaze that can send a slimeball to prison. There also is legal bribery. Lots of it….  And I’m not saying that legal bribery is as odorous as smelly sleaze. But it does tend to emit a stench. Campaign money actually gets a bad rap, to one degree. It costs a fair amount to run a competitive race.

If the public is unwilling to finance the campaigns of state politicians – and public financing has become impractical anyway, because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings – then the political funds must come from some other source. A very wealthy candidate might be willing to finance his own campaign, but normally the funding is supplied by favor-seeking special interests.(George Skelton / LA Times)

Skelton goes on to list a few of the many ways rich donors can curry favor with cash, and how those politicians can then spend it. Of course there is a stench, but this is the system that we chose, or at least the system that the Supreme Court has chosen for us. It is a system that is dominated by those with the most readily available cash.

We should do everything in our power to root out corruption, but we have to do as much as possible to clean up the system that makes corruption, legal and illegal, so readily available.

Photo credit: Sen. Ron Calderon’s office. Caption: “Senator Calderon, accompanied by his older brother, Assemblymember Charles Calderon, and the Senator’s nephew, Ian Calderon, as they prepare to begin giving the turkeys to the local community organizations that participated in Operation Gobble.”

State Senator caught in undercover sting

by Brian Leubitz

Calderons and corruption? Well, shocking as it may be, Sen. Ron Calderon is currently involved in an undercover corruption sting.

State Sen. Ronald Calderon accepted bribes from a Southern California hospital executive who ran an alleged workers’ compensation scheme that brought the executive tens of millions of dollars, according to a sealed FBI affidavit obtained by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit.

In exchange for payments to family members, Calderon, a Democrat who represents a suburban district here, protected the interests in Sacramento of Michael Drobot, who ran a busy spinal surgery clinic in Long Beach, Calif., the affidavit says. The document says Calderon ensured that changes to state law would not injure Drobot’s lucrative business of providing spinal fusion surgery, which joins two or more vertebrae. (Al Jazeera America)

The article reads like an old school political hack job, but Al Jazeera says they got the material from the FBI affidavit. Stay classy Calderons!

Both are seeking districts with no incumbents, but may face a moving incumbent

by Brian Leubitz

With seemingly final lines set for next year’s elections, expect a lot of moving trucks around Los Angeles.  But the upheaval also means that some new folks are trying to muscle their way into the term limits free halls of Congress. You can view the proposed districts here.

Two such names that announced today are Sen. Ron Calderon and Asm. Tony Cardenas.  Calderon will be seeking the proposed 38th district, which includes Cerritos, Artesia, Norwalk, and Whittier.  Cardenas is looking at San Fernando Valley’s 29th district.

But don’t expect either of these two to face a cakewalk.  The Calderon district has about 51% of voters from Rep. Linda Sanchez, and she’s drawn into a district with Grace Napolitano.  And frankly, between Ron Calderon and Sanchez, there really isn’t much of a debate as to who the better member of Congress would be.

You may have noticed that I don’t always agree with Ron Calderon and his legislative priorities.  You know, killing bills that block the dumping of indigent hospital patients and releasing private prescription data to marketers just isn’t my thing.  But today he has a new honor, being named the Worst Legislator in California with his brother Asm. Charles Calderon.

Of course, Calderon isn’t the first to win this award from the LA Weekly, that honor goes to Felipe Fuentes for, well, being a California legislator.  The knock on Fuentes made last year could just as well have been made on almost every legislator in the Capitol.  The problem they pointed out with Fuentes was that he was “authoring” bills actually written by “sponsoring” interests.  Yes, Fuentes does that, and he might take the art to new levels, but he is hardly unique.  This is just part of the crazy, messed-up system we have in Sacramento. (Incidentally, if you’d like to learn just how messed up it is, Ray LeBov can teach you a lot in his Lobbying 101 class).

