There are times when politicians show power entrusted to them is misplaced.  State Senator Jenny Oropeza unfortunately is such a politician.

Her district runs from a sliver of Long Beach west through Carson to the South Bay and West Los Angeles.  Since college she has been employed as either an appointed or elected official, living off the perks that came with those jobs, starting with an appointment to the Board of Trustees of the CSU System, with time in the State Assembly.  She chairs the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee and is a member of the Appropriations; Transportation; and Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committees. She is also the State Senate Majority Caucus Chair, the number two position in the State Senate Democrat’s hierarchy, with responsibility for coordinating the daily operations of the Democrats on the State Senate Floor.

While she is not fully responsible for the current economic crisis, given the responsibility entrusted to her, she cannot escape at least some blame.  Her public record shows that her legislation has been inconsequential to the solving the real problems facing her district or California, while her public statements have shown a lack of understanding concerning basic economics.

The Torrance Daily Breeze in May showed how inconsequential her legislation has been, including tries at banning smoking in various locations and regulating charities that give away food to the needy.  Meanwhile in her district high paying aerospace jobs are being relocated to Colorado, Texas, & Virginia where the cost of doing business is much less, while machine shops that rely on aerospace for orders have had to diversify or shutdown.

On June 30^th, Ms. Oropeza harangued her Republican colleagues with crocodile tears for not voting for more taxes, when the bill she was trying to force through the State Senate would reduce the revenue to the state and harm the very programs she was weeping for.   These taxes would have raised fixed costs for the businesses and entrepreneurs who create the jobs that employ much of this state.  By raising fixed costs she and her allies are increasing the cost of doing business in this state.  That increased cost will further drive all sorts of private sector jobs to other states; where the cost to operate a business is much less.  That means less tax revenue coming into the state and local governments as our tax base flees to other parts of the country.

Ms. Oropeza can run for one more inconsequential term where she will continue to argue for more of the same things that got us into this current mess. If successful, every liberal bit of her influence will continue to hurt us that much more.