Get on the Bus

CNA is (literally) rolling out six mobile phone bank buses, with 24 lines a piece and wrapped in signage. This will allow the ability to drive to hospitals for shift changes and let nurses easily phone bank before or after shifts.

The San Francisco Chronicle's John Wildermuth wrote:

Hit the road with the nurses for Prop. 89

With modern politics now tied to focus groups, tracking polls, TV attack ads and the other oh-so-serious -- and often oh-so-boring -- accouterments of California elections, there's almost no time for good, old-fashioned political stunts that at least added a little life and personality to the voting business in years past.

The exception: The California Nurses Association, which is out on the hustings backing Proposition 89, the campaign finance initiative. CNA members on Wednesday afternoon opened the union's "Get On the Bus," campaign, which will put nurses on six colorfully decorated buses driving across the state promoting Prop. 89. [...]

Earlier this month, it was street theater in Sacramento, as Prop. 89 backers joined a Jack Abramoff impersonator to string a million dollars in phony money from a lobbyist's office to the headquarters of the California Chamber of Commerce, which is opposed to the measure.

They've also brought a guy dressed as Batman to a number of their events and even projected a 40-foot "Bat-signal" on a building where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was having a fundraiser.

They're also probably the only campaign to have its own rap song the three-and-a-half minute "About Time for 89," written and performed by Colette Washington: "It's about time for Prop. 89, what's going on in Sac Town is blowin' my mind..."

Check out a new video where Colette performs at the launch of Get on the Bus. Big Pharma and Big Oil and Big Money may be able to spend whatever it takes to preserve the perverse status quo, but creativity and hard work are our slingshot in this David vs. Goliath battle. Get on Board!

You will know us by our enemies

Steven Harmon in the Contra Costa Times:

Foes unite to fight 89
Opposition to the 'clean money' campaign initiative, with strict contribution limits, has created odd bedfellows

SACRAMENTO - The odd alliance opposing Proposition 89, the "clean money" initiative, illustrates what proponents say is the problem in state politics: Big-money interests are so vested in the system that even the most extreme opposites -- like the state teacher's union and the state's biggest business advocate -- will join forces to keep the status quo.

Prop. 89 would place limits on contributions to state legislative candidates, independent expenditure committees and political parties. It would also restrict donations to ballot initiatives, though political action committees could still give unlimited amounts. [...]

But while corporations have provided the bulk of financial backing to the opposition, the merging of forces between left and right -- unions and businesses, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- has exposed how the measure has threatened entrenched interests, said Ned Wigglesworth, policy advocate for California Common Cause.

"Democrats and Republicans alike are hooked on campaign cash, making it possible for a handful of interests to keep both parties on a fairly short leash," Wigglesworth said. "This means the public interest often takes a back seat to the wish list of big donors, whether it's a bloated contract for the prison guards union, an expansion of Indian gaming compacts or the passage of a bill like the cable bill, done to benefit one particular company."

Look our opponents, the only thing they have in common is that they have enough money to buy what they want in Sacramento.

This is already the most expensive election ever. Just like the last one was the most expensive election ever. Unless Proposition 89 passes, the next election will again be the most expensive ever.

Proposition 89 Momentum

Ruth Rosen, a history teacher at the University of California, Berkeley and a senior fellow of the Longview Institute, has an article in the current issue of the American Prospect:

Now the battle in California begins. On one side the measure is supported by the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the League of Women Voters of California, Common Cause, and other nonprofit and community organizations.

On the other side is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who as a candidate in 2003 promised to end "pay-to-play" politics, but whose tireless fund raising has made his predecessors look like amateurs at a bodybuilding contest. He is joined by the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Taxpayers' Association, insurance companies, oil companies, HMOs, three powerful unions, members of the entrenched political establishment, and consultants and lobbyists. They argue that clean-money campaigns limit free speech, by which they mean the freedom to give a candidate as much money as they please. They also claim it's a wasteful public subsidy for politicians. (Some of their objections will almost certainly end up in the courts. Fortunately, the California initiative was written so that each part can be implemented separately, if any section is litigated.)

Right now, there seems to be considerable popular momentum for Proposition 89. In 2005, a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 92 percent of California adult residents believe that special interests control the electoral process.

Special interests aren't going to give up their power without a fight, so help Proposition 89, go Buck the System Now.

Big Oil Throws Down Against Proposition 89

The Chevron Corporation -- formerly known as Standard Oil of California -- wrote a $250,000 check to a special interest group opposing Proposition 89, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act.

Chevron has extensively funded the negative attack ads against Proposition 87, the Clean Energy initiative also on the November ballot.

A chronological view of Chevron's $19 million in contributions contains seven checks written over a nine month period.