So, yes, “special interests” write most of our bills, and, yes, that is totally and completely messed up.  But, as for Fuentes, hate the game, don’t hate the player.  Well, maybe tell the player to knock it the hell off, and wait for him to get termed out.  And the Brothers Calderon’s “award” starts with a similar trope of bill “sponsors.”  But more importantly it moves on to how they have been key players on Team PayDayLoan:

The reward for Calderon has been significant. According to MAPLight, he received more in direct campaign contributions connected to the payday and title loans special-interest group – $31,450 – than any other member of the Assembly in the 2009-10 or 2010-11 sessions. In the state Senate, his brother Ron received the most from the payday group – $50,000.

The current $300 loans cost a fee of $45, the maximum allowed. But the fee is deducted from the loan, leaving the borrower just $255 – and beholden for $300. That must be repaid within two weeks. The average payday loan customer takes out seven such loans each year. …

Charles Calderon argues that the current $300 limit barely pays the bills. “There are people who think payday lenders are vultures,” he says. “I don’t think I’m in a position to decide what [people’s] reasons are for wanting these loans. I represent East L.A., and those people need that money when they need it, sometimes to save the family car. I grew up in East L.A. in a poor family. I know desperation. Desperate people do desperate things.”

The assemblyman bristles when he’s accused of taking money for his vote, or as payback for carrying a bill for special interests.

“I might take money from a bank or a union, and then two or three years down the road I vote on a bill affecting that bank or union – and I get criticized because they gave me money years before.”

Not always “two or three years” later. As MAPLight.org points out regarding his yes vote on AB 2774, the big sums appeared in Calderon’s campaign chest within days. (LA Weekly)

As Asm. Holly Mitchell (D-47th, SE LA) pointed out, these lenders are vultures who are preying on the vulnerable.  Making Californians more vulnerable is not the answer.

But that’s not all for the Brothers Calderon.  Today, the LA Times revealed the dirty work that the Calderons have been doing for their local water agency:

Central Basin has also paid Oldtimers’ board president, former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, more than $750,000 in consulting fees since 2004 for political and legislative advice.

Calderon’s two brothers, both state legislators, have defended the water district’s interests in Sacramento. In 2009, Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) helped thwart an audit of Central Basin’s books. This year, Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) proposed legislation that could reduce the fees Central Basin’s customers pay for groundwater.

Tom and Ron Calderon, as well as Central Basin officials and contractors, helped finance a recall effort in 2008 against two council members in the City of Commerce who were critics of the water district, records show. (LA Times

The Calderons are certainly not the only ones who will do you a favor for some campaign cash or a gig for their brother, but they certainly strike a stunning profile in the art.  Ron is termed out in 2014, Charles in 2012.  Although, I suppose it wouldn’t shock anybody to see Tom Calderon run for the Senate seat in 2014 so that they can continue their, umm, service to the people of California.

One of the issues with the so called “moderates” in the California Democratic party isn’t so much where they disagree on social issues, because that rarely comes up anymore.  It is where they are able to be swayed by, typically, large corporate interests to put the interests of the few over the interests of the many.  That’s really not being moderate, that’s something entirely different, that doesn’t serve constituents or the state in general.  If you have beliefs, fine, let’s talk about them.  But I’m not so sure the Calderons really want to have a very public debate about the finer points of payday loans or water policy vis a vis their consulting contracts.

Clearly the laws of the State of California leave gaping holes for dirty money to seep in, and much of it is completely legal while some others skirt the lines.  However, we needn’t strive to walk that line, but rather look for ways to cut dramatically back on this crap.  And perhaps some political dynasties, the state of California would be better doing without.

The Calderons are hardly the first, and they certainly won’t be the last.  However, we can hope that a little sunshine from organizations like MapLight can discourage the skeazier of these actions.

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see a “Rock the Vote” Voter Registration Widget. Why did I put it at the bottom where nobody sees it? Well, mainly because you can’t really register to vote. Rather, you can get somebody to send you a filled out form that still requires you to sign and return it.  It’s convenient, but not all that effective. But real online voter registration? That would be great.

