Us and Them

Supporting Prop. 89	Funding opposition to Prop. 89
California Nurses Association	Chevron Corporation
League of Women Voters of California	Occidental Oil & Gas
AARP California	State Farm Insurance Automobile Insurance
Sierra Club California	Southern California Edison
United Teachers Los Angeles	Mercury General Insurance
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights	Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (drug companies lobbying arm)
California Common Cause	Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)
California Clean Money Campaign	Exxon Mobil Corporation
California Church IMPACT	Blue Cross of California
California National Organization for Women	GlaxoSmithKline (pharmaceutical)
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa	California Bankers Association PAC
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer	California Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom	BP Corporation North America Inc.
Congress of California Seniors	California Hospitals Committee on Issues
Lutheran Office of Public Policy	Safeco Insurance Company
Consumer Federation of California	United Healthcare Services, Inc. (HMO)
Public Citizen	Great American Life Insurance Company
California Teamsters	Sempra Energy (oil and gas)
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry	Farmers Insurance Group
Gray Panthers of California	Zenith Insurance Company
Service Employees International Union	AT&T
California Retired Teachers Association	The Hartford (Hartford Life)
U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi	Travelers Indemnity Company
California Faculty Association	Waste Management & Affiliates
Latino National Congreso	California Teachers Association
United Food & Commercial Workers	Aetna, Inc.
California Black Chamber of Commerce	21st Century Insurance
Senior Action Network	Fireman’s Fund Insurance
Consumers for Auto Reliability & Safety	California Motor Car Dealers Association
CalPIRG	California Business Properties Association
San Francisco Board of Supervisors	Shell Oil Company
Rainforest Action Network	Sprint Nextel
South Bay Labor Council	Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company
Southern California Federation of Scientists	ConocoPhillips (oil)
Korean Resource Center	California Building Industries Assn. PAC
Marin County Board of Supervisors	Anheiser-Busch Companies Inc.
UNITE HERE Local 2	California Restaurant Association PAC
Filipino Am. Community Empowerment	California Independent Petroleum Assn.
Public Campaign	Marriott International Inc.
La Opinion	Prudential Financial
Oakland Mayor-elect Ron Dellums	San Diego Lodging Industry Assn. PAC
William C. Velasquez Institute	AFLAC Inc.
Democracy Matters	Sheraton Hotels & Resorts
Greenlining Institute	Watson Land Company
Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers Co-founder	National Association of Industrial and Office Properties PAC
Californians for Quality Education	Blue Shield of California
United Farm Workers	Republic Indemnity Company of America
Endangered Habitats League	Macy’s West
Greenpeace USA	California Farm Bureau Federation
Berkeley Board of Education	Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Co.
United Auto Workers Local 2865	Smurfit-Stone Packaging Containers
Oakland City Council	California Forestry Association
National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles chapter	Association of California Insurance Companies Issues Committee
San Fernando Valley Interfaith	California Retail Assn. Issues Committee
Planning and Conservation League	California Grocers Association PAC
Alameda County Labor Council	Federal Insurance Committee
Palo Alto City Council	Pardee Homes
Progressive Christians Uniting	Pacific Life (insurance)
United Steel Workers Local 675	Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, Inc.
Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council	Wine Institute California PAC
Environment California	The Doctor’s Company PAC (insurance)
Mexican American Political Association	Johnson Machinery
Women For: Orange County	George Joseph, CEO, Mercury Insurance
National Association of Social Workers	Ace American Insurance Company
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locals 332 and 569	Insurance Brokers & Agents West Inc. California Advocacy Fund
TheRestofUs.org	Cypress Land Company
California Democratic Council	Western Growers PAC
Albany City Council	Conexant Systems Inc. (telecommunications)
Berkeley Federation of Teachers	Employers Insurance Group
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance	Progressive Casualty Insurance Co.
Courage Campaign	Farmers Employees & Agents PAC
Environmental Health Coalition	Kramer-Wilson Co. Insurance Services
University Council of the American Federation of Teachers	Consulting Engineers & Land Surveyors Issues Fund
Social Justice Center of Marin	Granite Construction Inc.
Fresno Co. Democratic Central Committee	Calif. Beer & Beverages Distributors PAC
Progressive Jewish Alliance	Baron Real Estate
Woodland Democratic Club	Distilled Spirits Council
Green Party of Orange County	Atlas Hotels
Santa Clarita Unitarian-Universalist Church	Qualcomm Incorporated
Berkeley City Council	Disney Worldwide Services Inc.
Simi Valley-Moorpark Democratic Club	Miller Brewing Company

Chevron

From FTCR:

Chevron's record- breaking third-quarter profit puts the lie to its threats that California oil production would decline if Proposition 87, the Clean Energy Initiative, were passed in the Nov. 7 election, said the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.

