Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

“Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger got it right”  is not something you hear much these days.  The governor’s poll numbers (like the legislature’s) are dismal, reflecting his inability to deal with the state’s budget crisis.  People forget that Governor Schwarzenegger got it right in 2005, when he tried to pass a series of reforms that may have prevented or lessened our budget mess.  But,  the state worker unions waged an expensive campaign to defeat those reforms.  Now, the governor and voters have the chance to get it right again by passing needed reforms in November 2010.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger got it right in 2005 (his forgotten “Year of Reform”) when he tried to pass a series of reforms in order to bring sanity to state finances.  The Year of Reform is mostly forgotten (even by the governor, it seems) because voters rejected his reforms.  Governor Schwarzenegger’s reforms included spending limits, a rainy day fund, and “paycheck protection” (requiring unions to get the consent of their members before spending their union dues on politics).  His proposed spending limits might have prevented or lessened the state’s fiscal crisis, and the rainy day fund would have softened the blow.  Yet, voters were persuaded to reject these reforms by an expensive advertising campaign waged by California’s state worker unions.

The state worker unions spent $148.5 million to defeat Governor Schwarzenegger’s  reforms.  Perversely, their political expenditures came right out of the pockets of taxpayers.  These unions are able to skim taxpayer money right off the top of state workers’ paychecks.  In the past 3 years, the California Teachers Association has drained nearly $1 billion in union dues out of California classrooms.  And 30 percent of that was for special interest politics – your taxpayer dollars at work.  The state worker unions are the only California special interest group with the power to confiscate taxpayer dollars for political purposes – the reason they defeated the governor’s 2005 “paycheck protection” reform.

The unfair imbalance of power between California taxpayers and the state worker unions helps explain why no meaningful reform is coming out of Sacramento.  It also explains why California taxpayers are paying more and more, but getting less and less.  On paper, California state and local workers are the best paid in the country.  However, this includes the union dues that state worker unions are skimming off the top of state worker paychecks.  State worker union dues necessarily reduce state services (education, healthcare, highways) dollar for dollar (whether for political purposes or otherwise).  And allowing state worker unions to use union dues for political purposes gives them outsized political power that drives runaway spending.

So, Governor Schwarzenegger got it right when he fought for his “Year of Reform” in 2005.  And, the Governor has the chance to get it right today.  There is no quick fix for California state government.  To fix our state government, we must start at the beginning by clearing the obstacles to reform.  The biggest obstacle to reform is the state worker unions who use taxpayer dollars to block reform.

The state worker unions and their Sacramento establishment allies are fighting to reform California by eliminating Proposition 13’s limits on taxation.  The problem with this idea is that plugging the state’s budget holes with higher taxes will slow economic recovery and do nothing to fix the real problem – runaway spending.  And the biggest driver of runaway spending is the state worker unions.

California taxpayer groups are putting a reform initiative on the November 2010 ballot to fix this problem.  The Citizen Power Campaign is proposing to help fix state government by preventing taxpayer dollars from being used for political purposes by the state worker unions.  The Citizen Power Initiative fixes a political game that is rigged against California taxpayers.  It levels the playing field by giving taxpayers and state worker unions equal treatment.

Governor Schwarzenegger has a chance to get it right, again.  Voters have the chance to get it right, this time, too.  It remains to be seen whether history will repeat itself.  It is a tragedy that the state worker unions used taxpayer money to defeat reform before.  It will be farce if they succeed in defeating reform, again.

Fixing California is in your hands.  The state is at a tipping point – reform or die.  No one is coming to save us. Only you can fix California. A powerful special interest has broken state government. Only you can reform California. If you don’t do your part, all is lost.  Act now and sign the petition for the Citizen Power Initiative.

The state is at a tipping point. The budget crisis has forced painful cuts to education, healthcare, and highways. And California has only begun to feel the pain from the looming pension crisis.  Soon, bankruptcy will be the only way out.

The problem is that a powerful special interest controls Sacramento. This special interest funnels millions of taxpayer dollars into political campaigns. In 2005, this special interest spent $148.5 million defeating reforms that could have prevented California’s budget crisis.  This special interest drives runaway spending.  This special interest is the public employee unions.

The public employee unions are powerful.  They have the power to force state and local workers to join.  They have the power to force members to pay dues – dues paid with your taxpayer dollars. Yet, they are unaccountable to taxpayers.

The powerful public employee unions are making the state’s budget crisis worse.  They are fighting in court to block spending cuts and fight reforms.  They’re also working to repeal Proposition 13 and rewrite the California constitution to give them even more power.

Reform is the answer. The Citizen Power Initiative will reform the public employee unions.  It stops them from using union dues for politics.  It puts taxpayers back in control.

You are the answer.  Stop waiting for help from Sacramento and Washington.  Help isn’t coming.  We’re on our own.  It’s up to you.

Sign the petition to put the Citizen Power Initiative on the November 2010 ballot.  Do it now. Download the petition.  Sign it with your family and friends.  Do it now.  Download the petition and sign it using your iPhone.  It couldn’t be easier.  Do it right now.

