Like Hillary, Korrupt Kammy Not Inevitable

California Attorney General Kamala Harris could win the Democratic Party nomination for US Senate in 2016. Like Presidential contender Hillary Clinton, she threw her name out for consideration within days of incumbent Barbara Boxer's unique (if not strange) announcement to retire in 2016. (Of course, Boxer's decision not to run was not the biggest surprise to connected California politicos, since the ineffectual progressive had little campaign cash on hand, with no intention of raising more.)

Kamala Harris

 
Kamala Harris, a Bay Area political fixture of mixed Jamaican-South East Asian heritage, from San Francisco by way of Oakland, who defeated one of the most popular moderate Republicans in Los Angeles (and California), is another upstart success story, much like Hillary. However, with the rising reports of corruption as well as misconduct dogging her, she might want to rethink her similarities (and chances) to Hillary Clinton.

 Like Hillary, Kammy's love interests have propelled her political fortunes.

 In 1994, just before State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown lost his powerful post, the Los Angeles Times reported:

Former Speaker Willie Brown

Brown, exercising his power even as his speakership seems near an end, named attorney Kamala Harris to the California Medical Assistance Commission, a job that pays $72,000 a year.

Harris, a former deputy district attorney in Alameda County, was described by several people at the Capitol as Brown's girlfriend. In March, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen called her "the Speaker's new steady." Harris declined to be interviewed Monday and Brown's spokeswoman did not return phone calls.

The Daily Caller, which referenced the above, also reported:

The Brown-Harris affair didn’t last long. She was spotted dating talk show host Montel Williams in 2001, but Brown continued to support her, helping her as mayor to become San Francisco’s first black district attorney over Terence Hallinan, a popular two-term incumbent.

Hillary had Bubba. Kamala had Brown. Oh brother.

Like Hillary, issues of transparency are uncovering the true motives of AG Harris' run for federal office. Eden Stiffman reports:

California Attorney General Kamala Harris is backing new legislation that would boost transparency requirements for third-party fundraisers and extend the statute of limitations for certain offenses.

Third party fundraisers likely refer to Independent Expenditures (IE), which promote freedom of speech and association in the political process, following the Citizens United decision, universally loathed by the Left, championed by many interest groups large and small. A number of California Republicans won critical 2014 election contests with IE assistance. Democrats cannot complain, since they rely on third-party funding for their campaigns, too.

California law requires "commercial fundraisers" to include a disclosure in charity solicitations whenever a portion of a donor’s charitable contributions will go to a for-profit company. However, some fundraisers have skirted that requirement by establishing their operations as "fundraising counsel" instead of "commercial fundraiser."

Of course, the transparency requirement focuses on "for-profit", but what about labor unions and left-leaning non-profits, which have unduly promoted regressive policies at the expense of tax-paying, law-abiding Californians?

Kamala Harris with former AG Eric Holder

At the end of 2013, CalWatchdog blasted Harris' legal yet blatant corruption:

[T]here’s something particularly odious about how Harris has put her finger on the scale of justice with the ballot language for a trial-lawyer measure to up the amount they can wring out of doctors through medical-malpractice lawsuits. Dan Walters had the details earlier this week.

SacBee's Political columnist Dan Walters explained:

“[I]ts real aim is reflected very briefly in the final sentence — to modify the state’s 38-year-old cap on ‘pain and suffering’ damages in medical malpractice cases.'”

While dressing up a ballot initiative to hold bad doctors accountable, Harris wanted to make it easier for trial lawyers to score large judgments in lawsuits. No matter how necessary a legal system for redress of wrongs, lawsuit abuse in the state of California is driving up costs, driving away businesses, and driving through individual Californians' lingering opportunities for work, wealth, and prosperity.

Earlier in 2015, The New York Observer reported another disturbing trend in connection with AG Harris:

Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski declared months ago in a much-quoted opinion that there is “an epidemic of Brady violations abroad in the land.” . . . But here’s another doozy: The People (of California) v. Efrain Velasco-Palacios. In this unpublished opinion from the Fifth Appellate District, the California Court of Appeal reveals that state prosecutors and California Attorney General Kamala Harris continue to be part of the problem. Ms. Harris and her staff defended the indefensible—California State prosecutor Murray flat out falsified a transcript of a defendant’s confession.

Another expose revealed AG Harris' connections with a nefarious, extralegal aide, working with an underground cult impersonating police officers:

An aide to California Attorney General Kamala Harris and two others claiming to be part of the "Masonic Fraternal Police Department" and descendants of the Knights Templar were arrested last week on suspicion of impersonating police officers.

Brandon Kiel, the deputy director of community affairs at the California Department of Justice, has been placed on administrative leave according to The Los Angeles Times. Two others, David Henry and Tonette Hayes, were also placed in custody.

Hillary Clinton

 Not exactly Clinton Cash, but this culture of corruption is wearing down Korrupt Kammy's chances.

Since the inevitable Krazy Kammy train is proving not so invincible, another Democrat has thrown her name out of the US Senate seat: Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of Santa Ana. A candidate with a unique and controversial profile, pro-military and pro-business , along wither her Latino heritage and Southern California connections, Sanchez could derail the Bay Area political Robber Barons who have decided California elections for decades.

Kamala Harris certainly is a California version of Hillary Clinton, as her campaign diminishes with allegations of misconduct and corruption. Die-hard progressives and well-researched pundits are still searching for something better. More Democrats are mulling US Senate bids. As for the Republicans in the race, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez of Oceanside, former CA GOP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, and Fresno farmer John Estrada, they could profit from Democratic in-fighting to gain momentum in California’s large (and expensive) media market.