You must act now to save California!

It is time for each of us to do our part to save California. The state is teetering on the brink of financial collapse.   No one is coming to save us.  Only you can fix California.  You must act now or California will fail.

• Join us at the Citizen Power Rally.
• Sign the petition with your friends.
• Make a donation.

Fiscal meltdown

California is in a fiscal meltdown.  The budget crisis has forced painful cuts to education, healthcare, and highways. Worse, a looming pension crisis is on the horizon.  When the state runs out of money, then what?

The root cause

There is growing  bipartisan consensus that the root cause of our crisis is California’s public employee unions.  “At some point,” said former San Francisco Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D), “Someone is going to have to get honest about the fact that 80 percent of the state, county and city budget deficits are due to employee costs.”

Congressman Tom McClintock (R) agrees, “People on both sides of the aisle know that public employee unions have too much power in Sacramento and stand in the way of real reform.”  Senate candidate Tom Campbell explains, “Our state budget is broken.  Our state pensions are broken. They’re broken because Sacramento is broken — dominated by a political machine where the public employee unions have excessive power in influencing legislation and budgets.”

“California’s fiscal crisis will continue unless we can break the political machine,” says Senate candidate Chuck DeVore, ” The political alliance created by legislators and the powerful public employee unions who bankroll their campaigns results in bigger government, more spending, and taxpayers are shut out of the process.”  Political activist Mark Meckler explains, “It’s a corrupt, rigged system, and we taxpayers are left holding the bag.”

Unplug the political machine

“The Citizen Power Initiative is the only way to truly reform California’s state government,” says Mark Meckler, one of five proponents of the measure.  The Citizen Power Initiative is a constitutional amendment that will end the corrupt practice of public employee unions using members’ dues collected by the government for political donations.  “Government should not be taking what is essentially taxpayer money and giving it to union bosses for politics,” says Chuck DeVore.

“Now is the time to repair our broken democracy and make California governable again, ” says Tom Campbell, “The Citizen Power Initiative is a necessary first step. We can’t fix anything while the public employee unions are able to defend the system that got us to our present crisis.  Even now, these unions are filing lawsuits to block the spending cuts we need to balance our budget.  And they’re paying for this with money that comes from their members, who are paid out of taxpayer’s pockets. The Citizen Power Initiative fixes this.”

It’s up to you

California’s future is up to you.  If you do nothing, then California will fail.  You must do your part – for yourself, your friends, your family, for all the people counting on you to fix California’s democracy.

You must act now to support the Citizen Power Campaign and qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.

• Join us at the rally.
• Sign the petition with your friends.
• Make a donation.

San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio today announced his endorsement of the Citizen Power Initiative, a proposed ballot initiative that will ban the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to politics through public employee unions’ paychecks.

The Citizen Power Campaign (www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org) is currently collecting signatures to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot. Proponents have until mid-April to render nearly 700,000 valid signatures to the Secretary of State.

Carl DeMaio, San Diego’s “City Hall Watchdog” is a long-time advocate of government reform. “We must pass the Citizen Power Initiative if we hope to solve our budget and pension problems. State and local public employee unions helped create these problems by using their enormous political power. They have this power because they can force workers to join and pay for political campaigns. This initiative helps fix that.”

DeMaio is recognized as a national leader in government reform and taxpayer protection initiatives. In 2003, his “San Diego Citizen’s Budget Project” uncovered many of San Diego’s financial problems, and he authored a comprehensive reform plan to fix them. In 2006, he helped to author, qualify and pass a landmark pension reform initiative, requiring future pension benefit increases be put to a public vote.

“Pension costs have reached 69 percent of City payroll,” says DeMaio, “This means that we’re paying more for retirees than we are are for workers providing needed services. This is a direct result of the public employee unions’ political power. The Citizen Power Initiative puts that power back in the hands of taxpayers, where it belongs.”

“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.

