Democrats Need To Explain This One

Assembly Democrats sent a state-paid intern to go through years of financial-disclosure forms from lawmakers of both parties and the Republicans are not happy, suspecting it is really about digging up dirt on Republicans in an election year -- at taxpayer expense. The official excuse from the Ds is the $10 an hour intern was looking for ways to strengthen disclosure. Now, why would they put an intern in charge of that? When asked what the intern learned from the research, Assembly Democrat spokesman Derek Roseman had no good answer. He asked my colleague Tom Baldwin to go off the record. Baldwin declined. This is the people's money at work and it should be publicly disclosed. Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, who is responsible for this, should explain this one for all to hear. Assemblyman Peter Biondi, a Republican, said "To spend taxpayers' money to do political background research is a disgrace. It further shows the waste and abuse."