Comic turn in Norby vs. Ackerman Calif. Assembly race

Even if you’re not from California, you might find this amusing. A special election is being held Nov. 17 to fill a vacant seat for Assembly District 72.

The main candidates are Chris Norby, an Orange County supervisor, and Linda Ackerman, the wife of former Republican Senate leader and current lobbyist Dick Ackerman.

One hit piece being put out by the Ackerman campaign brings up a sexual harassment suit against Norby that was dismissed in court. According to one account, the accusing woman said Norby “made remarks about her legs.”

Isn’t the point of a woman showing her legs that men notice them?

That reminds me of a scene in “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” starring one of my favorite comedy teams. The boys eventually meet the Wolfman, who says, “You don’t understand. Every night when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf.”

To which Costello replies, “You and twenty million other guys!”

Assuming Norby even made the remark — which is questionable — what’s the big deal? Does Mrs. Ackerman want to return to Victorian times, when when women wore hoop skirts? (And couldn’t vote.)

And aren’t Republicans supposed to be less Politically Correct than Democrats, less obsessed with every minor comment somebody might make?

The real issues

The Ackerman smears are a classic case of changing the subject — in this case away from the Ackermans being actual residents of Irvine, which is not part of the 72nd District. So she’s a carpetbagger.

Another matter is the fiscal record. Norby has turned in a superb record of fiscal responsibility on the Board of Supervisors. In the Assembly, he would be another Tom McClintock, fighting for every taxpayer dime.

By contrast, La Ackerman likely would be simlar to her husband. As I was the first to point out:

[Norby’s] principal opponent would be Linda Ackerman, wife of Republican former state Senator Dick “Deficits” Ackerman. As Republican minority leader in the state Senate from May 10, 2004-April 15, 2008, he was part of the “Gang of Four” (the governor, plus  the Democratic and Republican leaders in each house) that wrote the state budget, then got their colleagues to pass it. So he was responsible for the budgets from fiscal 2004-05 to fiscal 2007-08.

During those four fiscal years, general fund expenditures rose from $78.3 billion in fiscal 2003-04 (the year before he took charge) to $103 billion in fiscal 2007-08 (his last year in charge.) That’s a rise of $24.7 billion — or a whopping 32% — in just 4 years! (The data are on Schedule 6, page Appendix 13, of this .pdf.)

Backfire

I think the Ackerman tactic of smearing Norby will backfire. After all, the charges were dismissed.

And people are tired of so many ridiculous charges of harassment. Some voters will remember Anita Hill’s attack on Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court back in 1991.

Real charges are serious, and should be pursued. But frivolous charges should not be pursued.

Especially during these difficult economic times — made worse by the wild spending of Sen. Ackerman — people are looking more closely at what’s really at stake.

In the next week, Norby can expect increasingly ridiculous assaults by the Ackermans. Let’s hope the voters see through it and vote for Norby.

Chris Norby for California Assembly

Chris Norby

Most people think of Orange County as a place where conservative politicians thrive. Some do — but most actually are “moderates,” that is, liberals who try to appear conservative on some things.

One person who is the real McCoy is County Supervisor Chris Norby. He’s a principled opponent of the excesses of government, especially abuses of eminent domain that seize private property to help another, politically connected, private business. He’s always a reliable vote against government waste and for low taxes and bureaucracy.

Norby now might run for an open seat in the state Assembly. I hope he does. (He’s also considering running for county clerk/recorder, which would be a lesser position.)

The Ackerman Deficits

His principal opponent would be Linda Ackerman, wife of Republican former state Senator Dick “Deficits” Ackerman. As Republican minority leader in the state Senate from May 10, 2004-April 15, 2008, he was part of the “Gang of Four” (the governor, plus  the Democratic and Republican leaders in each house) that wrote the state budget, then got their colleagues to pass it. So he was responsible for the budgets from fiscal 2004-05 to fiscal 2007-08.

During those four fiscal years, general fund expenditures rose from $78.3 billion in fiscal 2003-04 (the year before he took charge) to $103 billion in fiscal 2007-08 (his last year in charge.) That’s a rise of $24.7 billion — or a whopping 32% — in just 4 years! (The data are on Schedule 6, page Appendix 13, of this .pdf.)

If you look at the data, the budgets of those years appear “balanced.” But that’s only because of what in the state Capitol are called “gimmicks” — that is, accounting tricks that would land a private-sector accountant in prison for fraud. The actual deficit — with the gimmicks stripped away — is called the “structural deficit.”

As we saw this year, the “gimmicks” eventually are revealed as Enron-style legerdemain. In reality, if honest accounting were used, every budget of the Ackerman years was running structural red ink. And those were boom years, when there’s no excuse (such as higher welfare payments during a recession) for red ink.

As CalTax President Larry McCarthy wrote in 2006, during the middle of the Ackerman Deficits:

More than any other state, California offers promising opportunities to redirect and reprioritize spending. If elected officials in Sacramento had the political will to challenge public spending that is being ripped off, the structural budget deficit could be zeroed out.

The structural deficit is a $5 billion problem or 5% when calculated in relation to the total general fund.

If Ackerman had held firm on spending, the state’s budget would not have gone out of whack, and this year’s financial meltdown could have been avoided.

So, I hope another Ackerman doesn’t make it to the Legislature.

Go, Chris, go!