Column: Democrats appease wealthy gaming tribes

Thursday, July 12, 2007  

"I’m not angry with Steve Maviglio for branding me on a Democratic Party blog as the “worst” political journalist in the state. In fact, the guy’s got nothing but my sympathy. As top enforcer for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, Maviglio is much more comfortable working with compliant reporters who had once dated his boss. Though in fairness to Mirthala Salinas, Maviglio could give her a good run for the money when it comes to giving lip service to sundry Democratic pols (poor Maviglio: After flacking for a panoply of elected Democrats, he served for three years as chief spokesman for California’s worst governor in recent history — Gray Davis).

Readers of this column know that Maviglio (or, more accurately, the office of Fabian Núñez) has levied a fatwa against me because I had merely put in print what everybody already knew — that Fabian would eventually grease the skids for the biggest gambling expansion in state history. And that in doing so, he would diss his longtime labor allies, who were demanding concessions from the virulently anti-union tribes the deal favors.

Since then Maviglio has been relentlessly attacking me on his blog, my blog, by e-mail and in the Letters section of this publication. While he’s whined and whimpered that I’ve not given his side the courtesy of airing their argument, he’s simultaneously failed to offer up those arguments. I’m sympathetic to that as well, because there are no good arguments for Núñez rubber-stamping the gambling deals except sheer cynical, political expediency. In short: Núñez (and the Dem leadership) want to extend term limits that would otherwise boot them from office next year. They were scared to death that if not appeased properly, the wealthy and powerful tribes would pour millions into a campaign opposing the upcoming ballot initiative to extend the limits. Did I miss something?"

Get the Story:
Marc Cooper: Fabian's Fatwa (LA Weekly 7/12)