NIX ON ALL SIX BUSH-SCHWARZENEGGER REACTIONARY PROPOSITIONS

I've been trying to get my head around how to tackle the California Special Election (which is one week from today) for over a month now. I promised myself I would get it done when there was still time for people to vote absentee. But its too late for that now I think. Last night I realized I was over-thinking the whole thing. It's a lot simpler than I was making it out to be. Schwarzenegger, whose approval rating among California voters is now even lower than Bush's, has seen his popularity erode further and further as he pushed his special interests agenda election down Californians' throats. According to the latest poll only 31% of the state's voters approve of the way he's doing his job. Since January, Schwarzenegger's approval rating has been cut nearly in half and his disapproval rating has more than doubled -- a convulsive reversal of status for the celebrity, mostly absentee Republican governor who has spent almost his entire tenure in office sucking up money from corporate special interest groups in order to push his reactionary schemes. Next Tuesday will be the culmination of his insidious efforts.

Taken as a whole-- which is exactly how they should be taken-- the 6 right-wing propositions, 73-78, are a power grab by the governor (and his special interests backers, as well as the Bush/DeLay cabal in DC) to put one over on California. The propositions are carefully worded not to inform but to confuse and mislead-- sort of like the way Bush's "Clear Skies Act" was meant to allow power companies to spew tons of toxic fumes into the air.

A perfect example is Proposition 78, which is totally meant to confuse voters and keep them from voting for the really advantageous Proposition 79. The big drug corporations and their handmaiden Schwarzenegger have spent millions trying to fool voters and keep them from passing the real prescription drug relief contained in the Alliance For A Better California-backed Prop. 79. This phony measure says only that drug companies can enter a “voluntary” program to reduce prices…but why should they? They have no real incentive to lower the sky-high (ultra-profitable) cost of prescription drugs. A NO vote on 78 is necessary to provide consumers with real relief from soaring drug prices, because whichever measure gets the highest number of votes becomes law and Proposition 79 has the teeth to use mass purchasing power to insure the best prices for Californians, especially for the elderly and needy.

Proposition 77 is an especially tricky one. We ALL want to reform the electoral system. But this proposition was written by Schwarzenegger and his rightist allies to specifically damage the electoral prospects of Democrats. If this type of bill were being offered nationwide, I might take it more seriously, although even then there would be intrinsic problems with it, but the way it is now, it's tantamount to unilateral disarmament. The idea is to just give up our electoral rights and let the neo-Confederate mob who pay the least taxes and have accrued the most political power become absolute dictators. On top of that, Prop 77 is so badly put together that it doesn't really address the actual need for more competitive districts. And it tacks on mid-decade redistricting not unlike the shenanigans that DeLay pulled in Texas to get himself a bought-and-paid-for GOP congressional delegation. Publicly, the redistricting measure is portrayed as a nonpartisan move, but even the governor's chief of staff has made it clear that Proposition 77 is likely to increase Republican power in Sacramento. Republican State Senator Abel Moldonado summed it up: "...if those initiatives pass in November, we will have a lot of statewide officeholders the following November in the year 2006."

Prop 76 totally undermines our system of checks and balances by giving Schwarzenegger unprecedented power over the state budget unchecked by legislative oversight. This proposal overturns voter-approved guarantees of funding for public education and jeopardizes funding for police, firefighters, trauma centers, and other essential public resources. California already spends $1000 less per pupil than the national average for education. Prop. 76 will permanently reduce the money schools will get by over $4 billion -- $600 per student -- placing the state behind West Virginia and Kentucky in per pupil education funding. Historically the Right thrives on an ignorant and uneducated electorate. As hard to believe as it may seem, they are seriously trying to destroy public education. Passage of this reactionary proposal will lead to more overcrowded classrooms, teacher layoffs, and fewer textbooks and classroom materials for public schools, advancing the GOP agenda of privatizing education. California schools lost two billion dollars when Schwarzenegger broke his promise to repay the money he took from education, and if this hideous initiative passes, the sleazy Gropenfuehrer will never have to repay that money to our schools.

Of all the rotten proposals Schwarzenegger is trying to get through, Proposition 75 is the most viciously partisan, a bold attempt by the Republicans to defund the Democratic Party. Are shareholders asked to approve corporate pay-off to the right-wing pols whose careers they finance? No way. But, of course, when working men and women get together to act from the strength of numbers, the Far Right always gets very nervous and reacts... well, just the way Bush and Schwarzenegger are reacting. Right wing pols have tried to destroy unions and demonize them since the inception of the Labor Movement. The will always prefer slave labor. Proposition 75 would require public employee unions to get written consent from government employees each year before using their annual union dues for political purposes. At a time when big corporations already outspend workers 24 to 1, Prop. 75 will undermine the ability of nurses, police, and firefighters to protect the public policy that ensures quality schools, public safety, and health care.

Proposition 74 stems from Schwarzenegger's misguided understanding of what a "special interest" is. He thinks his multimillionaire friends in corporations shoving money up his ass aren't special interests. To Schwarzenegger "special interests" are average Californians fighting for some semblance of equality on an inherently unequal playing field. This proposition stinks. It does nothing to improve student learning, reduce class size, or provide textbooks and computers for our schools. Prop. 74 unfairly penalizes teachers and will make it almost impossible to recruit or retain quality teachers in our classrooms, EXACTLY what the Far Right wants for public education!

And last but not least is Proposition 73 a rightist stab at weakening the basis of a right to choice and a right to privacy while again-- like in the Terri Schiavo case, inserting intrusive Big Government into peoples' private medical decisions. This endangers teens who are unable to go to their parents -- they may resort to dangerous measures instead of getting the medical help and counseling they need.

Just two weeks before voting day Schwarzenegger pulled the TV spots that showed him endorsing these propositions in order to further confuse voters who are so busy trying to hold the basics of their frayed lives together in The Dark Times Of Bush, that they haven't been paying close attention to the right-wing's grab for power in California. "An overwhelming majority of voters think this special election is unnecessary and an overwhelming number of voters say they will not vote for Schwarzenegger again. Let's face it, he's unpopular," said Larry Gerston, a political scientist from San Jose State University.

It is crucial for all progressives to go to the polling stations on Tuesday (Nov. 8) and send Schwarzenegger and Bush a clear message: WE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR GREED-AND-IDEOLOGY-DRIVEN EXCUSES FOR GOVERNMENT. YOU ARE DONE FOR!