This pretty much lays it bare as to what the public commons is up against. Its daunting, and yet, its all perfectly legal. And that’s the problem.

This definitely qualifies as the money shot line (no pun intended) from this report….

“There is no connection between political spending and the policy work that gets done in the state Legislature,” Nunez spokesman Richard Stapler said.

Yep. And I’ve got that proverbial bridge to sell you.

What a hoot. Is Nunez doing stand up on the side? Can’t tell if he should be on C-SPAN or Comedy Central.

AT&T and Verizon, the two most dominant players in California’s telephone market, spent nearly $26 million to lobby lawmakers last year in a successful effort to access the state’s lucrative cable TV market.

The two companies also gave more than $1 million in campaign contributions, according to campaign finance reports released Wednesday by the secretary of state’s office.

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“The $25 million the telephone industry spent on lobbying was the factor in passing the bill,” said Carmen Balber, consumer advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica group that has been critical of the measure.

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[Local governments] worry that a lack of local contracts means cable providers will bypass less affluent neighborhoods and focus instead on bundling TV, Internet and telephone service to the well-to-do. Some rural counties said they might be bypassed by cable and telephone companies entirely.

Consumer groups also warned that cable prices could skyrocket as telephone and Internet rates have in the past few decades.

As lawmakers considered the legislation, lobbyists paid by the two companies treated them to meals at local restaurants and gave their top aides tickets to watch the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Sacramento Kings, Sacramento Monarchs and the Los Angeles Lakers. The favors went to lawmakers of both major political parties.

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Meanwhile, AT&T spent $23.6 million to influence decision-makers in the capital, mostly for hiring lobbyists and paying for television commercials. Company spokesman Gordon Diamond said in an e-mail that California’s media market made the company’s advertising outreach expensive.

“AT&T spends what it needs to ensure that consumers, policymakers and others are well-informed and educated on issues,” Diamond said.

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