Johnson takes aim at Bustamante donations

S.J. Cahn

State Sen. Ross Johnson stepped into the recall fight Wednesday by

urging Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to give back money that a Superior

Court judge declared this week to have been raised against state law.

“The judge’s ruling was clear and unambiguous,” Johnson said. “Mr.

Bustamante raised the money illegally, and he was ordered to return

it to contributors.”

Bustamante’s campaign has said the money, raised in chunks from

$100,000 to $1.5 million from labor unions and Indian tribes, has

already been spent.

That is not good enough, Johnson said.

“This morning the judge basically told Bustamante’s lawyers that

if they can get the money back, they have to,” he said.

“Mr. Bustamante has an obligation to say where, when and how the

money was spent as well as how much of the illegally raised funds

were used to prepay for future air time or for unused printing and

postage.”

Recall HQ opens in Newport

Coinciding with the Wednesday night recall debate was the opening

of the Newport Beach Rescue California headquarters, led by Assembly

candidate Cristi Cristich.

The “rescue” part is perhaps more accurately described on the

group’s Web page as “fire Gray Davis.”

“It is our job to get voters out to the polls to recall Gray Davis

on Election Day,” Cristich said. “It’s time to turn our state around,

and this is the first step.”

Along with being a “gold sponsor” of the group, Cristich is

running against Chuck DeVore, former Newport Beach City Council

candidate Marianne Zippi and Irvine resident Don Wagner to fill the

seat of Assemblyman John Campbell (also a “gold sponsor,” as is the

Lincoln Club of Orange County).

The headquarters is at the corner of Bristol and Birch streets,

3723 Birch St., No. 10.

Lawyers are everywhere, even online

As reported on this page before, Rep. Chris Cox’s Web page

contains a running poll of different topics of interest to his

constituents. The one on tap through Nov. 4 asks this question: “What

do you think is the biggest impediment to California’s economic

recovery?”

The results, beyond the leading answer, are curious. (And, as a

guess, since a vote changes the percentages by 1, it may be safe to

assume that not many more than 100 people have electronically voiced

an opinion.)

In first place, with 52% of the vote, is that “taxes are too high

to encourage growth.” It’s followed by “over-regulation of business,”

at 17%.

Then it gets strange. Tied at 12% each are “taxes are too low to

fund government” (Cox does represent Democrats, after all) and “not

enough lawsuits.”

Not enough lawsuits? That answer is running ahead of “too many

lawsuits,” with 6%, and “not enough regulation,” with a paltry 2%.

Cox, as a lawyer, must have some fellow attorneys in his audience.

Vote yourself at https://cox.house.gov.

Don’t worry about these votes

Judging by letters and calls to the Daily Pilot, a couple of laws

signed in recent weeks by Davis have upset Newport-Mesa residents.

One extended more rights to domestic partners, including same-sex

couples. The other allows illegal immigrants to get state driver’s

licenses.

Here’s good news for all those who aren’t inspired by the bill’s

passage into law. None of Newport-Mesa’s elected officials voted for

either bill (Johnson voted against the gay-rights bill during

committee but was not among those who voted when it came to the

Senate floor).