San Ramon-based Chevron crowed today over its surprising quarterly 40% profit jump to $5 billion. Then, when talking to analysts about its record-breaking wealth, a Chevron executive complained that a proposed clean-energy initiative in California could, at current profit levels, cost Chevron "on the order of $200 million." In a similar vein, the Chevron-funded ads against Proposition 87, the clean energy measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, threaten that this cost will make oil companies cut back on pumping oil in California and import "foreign oil" instead. Given Chevron's high profits from its California operations, that argument is false, said FTCR. [...]

FTCR noted that Chevron has thought nothing of pouring at least $46 million in political contributions into California's current election cycle alone. That includes $44 million on ballot initiatives, the bulk of it against Proposition 87. Chevron is also the largest funder of the campaign against Proposition 89, the Clean Elections Initiative, which would diminish the political power of Big Oil and other immensely wealthy lobbies in Sacramento.

Chevron's third-quarter profit percentage increase beat all the other major oil companies in part because of its major presence in California. During much of the summer gasoline price spike, which topped out at over $3.38 in the state, Californians were paying up to 50 cents more per gallon than the national average. Chevron pumps an average of 212,000 barrels of crude per day in California, according to federal data, much of it to supply its two California refineries, which process an average of 503,000 barrels of oil a day, nearly 25% of the state total, according to the California Energy Commission. If even half of that crude oil were made into gasoline, the resulting 50-cent a gallon "Chevron tax" on California motorists this summer would have been up to $5 million a day, about $150 million a month, said FTCR ( 21 gallons of gasoline refined per barrel of crude, 10 million gallons total, times 50 cents).

Time for 89.

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!

Clean Money Beats Dirty Dough

$2,888,110,163,000 fighting grassroots in CA

Those of us fighting for Proposition 89 (corporate limits and public financing) in California are up against...$2.8 trillion in special interests.

The 36 major companies financing our opponents big consultants have $2.8 trillion in total assets, reported $73 billion in profits last year, and their top 155 executives received $959 million in total compensation, an average of $6.1 million per executive.

Is there any doubt why they like the system where big money can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to own California politics? This cycle has already crossed the half a billion dollar mark and you don't reach a record like that with $20 donations on actblue.

If you didn't make the above list, Buck the System Now and join up to help pass Prop 89.

Proposition 89 reduces how much corporations, unions or individuals can give to candidates, bars contributions to candidates by lobbyists and government contractors, and limits corporations to spending no more than $10,000 on ballot initiatives. It supports candidates who reject private fundraising with a set limit of public funds. If politicians or lobbyists break the law, they can be fined, removed from office, or jailed.

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It doesn't have to be as it has been

Timm Herdt has a great article in today's Ventura County Star:

Imagine a world in which politicians didn't have to sweet talk special-interest groups in order to raise money to get elected, in which the support of a waitress would be just as valuable as the support of a CEO or a union president, in which a truck driver would have as good an opportunity to run for political office as a lawyer.

Imagine also a world in which the arrival of campaign season didn't mean that it was time for wave after wave of incessant, insulting and cynical television commercials about ballot propositions, paid for with tens of millions of dollars in big-business contributions.

This is the world envisioned by supporters of Proposition 89, the initiative on the Nov. 7 ballot designed to fundamentally change the way political campaigns are conducted in California.

It proposes to change races for public office by creating a pot of tax money that candidates for state office could tap into if they agreed to reject private campaign contributions, and it proposes to end the ballot proposition wars as we know them by limiting to $10,000 the amount that any corporation could give to an initiative campaign.

Supporters call their plan a cure for corruption.

Everyone realizes the current system is broken, but it doesn't have to stay that way. Proposition 89 levels the playing field and allows campaigns that are judged by ideas, not decided like an auction.

Latinos Rally for Proposition 89

La Opinion, the state's leading Spanish language newspaper, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the most influential elected Latino leaders in the country, have recently endorsed Proposition 89 - an initiative to stem political corruption and create a level playing field for California elections.

