Brown Speech Attacks Businesses, Government, Media as 'Corrupt'

Alleging a "banquet feast of corruption" in the national political scene, former California governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. attacked media, government and big business during a discussion at the Kennedy School of Government yesterday.

Brown, the former governor of California and chair of state's Democratic party, said "the function of [political] parties is to launder dirty money" that candidates would otherwise be unwilling to accept from the corporate sector.

Nearly 40 people attended the brown bag luncheon, which was sponsored by the Institute of Politics.

Brown said political parties, despite their problems, still control the nation's politics.

"Unless you can catch your opponent in bed with a six-year old boy you're dead," Brown advised future politicians thinking of bucking the two-party system.

Brown said he was doubtful the imposition of term limits would end corrupt relations between interest groups and political candidates. Such a step would simply be "a new dose of yeast in the cauldron of politics," Brown said.

The two-time presidential candidate's main focus during the discussion, however, was the environment.

While governor, Brown said, he pushed through legislation that re-authorized a commission that could limit development on coastal lands even though the state legislature was "bought and paid for by developers."

And Brown said he felt vindicated by current California Governor Pete Wilson's report that the state's forestry practices were not stringent enough. Brown said he first supported the practices although critics at the time derided them as economic suicide.

"Industry was lying, while environmentalists were understating the case," he said.

But Andres F. Irlando '94, who is from California, said that while Brown did "a lot of good work in the state" and had good motives, he contradicted himself on many issues.

During the discussion, Irlando asked Brown about the plight of farm workers in California. Brown said Republicans and rural Democrats teaming up against the less fortunate were to blame.

"Democrats were bought and paid for just like Republicans by farm interests," Brown said. "Farm workers don't have tuxedos, so they can't go to $1000 cocktail parties, so they're out of the game."

And the legislature, which Brown said is based solely on "media, money, and desire for re-election," does little to help.

Lobbyists--including the Farm Bureau and the Teamsters, in California--often control legislators' votes, much like racetrack jockeys, he said. Talking to the legislator is like "talking to the horse," he said.

Of Brown's ideas, Frank I. Luntz, a fellow at the Institute of Politics, said, "Half may be sane, the other half are crazy, but they force you to think.

During the discussion, Irlando asked Brown about the plight of farm workers in California. Brown said Republicans and rural Democrats teaming up against the less fortunate were to blame.

"Democrats were bought and paid for just like Republicans by farm interests," Brown said. "Farm workers don't have tuxedos, so they can't go to $1000 cocktail parties, so they're out of the game."

And the legislature, which Brown said is based solely on "media, money, and desire for re-election," does little to help.

Lobbyists--including the Farm Bureau and the Teamsters, in California--often control legislators' votes, much like racetrack jockeys, he said. Talking to the legislator is like "talking to the horse," he said.

Of Brown's ideas, Frank I. Luntz, a fellow at the Institute of Politics, said, "Half may be sane, the other half are crazy, but they force you to think.