Mattole Valley, California — It is often said that California
is a bellwether of the next trend — pop culture or public policy
— that will sweep the nation. Last week there were two bells
ringing in the news here that you should hope will not weather a
trip eastward over the Sierra Nevada.
One was the matter of “reparations” for descendants of 19th
Century slaves; the other a $95 million computer contract dispensed
by the state to the Oracle Company without bidding. Both are
already becoming entangled in election year politics.
California entered the union in September 1850 — after heated
debate — as a free state. Soon, it may become the first state to
grant — or mandate — “reparations.” The other day several
insurance companies — in response to a state demand — made public
insurance policies they (or, in most cases, predecessor companies)
issued to slave owners before the Civil War. These are not
California companies, although they do do business in the
state.
This information provides fuel for the plaintiffs who are suing
these companies for “reparations.” In the event the suit goes
forward and prevails, the companies will fork over something on the
order of hundreds of millions of dollars. It won’t, however, be
doled out to the great-great-grandchildren of various slaves, but
will go to “charitable” organizations of the sort Jesse Jackson and
other shakedown artists operate.
As long as we’re talking reparations, wouldn’t it be poetic
justice if a “commission” were required to be paid out of the
proceeds to descendants (or to worthy charities) of the soldiers
who fought to free the slaves? My great-grandfather, from
Wisconsin, contracted malaria fighting in Tennessee. His
compensation: a very tiny government pension for a lifelong
disability. There must have been thousands like him.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento, Governor Gray Davis is issuing
statements of shock and dismay that the state drew up a sole-source
contract with Oracle for computer work. As things go, he may have
been unaware of the matter until it became a problem. Nevertheless,
the people involved are all appointees of his. His General Services
administrator has resigned, as has the state’s director of
Information Technology, whose office — shades of Arthur Andersen
— was caught shredding documents about the transaction. A
long-time Davis aide, the director of something called
“e-government,” also resigned. It seems he accepted a $25,000
contribution to Davis’s reelection campaign a day or two after the
contract was approved.
Davis’s office insists this was a coincidence. The attorney
general, a Davis ally, noted that the official , Arun Baheti, did
not violate a law in accepting the check because he did not receive
it in the capitol — felony — but at a restaurant. Good government
lives!
Davis’s challenger in November, Bill Simon, Jr., said of all
this, “The dots are beginning to connect.”
Despite a war chest of $30 million, Davis is very unpopular in
the state. A large budget deficit and the recent energy crisis are
sources of voter discontent. The statewide Field Poll last week
showed his favorable percentage at 39 and his unfavorables at 50
percent. The Field Poll also showed him ahead of Simon by 43-29,
contrary to several other polls showing them virtually tied or
Simon slightly ahead. Field typically polls people who say they are
registered, but not whether they vote regularly. Thus, Field’s
results tend to overstate Democratic strength.
Nevertheless, pros in both camps think Davis’s formidable war
chest will prevail. Democrats tend to think it will be by 10-15
points; Republicans by about half that. All may be forgetting that
November is a long way from early May and Simon is husbanding his
resources for use later.
Challengers have a hard time breaking into the news unless they
offer up some big program or say something foolish. Incumbent
governors can make news every day, although Davis must wish the
news about the Oracle contract would go away. So far, the state’s
media are not obliging him.