California Representative Tom McClintock today announced his endorsement of the Citizen Power Initiative, a proposed ballot initiative that will ban the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to politics through public employee unions’ paychecks.

The Citizen Power Campaign (www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org) is currently collecting signatures to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.  Proponents have until mid-April to render nearly 700,000 valid signatures to the Secretary of State.

Tom McClintock, who represents California’s fourth congressional district, said, “The Citizen Power Initiative is absolutely necessary to bring real reform to Sacramento. People on both sides of the aisle know that public employee unions have too much power in Sacramento and stand in the way of real reform. They have that power because they have a special privilege no one else in politics has – the ability to automatically take money from their union members’ paychecks without their permission and use it for politics. This initiative will stop that automatic flow of money by simply taking the state out of the business of collecting political contributions on behalf of union bosses.”

“Restoring power the California’s citizens through the Citizen Power Initiative is our Number One priority in 2010 and Tom McClintock’s endorsement proves his commitment to stand on our side,” said Mark Meckler, one of the measure’s five proponents who as the California co-coordinator and a National Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots.

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.

Willie Brown is calling for an “honest dialogue” on California’s public employee unions.  Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and longtime Speaker of the California Assembly, has pointed out the obvious – that our civil servants now “[run] the show” in California.  They have “job security for life” and “pushed by our friends in labor, gradually expanded pay and benefits to private-sector levels while keeping the job protections and layering on incredibly generous retirement packages that pay ex-workers almost as much as current workers”.  Standing against them, says Brown, is “politically unpopular and potentially even career suicide for most officeholders”.

Willie Brown made the following comments in his San Francisco Chronicle column:

If we as a state want to make a New Year’s resolution, I suggest taking a good look at the California we have created. From our out-of-sync tax system to our out-of-control civil service, it’s time for politicians to begin an honest dialogue about what we’ve become.

Take the civil service.

The system was set up so politicians like me couldn’t come in and fire the people (relatives) hired by the guy they beat and replace them with their own friends and relatives.

Over the years, however, the civil service system has changed from one that protects jobs to one that runs the show.

The deal used to be that civil servants were paid less than private sector workers in exchange for an understanding that they had job security for life.

But we politicians, pushed by our friends in labor, gradually expanded pay and benefits to private-sector levels while keeping the job protections and layering on incredibly generous retirement packages that pay ex-workers almost as much as current workers.

Talking about this is politically unpopular and potentially even career suicide for most officeholders. But at some point, someone is going to have to get honest about the fact that 80 percent of the state, county and city budget deficits are due to employee costs.

Either we do something about it at the ballot box, or a judge will do something about in Bankruptcy Court. And if you think I’m kidding, just look at [the bankrupt city of ] Vallejo.

California gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell today endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative as one of the most important reforms for turning around California’s troubled state government.  Campbell is the first gubernatorial candidate of either party to endorse the measure, which will end the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions’ paychecks.  “Fixing our broken state government is priority one,” he said. “That’s why I am running for governor.”  The Citizen Power Campaign issued the following press release:

Tustin, CA [December 30, 2009] -  California gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell today endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative as one of the most important reforms for turning around California’s troubled state government.  The Citizen Power Initiative is a California ballot measure and proposed constitutional amendment that will end the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions’ paychecks.

Campbell is the first gubernatorial candidate of either party to endorse the Citizen Power Initiative.  “Fixing our broken state government is priority one,” he said. “That’s why I am running for governor.  Our state budget is broken.  Our state pensions are broken. They’re broken because Sacramento is broken — dominated by a political machine where the public employee unions have excessive power in influencing legislation and budgets.”

“I saw how they worked to defeat the budget-balancing initiative in 2005 and funneled millions of state employees’ dollars into attacking the best hope we had to prevent the budget melt down we are now suffering,” says Campbell, “If state employees want to make political contributions, that’s their right, but their unions should not be able to make that decision for them without their explicit approval.  In Sacramento, however, that’s how the system works. Once in a while, those who aspire to lead our state have to show they’re not afraid actually to show leadership.  That’s why I’m helping lead the charge for the Citizen Power Initiative.”

