Sweeping it Under the Rug

Just a little over two years ago candidate Schwarzenegger held a press conference to unveil a “sweeping proposal for open government and political reform.” His proposals included a blackout period for fundraising, instant campaign disclosure and tougher penalties for certain campaign disclosure violations.

Looking at his time in office however, it appears that Governor Schwarzenegger misplaced that broom that was going to clean up Sacramento. But this week, the anemic Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) found it and used it to wrap him on the knuckles for violating the Political Reform Act – although it took them two years to get there.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to pay nearly $15,000 in fines for violations of campaign reporting requirements during the 2003 recall election.” (S.F. Chronicle, October 12, 2005)

How did the Governor’s political advisor respond to this latest embarrassment? The Chronicle quoted the Governor’s spokesman as saying, “compared to others in the recall campaign, we were like choir boys.” Huh?

What happened to that “get tough” language from Recall Candidate Schwarzenegger? This is what he said when he proposed his tougher penalties for certain campaign disclosure violations - “if someone violates campaign finance laws and corrupts our democracy with dirty money, it’s only a misdemeanor and the wrongdoer only pays a fine. Let’s get serious.” (Schwarzenegger press release, September 18, 2003)

So, when’s the Governor going to get serious? Remember just last week it was reported that the FPPC is dropping hundreds of investigations of potential campaign violations because of staffing shortages and budget deficiencies.

The Sacramento Bee reported on the woes of the FPPC:

“We're kind of saying 'uncle,' Chairwoman Liane Randolph told the audience at the FPPC's monthly meeting. We can't handle our caseload, and we have to close cases as a result of that.” (Sacramento Bee, October 13, 2005)

We’re guessing, like so many of the Governor’s empty promises, his campaign finance proposals and his tough campaign talk just got swept under the rug.