Another Family Values Republican Caught Using a Corporate Prostitute

Accepting a Right Wing award, California Assemblyman Michael Duvall remarked in a press release that as long as he is in office, he would work to protect “California families” from “constant assault in Sacramento.”¹

But yet another Family Values Republican® was not simply caught cheating on his wife. Arguably more important than this all too predictable hypocrisy is that while he was Vice Chairman of the California Utilities & Commerce Committee, he was shtooping an energy corporation’s lobbyist - in his own words “a lot”.

The California Assembly website summarizes the duties of the Utilities & Commerce Committee as such:

Primary jurisdictions are public utilities; the California Public Utilities Commission; the California Energy Commission; the California Independent System Operator; Electricity Oversite Board; energy companies; common carriers; electricity; alternative energy development and conservation; natural gas; wireless, wireline and cable communications; international trade; Women and Minority Business Enterprises; and tourism.²

Do you think it’s maybe mildly important that anyone serving in this committee not have any conflicts of interest with any energy companies?

The media is doing their best to ignore the giant elephant in the room and is letting sleeping dogs lie (and presumably other clichés while they are at it). They are letting the naive assumption stand that a sexy, relatively young blonde liked fucking an old, fat married guy who just happened to be regulating the industry she was working for. Even though, according to OC Weeky, Barsuglia’s “clients had business before another committee on which Duvall sits.”¹. As a Republican, Duvall probably already hates the environment, so he might have already sided with Sempra in adopting “the company’s negative view on Assembly Bill 64, which proposes increasing the percentage of electricity the utilities must procure from environmentally sensitive sources.”¹. But I’m sure getting a $1500 campaign contribution and pussy didn’t hurt either.

Common sense says that Barsuglia prostituted herself for Sempra energy. Sure this wasn’t blue collar prostitution where money is paid directly before or after sex. This was white collar prostitution where a lobbyist was well paid to hobnob and blowjob politicians in exchange for lax business regulations, lucrative government contracts, or tax incentives. But if you boil that down it’s just sex in exchange for money - prostitution. And that adds another layer of hypocrisy and shame to Duvall’s already hefty “family killing” albatross.

But questions remain:

1. Who was the second woman Duvall was shtooping (the third if you count his wife)?
2. What was the reaction of the person Duvall was bragging to?
3. How many other lobbyists has Duvall slept with?

We are unfortunately not going to see an inquiry into unethical lobbying of Sempra Energy. They are very wealthy and our politicians are apparently very cheap. I think we all know that this instance was only caught because Michael Duvall is more stupid than most politicians and was bragging near a live microphone. Had he not slipped up, who knows how much longer this might have gone on without the public knowing? The politician being bragged to did not react strongly because this sort of quid pro quo happens all the time.

At least one question was answered, “Who is assaulting California families?” Like the programmer who writes obscure uncommented code, this is a Republican method of maintaining job security.