It’s not often that I praise Senator Ron Calderon, but I’ll give him credit for putting forward SB 381, a bill that would create real online voter registration. The bill would use the signature from your driver’s license or other DMV issued ID card as signature confirmation, if necessary, at the polling place.  In addition, you’ll have to enter your driver’s license #, DOB, and the last four digits of your social security number.  That’s quite a bit of information, but the old process of voter registration remains available offline.

A few Republicans even supported the measure.  It’s typically not a very Republican-ish idea to welcome new voters, but in the Elections committee, Ams. Niello and Adams decided that with all the security measures they could get behind it.  Not so for the Appropriations committee, where the vote went party-line style. Asm. Doug LaMalfa goes back to the voter fraud meme in order to get in on the voter suppression act:

“My main concern is that voting security is not tight enough as it is and allowing online registration won’t help,” said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Biggs (Butte County), who voted against the bill in committee. “We should set a high bar for people looking to vote and there are already a lot of fake IDs out there.”(SF Chronicle 7/30/08)

And there’s your fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans realize that the greater the voter turnout, the worse the results for them. Democrats, on the other hand, want to facilitate the process of democracy by allowing California citizens to vote. The choice is clear: build walls or escalators. I think it’s clear that for the process of democracy, we should be building those escalators to the voting booth.

The only remaining question is if we can do this, why can’t we do same-day voter registration? Same-day registration has worked in seven other states. And guess what, the top five states in voter turnout are among them. I understand that it would cost some money to implement, and take some time. But, who can really be against making it easier for us to vote? Oh that’s right, Doug LaMalfa doesn’t want to welcome new voters, he wants to build some nice gated community walls around our polling places.

The Assembly Health Committee has unanimously declined to forward SB 1096 to the floor of the Assembly. I’ve written quite a bit about this privacy invasion, and it’s heartening to see this one disappear for a while.

As a reminder, SB 1096 would allow pharmacies to sell prescription data so that patients could receive “reminder letters” from third parties. As the law currently stands, pharmacies and doctors could do so themselves, but could not sell the data to others. Other states allow this privacy invasion, but fortunately California will remain the lone holdout against PhARMA’s plans to commoditize our health records. Despite the $20,000+ that health care interests invested in Sen Calderon, they were unable to succeed in passing this poorly conceived legislation.

Thank you to Asm. Health Cmte Chair Dymally and the entirety of the Committee for rejecting this.

I admit it. I'm really up in arms about SB 1096. See, I really value my privacy, and want to ensure the privacy of my fellow Californians. particularly Californians with the following conditions: Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Cancer, Gastric disorder, Hypertension, Thyroid disorder, Organ transplantation, Chronic eye disorder, Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Renal disorders, Parkinson's disease, Seizures, Multiple sclerosis, Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorders, Attention deficit disorder. Phew, that was a mouthful!

But David Lazarus, the consumer reporter at the LA Times (for now), notes another drawback of this bill that I neglected to mention:

The reality, critics say, is that this is an effort by pharmaceutical companies to help ensure that patients stick with expensive name-brand drugs and not stray toward cheaper generic alternatives. (LAT 6/11/08)

 There is a clear financial stake in this for name-brand manufacturers. They want you to keep buying Prozac^TM or Zoloft^TM, not the generic knock-offs that cost the system, and the patient, substantially less money.

I highly recommend the Lazarus article for its other insights.

Calderon's bill appears to anticipate that mailings may be paid for by drug makers or companies such as Adheris and not just by drugstores. It says disclosure is required “if the written communication is paid for, in whole or in part, by a manufacturer, distributor or provider of a healthcare product or service.”

I pointed this out to Calderon.

“I'm not familiar with that,” he replied. “I've never seen that part of the bill.”
***
He said his sole reason for introducing the legislation was to improve the health of Californians by getting more people with chronic conditions to take their medication.

Since 2002, Calderon has received at least $89,000 in contributions from drug companies and pharmacy chains, according to public records.

It's clear that Sen. Calderon dearly wants this stinker to pass. So do his contributors.