Governor's surprising plum for unions: Corporate political agenda

[Coastie for Truth]

Background - Not part of article

1. California's "Proposition 75" would require public employee unions to get member's permission for political contributions.

2. The public employee unions have responded by moving a petition through the Sacramento Bureaucracy to circulation a petition to put a "Corporate Political Accountability" initiative on the ballot. The "Corporate Political Accountability" initiative would require publicly held companies to:
a) tell their stockholders each year how much money they plan to spend for political activities and
b) get that spending approved at the annual stockholders' meeting.


If companies don't get that approval, they won't be able to make any political contributions in California.

That's the background and context.

The article:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent both his allies and his enemies into a frenzy Tuesday, a day after he vowed to support a union-backed effort that could take corporate money out of California politics.

... ...

The dispute swirls around Proposition 75, which would force public employee unions to get written permission from members before using their dues for political purposes.

But when the moderator of a televised town hall meeting in Walnut Creek on Monday night suggested that it might not be fair to treat the unions who typically back Democrats differently from Schwarzenegger's own corporate supporters, the governor surprised the crowd by quickly agreeing.

Public corporations should be required to get permission from their shareholders before giving money for political purposes, he said.



Edited for "Fair use" -- read more here ---

California politics - always (Groucho, Harpo, and Chico) Marxist.

[chaska]

1. What I want to know is why the hell is KTLK (Air America in CA) taking...

adverts FOR Prop 74. Liberals voting against unions. If that becomes the norm for our poluted party I'll go Green ... and stay there.

[Coastie for Truth]

2. KTLK is NOT a Democratic Party Organ

Arnie's thugs are probably buying ads on KTLK to anger potential Green Party Dems.

Also, Arnie's thugs are rolling in mega-bucks -- and are throwing mega-bucks at every outlet. This special election is very important to Arnie - not for the individual props but for the next election.

I may be paranoid - but I believe to an absolute moral certainty that the Rethugs contributed to Nader's 2000 campaign to siphon off Gore voters (and I will go to my grave so convinced).

[Leftest]

3. The way I see it

I only think its equally fair (using prop 75's argument) that I be consulted first if whether or not I wish for my citizen's dues (taxes) to be used for political purposes I disagree with. In this case I do not wish my citizen's dues to be use on an illegal war to kill poor people, so that rich fuckers here can seize control of these poor people's energy resources.

Oh, but they will tell me that when I go to the ballot to elect a representative to represent me, that I had my opportunity to decide how my citizen's dues get spent or not spent. And then I'll tell them that since union members also get that same opportunity when elections are held within the union (to elect union representatives), I demand then under the argument of prop 75 that 100% of my citizen's dues gets revoked from spending on that illegal war until such time that I say its ok to use it for that purpose. Then I'll tell them: Don't hold your breath on that one.

:rant:



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