Tag: California

A summation of Peter Lance’s expose of the Lois Capps (D, CA-24) / Raymond Morua scandal.

Background: On December 6th, 201[3], a young woman named Mallory Dies was hit-and-run by Raymond Morua, who at the time was a valued staffer to Representative Lois Capps (D, California-24).  Ms. Dies would later die of her injuries: Mr. Morua has since pled guilty to “gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of the crime.”  As the link above shows, Ms. Dies’ parents are now suing not only Mr. Morua… but also his former employer Rep. Lois Capps,and the federal government in general.  And the reasons for that lawsuit are the subjects of this post.

As people will probably remember, I wrote about this last week; as it turns out, local reporter Peter Lance (as noted in this diary here) had previously written extensively on this subject for the Santa-Barbara News Press.  Said exposes included some extremely disturbing details about the case, including what very much appears to be a cover-up. I really do recommend that people go ahead and read through the entire thing, but I want to make sure that the following details are noted.

  • It is established at this point that Raymond Morua had a history of both driving while intoxicated and hit-and-run incidents prior to his being hired by Congresswoman Capp in 2011. It is also established that Mr. Morua had spent ten days in County lockup while actually being an intern for Capp. This is relevant partially because of the civil suit, and partially because…
  • It is reasonable to think that on the night in question Mr. Morua had previously attended a party as a representative of the Congresswoman. This is a very sore spot because, if true, it might make both the Congresswoman and the host of the party (the Santa Barbara Independent) liable for damages.

Now this is where it starts to get problematical for Congresswoman Capps. Continue reading A summation of Peter Lance’s expose of the Lois Capps (D, CA-24) / Raymond Morua scandal.

So why DID Rep Lois Capps (D, California-24) hire a drunken embezzler?

You know, I remember hearing about a Congressional staffer getting drunk and killing a pedestrian last year, but I honestly didn’t think very much of it at the time, except of course to feel sorry for the victim. But what I did not realize was that there was both a history of bad behavior, and a possible work-related element to the story:

The parents of a Santa Barbara woman who was fatally struck by a congresswoman’s aide filed a federal lawsuit against the driver, U.S. Rep.Lois Capps and the U.S. government.

The wrongful death suit filed by Matt and Raeona Dies’ attorney claims the Democratic congresswoman hired the aide despite being aware of his two DUI convictions and failed to monitor him, KEYT-TV reported Saturday. The suit said Raymond Morua‘s job as a field representative required driving.

Court records show he has two prior DUI arrests, a hit-and-run and an embezzlement conviction.

Continue reading So why DID Rep Lois Capps (D, California-24) hire a drunken embezzler?

California anti-tech Left about to start eating the tech industry.

Ed Driscoll has an interesting post up on the anti-tech Left in California:

When I moved out to Silicon Valley from New Jersey in 1997, Internet fever was just about to peak (literally so, in the form of the bursting tech bubble that decimated the NASDAQ three years later). Silicon Valley was seen as the next big thing, ushering America into the wonders of the 21st century — and possibly saving the increasing bloated state government of California in the process. Wired magazine, based in San Francisco, was still owned by founder Louis Rossetto, and maintained its quirky but libertarian vibe, before Rosetto sold the magazine to the mammoth reactionary left Conde Nast publishing empire four year later. For those of us who had started computing on Altair 8800s and TRS-80s twenty years earlier, the mid-to-late 1990s was quite a ride.

It was fun while it lasted.

Continue reading California anti-tech Left about to start eating the tech industry.

Democratic gun-grabber Leland Yee arrested for running guns.

Because I apparently did something nice for somebody recently, and this is God’s way of showing His appreciation.

 

Seriously, this is amazing: “Known for navigating the state Capitol’s backrooms and this city’s complicated political landscape, state Sen. Leland Yee now is accused of consorting with notorious felons, accepting money for his cash-strapped political campaigns in exchange for favors and promising undercover FBI agents he could deliver connections to international gun runners.” They actually noted his political affiliation (Democrat) – note, though, that as per this article by my RS colleague streiff  they apparently had to be prodded into doing it – and favorite hobby-horse (gun control*), and you will find very little in that article that is dull.  But there is one item that needs to be pushed back on: “Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, called the allegations against Yee “shocking” and “surreal.”” Continue reading Democratic gun-grabber Leland Yee arrested for running guns.

