L.A. Times Gives Revealing View of Mayor's Cousin, Assembly Speaker-elect, John Perez- A True Politician

And what do you know? There's a story in the L.A. Times today about Mayor Villaraigosa's cousin, John Perez, who was elected to the state assembly with a lot of help from Antonio and his associates. Perez is being sworn in as the Assembly Speaker on Monday and although he's often viewed as the defender of the downtrodden and neglected members of society, the Times' story shows that Perez is definitely not being neglected by those with big campaign donation money to send his way.

And why would you think campaign money is donated to a politician? Could it be like "forget-me-nots" that keep the donor in the mind of the politician when it comes time to make decision? Working for special interests keeps that money flowing so denial of any "quid pro quo" or "something in exchange for something else" just pushes the limits of credibility. What do they take us for? Fools? Quite possibly. With the rise in taxes in California, you can add that saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted." So, "Yes" they do take us for fools. Electing and re-electing them may be signs of that categorization.

"California Assembly Speaker-elect Pérez has ties to deep pockets - The legislator, who has cultivated an image as a crusader for the marginalized and powerless, has also advocated for the powerful."
By Patrick McGreevy and Jack Dolan, L.A. Times, February 28, 2010. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-perez28-2010feb28,0,2336364,full.story Tony has undoubtedly shared tips and trained John in the art of accumulating campaign donations, and it involves a lot of cozying up to those with access to large amounts of cash.

Before his election to the Assembly, while a member of the Los Angeles redevelopment commission, Pérez voted to give millions in government subsidies to a giant real estate firm that contributed heavily to his union's political fund.

Pérez, 40, a cousin of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa -- a former Assembly speaker himself -- responded philosophically when asked about his involvement with powerful patrons.

That response is representative of another political skill developed by politicians and constantly improved on by practice- the art of spin. What you say in response to challenges is affected by HOW you say it. It all depends on how you give your interpretation to a set of facts. The truth is that the other characteristic often found in politicians seems to co-exist with all else in the make up of an elected offiicial, and it's that proclivity for shading the truth that most people call "lying."

Deception, mischaracterization, omission of facts, failures to disclose and a whole array of other terms for not giving the true picture will all apply to the political scene. I see that regularly in the City Council affairs as they conduct business, sometimes subtley done and sometimes shown by a contradictory statement that itself exposes an earlier position of the same speaker. But read the story and see that John Perez is only a rookie in terms of years in the Assembly, but not by his political experience. He can play to both sides of an issue and come out ahead and he's spent years before the Assembly election to use the same paths and directions that his cousin, the celebrated Antonio Villaraigosa, has tested and developed to advance himself along in politics. Would you call that the "Villaraigosa Way?"

My obervation here is that we are getting another politician in the mold of the Mayor, and we have seen that all the political victories of the individual do not equate with running things well and producing a benefit for the public. Instead, I see that we are in for more economic mistakes to be made by legislators, with the taxpayers being used to foot the bill. Taxpayers become again involutary enablers of the overspending, overextending authority of state government. That government ignores individuals rights, practices its costly experiments in social engineering as a nanny state, while making it expensive for businesses, including small businesses, to remain operating as many more regulatory measures are produced that continue to force business closures or chase businesses out of California, taking their jobs with them.

Read about John's background and see how money is the lubricant of the political machinery that operates for benefit of those that maintain the machine. The only one who I see making out very well in all this economic calamity over all the years is John Perez. He is not the only one able to manipulate the power he's accumulated to generate even more power, but the fact is clear that challengers to office holders generally don't do well at all without the funding to wage expensive campaigns. That result is shown by most victories from the city level to the national level. A change in campaign funding laws might balance the playing field or at least allow others onto it.

A change to PART TIME LEGISLATURE could force legislators to focus on the priorties of the state first and not pay them to stay in Sacramento the entire year to run their personal business of power brokering and cavorting with the special interests that include the monied businesses and unions alike. Cutting down the unneeded time in Sacramento will get them in and out of the city more quickly to force completion of real work ahead of non-essential activity. They would not have time to play footsies with the campaign funders the rest of their time year-round and they would have less time to plot out ways to satisfy demands of these sources of campaign funds while they concoct needless and expensive laws along the way. Politicians would have less time to brainstorm more ways to exploit their offices as they do now, and it would reduce prostituting themselves as has become more widely revealed regularly in newspaper reports about politicians as we continue with day to day life.