If he crashes and burns in politics, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez could have a great future as a travel agent writes Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times.
As my colleague Nancy Vogel laid out in a jaw-dropping exposé Friday, L.A.’s man of the people has not missed a trick while traveling extensively and luxuriously about the world, throwing campaign funds around like confetti. Italy. France. Spain.
Our very own rascal in paradise has been there, and he’s tasted the world’s finest offerings.
A $1,795 meal in Paris. An $8,745 hotel bill in Barcelona. A $5,149 meeting at a Bordeaux wine shop.
“There’s not too big a difference,” Nuñez told Vogel, “between how I live and how most middle-class people live.”
Hands down, it’s the quote of the year.
I’m not sure what middle-class people Nuñez is talking about, but I’m worried that he’s spending entirely too much time with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Could the speaker be talking about Brentwood’s middle-class?
We’re talking lifestyles of the rich and famous here, not Applebee’s and Ramada. Nuñez may even be trying to compete with Schwarzenegger, who’s been using an obscure nonprofit group to finance lavish overseas travel involving private jets and exclusive hotels, as detailed recently by my colleague Paul Pringle.
Read it here: Nuñez middle class?