Effectiveness of Republicans

Your recent editorial, “Legislators’ Shabby Display” (Sept. 13), was as frustrating as it was inaccurate. It was not based upon fact, it did not reflect the truth as your reporters in Sacramento know it and, journalistically, it was nothing more than a venom-filled, slanted diatribe against the Republican Party and the philosophy held by many in Orange County, which your Los Angeles newspaper abhors.

For instance, you started by declaring that the Orange County Republican Assembly delegation did little to distinguish itself this year. That’s odd considering that the county’s lobbyist reported to the Board of Supervisors that those same Republicans were responsible for the most productive year ever.

As Republican leader in the Assembly, I can vouch for the effectiveness of your delegation, as can the governor. Our victories on tax reform, elimination of the state’s bilingual program and the tax rebate could not have been possible without the efforts of the Orange County Republican Assembly members.

But rather than acknowledge the successes of your fine Orange County legislative delegation, The Times prefers to highlight the views of a few malcontents, who are a distinct minority of the Lincoln Club and who, incidently, led a group of disloyal Republicans who tried to unseat Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach). They also opposed most of the Orange County Republican Assembly members in primary elections in the past.

These dissidents are angry at the Assembly Republicans because we balked at Speaker Willie Brown’s effort to inject the issue of racial quotas into the Republican effort to speed Caltrans engineering work. Rather than pressuring Brown to stop holding our transportation bill hostage for his racial quotas, you and the dissidents would rather scream in outrage at the Republican legislators who don’t want the bill linked to racial quotas.

How does it make any sense to try to pressure the 36 Assembly Republicans to abandon principle on the issue of racial quotas when instead you could pressure five Democrats to join with us in voting for the transportation bill without racial quotas?

Your assertion that the Assembly Republicans have taken this position in order to “get even” with the Irvine Co. for supporting Democrats is preposterous. The fact of the matter is the Irvine Co. never even contacted my office expressing any opinion to this legislation.

It is true that, during the time this bill was being considered, Brown summoned the Irvine Co. representative and the other Orange County businessmen to Sacramento to lean on them for future support while he held back bills important to your county. Prehaps one of your conservative legislators was just the least bit incensed at such blatant extortion.

There is no rift between the Lincoln Club and its Orange County Assembly members. The Club is 100% in support of our plan to wrest control of the Legislature from Brown and the liberal Democrats. I know that it is a bitter pill for you to swallow. We understand that and we appreciate why the thought of it could drive you to abandon any pretext of journalistic ethics and cause you to write that “shabby” editorial against us.

PAT NOLAN

Assembly Republican Leader

Sacramento