Here's how your typical illegal alien supporter in our government acts, he still thinks he is in mexico.

Assembly speaker taps campaign funds for expensive meals, hotels
10/06/07 00:02:02
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Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has used campaign funds to pay for food, lodging and merchandise at upscale hotels, restaurants and stores in Europe and the United States, according to reports he is required to file with the state.

The expenditures include $8,745 at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona, Spain; $5,149 for a "meeting" at Cave L'Avant Garde, a wine seller in France's Bordeaux region; $2,562 for "office expenses" two years apart at Louis Vuitton, a Parisian store that specializes in leather goods, clothing, fashion accessories and jewelry; and $1,795 for another "meeting" at Le Grand Colbert, a Parisian restaurant.

Other expenditures include $1,715 at Asia de Cuba, a West Hollywood restaurant; $317 at Pavilion Salon Shoes in Sacramento; $2,428 for a meeting at 58 Degrees and Holding, a Sacramento restaurant; and $800 to rent a car in Kihei, Hawaii.

California law requires that campaign fund expenditures be reasonably related to a political, legislative or governmental purpose.

Nunez, a Los Angeles Democrat, has taken several overseas trips in his three years as leader of the Assembly, including a trip to Europe earlier this year to study France's high-speed rail system and preschool programs.

He's also gone to Germany and Denmark to look at their renewable energy programs and to South America to examine global warming solutions.

But some travel expenditures, including those in Barcelona last year and a $3,199 bill at Hotel Parco in Rome this year, do not seem to be part of any policy-related trips announced by the speaker's office.

Nunez told The Los Angeles Times his travel is "not only justified but necessary for the decisions I need to make on a daily basis."

A spokeswoman for Nunez, Beth Willon, would not discuss the reason for the questionable expenditures, saying only that the expenses were "properly disclosed and described as required by law."

But Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based consumer group, said Nunez should provide more information about why the spending was justified.

"How much political, legislative and governmental work does Fabian Nunez have to do in Barcelona?" Heller asked. "If they're legitimate, you've got to explain it."

Nunez is not the only California politician who has tapped campaign funds for overseas travel this year. The Associated Press reported last month that lawmakers also took trips to Japan, Taiwan, France, China, Argentina, Brazil, Azerbaijan and Germany this year.

In each case, they were required to pay for at least some of the travel expenses out of their own pockets or, more likely, their campaign accounts.

http://www.fresnobee.com/552/story/157168.html