California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein
reportedly revealed whose interests she serves when she was caught trying to ram through a massive transfer of precious water out of the hands of millions of Californians into the private pockets of a clique of billionaire corporate farmers -- including one who has been a generous contributor to her political campaign.
The San Francisco Chronicle
reported that "
Feinstein wants to attach the proposal as an amendment to a fast-tracked Senate jobs bill. She is pitching the plan as a jobs measure to address the economic calamity in the Central Valley. It would increase farm water allocations from 10 percent last year to 40 percent this year and next, an amount that farmers say is the bare minimum they need."
According to McClatchy News, Feinstein's amendment has been around for some time, having already gone through numerous drafts when it was discovered. Bay Area Democrats are upset. They've accused Feinstein of concocting the plan in secret, upending fragile water negotiations that Feinstein has supported, and pitting California's Central Valley against its coast.
Transferring water would decimate Northern California's fragile ecosystem, endanger fish species, and decrease its already scarce supply of drinking water. California's water supply is an issue that could get ugly. It appears that Feinstein was trying to sneak legislation through before anyone could figure it out.
Billionaire's Campaign Contributions Dismantling CA's Environmental Preservation
Stewart Resnick, a Beverly Hills billionaire, and one of the richest men in California, is
a friend and major contributor to Feinstein's political career. Resnick owns Fiji Water, Porn Wonderful, pesticide manufacturer Suterra and Paramount Agribusiness, the largest pistachio and almond producer in the world, and the largest farming company in America.
Resnick is also a water broker who will fare well if Feinstein's underhanded plan goes through -- well enough to make him billions of dollars in profits.
Resnick was also responsible for concocting the little-known
water privatization scheme responsible for bringing Enron-style deregulation and privatization to California's water market that made him one of, if not the largest private water brokers in the United States.
Now Resnick has been pressuring Feinstein to persuade the Obama administration to loosen environmental regulations and release more water to California's farmers. Feinstein complied, sparking a closer look at her dealings with Resnick.
Resnick has written several checks to Feinstein's political campaigns, hosted a party in her honor at his mansion in Beverly Hills and entertained her at his other home in Aspen. Putting all that money in her pockets -- according to revealing documents -- has produced quick results from Feinstein. Thanks to Resnick's contributions to Feinstein, Resnick is successfully dismantling California's environmental preservation.
Feinstein's Husband has Profited Greatly from her Political Power
Richard Blum, Feinstein's husband of 30 years, has been the beneficiary of many pork-laden projects and profited greatly from his wife's political power and shady dealings --
one of which involved, Feinstein's creation of a law that steered a lot of taxpayer money towards her husband's business.
Feinstein also
introduced legislation that routed $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that awarded her husband's real estate firm a lucrative contract selling foreclosed properties at compensation rates that are higher than industry norms.
A
bigger scandal linked Feinstein to war profiteering in Iraq: from 2001 through the end of 2005, while Feinstein was the chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Feinstein was responsible for supervising the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Feinstein's husband controlled the interest of two defense contractors who benefited by decisions made while Feinstein was the leader of that subcommittee.
Feinstein's attempts to force through an unpopular law without being caught is just more of her business as usual. Feinstein's priorities appear to be all about stripping public wealth and privatizing state assets for maximum profits -- as long as it goes to her billionaire campaign donors or friends of her husband. Feinstein epitomizes America's problems with politicians who cater to big business instead of those they were elected to represent. Is it any wonder why Americans are getting fed up with the entire U.S. political system?
