Lets be considerate of Davis and at least give him a decent burial!
Go Simon!!
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Posted on 05/05/2002 3:03:48 AM PDT by kattracks
Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon tore into Governor Gray Davis for his administration's involvement in the burgeoning Oracle scandal, charging that Davis may well have been aware of the controversial contract that lay at the heart of the matter, and of the $25,000 contribution that followed its awarding.
"Yesterday, I voiced my grave concern about published reports that Governor Gray Davis' Administration was actively attempting to suppress a legislative investigation of the $95 million Oracle software scandal," Simon said in a statement issued by his campaign.
"After reading this morning's Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, and virtually every newspaper in the state, my concern has turned to shock. I am greatly saddened at the revelations that a high-ranking Davis Administration official, Arun Baheti, accepted a $25,000 contribution from Oracle on the governor's behalf after personally shepherding the Oracle contract through the administration.
"The scent of scandal surrounding this administration is growing. Already, three top officials have quit, been forced to resign, or have been placed on leave. Only a full and broad-based investigation can determine the truth."
The $95 million contract awarded to Oracle for unused software was sharply criticized in a state audit released April 17. Northrop Grumman unit Logicon was hired by the state as a consultant on the deal but had also been working with Oracle and stood to earn $28 million from the contract, the audit showed, according to Reuters.
Logicon had projected the state would save $111 million through the deal, a forecast the auditor said was wildly inaccurate. In fact, the audit revealed that the deal could cost the state an additional $41 million more than if it had never been concluded.
Almost a year into the contract the three state departments involved were still figuring out how to pay for the software, and as of mid-March no state workers were using the Oracle database product, the audit charged.
Although Davis denies he knew that the contract was in the works in mid-2001, and insists that there was no connection between Oracle's $25,000 donation to his campaign and the state's decision to sign the apparently overpriced software contract, both Simon and the Sacramento Bee scoffed at his denial.
Said Simon: "Since this scandal began - and repeatedly over the past three years - the governor's staff has insisted that campaign contributions play no role in official state business.
"In fact, the governor's press secretary told the Los Angeles Times one week ago that: 'The people responsible for the contracts would be in no position to know about contributions to the governor, nor should they be. There are no dots to connect.'
"We now know that the governor's office has not been telling the truth. In fact at least one of the persons responsible for the contracts, while on government payroll, received a contribution for the governor's reelection campaign. And the governor's top campaign and government advisors knew this for ten months.
"This governor is legendary for his micromanagement. He insists on knowing in detail what every cabinet secretary, and assistant and deputy, are doing. It flies in the face of credibility that the Governor did not know of this contract, and the e-mail reported in the Sacramento Bee points to the truth.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the dots are starting to be connected, and they paint a very troubling picture. The taxpayers need to know whether the dots lead all the way to the governor's office."
In a scathing editorial today, the Bee noted that "Campaign fund-raising has been the great passion -- indeed, the only passion -- of Gov. Gray Davis' career. From his days in the Assembly until today, he has been a tireless, even obsessive, solicitor of funds who has amazed friends and foes alike with the energy he brings to most politicians' least favorite task, the schmoozing of the rich and powerful.
"So when the governor's office and his campaign say that Davis knew nothing about a botched, hurry-up $95 million software contract with Oracle Corp. that led the company's lobbyist to hand over a $25,000 contribution personally to the governor's e-government director five days after the contract was signed, pardon us for being skeptical," the Bee wrote.
The newspaper noted that revelation of Oracle's $25,000 contribution to Davis' campaign came "on the same day that the governor's appointees on the state Building Standards Commission voted, against the original recommendation of its own staff and at the behest of the plumbers union, to block the use of plastic pipe to carry water into homes."
That decision, the Bee wrote, makes California just one of two states in the U.S. to bar the use of the pipe, which is less expensive to install.
"The plumbers," the Bee wrote, "have contributed $1.3 million to the governor."
The news also arrived just one day after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Davis has asked for $1 million each from the California Teachers Association, the Council of Carpenters and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
"It came a few months after the governor's campaign director, Garry South, sent a threatening letter during bill-signing season to major donors telling them that 'the whole world' would know if they contributed to Davis' opponent.
"In short," the Bee wrote, "there's a disturbing pattern of an administration that is more transactional about political money than any in recent memory.
"Because the Oracle contract is so nakedly a giveaway that was rewarded so immediately with a political donation delivered to a member of the governor's staff involved in the contract, it needs to be investigated as a possible criminal matter. And because Davis has been so directly involved in micromanaging his administration, that investigation must look into his role."
The Bee said that while Attorney General Bill Lockyer is investigating the Oracle contract, "this is a case for the U.S. attorney's office ..."
The Bee concluded that Lockyer, Davis' fellow Democrat [and himself a recipient of a $50,000 campaign contribution from Oracle] is the governor's lawyer "in other cases involving the state and a politician with a potential political interest in Davis' fate if the path of wrongdoing in this scandal leads to the governor's desk.
"California needs to have confidence that the investigation is free of any cross-cutting motives and gets to the truth, and quickly."
After calling upon California's Joint Legislative Audit Committee, due to convene Monday to look into the scandal to summon the major figures involved in the Oracle contract and the subsequent contribution to the Davis campaign and question them under oath, Simon concluded: "I am greatly saddened by these startling revelations. This type of scandal wounds our system and prevents government from serving our people.
"The state is facing a $22 billion deficit, and every tax dollar is precious. We have seen accounts that school districts may have to end class size reduction due to funding shortages. The money wasted on this Oracle contract could have paid for thousands of teachers, textbooks, or lunches for needy children.
"Moreover, we have learned the painful lesson that scandals like this only destroy citizens' trust and confidence in their government. The only way to restore trust is for the truth to come out and for those responsible to pay a price prescribed by law.
"The sooner we know the full truth behind this scandal, and the sooner those responsible for it are held accountable by the authorities, the sooner we can restore our government as legitimate and worthy of the people's trust and confidence.
"I urge the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Attorney General to press ahead aggressively, quickly and thoroughly with their investigations."
Yeah sure, just like the US Senate and Janet Reno pressed ahead agressively to investigate the clinton scandals.
Maybe Ken Starr is available? Oh, nevermind...
Could that something be that fact that California will be legally bankrupt and unable to pay it's bills within 60 days, hmmmmmm?
Could this Oracle thing be a desperate attempt to divert the public's attention from the issue?
This is the end of Davis's political career. When the liberal fish wraps like LaLa Times and the Sacramento Pee say that even they smell a RAT then this situation has turned beyond the critical mass stage and is heading straight to an epic 'gotcha' of historical proportions.
Make that ""This governor is legendary for his mismanagement."
In a rational, sane world you would be right. But you're dealing with politics here, not the rational world. The "Pee" and the Times will soon come to their senses. Start watching for commercials with Simon pushing an old woman in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, while laughing maniacally...a la Richard Widmark. Or maybe stuffing golden retriever puppies in a bag and tossing them off the Golden Gate Bridge...the usual sort of Democratic media campaign. :)
The Bee concluded that Lockyer, Davis' fellow Democrat [and himself a recipient of a $50,000 campaign contribution from Oracle] is the governor's lawyer "in other cases involving the state and a politician with a potential political interest in Davis' fate if the path of wrongdoing in this scandal leads to the governor's desk.
Lets be considerate of Davis and at least give him a decent burial!
Go Simon!!
calgov2002:
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Is Elba Island available?
Nah! Too good for 'im. Views of Tuscany and fine weather. Maybe Devil's Island
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