The company has a storied history of buying results. In 1984, Chevron's merger with Gulf Oil was the largest merger that had ever occured. Chevron also gobbled up Texaco, Unocal, and Sacramento politics.

On September 2, 2004, Tom Chorneau reported for the AP:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plan to reorganize almost every aspect of state government was influenced significantly by oil and gas giant ChevronTexaco Corp., which managed to shape such key recommendations as the removal of restrictions on oil refineries.

Many corporations and interest groups participated in the governor's reform plan -- known as the California Performance Review -- but state records and interviews with the participants show Chevron enjoyed immense success in influencing the report through its array of lobbyists, attorneys and trade organizations.

And few corporations have spent so much political cash on the governor, either. Since Schwarzenegger's election last October, the San Ramon company has contributed more than $200,000 to his committees and $500,000 to the California Republican Party.

Chevron, whose officials acknowledge they lobbied hard to get their ideas in the report, is one of about 20 companies that paid to send the governor and his staff to this week's Republican National Convention in New York. On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger attended a closed-door meeting in New York with representatives of those companies, including Chevron. And just three weeks after the Governor's Office released the 2,700-page reorganization report, the company gave $100,000 to a Schwarzenegger-controlled political fund.

At the time that was a lot of money. Richard Holober, Executive Director Consumer Federation of California, explained what has happened since then:

Since 2004, Chevron gave $3 million in political contributions in California. For a company that made a record $14 billion in profits last year, it was money well spent. Despite public indignation, big oil crushed a proposed state tax on windfall oil profits.

Chevron has proven successful in the current system. The company has spend millions and ensured they make record billions.

Under Proposition 89, Chevron would be able to contribute $10,000 against each initiative, removing almost twenty-million dollars in negative ads. Chevron employees would be able to contribute, but Proposition 89 would create a system where political issues aren't decided like an auction.

Clean Money -- public financing of campaigns -- has proven successful in Maine and Arizona. Included in Proposition 89 are the best practices from those systems, adapted for California. The initiative also includes are review process that will allow regular refinement.

Allan Zaremberg Googles Secret Plan

California Chamber of Commerce President Allan Zaremberg and the crack investigative team at CoC's K Street headquarters have uncovered a bombshell.

Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Sanders writes of the epiphany under the headline, Secret plan alleged on campaign financing:

A California Nurses Association publication indicates the group is pushing the Proposition 89 campaign-finance measure as a Trojan horse to get what it covets most: universal health care, opponents said Monday.

Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, said the strategy basically was spelled out in a document that appeared on the nurses association Web site.

Whowouldthunk? Nurses support health care for everyone?

But then I started thinking, could I too scour the internet and find secret election plans? Here are some more secret plans I found on the internets.

Sierra Club Plots to Protect Environment

Those nurses with their designs for health care aren't the only ones using Proposition 89 as a trojan horse. It seems the Sierra Club also has a secret agenda, which I found on some website included in a press release announcing the Sierra Club's endorsement of Prop 89. Let the record show that Bill Magavern, senior advocate for Sierra Club California, said:

"If you want clean air and clean water, you need clean elections. Proposition 89 will eliminate the corrupting influence of donors who want to weaken environmental laws by shifting power back to the voters who overwhelmingly support measures to ensure a healthy, safe, and clean environment."

Busted. The Chamber of Commerce can feel free and use my sleuthing and set up another whiney conference call with reporters. I hope the Sacramento Bee runs a page A4 headline, "Sierra Club Plots for Environment".

Consumer Federation Scheme for Consumer Protection

This website statement conspiracy runs deeper, the Consumer Federation of California seems to have a secret plan to pass consumer protection legislation. Uncovered in a press release endorsing Proposition 89 is the following quote from CFC's Executive Director Richard Holober:

"All too often, consumer protection legislation is defeated in Sacramento by politicians who are beholden to the big business interests that bankroll their electoral campaigns. Proposition 89 would help reduce the influence of corporate campaign contributions on elected officials. It will help to decrease the use of the ballot initiative as a vehicle for big business to enact legislation, and help restore the initiative to its original purpose as an expression of the people's will."

Congress of California Seniors Maneuver for Those on Fixed Incomes

Further investigation revealed that some support for Proposition 89 is coming from seniors who are prepared for daily machination. Again in a press release supporting Proposition 89, I discovered a damning quote from Hank Lacayo, president of the Congress of California Seniors:

"As consumers who often live on fixed incomes, seniors battle special interests and big corporations every day to get fair laws to protect consumers. We support Proposition 89 because it will eliminate the corrosive affect of big special interest donations and help level the legislative playing field."

