"Late Breaking News"- Carrie Lopez resigns as Calif.'s Consumer Affairs Head; What About Per Diem Racket?

The L.A. Times reports that Carrie Lopez, Consumer Affairs Dept. chief for California has resigned, effective April 3, 2009, after she was presented with findings from the review by the Governor's finance office that focused on her travel expenses she charged to the taxpayers. The Times reports that nine other administration officials were also included in the review.

The story, "California consumer affairs chief resigns; Carrie Lopez quits when shown results of a state audit that found questionable expenses she incurred, including travel costs for attending a Justin Timberlake concert," by Michael Rothfeld, reporting from Sacramento, 3:15 PM PDT, March 27, 2009.

Lopez, a Democrat who was formerly executive director of the Coro Foundation in
Los Angeles, was appointed by Schwarzenegger in April 2007 to head her
department, which includes boards and bureaus set up to protect consumers. Her
salary is $142,965 a year.

There's not any mention as to the identities of the other's who were reviewed by the finance office and a replacement is yet to be named. And it's not like they were being paid minimum wage and needed every dollar they could muster up to get by. I see that too often in "public servants," where Fabian Nunez, the termed out former Assembly Speaker, lived a high life from profuse amount of dollars that "special interests" funnelled his way - and Nunez wasn't the least bit apologetic, no matter the appearance.

Instead, Nunez became indignant (not to be confused with "indigent", but a nice thought in this case) when questioned about these practices, saw nothing wrong with his expenses paid by them, since they were not "tax dollars." No, but how much would they be his "pal" if he were not the "Assembly Speaker"? Who's kidding whom here? Just a little too much power that everyone bids on to get more influence on their side, but no one calls him or anyone else on it.

Lopez' actions were wrong, but the environment there just makes them think it's right. Their attitude on decisions to try to squeeze every dollar out of the government is pervasive, especially noticeable in the case of the $173 a day "Per Diem" paid to the members of the Assembly and Senate in Sacramento.

If all the officials who manipulated expense and per diem reports were replaced, there'd be nobody to vote on laws. The state legislators in the Senate and Assembly who live any distance from Sacramento get a daily allowance of $173.00 to cover expenses of living away from home, so when there are any gaps in activity, they travel home, return to the state capitol for a day when needed, check in and go back home if the next day does not call for a per diem.

"State Lawmakers Get Raise in Per Diem" is the story from Sacramento's televisioin Channel 10 web page from 5 months ago, noting that it's all tax free. Nice deal. http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=49575&catid=2

The money is supposed to compensate legislators for food, lodging and meals while they're working in Sacramento, away from their homes. During legislative
session, lawmakers can continue to collect per diem seven days a week, as long
as they do not go more than three days straight without holding floor session..

Legislators have been known to manipulate things to maximize the per diem by qualifying for "being in session" but nothing really happens except for being there to keep the money meter ticking, so to speak; some would say it's "cheating."

And here's more on that practice on Per Diem freebies, found on the web home page of State Senator Abel Maldonado, (R), what a surprise to hear something from an insider. http://cssrc.us/web/15/publications.aspx?id=5279

"Per Diem Paid Despite Significant Budget Shortfall
In the midst of ongoing attempts to raise taxes and daily reminders of the increasing budget shortfall, I was shocked to learn that many of my colleagues in the Legislature are still collecting Per Diem money.

Per Diem is the $173 legislators receive for every day they are in Sacramento. Originally designed to help offset living costs, since members maintain residences in their districts and in Sacramento, Per Diem is now a way for members to bilk as much money from the state as possible.

For example, despite our multi-billion deficit, many legislators are claiming per diem on days where we aren’t voting or even working in Sacramento. For example,
if the Big 5 (which includes legislative leaders and the governor) meets, every legislator is allowed to collect Per Diem, even if they aren’t in Sacramento!

We need to reform our own behavior before we begin reforming the state. The fiscal conservatives and tax increase apologists need to put their money where their mouths are. Those on the reform bandwagon need to understand that real reform begins with us, the Legislature. We need to set an example for the rest of the state.

The Legislature can start its reforms without legislation or initiatives. It can start by ending the practice of taking something for nothing—we need to stop finding any excuse in the book to collect Per Diem. It might be small, but it’s a first step in the long line of reforms we need to make Sacramento and the state run efficiently and make your tax dollars work for you, not just fill our bank accounts."

Maybe there will be some more changes if Maldonado is saying this. He's no angel, especially as one who reneged on his promise to follow the Republican's "no new taxes" pledge that he made. Like I've said before, actions speak louder than words, and if they stop taking all the money, there'd be more left, no matter what excuses and reasons they try to use to get around the fact.