In a budget deal as painful and complicated as the one passed Friday by the Legislature, each lawmaker gets multiple opportunities to cast votes that could later be used against him or her in a campaign.
There was evidence everywhere last week of how important it is to each of them to pick their spots. Democratic Sen. Mark DeSaulnier from the East Bay, for instance, voted no or not at all on as many budget-cutting items as possible, because he is engaged in a special-election campaign this fall for an open seat in Congress. Republican Sens. Jeff Denham of the Central Valley, who is running for lieutenant governor in 2010, and Tom Harman of Orange County, who is running for attorney general, took care not to vote for cuts to schools or law enforcement. Over in the Assembly, Republican Anthony Adams of the Inland Empire, the target of a recall effort, abstained on vote after vote.
Sometimes, the situation becomes more than ordinary lawmakers can take. One example was Ventura County Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, who is not running for anything. Through tough budget vote after tough budget vote in February, June and July, she had shouldered the burden of voting yes on every hard cut that the leadership had negotiated with the governor. About 2 a.m. Friday, Pavley, a former mayor and founding member of the Agoura Hills City Council, decided she had to take a stand. She refused to vote for a plan to raid transportation funding from local governments.
Without Pavley's vote, the plan stalled with a 20-20 tally. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg pleaded with her to change her vote, but she didn't budge. After about half an hour, a San Francisco Bay Area Democrat switched, allowing the measure to pass 21-19.
Pavley and other Democrats were clearly piqued that more Republicans didn't vote for some of the tougher elements of the plan, since many of the particulars were the result of GOP victories in negotiations. GOP leaders openly praised and supported the overall plan, but rank-and-file Republican votes for many of its elements were few and far between.
Pavley noted that Republicans had insisted that there could be no new taxes in the plan, and rejected even a modest fire-protection surcharge on property insurance premiums proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "They're against taxes and they're against cuts," she complained. "That's a prescription for IOUs."
In the end, all the angst in the Senate vote over the raid of local transportation funding was unnecessary. The Assembly scuttled the idea without a vote -- leaving the 21 senators who voted for the idea with a bad mark on their voting records (at least in the eyes of local government officials in their districts) for having cast a vote that turned out to be meaningless.
ALL politicians are lying cheating stealing traitorous low-life dirtbag scum. Rather than vote for what is right, or vote their ideology, they vote what will get them re-elected.
Is that the kind of scum we want in the legislature. They have no moral compass, not even a bad one. Their only thought is to play the game, suck up to the right people and get re-elected.
Remember this in 2010 and throw them out of office.
SENATOR TOM HARMAN!! Your UDR Renters Need Your Help NOW!!
June 17, 2009 — badbizfinder | Edit
Senator Tom Harman has a daunting task ahead of him. He is the California State Senator representing the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach (among others) where NINE (9) UDR Properties are located (listed below).
We want to make sure Tom Harman knows about our class-action lawsuit on behalf of California tenants against UDR, one of the largest landlords in his District. We know that if Tom Harman knew the facts – he would step in and help out.
Tom: Did you know that 57.45% of the citizens in your District are RENTERS? And the number grows and grows with the foreclosure crisis in California.
In case you don’t know… the renters in your District have been subjected to the following illegal activity and horrendous oppression from the Colorado-based REIT and nationwide Landlord, UDR, for the past 5 years. Here are the facts:
1. UDR charges “early lease termination liquidated damages” penalties in violation of California law.
2. UDR charges late fees that are overstated contrary to recent California case law and rulings thereon.
3. UDR intentionally contracts with tenants using false names to obtain and sustain a legal advantage over its tenants resulting in significantly diminished tenant-based litigation.
4. UDR illegally profits from its Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) in violation of the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) regulation prohibiting a non-utility from “selling” energy or water.
5. UDR illegally defers injury liability via its “hold harmless” clauses in violation of California law and fails to maintain habitable premises.
6. UDR withholds security deposit sums via illegal fees and penalties which must be properly defined as landlord’s operating costs and responsibilities.