If you do nothing, then who is to blame for California’s problems?  Do your part.

The Citizen Power Campaign continues to gain momentum, garnering the endorsement of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner.  Poizner joins Chuck DeVore and Tom Campbell in endorsing the Citizen Power Initiative.  The measure will end the public employee unions’ death grip on state government by prohibiting those unions from using forced member dues for politics.  The Campaign recently launched a revolutionary iPhone application for gathering signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2010 ballot.

The Citizen Power Campaign’s growing momentum reflects widespread recognition of the need for reforming the public employee unions.  Former Democrat Assembly Speaker Willie Brown recently called for an “honest dialogue” on how “out of control”  public employee unions “[run] the show” in California and threaten “career suicide for most officeholders” who oppose them.  According to The Economist magazine, these “coddled and spoiled” unions “continue to gobble up money”, driving reform.  Initiative supporter John Stossel says “Whether you want to support a candidate or a political party should be your decision.  Union bosses shouldn’t get to force you to give money to causes you may hate.”

Passage of the measure will be a major political setback for the SEIU, which relies on forced unionization of state workers and forced member dues to bankroll its political agenda.  In a recent egregious example of forced unionization, the SEIU forced private Michigan child care providers into the union. (The governor vetoed such a law in California.)  The SEIU spent hundreds of millions in forced dues to help elect President Obama.  The SEIU’s Andy Stern is the White House’s most frequent visitor.  Now, Obama is helping the SEIU hide its political expenditures from public view.  This all points to a corrupt political partnership demanding reform.

The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has charged the SEIU with intimidating immigrants in a recent Fresno union election. NUHW has been seeking to break away from the undemocratic SEIU. According to the NUHW, SEIU has engaged in violence and worker intimidation. They are not the only victim of SEIU’s plundering.  It is no wonder that the SEIU is pushing to eliminate secret ballot elections (designed to prevent this very kind of coercion) by backing Card Check Forced Unionization (the perversely named “Employee Free Choice Act”).

NUHW has been seeking to break away from the undemocratic SEIU’s top-down-control structure.  NUHW accuses the SEIU of using scare tactics and violence to keep workers from voting to leave SEIU, and of illegally coercing Bank of America into giving the SEIU an $88 million credit line (despite federal law prohibiting financial ties between employers and unions attempting to organize their employees).  Their latest complaint alleges that the SEIU intimidated immigrant workers – coming to their homes several times a day, questioning their legal status, and threatening deportation or loss of wages and benefits if they voted to leave SEIU. “It’s disturbing to watch SEIU eat its own like this,” says NUHW’s attorney.

NUHW is not SEIU’s only victim.  Elsewhere, SEIU is besieging breakaway rival UNITE HERE.  SEIU has spent millions attacking rivals who accuse it of strong-arm tactics, including coercion, threats, and harassment.  Why is SEIU doing this?  They are after plunder – “prime Manhattan real estate, considerable cash reserves and a majority stake in Amalgamated Bank in New York, which has more than $4 billion in assets.”

SEIU’s intimidation tactics make clear that they are pushing to eliminate secret ballot elections because it facilitates their piracy.  SEIU’s tactics give lie to their recently leaked talking points that claim we need “employee free choice” (election-free union intimidation) because “working families” (code name for unions) are being victimized by “a company-dominated system” that “denies workers a free choice” (secret ballot elections designed to prevent intimidation).  Even their fellow unions make it clear that SEIU is an anti-democratic organization that threatens and intimidates working families – the neighborhood bully.

Everyone agrees that California needs reform to make it governable.  And there is much debate over what reforms are needed. But, there can be no meaningful reform until we first limit the corrupting influence of the overpowerful public sector unions that are bankrupting California.  This means passing effective Paycheck Protection laws to stop these unions from using taxpayer dollars to gain more taxpayer dollars.  Some OC activists are taking the lead to help pass this fundamental and essential reform.

California’s overpowerful public sector unions are a corrupting influence on state government.  As we’ve noted, these unions have become “the New Tammany Hall, a corrupt government worker union machine that buys and controls votes.  Unlike private sector unions, government worker unions are able to sit at both sides of the bargaining table by electing the politicians who control their pay.  In the 2008 election cycle, the SEIU (alone) spent $42.4 million in independent expenditures on top of $73 million in labor contributions.”

The overpowerful public sector unions are bankrupting California.  They have used their corrupt bargaining position and political power to gain better compensation, job security, health benefits, and pensions than private sector workers.  The recent attempt to spike MWD pensions, on the heels of a 20% rate increase, is but one example. California’s “too big to fail”  pension fund, CALPERS, puts “Californian taxpayer … on the hook if CALPERS cannot pay out the avalanche of promises to California’s state workers.”

We must pass effective Paycheck Protection laws to stop these unions from using taxpayer dollars to gain more taxpayer dollars.  Paycheck Protection limits unions ability to spend member dues on political activity without their consent.  (The Supreme Court has held that union members have the right to prohibit unions from using their dues for functions unrelated to collective bargaining.) While this will help, effective Paycheck Protection must go further by leveling the playing field between public sector union members and the public who employs them.

