1. What has Governor Schwarzenegger recently been accused of?
2. Why is California Common Cause Alarmed by the governor's fund raising?
3. What is Mr. Fabian Nunez's complaint against the governor?
4. Why has Mr. Schwarzenegger made appearances on behalf of the group Citizens to Save California?
5. Why did TheRestofUs.org file a complaint against the governor with the California Fair Political Practices Commission?
【Answers to Content Questions/内容についての質問の正解】
1. Governor Schwarzenegger has recently been accused of being bought by political donors because he has raised money from large corporations and wealthy businessmen.
2. California Common Cause believes the governor's reliance on wealthy donors give them undue access to him.
3. Mr. Nunez feels that the amount of time Mr. Schwarzenegger spends fund raising has clouded his ability to negotiate with the legislature.
4. Mr. Schwarzenegger has made appearances on behalf of Citizens to Save California because they are leading the effort to collect signatures for his proposals.
5. TheRestofUs.org has filed a complaint against the governor because they feel he has violated a law limiting the contributions from committees controlled by candidates.
Recently, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been accused of being bought by political donors.
During his sixteen months as governor, Mr. Schwarzenegger has raised money from large corporations and wealthy business people to help fund his change initiatives.
On Monday, March 7, for example, Wall Street financiers, corporate executives, and entertainers paid thousands of dollars to have dinner with the California governor at the "21" Club in Manhattan.
According to Loyola Law School Professor Richard L. Hasen, an expert on California's election and campaign-finance laws, the amount of fund raising Mr. Schwarzenegger is doing is unprecedented.
Professor Hasen described the governor as a "poster child" for imposing limits on fund raising.
California Common Cause, a group that supports Mr. Schwarzenegger's proposal to have retired judges decide the boundaries of legislative districts rather than elected officials, is also alarmed by Mr. Schwarzenegger's fund raising.
Kathay Feng, the executive director of that group, is concerned that his reliance on wealthy donors gives them undue access to him.
Mr. Fabian Nunez, Speaker of the California Assembly, said that the amount of time Mr. Schwarzenegger spends raising money has clouded his ability to sit down and negotiate thoughtfully with the legislature.
Last month, TheRestofUs.org, a Sacramento-based, nonpartisan group, filed a complaint against the governor with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, accusing him of violating a law limiting contributions from committees controlled by candidates.
Though Mr. Schwarzenegger is not formally associated with Citizens to Save California, the group leading efforts to collect signatures for the governor's proposals, he spent much of last week making appearances on the group's behalf.
Thus, TheRestofUs.org asserts that Citizens to Save California is, effectively, a Schwarzenegger fund-raising tool.
【Passage/本文】 Host of NBC’s “Tonight” Show for close to thirty years, the comedian Johnny Carson died in Los Angeles on January 23. He was 79 years old. According to family members, the cause of death was related to emphysema.
Mr. Carson took the “Tonight” show over from host Jack Paar on October 1, 1962. Ten years later, Mr. Carson moved the show from the Rockefeller Center in New York to NBC’s West Coast studios in Burbank, California, where he continued as host until 1992.
During the peak of Mr. Carson’s career, 10 to 15 million viewers watched the show on weekdays to see interviews with his guests and enjoy his entertaining monologues. Born and reared in the Midwest, Mr. Carson had a lovable image. When he retired in 1992, voluntarily turning the show over to Jay Lenno, a Washington Post writer described Mr. Carson as “affable, accessible, charming, and amusing.”
During his thirty years with the “Tonight” show, Mr. Carson accomplished much. At the height of his career, he earned millions for NBC, accounting for about 17% of their total profits. He discovered and promoted stars including Barbara Streisand and David Letterman and helped already emerging stars like Woody Allen and Steve Martin. But most important all, Mr. Carson made many, many Americans laugh.