The Citizen Power Campaign (www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org) is currently collecting signatures to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.  The proponents have until mid-April to render nearly 700,000 valid signatures to the Secretary of State.

“Tom Campbell’s endorsement shows there are politicians with the courage to do what’s right, even in the face of immense public employee union pressure. We truly appreciate his willingness to take a stand for what he believes,” said Mark Meckler, one of the measure’s five proponents. Meckler, who also serves as the California co-coordinator and a National Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, explained, “In 2005, a similar initiative was placed on the state ballot and was narrowly defeated because the public employee unions and their corrupt political machine spent millions to do so.”

“Now, California is in a worse crisis and needs this reform even more,” says Meckler, “But today, the electorate is much more informed, much angrier at government irresponsibility, and thanks to the tea parties, much more activated. People from all walks of life in California now understand the institutional corruption in Sacramento is caused by all the political money flowing to the unions from the state government, and they are actively working to stop it through the Citizen Power Initiative.”

“California is at a tipping point,” Campbell explains, “Now is the time to repair our broken democracy and make California governable again.  The Citizen Power Initiative is a necessary first step. We can’t fix anything while the public employee unions are able to defend the system that got us to our present crisis.  Even now, these unions are filing lawsuits to block the spending cuts we need to balance our budget.  And they’re paying for this with money that comes from their members, who are paid out of taxpayer’s pockets. The Citizen Power Initiative fixes this.  That’s the kind of change I hope to bring to Sacramento.”

To read the full text of the initiative and to learn more, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org and click on “The Solution.”

To download petitions and join the Citizen Power Campaign’s online community, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.ning.com.

THE CITIZEN POWER CAMPAIGN

The Citizen Power Campaign combines grassroots taxpayer organizers, retirees, and political veterans.  The initiative’s official proponents are Mark Meckler and Dawn Wildman, California’s Tea Party Patriot state coordinators; Larry Sand, retired public school teacher and founder of the California Teacher Empowerment Network; Allan Mansoor, Costa Mesa Mayor and Orange County Deputy Sheriff; and Mark Bucher, Orange County attorney and author of the 1998 ‘paycheck protection’ initiative, Proposition 226.  The Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group of about 200 business owners and executives who believe in limited government, lower taxes, and the promotion of free enterprise, has been an early supporter and financial contributor to the Citizen Power Campaign.

U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore is leading the charge against government corruption by throwing his support behind the Citizen Power Initiative, a California ballot measure and proposed constitutional amendment that will end the corrupt practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions.  Read the rest of the press release here:

Tustin, CA [December 21, 2009] – U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore this week endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative, a California ballot measure and proposed constitutional amendment that will end the corrupt practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions.

DeVore, who currently serves in the California State Assembly representing the 70th District, is the first prominent Republican candidate to endorse the Citizen Power Initiative. DeVore said, “California’s fiscal crisis will continue unless we can break the political machine. The political alliance created by legislators and the powerful public employee unions who bankroll their campaigns results in bigger government, more spending, and taxpayers are shut out of the process. Nothing will change until we get the government out of the business of collecting union members’ dues that are used for politics.”

The Citizen Power Campaign (www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org) is currently collecting signatures to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.

“Chuck’s endorsement shows political leadership and political courage,” said Dawn Wildman, an initiative proponent. “Opposing California’s public employee unions paints a target on your back.” She cites a recent example, where a San Diego county firefighters union bankrolled a political campaign to remove an Oceanside Councilman who supported reforming firefighter pensions.

DeVore is a longtime supporter of “paycheck protection” laws aimed at limiting the power of California’s public employee unions. What’s different about the Citizen Power Initiative, DeVore noted, is that while previous attempts focused on getting employees’ permission to use their union dues for politics, this initiative simply takes the government out of the business of collecting dues for politics at all.