7. UDR illegally evicts its tenants.
Here are the UDR properties in Tom Harman’s district:
COSTA MESA
Harbor at Mesa Verde
UDR Community #298
2700 Peterson Place
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Missions at Back Bay
UDR Community #320
1330 Southeast Bristol Street
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Pine Brook Village
UDR Community #300
1555 Mesa Verde Drive East
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Villa Venetia
UDR Community #344
2775 Mesa Verde Drive East
Costa Mesa, California 92626
HUNTINGTON BEACH
Huntington Villas
UDR Community #336
16761 Viewpoint Lane
Huntington Beach, California 92647
Huntington Vista
UDR Community #299
21551 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, California 92646
Pacific Shores
UDR Community #301
7701 Warner Avenue
Huntington Beach, California 92647
NEWPORT BEACH
Coronado at Newport North
UDR Community #342
880 Irvine Avenue
Newport Beach, California 92663
Coronado at Newport South
UDR Community #339
1700 East 16th Street
Newport Beach, California 92663
Tom Harman —– We need your support. As you are the elected California Senator representing renters in these cities we look forward to your response together with a plan to end illegal activity and oppression against your constituent renters at the hand of UDR.
Bad Biz Finder
SENATOR TOM HARMAN!! Your UDR Renters Need Your Help NOW!!
June 17, 2009 — badbizfinder | Edit
Senator Tom Harman has a daunting task ahead of him. He is the California State Senator representing the cities of Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach (among others) where NINE (9) UDR Properties are located (listed below).
We want to make sure Tom Harman knows about our class-action lawsuit on behalf of California tenants against UDR, one of the largest landlords in his District. We know that if Tom Harman knew the facts – he would step in and help out.
Tom: Did you know that 57.45% of the citizens in your District are RENTERS? And the number grows and grows with the foreclosure crisis in California.
In case you don’t know… the renters in your District have been subjected to the following illegal activity and horrendous oppression from the Colorado-based REIT and nationwide Landlord, UDR, for the past 5 years. Here are the facts:
1. UDR charges “early lease termination liquidated damages” penalties in violation of California law.
2. UDR charges late fees that are overstated contrary to recent California case law and rulings thereon.
3. UDR intentionally contracts with tenants using false names to obtain and sustain a legal advantage over its tenants resulting in significantly diminished tenant-based litigation.
4. UDR illegally profits from its Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) in violation of the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) regulation prohibiting a non-utility from “selling” energy or water.
5. UDR illegally defers injury liability via its “hold harmless” clauses in violation of California law and fails to maintain habitable premises.
6. UDR withholds security deposit sums via illegal fees and penalties which must be properly defined as landlord’s operating costs and responsibilities.
7. UDR illegally evicts its tenants.
Here are the UDR properties in Tom Harman’s district:
COSTA MESA
Harbor at Mesa Verde
UDR Community #298
2700 Peterson Place
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Missions at Back Bay
UDR Community #320
1330 Southeast Bristol Street
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Pine Brook Village
UDR Community #300
1555 Mesa Verde Drive East
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Villa Venetia
UDR Community #344
2775 Mesa Verde Drive East
Costa Mesa, California 92626
HUNTINGTON BEACH
Huntington Villas
UDR Community #336
16761 Viewpoint Lane
Huntington Beach, California 92647
Huntington Vista
UDR Community #299
21551 Brookhurst Street
Huntington Beach, California 92646
Pacific Shores
UDR Community #301
7701 Warner Avenue
Huntington Beach, California 92647
NEWPORT BEACH
Coronado at Newport North
UDR Community #342
880 Irvine Avenue
Newport Beach, California 92663
Coronado at Newport South
UDR Community #339
1700 East 16th Street
Newport Beach, California 92663
Tom Harman —– We need your support. As you are the elected California Senator representing renters in these cities we look forward to your response together with a plan to end illegal activity and oppression against your constituent renters at the hand of UDR.
Bad Biz Finder