9.3.02 @ 12:03AM
The newest group to learn the pay-to-play power game in California are Indian tribes -- absolutely.
MATTOLE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- "Power tends to corrupt and absolute
power corrupts absolutely," the British Lord Acton once observed
(in an 1887 letter to a bishop). It is one of those truths which
prove themselves over and over. In the "absolute" category we have
Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, and, currently, Saddam Hussein. Everyone
touched by them suffered. In the other category, officers at Enron
had the power to cook the books, and their work force and investors
suffered.
California's constitution requires the annual state budget to be
balanced. Governor Gray Davis, who inherited a surplus from his
predecessor, has a budget for 2002-03 that is nearly $24 billion
out of balance -- two months beyond the June 30 deadline. He has
done nothing about it because he has been too busy emptying the
pockets of special pleaders to pay attention. His campaign war
chest is now at $30 million. He used a chunk of it on television
last spring to demolish the Republican primary candidacy of former
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Davis figured that businessman
William Simon would be the easier candidate to beat.
Simon has made some serious errors and continues to stumble
toward election day November 5; nevertheless he has had one telling
television commercial. It depicts the lobby of the Governor's
Office wherein the receptionist turns down for appointments kids,
seniors and other worthy citizen groups because they haven't
contributed enough to Davis's campaign. It is hilarious in its
execution. Satire may be the best way to illustrate the corrupting
influence of money-grubbing on the governor of the nation's most
populous state.
The newest group to learn the pay-to-play game here are Indian
tribes. A few years ago California's legislature approved
Nevada-style casinos for Indian tribes and these have popped up
like mushrooms after the rain. They throw off a lot of cash and
that has translated into major contributions to politicians. Davis,
whose signature will soon be wanted on an Indian-inspired bill, has
received more than $840,000 from tribes since January 2000. John
Burton (brother of the late Phil Burton, long-time Democratic power
figure in the U.S. House), is majority leader of the state senate
and has received $485,000 from the tribes.
In its original form, the bill in question would have given
Indian tribes the right to veto development on any public or
private land they considered sacred which was near but outside a
reservation. The bill was modified before it passed the state
assembly by a wide margin last week. The process now permits local
governments to override tribal objections to a particular
development, but only after the petitioner has proved that "all
feasible mitigation" of damage to the sacred site has been made.
This is going to be a tall order in many cases.
"Development" in this context is broadly defined. Burton and his
allies persuaded a Republican assemblyman, Bill Leonard, to carry
the measure in the lower house. As an example, he cited a large oak
tree held sacred by a particular tribal group. Infringement on the
sacred site would have consisted of a power line that would cross
the tribe's land in the vicinity of the oak. The tribe involved,
the Pechanga Band of the Luiseno Indians, were a good example for
Leonard to point to, for they are one of the state's most
politically active tribal groups, distributing contributions hither
and yon to helpful office holders.
The bill, once passed by the state senate and signed by the
governor (when he finds enough time to get back to his desk from
emptying donors' pockets) will put one more cinch in the regulatory
garrote that is gradually choking California's economy.
topics:
Television, Business, Satire, Books, Constitution
