Senate Rebuke of Cranston
Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) may be correct. He said that he disagrees strongly that his behavior was a radical departure from the Senate norm (Nov. 21). After all, there is much evidence that many politicians take large contributions and perform services for specific donors.
On a local level, it’s a published fact that most of the county supervisors’ contributions come from developers and realtors. Actually, what is sad is that it took almost two years for the Senate to take action on Cranston. It is even more serious that the article quoted Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) as stating that Cranston not only didn’t break a law, he didn’t even break a Senate rule.
We ought to ask ourselves why there isn’t such a law or rule. We should also ask ourselves how a candidate for the Senate spends as much as $6 million or more to get a job that doesn’t even pay 10% of that amount in six years.
Can we fix this system and, if so, what is wanted and needed?
JOHN L. FEENEY
Los Angeles
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