Paycheck Protection must permit the state (or any political subdivision thereof) to withhold union dues from state worker pay only for functions related to collective bargaining.  Public sector unions must be absolutely prohibited from spending member dues for political purposes (subject to the threat of criminal sanctions).

This would not be an unconstitutional abridgment of the free speech rights of public sector workers.  The Supreme Court has held that political speech may be limited to prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption.  Public sector unions have created a powerful appearance of corruption.  Yet, this law would not unduly burden state workers’ free speech rights.  They would be free to donate money to their union or any political cause.  This law would level the playing field, subjecting state workers and their unions to the same political campaign finance limits and reporting requirements as private individuals, businesses, and organizations.

OC activists are taking the lead to put Paycheck Protection on the 2010 ballot.  Hopefully, they will draft an effective Paycheck Protection initiative.  These unions spent $100 million to defeat reform in 2005.  (This money came from taxpayers pockets.) If Californians want reform then they must pass effective Paycheck Protection.  There can be no meaningful California reform until the overpowerful public sector unions are dethroned.

It was no surprise that Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CD 47) supported government-run healthcare in yesterday’s “town hall meeting” (conference call).  However, the “blue dog” Democrat’s support for socialization stands in stark contrast to her opposition to bank bailouts only one year ago.  It appears that Sanchez has been put on a leash by her Big Labor masters.

Big Labor is pushing hard for government-run healthcare.  Locally, they are employing a front group, Health Access California (HAC).  HAC’s Board includes representatives of Big Labor and the radical left (including ACORN).  Overpowerful government worker unions are well represented, including the SEIU, the California teacher unions (CTA and CFT), and the AFSCME.

HAC advocates costly state mandates that make healthcare more expensive.  HAC recently condemned the governor for vetoing costly insurance mandates, claiming that the governor was “[siding] with the insurance industry”. Of course, they cynically ignore the fact that consumers pay the cost of these mandates through higher rates.  While HAC claims they want to increase access and reduce costs, their policies do the opposite – reducing access by increasing costs.

Nevertheless, HAC is just a front for Big Labor – the New Tammany Hall, a corrupt government worker union machine that buys and controls votes.  Unlike private sector unions, government worker unions are able to sit at both sides of the bargaining table by electing the politicians who control their pay.  In the 2008 election cycle, the SEIU (alone) spent $42.4 million in independent expenditures on top of $73 million in labor contributions.

Loretta Sanchez is a big recipient of Big Labor cash.  Her Big Labor donors include several unions with multiple officers and members that “have been convicted since 2001 of felonies ranging from embezzlement, falsifying official reports to government, mail fraud and conspiracy.”  Thus, it is no surprise that Sanchez was co-sponsor of Big Labor’s “Employee Free Choice Act” (Card Check) that would have eliminated the secret ballot in union-certification elections.

Loretta Sanchez is no “blue dog”.  Instead, she is a poodle for Big Labor.

The California GOP Senate caucus is undermining California democracy.  In a democracy, voters pick their representatives.  But, apparently GOP leaders believe politicians pick their voters.  This is evidenced by a majority of the Senate GOP caucus endorsing an assembly candidate who doesn’t even reside in the district they are running for.  It appears the fix is in.

A majority of the Senate GOP caucus has endorsed Linda Ackerman for the Fullerton seat (AD 72) abandoned by Mike Duvall. The rogues gallery endorsing her include Senator Roy Ashburn, and former Senate Republican Leaders Dave Cogdill and Dick Ackerman.  Both Senators Ashburn and Cogdill voted to approve the California state budget that created the largest tax increase on any state in the history of the United States. As a result, Sen. Cogdill was forced to resign his leadership post and  outraged taxpayers attempted to recall Sen. Ashburn.  As Senate Leader, Dick Ackerman (former Senator turned political fixer) broke ranks with Republicans to vote with Democrats for increased spending and budget gimmicks that worsened California’s financial crisis.

GOP leaders are no different than Democrat leaders in their disdain for democracy.  Apparently, GOP leaders believe politicians pick their voters.  The fact is that Linda Ackerman does not reside in district AD 72.  Instead, she lives in Irvine with Dick Ackerman, her political fixer husband who is pulling the strings in this charade.  Yet, GOP leaders support this, just as they have supported redistricting that gives them safe districts, protecting them from voters and taxpayers.

While it appears that the political fix is in (courtesy of Dick Ackerman), voters may yet reject Linda Ackerman.  Polls show her well behind Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby.  Unlike Linda Ackerman (who has never held elective office), Norby actually lives in district AD 72, and has a long track record of protecting taxpayers (both as an Orange County Supervisor and Fullerton City Councilman).  Meanwhile, Linda Ackerman and her supporters (Dick Ackerman, Dave Cogdill, Roy Ashburn) represent the leadership that created California’s fiscal crisis and raised taxes on struggling Californians in the middle of the worst economy since the Great Depression.