Jim Nielsen is beating a drum – if you hammer him for his record, you’re a liar. Click here to see our post from last year lambasting Jim Nielsen for his role in decimating the CAGOP Platform.
Unfortunately, for gentleman Jim, he has been in office too long to get away with anything. Actually, he has been on both sides of so many issues he is using that to double-speak any of his critics. Case and point – Periphrial Canal – He opposed Jerry Brown’s Canal, but supported George Deukmejian’s. He voted to put Prop 14 on the ballot, but then opposed Prop 14 once on the ballot. He called members of the legislature to go up on Prop 1A – the largest tax increase in state history, then voted against it on the floor of the Assembly.
Nielsen was also on both sides of the California Republican Party Platform debate. But, what he did as a member of the drafting committee was so egregious that he will not recover politically from the exposure.
In the drafting Committee – the minutes show that Jim Nielsen was out in front, leading the charge for the Platform for California’s Future. This platform had the pro-life, prop-8, 2nd amendment, and a whole bunch of other Republican issues stripped out of it.
It was so watered down that it even had the ethics section deleted! Click here for a full analysis between the previous CRP platform and the one that Jim Nielsen advocated for.
Click here to see the minutes from the Platform Drafting Committee Meeting. Nielsen was the first to speak towards its’ adoption and he made the motion to adopt said platform (Called the Platform for California’s Future). Conservative leaders Mike Spence and Craig DeLuz led the opposition.
Note as well that there were amendments proposed to bring parts of the “Pruner Platform” in to the Jim Nielsen Platform. They were all torpedoed.
The amendment to add paragraphs 3-8 of page 8 was adding Pro-Life language to the Nielsen platform. It was voted down. The amdnement to add paragraph 2 of page 5 was adding Prop-8 to the Nielsen platform. It was voted down.
I was called the day of the Drafting committee meeting by Steve Frank and I also spoke to Craig DeLuz. They both told me that Jim Nielsen was leading the debate for the watered-down platform the entire meeting. Mike Spence later confirmed the same story and he added that David Stafford Reade (who was expelled from CRA for 10 years for committing fraud) was there with Jim Nielsen.
You see, when legislative staff come forward to tell me that Jim Nielsen is making calls to try and recruit people to support the largest tax increase in state history – it gets my attention. When these same staffers tell me that Nielsen played let’s-make-a-deal on tossing three dams in Siskiyou County as part of Arnold’s water bond (which could go on the ballot at any time, still)… it gets my attention. Then when something like the Platform fight features Jim Nielsen it all makes sense.
There are times when Jim Nielsen’s own tendencies put him in a place where calling his critics liars just simply can not obfuscate the truth.
Jim Nielsen calls himself a Conservative because he is not. He attempted to destroy the CAGOP Platform – largely due to this blog criticizing him – Jim Nielsen reversed himself and actually voted against the Platform he had moved to adopt and voted for the “Pruner Platform” in the entire Platform Committee.
Add this to the list of Jim Nielsen’s flip-flops – but this one is clearly an effort to save face after getting exposed.
P.S. – remember that $133k that Charles Munger invested in Nielsen? Charles Munger spent a reputed $250k on the effort to gut the CRP Platform. David Stafford Reade was paid to run the proxy drill in the north state for Munger. The $133k from Munger certainly looks like Jim Nielsen’s reward for services rendered. If Nielsen really supported a Conservative CAGOP Platform would Charles Munger have dropped $133k in to him?