| ► 05/26/10 – letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger re: “low-hanging fruit” in State budget |
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05/26/10 – letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger re: “low-hanging fruit” in State budget Dave Palmer
 The Watchdawg
URL: www.noethics.net
May 26, 2010
Hon. Arnold Schwarzenegger
California Governor
Re: California’s Budget Crisis and Proposals for Statewide Savings
Termination of “all low hanging fruits” from Budget
Dear Gov. Schwarzenegger:
In a May 10, 2010 story in the LA Times titled: “Schwarzenegger’s budget deals blows to the poor,” you are quoted as saying, “California no longer has low-hanging fruits” while introducing your $83.4 billion budget. Unfortunately, the following appears to qualify as future “low hanging fruit.”
“Hi-Hanging Fruit”
 My idea of provable “hi-hanging fruit” (aka, waste, abuse and/or outright fraud) would include, but not be limited to the following, with specific discussion of several items below.
Double Dipping by LA County Judges
In early 2009, Sen. Darrell Steinberg proposed legislation legalizing the $350 million unconstitutionally collected by LA County judges (aka, double-dipping). That unconscionable legislation also prohibited the State Bar Court from filing ethics complaints against the offending judges, which clearly demonstrates that Mr. Steinberg recognized it was unethical. The legislation also authorized LA County to continue to pay unconstitutional benefits to these judges even though the State pays for them.
There are about 450 judges in LA County that are estimated to be collecting about $57,000 annually in benefits already paid by the State, which would amount to about $26 million in 2009 and every year thereafter. The mere fact that these judges cheerfully continue to engage in unethical/unconstitutional conduct is quite disturbing. If the taxpayers in LA County are willing to fund this $26 million largess so be it; however, taxpayers in Eureka, Bakersfield, Anaheim and/or San Diego certainly should not be taxed to pay duplicate benefits. Put simply, all that is required is a proposal that the State no longer fund benefits for LA judges that LA County is also paying for.
How in the world could you approve of such unethical conduct by judges who have the chutzpah to proclaim they “must be held to a higher standard of conduct,” while at the same time proposing to “terminate” programs meant to provide assistance to the needy? With all due respect Governor, I’m quite disappointed!
Retired Visiting Judge Fiasco
In 2008, the state paid $31 million in wages to retired visiting judges. Unlike Ohio, these judges are paid a full day’s pay ($655) even if they only work one-hour or less. This was confirmed in writing by the Judicial Council of California. In addition, many states reduce the daily wages of a retired judge by the amount he/she receives in state/county pension benefits, which only seems equitable to me. However, this is not the case in California, which the examples below demonstrate:
This unwarranted and unconscionable largess is ripe for being plucked off as “hi-hanging fruit.” To suggest otherwise would be to argue that:
I could go on and on and on Governor; however if the above waste and abuse is sacrosanct and not considered “hi-hanging fruit,” but decimating programs for the indigent, mentally handicapped and Grandma are, then there’s nothing more for me and/or any other concerned citizen to say.
Lastly, on behalf of the overburdened taxpayers of California, I would implore to do the right thing and veto any budget that contains any of the “hi-hanging fruit” aforementioned before punishing those least able to fend for themselves.
Respectfully yours,
Dave Palmer
The Watchdawg
Folsom, California |