HispanicVista Columnists

In 1998 I speechified, debated, appeared on radio and television all over the California Republic campaigning against a confiscatory cigarette tax sponsored by Hollywood’s Meathead actor/director, AKA Rob Reiner. That was the Proposition 10 fight. No matter where I went, where I spoke, I repeatedly voiced these warnings: First, that cigarettes would become so expensive that criminals would fill the demand for cheaper cigarettes by robbing and stealing them thus endangering the lives of minimum wage people, that has happened. Secondly, that Reiner had built in an expenditure of millions of mandated and corrupt spending with his Hollywood/Beverly Hills public relations cronies. Borrowing a phrase from the 2000 Mexican Presidential election, Reiner is corruption and corruption is Reiner. Proposition 10 passed by slightly over 70,000 votes in a state with 35-million people. It only carried a handful of counties and won only because of a plurality in Los Angeles County. His 1998 proposition clearly mandated that 6-percent of all funds collected by this 50-cents-a-pack tax (from California poor and modest wage earners) be spent on public relations. If the tax had only collected $100, only $6 would be spent. But, billions were collected producing a 6-percent amount of $243-million that Reiner’s Beverly Hills cohorts could spend on campaigns to tell the state how productive pre-school is for children. If those millions had been spent on child immunizations, on preschool breakfasts for poor children, for college scholarships or better-equipped teachers, few would care. The money, however, was spent on public relations through the checking accounts of Reiner friends. The money was supposed to be for preschool children. Never mind that there are many conclusive studies that show pre-school affects dissipating within three years of schooling. That, in fact, was my third campaign point; from the Hispanic point of view: What good are you doing for inner-city children by giving them pre-school then graduating them into the worst public schools in America outside of Mississippi, the California inner city school? Mustn’t we improve the country’s worst urban public schools first before we start feeding preschool “graduates” into that failed system? All of the above is true and accurate. None of these activities are criminal when one applies a general yardstick, but one does find a prison term if one looks closely at commission activities. As state chairman of the commission established by Proposition 10 to handle the billions of tax dollars, it appears that Reiner has violated a gaggle of laws. Specifically, Reiner’s commission spent $23-million on a specific television ad campaign that told how much children benefit from pre-school. Never mind the underlying controversy among scholars of pre-school effects on children--- look at when and how the $23-million was spent. At the very moment Reiner’s paid employees were seeking signatures for his new proposal, Proposition 82, that will tax the “rich” more money, money that will be spent on mandatory pre-school for all 4 year olds, including those of Reiner’s rich pals. The television campaign was designed by Reiner’s Beverly Hills buddies to help the signature drive. If not specifically designed to influence the signature gathering then we have the greatest coincidence in political history. Simply put, it is illegal for a public agency to spend tax money to promote any political issue or ballot proposition. Does anyone believe that a termed out Rob Reiner, termed out of his position as chairman of the commission, didn’t have something to do with the spending of $23-million dollars that just happened to support his pet project? Reiner has taken a leave of absence from his chairman’s seat. Is that enough? No. The Sacramento District attorney has commenced an investigation, an investigation that can result in prison terms for Reiner and his public relations cabal. Let the investigation proceed. Meanwhile, Governor Schwarzenneger must replace Chairman Reiner, today. The stench of corruption around Reiner and his soak-the-rich Proposition 82 demands a quick response. Californians must reject this proposition in the June election then the District Attorney and her County Grand Jury must proceed wherever the evidence leads them, as must a United States Attorney and a federal Grand Jury. Someone ought go to jail for this $23-million felony.
Contreras’s newest book—THE ILLEGAL ALIEN: A DAGGER INTO THE HEART OF AMERICA published by Floricanto Press is available and reviewed at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com