Published: 1 years 356 days ago
Sacramento Bee: More often than not, the culture shaping Sacramento is a microcosm of what ails the state of California.
Where we live, entrenched interests pay lip service to a greater good while looking out for No. 1. Here is where a rich outsider in Mayor Kevin Johnson thought it would be easy to control the local yokels. Instead, the yokels simply dug in, just as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's antagonists staunchly defied him.
Union myopia harms broader interests, but there is insufficient community push-back.
With Republicans in this town nearly superfluous, there are rumblings from local business owners and other wealthy people to put their money into a political action committee. Until then, power in Sacramento is rooted in interest groups like the unions.
With few exceptions, these groups fund the candidates and the local groups of Democrats who handpick the candidates.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/30/2786582/marcos-breton-unions-pull-strings.html#ixzz0pRP01iZv
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