I believe that it is time for the Beck Song in the #sdmayor election.

With 86% of the vote in, Republican Kevin Faulconer looks to be the winner over Democrat David Alvarez in the special election to replace disgraced Democrat Bob Filner. San Diego goes back to having generally Republican mayors, and the results tonight were never particularly close.

I understand that Big Labor poured something like $1.2 million into this race: congratulations, folks, it’s time for your theme song.

Moe Lane

PS: If, for some reason, this reminds Big Labor of Wisconsin… well, it should.

PPS: For the record, AoSHQ called this election several hours ago.

Heads up: San Diego mayoral election Tuesday.

Replacing the disgraced Democrat Bob Filner. The race is apparently close, with Republican Kevin Faulconer having a very decent shot:

…Faulconer has a far broader base of support and funding than Alvarez. He certainly has the support of the San Diego business community and related interests, but only about one-third of the contributions raised by committees supporting Faulconer has come from out-of-town sources.

Faulconer has also made a concerted effort to reach out beyond traditional Republican constituencies. The effort has paid off with endorsements that span the political spectrum: the San Diego Police Officers Association, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore and the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, the Latino American Political Association, pastors representing largely African-American churches, a group of bicycle enthusiasts, advocates for the homeless, including the revered Father Joe Carroll, a collection of Democrats, including the granddaughter of iconic farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, a group of women leaders, including Jacque Young, the wife of former Council President Tony Young, a Democrat, and former City Attorney Mike Aguirre, also a Democrat.

San Diego usually puts Republicans in charge: Bob Filner was a historical aberration. Continue reading Heads up: San Diego mayoral election Tuesday.

Sandra Fluke smacked back into place wrt Henry Waxman’s seat.

That would be my guess, at least.

Democratic attorney and activist Sandra Fluke has decided against running for retiring Rep. Henry A. Waxman’s congressional seat, instead planning a bid for the state Senate.

[snip]

Fluke said she plans to run for the state Senate seat currently held by Ted Lieu, who is running for Waxman’s congressional seat.

But it was almost certainly foolish of her to think that the (mostly male) people who have been waiting to move into Waxman’s seat were going to let any parvenu useful idiot just cut ahead in line.  Not that Fluke is likely to win that Senate seat, either – but it’s a much more realistic seat for her to reach for, and fail to grasp.

Via Jonah Goldberg.

 

Looks like California is poised to make the delta smelt extinct, THANK GOD.

Background:

Officials Friday said that for the first time ever, the State Water Project that helps supply a majority of Californians may be unable to make any deliveries except to maintain public health and safety.

They also said they were cutting releases from large reservoirs in the northern part of the state to preserve supplies in the face of what could be the worst drought in modern California history.

Very important point (same link):

The State Water Resources Control Board announced that it is temporarily dropping requirements for reservoir releases to maintain environmental standards in California’s water hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Continue reading Looks like California is poised to make the delta smelt extinct, THANK GOD.

Rep. George Miller (D, California-11) takes his ball and goes home.

Looks like George Miller finally realized that he’s never getting that House Education/Workforce* chairmanship back: “Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), a close ally of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2014.”  The seat, alas, is D+17; and Miller is probably not leaving because he got caught at something.  However, it’s always nice to see the Other Side lose just a little bit more of its institutional knowledge**. Normally wouldn’t matter so much under a competent Minority Leader (entropy eventually wins all bets); but then, Nancy Pelosi is hardly competent…

Moe Lane

*Under Miller it was temporarily called Education/Labor.  I mention this largely because rust never sleeps.

**That’s me being polite and not saying that George Miller was a prime example of the barnacle class of legislator.  He’s getting lauded right now, sure: but what the heck did he do during his tenure that a younger, more vigorous progressive legislator could not have done? Spoiler warning: not much.