Let's stop for a moment look at one case of special interest lobbying involving Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The governor recently turned down a request by
Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. to build an $800 million liquefied
natural facility off the coast of Oxnard and Malibu. Schwarzenegger rejected the
project after the California Coastal
Commission and State Lands Commission both turned down the
proposal last month, and after fierce objections from environmentalists.
Throughout the battle, BHP and other natural gas producers engaged almost every political player closely connected to the Schwarzenegger
administration. In fact, no other lobbying campaign since the 2003 recall has hired as many Schwarzenegger friends than the LNG effort.
Not everyone worked directly for BHP. But the full-court press over the past three years included Schwarzenegger political guru Mike
Murphy and his company, Navigators, which worked on an LNG coalition to move public opinion on the subject; Marty
Wilson, the governor's chief fundraiser, who also worked on the LNG coalition; and consultant Joe Rodota, a
behind-the-scenes Schwarzenegger advisor since the 2003 recall. BHP hired a Los Angeles law firm that employs George
Kieffer, a Schwarzenegger friend and the personal attorney to Maria Shriver, and Richard Costigan,
the governor's former legislative affairs director. And they engaged Karen Skelton, a prominent
consultant in Sacramento and a Shriver friend.
And yet the governor turned down the LNG terminal. Isn't this exactly the opposite of what Schwarzenegger critics suggested would happen? Why?
Indeed, how do politicians make their decisions? Do campaign contributions buy votes from elected officials? Does pressure from lobbyists matter? The general assumption in Sacramento and Washington D.C. is absolutely yes yes yes, when it comes to money. Many corporations and unions believe that, say, a $250,000 contribution to support a candidate is a prudent investment, particularly if they can reap millions from tax breaks or public pension boosts.
A new search engine that tracks the contributions made to California politicians, Maplight.org, has opened a debate over what causes elected officials to make specific votes. To N.Y. Times technology columnist Davis Pogue, the Maplight database is so disturbing that he must conclude: "I can't quite figure out why these contributions are even
legal. Let the various factions explain their points till they’re blue
in the face, sure — but to cut checks for millions of dollars?" "Another mind-blowing example: from the home page, click 'California.' Click 'Legislators,' then click 'Fabian Nunez.' The
resulting page shows you how much this guy has collected from each
special-interest group — $2.2 million so far — and there, in
black-and-white type, how often he voted their way. Construction unions: 94 percent of the time. Casinos: 95 percent of
the time. Law firms: 78 percent of the time. Seems as though if you’re
an industry lobbyist, giving this fellow money is a pretty good
investment."
A few people on Pogue's blog agreed. One man wrote: "Let's stop calling them contributions and start calling them what they really are, bribes. Or how about kick-backs?"
But then political scientist Matthew Jarvis and others jumped into the debate. Jarvis said that "establishing CAUSATION is much harder" than simply juxtaposing a particular vote next to the amount of money from special interests. More: "The problem is the reverse direction of causation. If you were a
large corporation seeking to get certain policies passed, you could try
to bribe members of Congress to pass that policy (which is,
essentially, the accusation that is made about votes and campaign
contributions). Or, you could take the approach that what you’d rather
do is elect those who already agree with you. So, when you see a correlation between money and votes, ask
yourself: who ELSE would they give the money to? Those who are going to
vote AGAINST them?"
When it comes to pressure from lobbyists, why did Schwarzenegger reject the BHP terminal off the coast of Malibu?
It's possible the massive lobbying effort just went too far, hired too many Schwarzenegger friends, and was too public. BHP Billiton paid Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, the prominent L.A. law firm that includes Kieffer, about $2.7 million to lobby the governor's office, the Lands Commission, the Coastal Commission and the Legislature on the project over three years. It should be noted that BHP Billiton never gave a campaign contribution to Schwarzenegger or any elected official.
Perhaps the deal died because of behind-the-scenes pressure from other friends and advisors, such as
environmentalists Bonnie Reiss and Terry Tamminen. Perhaps Schwarzenegger really did believe the project would
contribute to global warming, harm marine mammals, ocean
views and birds near Channel Islands
National Park.
Perhaps he knew he would never eat lunch in Malibu
again.
(Photos:
Win McNamee/Getty Images; BHP-Billiton-LNG International via AP)
The state Fair Political Practices Commission has given up trying to limit donations to candidate-controlled ballot committees, such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team. Chairman Ross Johnson says he's disappointed with recent court rulings, and now is looking to the Legislature for reforms. Good luck!
The courts have said that Proposition 34, which restricts donations to candidates, allows politicians to operate separate committees that can raise unlimited amounts of money. The donations can only be used for legislative "advocacy" or ballot-measure business - descriptions that permit all sorts of campaign-like activity that promote the individual candidate.
