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I almost choked on my Cheerios this morning when reading a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times about California Assembly leader Fabian Nuñez's spending habits of campaign funds. According to the Times story:
The spending, listed in mandatory filings with the state, includes $47,412 on United, Lufthansa and Air France airlines this year; $8,745 at the exclusive Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a "meeting" at Cave L'Avant Garde, a wine seller in the Bordeaux region of France; a total of $2,562 for two "office expenses" at Vuitton, two years apart; and $1,795 for a "meeting" at Le Grand Colbert, a venerable Parisian restaurant.
But whatever. That part of the story has been told a thousand times over by other politicians throughout history. What really induced the gag reflex was this gem by the Speaker of the Assembly, who also reps LA's 46th district:
In the interview, Nuñez said he wouldn't need to use his $5.3-million "Friends of Fabian Nuñez" campaign account to offset travel costs if he were independently wealthy. The speaker's job pays $130,062 a year plus a tax-free $170 for expenses each day the Assembly is in session."There's not too big a difference," he said, "between how I live and how most middle-class people live."
OK, so if according to Nuñez, If $130,000 is nearly middle class, then maybe he should help the federal government to change its poverty guidelines. After all, the 2007 federal poverty level for a family of four is set at $20,650.
Ain't no Louis Vuitton shopping with that chump change.
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Perhaps you should link to the Speaker's webpage: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a46/
What an ass!
can i be first in line to slap his thinks-he's-middle-class ass with my paycheck?
what a moron.
The readers of this blog tend to obsess over how to feed a party on nothing more than a dozen deviled eggs, or get a meal for five bucks, and how to take the bus around town -- worthy pursuits, but being stuck at student-poverty level makes it hard to have perspective.
Yeah, the guy's extravagance of thousands of dollars for one business dinner in Europe and We Ho is far from "middle class," and makes a sham of his claims to be one of the peons whose unions he claims to represent (although he seems to have sold some of them out to Indian gaming interests). The guy is a hypocrite, and has apparently defected from the unions which gave him his rise -- fair criticisms.
Still, the $170/day per day pols get for travel is an outdated joke: fifteen bucks for lunch and twenty for dinner max, is more the level of readers of this blog than of the executive world. A major honcho doing business with a guy eating Thai noodles and staying in a Quality Inn to fit into the allotted budget, would laugh at him, and be inclined to try to bribe the sad sack. I'd argue that letting pols use money raised by their donors for such reasons is fine, and actually makes it less likely they'll take bribes.
However decency requires not blowing it on the extreme meals and Vuitton bags nouveau-riche hypocrite Nunez has. If he were Republican, it would be "proof" of what crooks Republicans are.
To the guy who said "$170/day...for travel is a joke...". You have it wrong - That money isn't for travel, it's per diem. It's what they get when they're IN Sacramento. The legislature is in session over 200 days a year so Fabuless gets almost $40,000 extra on top of his yearly salary of more than $130,000. I don't disagree state officials need per diem. They are in the Capitol most of the year but have to have a home in the district they rep, often very far away. It's unrealistic to expect them to cover the cost of housing in 2 places all on their own - unless we want more rich idiots like Arnold running the show. (Please God, no)
But the blog author is also wrong - the amounts Fab is spending are indeed WAY out of line, especially he's a STATE elected official. There is absolutely no reason for him to have taken at least 90% of those foreign trips. We have US Senators and Congressional reps to handle foreign affairs that would affect us as a nation. Why the hell does he need to go to Spain, France, etc? And when he goes there, why the hell does he need such expensive meeting arrangements? What the hell did he need from Louis Vuitton????? Not that anyone should be shocked by his behavior or his smartass attitude. This guy is the biggest phony with the worst record in the state. Name one thing he's done besides suck the teat of the Teacher's Union and every illegal immigrant group in the state. He's supposed to represent southern California, home of the worst traffic and most expensive houses in the USA. So what does he do for the voters of southern California in 2006? He puts another freaking school bond on the ballot! Like we don't pay enough already into that sinkhole known as the California school system. Of course, he gets all that money to live high on the hog from the Teacher's Union so why should he care about mind-numbing gridlock and out of sight home costs.
Can't somebody do an expose on the BS this guy is all about?