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Fundraising
with special interests
People
need to know the truth about the governor’s
manipulation of the initiative process.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger claims to
fight “special interests,” but
defines “special interests”
as teachers, nurses, firefighters, police
officers and public employees.
He
claimed he didn’t need special interest
money and sharply criticized Gray Davis
for “out of control” fundraising.
But instead of getting to work to fix the
State’s budget, our “people’s”
governor has shattered every fundraising
record in the State’s history, raising
money twice as fast as Davis.
Worse,
this money comes from the most insidious
of special interests.
Schwarzenegger’s
pension “reform,” like President
George Bush’s social security “reform,”
has nothing to do with saving money and
everything to do with lining the pockets
of special interests from Wall Street —
they’ll make a fortune from this privatization
scheme.
Schwarzenegger’s
ill-conceived plan not only obliterates
death and disability benefits for police
and firefighters but would also cost the
State billions in unfunded liabilities.
Currently,
public pensions are covered mostly by employee
contributions and interest, but with no
new contributions coming in, taxpayers would
be stuck with billions of dollars in costs
for the pensions of current retirees and
employees now in the system. Schwarzenegger’s
arrogant special election will cost taxpayers
another $70 million — so much for
saving money.
My
special interest is the welfare of the residents
of Long Beach, who have suffered for years
because Sacramento politicians failed to
fix the State budget. Schwarzenegger’s
empty grandstanding and prolific fundraising
show he is cut from the same cloth. So whether
Schwarzenegger’s anti-worker special
interest-friendly initiatives are on the
ballot this year or next, I urge my fellow
special interests to vote no.
—
Coby Skye, graduate student, public administration
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