Partnership paid nicely for Matsui

[davidinalameda]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/12314992p-13179132c.html

Doris Matsui had seen her stock investments plummet two years ago to a point where she decided she wanted to shift some of her money elsewhere.
Matsui, who is running in a March 8 special election to replace her late husband in Congress, figured real estate was a better way to go. Matsui recalled Friday that she said as much back then to major Sacramento developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, whom she has considered a friend for three decades.

[autorank]

1. Anyone attacking the Matsui family can F*UCK THEMSELVES

Don't even go there anybody. Don't even think about it. The late Rep. Matsui, D, CA, was a fine legislator, a fine man and a great Democrat. Just seeing this here makes me sick. What's the Sacramento Bee up to now, attacking widows. F*UCK the SacBee. I dearly hope they hire "Gannon" who can teach them some discipline. Don't even think about taking potshots at Matsui or his family.

[rinsd]

2. In other words, act like republicans then?

Pretend it never happened and/or attack the source and not the material.

I know we're morphing into our hated enemies in terms of tactics but this is a bit far isn't it?

[autorank]

3. First of all, you don't know the facts. Second, you don't attack people

who have worked tirelessly for you for DECADES. It is insane to let some hit-piece on a widow receive any type of support here. Bob Matsui worked his whole life for this party, was the liberals liberal, and never had a hint of any problem. He did this while he was dying, did you hear that while he was dying. His widow deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I'm not morphing into anything and, FYI, this is a partisan forum, not a debating society where we eat our own based on one stupid article from a CM (corporate media) outlet with questionable motives. So in other words, lay off Mrs. Matsui. Her husband died working for this party. He could have retired, he could have slacked off...he didn't. Show some respect.

[autorank]

4. And another thing, Matsui ran a first class office. My daughter interned

for him when she was 17. She loved it. She was treated with respect, the Congressman talked to her to make sure she was treated with respect, and she learned a great deal about the legislative process. This is of interest, since many of her classmates interning in other Hill offices reported a less than professional atmosphere. Because of Rep. Matsui's positive influence, she is not pursuing a political science major with the intent of working in politics (for the Democrats, of course).

Bob Matsui, D, CA, was a fine man and his family deserves all the sympathy and respect we would give any of our greatest congressional leaders.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. Doris ain't Robert

Bob Matsui is not running for office, his wife is! She has been described by some people (ah, the blind quote) as the brains of the union, and it was she that insisted Bob seek reelection even though they both knew he was ill. She leans more to the right then Bob did, and is connected with big business on many fronts. She's going to win, hands down, but people need to know why she continues to run with the flood control issue, and who will benefit from it if she lands the federal money. Just what is her position on Iraq? Social Security? Just what are her positions on the issues, other than she will work for flood control money that will benefit her old partner Tsakopoulos?

"If, as Jesse Unruh noted, 'Money is the mother's milk of politics,' then Tsakopoulos is one of the regional politicians' most notable wet nurses." (thanks, Garbo, for the quote)

An interesting tidbit on his influence and activities from a 1999 SF Weekly article. http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/1999-08-25/news/feature_4.html:

<snip>


Only fools -- or canny speculators -- buy fields that lie in a flood plain. Angelo Tsakopoulos is no fool. Tsakopoulos, age 62, immigrated to Sacramento from Greece in the early 1950s. Working as a waiter, he befriended rich customers who passed on real estate tips. By the end of the 1960s, Tsakopoulos had turned relatively minor investments in raw grassland into a fortune, as Sacramento burst its seams and extruded suburbs into areas owned by Tsakopoulos.

<snip>

Vicki Lee, leader of the Sacramento Sierra Club, claims that Tsakopoulos is the mastermind behind much of the sprawl encircling the Sacramento metropolitan area. "He is able," Lee says, "to stand up at a meeting of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors and redraw the urban services boundaries on the chalkboard. And the supervisors nod, and vote for whatever he says. He can throw a mound of dirt around a subdivision, and have it removed from the flood plain."

As the acknowledged leader of a dozen Laguna Creek-based developers, Tsakopoulos has looked out for the big picture. He and Angelides own -- or have sold -- thousands of acres between Routes 5 and 99, in Greater Laguna Creek. After the EPA surrendered to the needs of Live Oak II at the headwaters of Laguna Creek, Tsakopoulos got a green light to develop residential neighborhoods and shopping complexes throughout the area. Additional flood control projects have turned the creek itself into a sluice; hundreds of acres of land have been brought out of the flood plain; and brightly colored malls are springing up where the vernal pools used to be.

The transportation improvements that serve Live Oak's North Laguna Creek also serve Tsakopoulos' much more extensive holdings. Most stunning to see is the new road system that has been built to serve Tsakopoulos' and Angelides' Laguna West: thousands of "pedestrian-oriented" homes that turned out, ironically, to be highly auto dependent.

But, 15 years ago, none of this existed. It was not until the regulatory logjam was broken in late 1987 that Tsakopoulos' Kramer Ranch and other Laguna Creek properties could be brought into play. And it was Live Oak Associates II that broke the jam, getting a floodway built, the flood plain map changed to allow residential development, and a bevy of unusual givebacks and giveaways granted. Live Oak made millions.

