Proposition 32: California's Proposition 32 is a insidious, nasty little piece of work. The measure claims to want to reform big-money politics by limiting contributions by "special interests" on both sides of the aisle (i.e. corporations and unions).
The trick lies in how this reform is accomplished: All corporations and unions would be prohibited from deducting money used for political purposes from "members'" paychecks. If you read that again carefully, you might note one glaring issue there: corporations do not have "members," they have shareholders, hence they are not subject to the requirements of the very law they're promoting. The LA Times explains this nefarious and under-handed legislation in detail here. The New York Times here. AmericaBlog calls it "a wolf in populist clothing."
In one Yes on 32 ad, the narrator informs viewers that "AT&T spends $140,000 a day on political lobbying in Sacramento" and then implores voters to "stop the special interests" by voting Yes on 32. Word to the wise: Proposition 32 would do nothing to prevent AT&T from spending $140,000 (or $1.4-million) a day on political lobbying in Sacramento. How dishonest is that?
When it comes to political action, corporations already outspend unions 15-to-1. It should come as no surprise that the notorious Koch Brothers are the money men behind this measure. Proposition 32 is simply one more effort to break the will, the spirit and the power of the labor movement, and in the process, should it pass, it will also break the backs of the middle class.
PLEASE VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 32.
No comments:
Post a Comment