Gun Grabber Yee Bribery-case Democrat: ‘It’s just human nature’ – had called for more transparency, accountability
Posted on April 21, 2014 by ror1774
Anti Second Amendment gang guns
Yee on video called for more transparency, accountability
April 20, 2014 by Bob Unruh
A longtime anti-firearm politician in California who was charged with gun trafficking and corruption for allegedly accepting bribes in return for promises of political favors thinks taxpayers should pay for his political campaigns, according to a video that has been uncovered.
And the suspended state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, in an interview only a few months before his criminal case developed, explained how politicians acquire a sense of entitlement to the trappings of public office.
“I think there’s that old adage, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It’s just human nature. After a while, you kind of feel that you deserve, you know, all the perks of office, because you’ve suffered so much, you’ve given up so much. You should have all of those kinds of trappings. And then, you know, I served for a long time, and I know this stuff, so I don’t have to explain it to you, I don’t have to tell you that. You should just believe me and trust me. And I guess I kind of grew up in an era where that was not the norm, that’s not the way in which people behave. And you have to be open and you have to be transparent and you have to be accountable,” Yee said.
Yee, who has been a key leader in many of California’s strategies to cut down on access to guns and ammunition, was talking to Orange County’s Voice of OC.
“Go ahead. Say something snarky. we’re not gonna do it,” said the writers at KQED’s news blog, who posted the videos online.
Federal prosecutors on Thursday said they were planning to add racketeering charges to the organized crime and political corruption case involving Yee.
The Mercury News reported U.S. Attorney William Frentzen told a federal judge that “RICO charges are coming” in the case.
Yee, 65, has pleaded not guilty to corruption and gun trafficking counts. He’s accused of taking bribes in exchange for political favor promises as well as offering to set up an international arms deal.
“Keeping in mind that state Sen. Leland Yee hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, but also keeping in mind that he’s been charged with accepting bribes and offering to help import illegal firearms … well, make of this what you will,” the KQED posting said.
In one video recorded by the Voice of OC, Yee is asked about the balance between money and politics.
He said, “I just think that we’ve got to bite the bullet and take money out of it. Because money just simply corrupts. We ought to find ways to take money out of it and part of it is we’ve got to look at public finance. I hate to say that because that’s going to be an additional responsibility to residents, to the taxpayers … but if we’re going to have open government, transparency, a government that is accountable to the people, the people’s going to have to fund that.
“And public financing is about that… it’s not about simply letting anybody who wants to run all of a sudden go to the people and say give me… you’re going to have to raise enough money, demonstrate you’re a serious candidate and then get public financing.
“I think we’ve got to tone down large campaign contributions coming in and taking away an election of the people.”
The second video deals with the OC question about transparency, and Yee’s response, where he concludes, “And you have to be open and you have to be transparent and you have to be accountable.”
WND reported just a few days ago that the suspension of Yee by the legislature was accompanied by a poll showing a plunge in support for the state lawmakers.
Yee, who was named to the “Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll” by the Brady Campaign in 2006, is now under fire for his alleged involvement in supplying guns illegally in what is dubbed as “gangland ties.”
The revelation of the allegations has coincided with a drop in support for California lawmakers.
The Field Poll showed a nine-point shift in approval for the Legislature, with those who approve declining from 46 to 43 percent and those who disapprove rising from 40 to 46 percent.
National Rifle Association Director of Public Affairs Andrew Arulanandam told WND that when citizens are confronted with scandals such as the Yee case, “it dramatically violates their trust.”
“They roll their eyes and think this is the definition of hypocrisy,” he said.
http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/bribery-case-democrat-its-just-human-nature/—-