Did you notice the emphasis on a level playing field? Keep an eye on these seniors, they might have an entire agenda.

Allan Zaremberg's Secret Racket to Buy Elections

It seems even Mr. Zaremberg is fighting about Proposition 89 with ulterior motives. From the San Francisco Chronicle Politics Blog:

Anyone looking for a hint at the hot buttons that the campaign against Prop. 89, the public financing "clean money" campaign initiative, is planning to push this fall only had to listen to California Chamber of Commerce Prexy Allan Zaremberg make a pitch to reporters this morning.

Not one, but three of the state's best-known political consulting companies have been hired to run the effort against Prop. 89, an initiative which Zaremberg said was "patently unfair, one-sided and a waste of precious taxpayer resources."

Zaremberg, an Arnold Schwarzenegger ally who was one of the key backers of last year's controversial special election agenda, is concerned that the initiative will make it much more difficult for businesses to spend the millions of dollars they've needed in the past to back or oppose initiatives that affect the business community.

Zaremberg's plot appears to be for the Chamber of Commerce to spend whatever it takes to preserve the racket where money buys elections and special interests dominate Sacramento.

Nurses supporting health care? Duh. The part of the story that deserves more ink is the fact that the Chamber of Commerce honcho is whining to reporters about big business not being able to buy government.

$26,400,000

From the LA Times:

As legislators were approving more than 1,000 bills in August, Schwarzenegger was crossing the state, and the country, soliciting campaign cash. Now, as he decides whether to sign those bills into law or nix them with a veto, he will be cashing checks from scores of contributors whose interests intersect with legislation.

Schwarzenegger is vastly out-raising his Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Phil Angelides. He has taken $26.4 million into his reelection account so far this year, compared with Angelides' $13.4 million, according to records filed with the Secretary of State's office.

Last week alone, the Republican governor held five fundraisers, including two on Friday in the Central Valley, two in Los Angeles and one in suburban Sacramento. He has scheduled at least 22 such events this month.

"This is exactly the kind of practice he said he was going to Sacramento to end," said Angelides consultant Bill Carrick.

No wonder Schwarzenegger doesn't support Prop 89, he is doing just fine with the current system. So are the lobbyists.

Universal Health Care - By the Numbers

With the news that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto universal health care, let's take a look at the numbers:

6,000,000	-	Uninsured Californians the bill would have covered
8,000,000	-	Dollars the bill would have saved annually
4,000,000	-	Dollars opponents contributed to Schwarzenegger

"Schwarzenegger's announcement shows he has listened to the big donors who have put millions into his campaign coffers, not to the people worried about health care costs and the rising number of uninsured workers."

- Jerry Flanagan, health policy director of the FTCR

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Proposition 89

Thomas D. Elias has a must read column in the Ventura County Star:

Similarly, it was good politics for Schwarzenegger to announce as he declared for office in 2003 that he would take no campaign donations from any special interests. After all, the Gray Davis recall election he was entering had been spurred largely by Davis' apparent practice of "pay-to-play" government.

But was it honest politics? That's another one for voters to ponder in the light of Schwarzenegger taking more than $200 million over three years from corporations and executives of businesses, most of whom do business with state government.

The same with campaign finance reform. Schwarzenegger vows repeatedly to clean up politics, including a proposal to ban campaign contributions during the entire state budget approval process. Good politics, for sure.

But is it honest politics? Voters should decide based on Schwarzenegger's record. Rather than foreswearing fundraising during the budget process this year, the governor instead raised tens of millions of dollars. And he opposes Proposition 89, with its planned public financing of campaigns as a means of diminishing the influence of big donors. His reason: the proposition proposes a minuscule 0.2 percent increase in the corporate tax rate to raise the needed money.

This points to one of the major problems with the status quo. Politicians can say one thing, then go and do another and effectively avoid accountability if they raise enough money from special interests for excessive TV campaigns and glossy political mailers. Big money gets what it wants, the truth ends up on the editing room floor, and the voters lose.

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• Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Opposes Clean Money


• Arnold Schwarzenegger and Proposition 89

DFA-Marin: Money Movie Meetup

From the Coastal Post:

Excerpts from the powerful film "The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress" will be shown Tuesday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Center Community Room in Corte Madera.

Presented by Democracy for America-Marin, the meeting, free and open to the public, will also feature Greg Brockbank and Becca Quinn explaining Proposition 89, the California clean money initiative on the November 7 ballot.

DFA Marin members aren't the only people looking at federal scandals that illustrate why we need clean money elections in California. The blog D-Day has a post on Governor Schwarzenegger, the Del Mar board, Brent Wilkes, Duke Cunningham and Jack Abramoff.