"I’ll oppose higher taxes…" proclaimed then Assemblyman Lou Correa in a letter (see it here) he mailed to Central Orange County voters as he made his case for why he, and not his opponent, should be 
elected to the State Senate. If his promise, emphased in boldfaced text, in a personally signed letter to voters wasn’t emphatic enough, in terms of where Correa promised he would be on tax increases, then there was the glossy full-color mailing, with the words emblazed on the front: "Where I stand on… Taxes." Open up the mailing (see it here), and he says, "I don’t support tax increases without a vote of the people…" — the mailer ends with Correa’s campaign slogan: "A different kind of Democrat."
It seems likely that Lou Correa’s pledge and promise was, to put it in the parlance of modern film making, more what you would call a "guideline" — as he has supposedly agreed to break the pledge in return for around $30 or $40 million bucks coming to Orange County.
I guess I do have a conflict of interest here. As a taxpayer, and someone who truly believes that the Big 5/Big Tax deal is a bad one, I want Correa to cast a resounding NO vote. But putting on my Republican Party hat, well, Correa is up for re-election next year to a seat he barely won three years ago. I am quite certain that breaking his no-taxes pledge, while at the same time approving a package that gives tax breaks to Hollywood — well, that will go over like a lead balloon…
February 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hey… that sounds quite a bit like Marty Block too!
February 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Sorry Lou, you’re a great guy and I like hanging out with you occasionally, but you lied to your voters to get elected and now the time has come for you to go.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Lou is selling his services (vote)— and I have said it before and I will say it again, it matters not if it is at night on the streets or in an elegant setting in broad daylight, those who sell their services are called whores!!
February 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
He gave himself an out – “by a vote of the people”. You look at Illinois and the former governor. What is the difference? Both say give me something – one directly and one indirectly, but it is the same result.
Until the entire structure is changed, this will continue to happen.