By Carmen Balber Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights Santa Monica
You’ll never again have to read about the speaker of the Assembly or any California politician jet-setting around the world and going first class on their campaign contributors’ credit card without explaining what living the high life has to do with representing you in Sacramento.
California’s political ethics board (the FPPC) just issued new rules requiring that politicians explain the reasons behind their spending sprees and junkets, and disclose the recipients of expensive gifts from their campaign accounts, like $2,700 belt buckles and Louis Vuitton luxuries.
The regulators heard (the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights’) pleas and responded to your vote against Prop. 93, which became a referendum on the arrogant lifestyles of the state’s political class. And Sacramento politicians were taught a lesson that they have to put the public first. A new Assembly speaker will be voted in on March 11 and a new Senate leader has already been chosen.
We hope this victory marks a new day for politics in Sacramento, and we’ll be pushing every day to make sure that the next class of political leaders receives higher marks from the public than the last. Your support makes these successes possible and you can help us keep fighting to clean up government with a tax-deductible contribution.
Thanks for all your support and encouragement.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 16, 2008. Read the original PDF.