"At a time when far too many Californians are disenchanted with our political system, passage of Prop. 89 will be a big step forward in getting more people involved in our political system and restoring public faith in our democracy," said Villaraigosa. "Prop 89. will broaden the playing field and allow Californians from all walks of life to run for office and help solve problems affecting all Californians – from improving our schools to protecting our environment to assuring access to quality healthcare for all."

Wednesday's edition of La Opinion urged voters to support the measure. "Proposition 89 is indispensable to put some trust in an electoral system in which money seems more important than votes. Vote Yes on Proposition 89!"

"In Sacramento, the priorities of our working class and middle class communities are too often shut out by the demands of big money campaign contributors," said Unai Montes-Irueste, statewide field director for the Clean Money Now, Yes on 89 campaign. "The Yes on 89 campaign is serious about opening the doors of democracy to all Californians, and we have sought to be unique and creative in our outreach to the Latino community."

The Clean Money Now, Yes on 89 campaign maintains a bilingual website dedicated to Latinos (www.LatinosPor89.org) and this week "Bat Hombre-89" appeared on Telemundo to help clean up California by arresting corrupt "politicians." The campaign is also releasing a Spanish language version of the "Stop the Pounding" ad produced by cult media icon Bill Hillsman--the ad is the #1 most viewed political ad on YouTube this week with 50,000 total online views.

The endorsements of Villaraigosa and La Opinion come amidst growing support for Prop. 89 among Latino political organizations and leaders, including the Mexican American Political Association, the National Latino Congreso, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, State Sen. Richard Alarcón, and Assembly members Ed Chavez, Cindy Montanez, Lori Saldaña and Pedro Nava.

Proposition 89 reduces how much corporations, unions or individuals can give to candidates, bars contributions to candidates by lobbyists and government contractors, and limits corporations to spending no more than $10,000 on ballot initiatives. It supports candidates who reject private fundraising with a set limit of public funds, paid for not by individuals but by a small 0.2% increase in the corporate tax rate. If politicians or lobbyists break the law, they can be fined, removed from office, or jailed.

In Arizona, where a Clean Elections system similar to that contained in Proposition 89 has been in places for several election cycles, the number of minority elected officials has tripled and voter turnout has increased over twenty percent.

Other major endorsers of Prop. 89 include the League of Women Voters of California, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) California, Sierra Club California, Common Cause, Foundation for T axpayer and Consumer Rights, United Teachers Los Angeles, Service Employees Intl. Union California Sate Council, and the California Clean Money Campaign.

Quote of the Day

"This current system of financing elections is corrupt to its core, with the voice of the average voter being drowned out by the roar of Big Money. As a result, voters turn away from politics and become even more cynical about the possibility of changing the system."
-Ariana Huffington, who is speaking on Prop 89 and other issues at 7PM tonight, Cal Poly's Spanos Theatre

PBS Now Tonight

PBS Now:

The run-up to this year's midterm election smells of scandal and corruption, which raises the question: Can anyone stop the influence of big money and big influence on political campaigns?

Before, you say "of course not," check out our special hour-long investigation into the fight to keep American elections free and fair across the country. Airing less than three weeks before Americans go to the polls, "Votes for Sale?" will spotlight the so-called clean elections movement, a radical public-funding experiment adopted in Maine and Arizona to revolutionize how campaigns are conducted. It works like this: candidates for public office receive a flat sum of money from the government to finance their campaign. In return, the candidates agree to use almost no private funds to run their elections.

Pushing special interest money out of the election process may do more than clean things up. It could also open the door for a variety of people who care about democracy to run for office with realistic hopes of winning. Case in point: Arizona State Representative Doug Quelland, a conservative Republican who supports clean elections by his own example. With a background in public school teaching and running a handful of neighborhood businesses, including a lawnmower repair shop, Quelland captured voter interest door-to-door armed only with his passion and point of view. He's now running for his third term in the state legislature and still sports his trademark handlebar moustache. "I don't want to owe anybody anything. I don't want to have to have the special interests. I just want to do it and not beholden to anybody," Rep. Quelland told NOW.

Quelland's state of Arizona is one of the biggest clean election battlegrounds, where the nation's only "clean-elected" governor, Janet Napolitano, sits in the statehouse. Governor Napolitano talks to NOW's David Brancaccio about her strong convictions regarding clean elections. "I think what Clean Elections allows you to do is be a better candidate and a better office holder, because you're not all the time having to raise money," Napolitano said.

In California, a very contentious debate is underway over Proposition 89, a clean election initiative about which voters will have the final say on November 7.

The trailer is one Youtube.


The show airs tonight.

Joker of the Day

Robin Swanson.