Rob “Meathead” Reiner Is Using Taxpayer Money to Fund Another Tax Initiative

From a portion of OpinionJournal.com’s Political Diary (no link available) that was just e-mailed to me, this is a follow-up to this previous BizzyBlog post (third item at that post):

All in the Family

Actor and movie producer Rob Reiner, best known as Meathead on the 1970s TV hit “All in the Family,” is in love with taxes. He’s already sponsored two successful ballot initiatives in California: a 50-cent cigarette tax to pay for education and an income tax surcharge on the super-wealthy to pay for mental health.

Now Mr. Reiner is at it again. This year, he’s seeking a 1.7 percentage-point increase in the top state income tax rate — again on the wealthy — to pay for universal preschool. Apparently the problem with the lousy schools in California is the education blob doesn’t get a hold of the kids at an early enough age. The Reiner initiative called “First 5,” aka Proposition 82, will be on the ballot this November.

Here’s where the story gets interesting. In the past, Mr. Reiner has bankrolled these initiatives with money from his legions of leftwing Hollywood friends. But now Mr. Reiner is dipping into taxpayer funds raised from his first initiative (the cigarette tax) to help finance this latest campaign. That’s right, he’s taking taxpayer funds to lobby for… well, more taxpayer funds. Shawn Steel, the former Republican Party finance chairman, tells us: “Reiner is prohibited under state law from using taxpayer funds for campaign and lobbying purposes. This may be illegal.” But so far, $23 million of tobacco tax money has bought TV ads extolling the virtues of early childhood education.

The story gets sleazier. As the Los Angeles Times reported, “First 5 paid $206,000 to three political consultants who did not bid for the work. All three have moved on to — surprise! — the Proposition 82 campaign” of which Mr. Reiner is the leader. Mr. Reiner has also served as the chairman of the California Children and Families Commission — the agency that disburses the $700 million a year the tax collects.

Over the past several years, more than $200 million of tobacco tax money that is supposed to go to early childhood education has been siphoned off by public relations and advertising firms. Republicans in the legislature we talked to say they are outraged at this misappropriation of funds and are considering an investigation. Here we have an example of real life imitating TV. In the ’70s, the Meathead spouted every liberal cause under the sun while showing himself to be the ultimate unemployed free-loader, forever raiding Archie Bunker’s refrigerator. Now he raids the California taxpayers’ refrigerator to finance his pet causes.

A lot of bureaucrats, activists and consultants are doing very well in California under Rob Reiner’s taxing initiatives. Too bad so few of them are “the kids” he claims to care so much about.

Hmm. Using taxpayer money that was collected as a result of one voter initiative to fund advertising and PR for another initiative that, if passed, will take even more money from taxpayers.

Call the Patent Office. The Meathead has perfected the long-sought perpetual motion machine.

More seriously, the corruption Mr. Reiner is engaged in seems so obviously illegal (the heck with the “may be” stuff) that his choices should be to resign from any and all of his state commissions AND the Prop 82 campaign, or go to jail.
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UPDATE, Feb. 25: Saturday’s LA Times (HT Hugh Hewitt) reports that Reiner is “taking leave” from his panel until the day after the Prop 82 election. Not, good, enough.