The California Recovery Team is still collecting huge donations that ostensibly help pay for the governor's private jet travel and other major expenses. (Among them, the California Assn. of Hospitals and Health Systems donated $100K last week, amid ongoing negotiations over health care reforms in the governor's office.)
"The intellectual inconsistency of the courts astounds me," Johnson said in a statement. "What represents the greater potential for the appearance of corruption, $3,600 to a candidate’s reelection committee or $100,000 to
a ballot measure committee controlled by that same candidate? The
answer is obvious: The appearance of undue influence comes from the
receipt of the contribution, not in how the money is spent!"
A ballot measure committee that was working to advance Schwarzenegger's special election agenda in 2005, Citizens to Save California, filed a lawsuit challenging the rules in February 2005.
Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled the commission lacked legal authority to impose contribution limits on candidate-controlled committees. A Court of Appeal upheld the ruling last December, and now the FPPC under Johnson has decided it will drop the case altogether.
UPDATE: So let's just recap: The governor's only major accomplishment from the 2005 special election was to assure unlimited political donations to ballot committees, two years after winning the recall on a promise of sweeping away special interests.
 Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's birthday is May 28, but he's nevertheless holding two "birthday celebration" fundraisers two days later in California to collect money for his presidential run. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to raise money in the state the next day.
Giuliani donors who raise $23,000 for the campaign receive 10 tickets to a VIP reception and, according to the invitation, "PHOTOS and a Preferred table seating of 10 at the Birthday Lunch." Presumably this is where contributors will hear Giuliani's Speech about Fighting Terrorism and watch Giuliani Eat.
(UPDATE: A birthday luncheon is being held in Burlingame May 30, followed the same day by an evening reception at the Beverly Hilton, featuring comedian Dennis Miller.)
Giuliani - with the help of his buddy Bill Simon, the financier who lost to Gray Davis in 2004 - has rounded up some well-known Republican donors on his finance team. They include venture capitalist Tim Draper and Floyd Kvamme, and takeover artist T. Boone Pickens. Giuliani also has Steve Kram, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's former agent, and Michael Huffington, on his team.
Former state treasurer Phil Angelides and the wealthy Tsakopoulos family of Sacramento are planning a fundraiser this month for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Angelo Tsakopoulos, a real estate developer, was a major donor to Angelides' gubernatorial campaign.
A major fund-raiser planned with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last night to raise money for the debt-ridden California Republican Party was canceled because it failed to generate enough interest, sources told Political Muscle. The official line from the state GOP is that Wednesday's fund-raiser in Sacramento was "consolidated" with another event planned for May 22 in Los Angeles.
The cancellation comes as the California Republican Party is making a significant internal shift with a new top staff and a new focus.
Chairman Ron Nehring of San Diego is considered more conservative than former chairman Duf Sundheim, who worked closely with Schwarzenegger for three years. Nehring has hired a new chief operating officer and is working to pull the state GOP out of a $4.5 million campaign debt.
To put it mildly, the ideological gulf between Schwarzenegger and the California GOP leadership is wider than ever. Schwarzenegger, who was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2004, has since courted deals with Democrats and openly declared he doesn't care about complaints from his GOP "base."
Rank-and-file members also have grumbled that Schwarzenegger did little to help conservative candidates such as Sen. Tom McClintock. In addition, the state party was asked to pay a friend and aide to Schwarzenegger, Walter von Huene, more than $100,000 in consulting fees, even though there was little evidence he was doing work for the party.
Because the Republican Party helped Schwarzenegger so much in last year's reelection campaign, the governor promised he would be the star attraction at GOP fund-raisers this year.
Meanwhile, he has been busy raising money for himself. The San Jose Mercury News reported recently that "since January, Schwarzenegger has pulled in $3.5 million in three different political committees — an average of $700,000 a month in this non-election year. Additionally, more than 100 private donors — including AT&T to Chevron and Oracle — paid $2.7 million total into a non-profit that paid for the governor's two-day inaugural soiree."
California GOP spokesman Hector Barajas said Schwarzenegger is still scheduled for the May 22 California Governor's Gala in Los Angeles. Another GOP fund-raiser, without Schwarzenegger, is scheduled for Napa on June 1 and 2. The event, hosted by Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman, costs $7,500 for a day trip and $10,000 for an overnight at the posh Silverado Resort.
