A batch of amendments to a massive water-bond bill was submitted to the state Senate's clerical desk Monday, and one, as it turned out, had nothing to do with water.

Later that evening, as the bond bill was being debated, Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, asked about the opaquely worded new provision and was given a misleading answer about its effect.

But reporters continued to pursue the mysterious language. Finally, under questioning Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg admitted the amendment would earmark $10 million for his pet project, a cultural-tolerance center in Sacramento.

When the Sacramento Bee's story about the earmark hit the Internet at midnight, the effect on the still-pending bond bill was electric. Assembly members of both parties raised a big stink about Steinberg's personal provision. Hours later, he took it out to save the bond bill from rejection.

It was reminiscent of an earlier episode. Some years ago, Steinberg carried a bill sponsored by Sacramento's city and county governments to compel suburban communities to share their sales-tax revenue. However, he inserted an amendment to remove legal barriers to the city of Sacramento's drive to persuade some auto dealers to move from the county into the city.

The amendment was not only questionable public policy, involving millions of dollars in sales taxes, but double-crossed the county government. After this column revealed its existence, the bill died.

These incidents reveal something about Steinberg, a hard-working policy wonk who, however, has a disturbing ends-justify-the-means penchant. "Frankly, if I have the opportunity to use the power I have to further civil rights and to further California history in any way, I'm going to do that," he said in explaining the water-bond earmark.

These incidents also illustrate how journalists expose politicians' hide-the-pea games.

There's an even more ironic twist. Steinberg has hired a squad of ex-newspaper reporters for a special oversight office that supposedly is shedding light on state-government issues that otherwise would go unreported.

So far, however, most of the reports emerging from Steinberg's personal investigative team fall far short of legitimate news. They tend — surprise, surprise — to support the political positions of Steinberg, other Democrats and their allies, such as public employee unions.

Two reports in the past three weeks, for example, find fault with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's periodic furloughs of state workers to save money.

There's a wide gulf between the Bee's revelations about Steinberg's earmark and the suspiciously slanted reports by his taxpayer-financed pack of former journalists — the difference between watchdogs and lapdogs.

(Walters writes for the Sacramento Bee.)