<more>

http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/1999-08-25/news/feature_4.html:

With all the stuff going on with the Bush Administration and Congress, why is Doris Matsui running TV ads about the importance of flood control?

Don't you think people will be disappointed when they realize she will not focus on and champion social issues, but instead, will become a corporate tool? Business as usual.

It would be prudent to look at other candidates like Julie Padilla: http://juliepadillaforcongress.padilla.net

Withdraw from Iraq

Julie will work for immediate withdrawal
of U.S. troops and bases from Iraq; the
restoration of Iraqi sovereignty,
including returning to the Iraqi people
control over their government,
economy, society, and resources; and
for U.S. funded rebuilding of what has
been destroyed in the war as required
by international law.

Universal Healthcare

Julie recognizes that health care is a
human right and supports single payer
universal health care. She will work to
contain costs, ensuring the long-term
affordability of health care for all
Americans.

Protect Social Security

Julie will work to protect Social Security,
including ensuring that America
remains solvent through a system of
fair, progressive taxation, cutting
corporate welfare, and ending wasteful
military spending.

Repeal the Patriot Act

Julie will work to protect our civil
liberties, including major reforms to the
Patriot Act, which has sacrificed
fundamental human rights.

Campaign Finance Reform

Julie supports fair elections and citizen
access to government. Elections &
Congress are dominated by corporate
money and power. Julie speaks for the
majority of working Americans, not the
corporations.

Strict Environmental Protections

Julie will work to protect the
environment including: renewable
energy, clean air and water, protection
of endangered species and our forests,
signing the Kyoto Accords, and
addressing toxic and radioactive waste
disposal.

Immigrant Rights

Julie recognizes America's immigrants
and their valuable contributions -- and
supports their rights.

Equal Rights for Gays and Lesbians

Julie will work to end racial profiling and
other forms of minority targeting and
will work to guarantee the rights of all
Americans, regardless of their gender,
race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual
orientation.

Reproductive Rights

Julie is truly pro-life: Her platform is
anti-war, for health care, for a woman's
right to choose, for family planning
assistance, the right of all people to a
decent life, livelihood and a clean,
sustainable environment.

Fair Trade not 'Free' Trade

Julie supports and will work for fair
trade and the protection of basic
human rights for all people.
Corporate-based trade agreements
and bodies like NAFTA and the WTO
have resulted in the loss of U.S. jobs --
resulting in the creation of foreign
sweatshops.

Bob was a kind man but I wouldn't make that the reason for voting for Doris. Oh, and just what are her positions beyond flood control?

[rinsd]

7. I don't know all that facts? Hey kettle, pot is calling...

Bob Matsui was a great Democrat and his was a sad loss. But no one attacked him or his wife. Instead of discussing the article and its merits you sought to shut it down any debate. Then when called on it, you tried out some bullshit guilt trip.

"I'm not morphing into anything and, FYI, this is a partisan forum, not a debating society where we eat our own based"

Where did anyone say anything bad? We like to keep informed here and article in MSM are part of that even if we dissect such. I for one like to know what are possible pitfalls are ahead in a candidacy.

Shame on you for trying to guilt trip people, using the death of a good Democrat to silence debate.

[autorank]

8. I'm not a bit ashamed. This thread is in very bad taste!

[Garbo 2004]

9. In bad taste? She's running for office & her professional qualifications

are that she's been a lobbyist and was hired by Clinton to push NAFTA. http://www.colliershannon.com/profiles/atty_bio.cfm?EmpNo=948

What are positions on the issues? With all that's going on in Congress, the country and the state, she's running an ad about flood control! It's simply loony. But "safe."

I voted for Bob Matsui for years and was shocked by his death. (I, like other constituents, was unaware when I last voted for him that he'd been diagnosed with a serious life threatening illness since he did not disclose it, even after the election.) But IMO the district in which I live should not be regarded as a hereditary fiefdom.

Being married to Bob Matsui alone is not reason enough for me to vote for Doris Matsui in the primary. But then, you don't appear to live in the district, do you? Have you ever lived in the district? How familiar are you with our local issues and players? Her candidacy may give you a nice fuzzy feeling in memory of Bob, but some of us in the district regard it differently. There are other folks, active in local and state politics, who would have been preferable candidates but who were effectively deterred from running by her candidacy.

Doris Matsui has put her hat in the political arena and as such she is not above scrutiny or question. She should not be given a special pass because she happens to be Bob Matsui's widow. Since she herself doesn't have much of a record, however, that's the only basis for her candidacy.

[BrotherBuzz]

10. What is in very bad taste is.....

Doris Matsui's refusal to participate in any debate with the other candidates. Julie Padilla vs. Doris Mataui could be enlightening, but a debate with her father, Leonard Padilla, the libertarian candidate and professional bounty hunter, would be entertaining.

[davidinalameda]

6. she made herself a target when she announced

she's a public figure and fair game for the media

could the average person link up with this guy and invest with him--doubtful