DeVore said, “Simply put, the government should not be taking what is essentially taxpayer money and giving it to union bosses for politics. The employee doesn’t even see the money because their dues are automatically deducted from their paychecks, like taxes. The government shouldn’t be involved at all, especially when the union bosses are funding the political campaigns of the same government officials who set their salaries and pensions.”

To read the full text of the initiative and to learn more, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org and click on “The Solution.”

To download petitions and join the Citizen Power Campaign’s online community, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.ning.com.

THE CITIZEN POWER CAMPAIGN
The Citizen Power Campaign combines grassroots taxpayer organizers, retirees, and political veterans. The initiative’s official proponents are Mark Meckler and Dawn Wildman, California’s Tea Party Patriot state coordinators; Larry Sand, retired public school teacher and founder of the California Teacher Empowerment Network; Allan Mansoor, Costa Mesa Mayor and Orange County Deputy Sheriff; and Mark Bucher, Orange County attorney and author of the 1998 ‘paycheck protection’ initiative, Proposition 226. The Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group of about 200 business owners and executives who believe in limited government, lower taxes, and the promotion of free enterprise, has been an early supporter and financial contributor to the Citizen Power Campaign.

NO-SHILL GUARANTEE: Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, made freely, and without financial or any incentive other than the pursuit of freedom and limited government.

The Citizen Power Campaign to end public employee union corruption is now officially gathering signatures  to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.  Campaign leaders expressed pleasant surprise that the title and summary issued by Attorney General Jerry Brown “describes accurately and fairly what the initiative will do”.  Campaign leaders were concerned that Brown (who enjoys a special relationship with these unions) might follow the recent trend of unfairly politicizing initiative titles and summaries.  The Citizen Power Campaign has issued a press release announcing the signature gathering launch.  The Campaign is rumored to be ready to announce some major endorsements.

Campaign leaders have tipped their hat to Attorney General Jerry Brown for issuing a fair title and summary.  The Citizen Power Initiative title and summary are as follows:

MAKES ILLEGAL THE USE OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE WAGE DEDUCTIONS FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITIES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

Amends the California Constitution to make it illegal to deduct from wages or earnings of a public employee any amount that will be used for political activities as defined. Prohibits any membership organization that receives public employee wage deductions from using those funds for any political activities, but does not apply to deductions for charitable organizations, health, life or disability insurance, or other purposes directly benefitting the public employee. Authorizes the Legislature and Fair Political Practices Commission to adopt related laws and regulations. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Probably minor state and local government implementation costs, potentially offset in part by revenues from fines and/or fees.

Campaign leaders were surprised because of Brown’s special relationship with the public employee unions targeted by the initiative.  Jerry Brown is the “father” of California’s public employee union corruption problem, having signed the law that authorized these unions 30 years ago.  Brown’s legacy is that the public employee unions now siphon billions of taxpayer dollars out of state services into political slush funds used to drive runaway spending and fight reform.  Today, Californians are concerned about Brown’s relationship with ACORN and his taxpayer-funded public employee unions backers.

Now, the Citizen Power Campaign has begun signature gathering to put the measure on the November 2010 ballot.  They have issued the following press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mark Patlan, (888) 949-4245
MarkPatlan [at] ReformTaskForce [dot] com

CITIZENS LAUNCH PETITION DRIVE TO QUALIFY INITIATIVE TO STOP POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN CALIFORNIA

Tustin, CA [December 8, 2009] -  Californians this week launched a signature gathering campaign to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot. The Citizen Power Initiative is a constitutional amendment that will end the corrupt practice of public employee unions using members’ dues collected by the government for political donations.

The people behind the Citizen Power Initiative are nearly 1,000 taxpayers who have banded together as the Citizen Power Campaign (UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org).  This group operates under the direction of state and national leaders of the Tea Party Patriots movement, such as Dawn Wildman and Mark Meckler, and seasoned public policy advocates, such as Robert Loewen and Mark Bucher. Loewen is president of the Lincoln Club of Orange County (www.lincolnclub.org), which is providing seed money for the campaign, and Bucher is a veteran of past campaigns to limit the power of public employee unions.