(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Hollywood cash isn't just for Democrats. The Associated Press looked at the entertainment industry's donations to Republican presidential candidates, who are arriving in California this week for a debate at the Reagan Library. Rudy Giuliani has the highest-profile donors:
"Adam Sandler, who shares a love of the New York Yankees with Giuliani and
tapped him for a cameo in his 2003 movie 'Anger Management,' contributed $2,100. 'Frasier' star Kelsey Grammer and his wife donated $6,900.
Mark Vahradian, who produced 'Annapolis' for Paramount, gave $2,100.
Writer- producer Lionel Chetwynd, an Oscar nominee for co-writing 1974's 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,' gave more than $4,200. Brad Grey,
who helped the mayor negotiate a book deal, kicked in $4,200 to
Giuliani's campaign. Grey, the former executive producer of a Giuliani
favorite - the acclaimed HBO mob drama, 'The Sopranos,' also
contributed to Clinton and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn."
U.S. Sen. John McCain scored mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels. "Romney had only a single donor in the
first-quarter report listed as an actor, Tamara Gustavson, though he
collected money from producers and writers," the AP reports.
The Simi Valley debate tomorrow is allowing the major Republican candidates to hold fundraisers to scoop up more California cash. McCain has a reception in Beverly Hills today, while Giuliani has events in L.A. and Orange County. Romney held a fundraiser last night in Sacramento, and is planning an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" tonight.
(Photo:
Kevork Djansezian/AP; Matthew Peyton/Getty Images)
The California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. has donated $100,000 to an initiative campaign that would alter the state's term limits law--and extend the power of Senate leader Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, both facing retirement from the Legislature.
Yesterday, the same day the $100K donation was publicly reported (PDF) by the union, Nunez and Perata unveiled a plan that would force 8,000 inmates into lockups out of state. The CCPOA, not surprisingly, hates this part of the Nunez-Perata prison overhaul--it takes away their best customers.
"We are going to do everything we can to point out the dangers of this plan," Lance Corcoran with the union told The Times. He said prisoners who don't want to move could create peril for officers: "We're going to have to fight them out of their cells," he said.
The CCPOA contribution to the Committee for Term Limits & Legislative Reform was made April 11, and reported yesterday.
No wonder U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is doing so well in fundraising. The presidential candidate from Illinois is sending campaign solicitations to reporters at their offices. (Pictured.)
Obama's solicitation includes a "Dear Friend" letter informing me he is running for president and promising to "rebuild an ethic of politics as broad as our nation's spirit," a business reply envelope, and a color brochure.
Obama's mass mailing is apparently directed at non-Democrats as well as members of his own party, since I'm registered decline-to-state. That's because independents can vote in the Democratic primary this year, unlike with the Republican Party and my dead grandmother. A year after she died at age 94, she is still receiving fund-raising mail from Obama's campaign. For the record, I'm not sending Obama any money and neither is my grandmother.
The Center for Responsive Politics reports that Obama raised $4,156,450
in the first quarter from California, leadings all other candidates in
the cities of Merced, Oakland, San Diego and Santa Cruz. But U.S. Sen.
Hillary Clinton was first in the state, with more than $5 million
overall.
A state-by-state breakdown of presidential campaign contributions shows Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney cleaning up in California compared to their counterparts, and the entertainment industry favoring Clinton more than Barack Obama as well. LA Observed. And Center for Responsive Politics.
UPDATE: Also check out the city-by-city rankings (click on the "Metro" tab.) Rudy Giuliani does fairly well in smaller areas such as Salinas, and he leads Republicans in the Riverside-San Bernardino sprawlopolis. John Edwards takes Sacramento and Chico, and Obama does well in Oakland.
Since we're getting a celebrity fix today, W magazine takes a look at the heavy hitting political consultants in Hollywood. Celebrities aren't making up their own minds about politics, folks - they have people for that. LA Observed has the rundown, but here is a snippet from W:
"Barbra Streisand has long been advised by Marge Tabankin, who came to
L.A. after having once worked in the Carter administration. For years,
Steven Spielberg has called upon Andy Spahn, who once worked for the
Democratic congressional and senatorial campaign committees, while Rob
Reiner (pictured) works with Chad Griffin, a former press aide in the Clinton
White House who first met the director while showing him around the
West Wing during a research trip for American President. 'You have a lot of people who are very wealthy and very concerned
about different aspects of society, and they want to use their money
and influence in the best possible way,' Reiner says." (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
|
|
|
Throughout the battle, BHP and other natural gas producers engaged almost every political player closely connected to the Schwarzenegger
administration. In fact, no other lobbying campaign since the 2003 recall has hired as many Schwarzenegger friends than the LNG effort.
A few people on Pogue's blog agreed. One man wrote: "Let's stop calling them contributions and start calling them what they really are, bribes. Or how about kick-backs?"
Our Blogger