Asked in August why he thought there was a surge of “flash-mob” robberies of luxury retailers, billionaire mall developer and former candidate for L.A. mayor Rick Caruso answered, “They’re successful. If you have bad behavior and it’s rewarded, then you continue with bad behavior.”
He should listen to his own advice. Instead he has pledged to help the Democratic Party win targeted congressional seats in California to take back majority control of the House in 2024.
“Help” means money. Caruso told Politico he wants to get “moderates” elected to the House. “I am not out to support extremists or, frankly, ideologues,” he said.
Ah, the elusive “moderate Democrat,” the stuff of legend in California.
In the legislative session that wrapped up in September, “mod Dems” Sharon Quirk-Silva of Orange County, James Ramos of San Bernardino and Sabrina Cervantes of Riverside all voted for hard-left priorities, including the labor-backed Senate Bill 799 to require the state to pay unemployment benefits to workers who have voluntarily gone on strike. The bill was even too much for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who vetoed it. The three “moderates” also voted for at least one of two attacks on Proposition 13, ACA 1 and ACA 13, which would make it easier to raise taxes and harder to pass taxpayer protections.
In the House, when “moderate Democrats” had the opportunity to reward then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy for working across the aisle to the point that a handful of enraged Republicans voted to remove him, not one Democrat voted to keep McCarthy as speaker.
Caruso has hinted that he wants to run for office again and clearly wishes to have the backing of the Democratic Party after the cold reception he received as a candidate for mayor. The Karen Bass campaign regularly emphasized to voters that Caruso is a former Republican and independent who switched to the Democratic Party before he entered the mayor’s race.
Politico reported that Caruso is working with House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar and has already given the maximum contribution of $26,400 to Aguilar’s California House Majority Fund. Caruso reportedly “wants to sink six figures into federal races.”
You don’t become a billionaire shopping mall developer in California without knowing how to negotiate with elected officials. It wouldn’t be surprising if more money was dangled than delivered.
Nonetheless, it’s disheartening to watch Caruso, a candidate we endorsed for mayor, fall into the trap of thinking the key to restoring pro-business policies is to defeat Republicans like John Duarte, a farmer and businessman who narrowly won the open 13th District seat in the San Joaquin Valley. Or Kevin Kiley, a former Assembly member who has been a strong voice against the waste and fraud in California government and an opponent of the appalling nomination of still-acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who oversaw the California Employment Development Department’s reckless disbursement of about $30 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits.
L.A. County Democratic Party chair Mark Gonzalez said he told Caruso that “he had some making up to do” in order to get into the good graces of the Democratic Party. Obviously that’s a request for money, not an invitation to high tea at The Grove.
But if Caruso rewards the people responsible for the anti-business policies he deplores, he shouldn’t be surprised if the bad behavior continues.
—The Editorial Board, Southern California News Group