The proponents have until mid-April to render nearly 700,000 valid signatures to the Secretary of State.  Tea Party Patriot leader Dawn Wildman reports over 240 county, city, and town coordinators, representing over 10,000 citizen activists, many active in the Tea Party Patriots, who, in the past three weeks, have pledged to collect over 930,000 signatures.

“The Citizen Power Campaign is gaining grassroots momentum quickly,” said Wildman, an initiative proponent and California coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots. “People understand this is the most important reform since Proposition 13. While Proposition 13 helped limit tax increases, it did nothing to stop runaway spending. The public employee unions are the driving force behind runaway spending, and the Citizen Power Initiative is the first step to fix this by taking some of the money out of California politics.”

“The Citizen Power Initiative is the only way to truly reform California’s state government,” says Mark Meckler, one of five proponents of the measure. Meckler, who also serves as the California coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, explained, “The problem is the public employee unions have become so powerful in controlling the state’s lawmakers, they’ve created a corrupt political machine. The government should not be in the business of collecting political contributions from government employees. It’s a corrupt, rigged system, and we taxpayers are left holding the bag.”

Furthermore, funneling forced union dues into political causes that a teacher might find objectionable is un-American, said Larry Sand, a retired public school teacher and proponent of the Citizen Power Initiative. “The average teacher pays roughly $1,000 annually in union dues, about 30% of which are used for politics. That means the National Education Association, California Teachers Association and its local affiliates collect about $100 million each year for political purposes. Shouldn’t the decision where to spend that money be left up to the teacher?”

Even worse, public employee unions are spending taxpayer money to block reform. Mark Bucher, who authored Proposition 226 in 1998, said, “We might have prevented or reduced our state budget crisis in 2005 with a series of reforms, but the public employee unions spent more than $148.5 million in essentially taxpayer dollars on political campaigns to defeat them.” Those reforms included common-sense measures such as spending limits and a rainy day fund. Bucher said, “California will never be able to fix its financial problems as long as the public employee unions can use taxpayer dollars defeating even modest reforms.”

Allan Mansoor, mayor of the City of Costa Mesa and an Orange County deputy sheriff, added, “The Citizen Power Initiative will level the playing field. No other special interest group has the power to automatically collect money for politics from someone’s paycheck. Every other interest group has to ask for their political contributions.  Public employee unions can just take them and the employees never even see the money.” Mansoor is also an initiative proponent.

Attorney General Jerry Brown officially approved the initiative language late last week. Ironically, in 1977, then Governor Jerry Brown gave the public employee unions the right to unionize. Since then, public employee unions have spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money to influence politicians and promote campaigns that support the unions’ political agenda. This corrupt system – in which the public employee union negotiator sits across the bargaining table from the politicians they’ve supported – has made politicians accountable to powerful public employee union bosses, rather than voters and taxpayers.

To read the full text of the initiative and to learn more, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org and click on “The Solution.”

To download petitions and join the Citizen Power Campaign’s online community, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.ning.com.

THE CITIZEN POWER CAMPAIGN

The Citizen Power Campaign combines grassroots taxpayer organizers, retirees, and political veterans. The initiative’s official proponents are Mark Meckler and Dawn Wildman, California’s Tea Party Patriot state coordinators; Larry Sand, retired public school teacher and founder of the California Teacher Empowerment Network; Allan Mansoor, Costa Mesa Mayor and Orange County Deputy Sheriff; and Mark Bucher, Orange County attorney and author of the 1998 ‘paycheck protection’ initiative, Proposition 226. The Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group of about 200 business owners and executives who believe in limited government, lower taxes, and the promotion of free enterprise, has been an early supporter and financial contributor to the Citizen Power Campaign.

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