blackcloud75
08-19-2005, 04:36 PM
GAME ON! GOVERNOR CALLS SPECIAL ELECTION FOR NOVEMBER
ArnoldÂ’s two-phased plan: Silence your voice, then steal your retirement
The game is on.
Hidden in the security of a Capitol TV studio, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on June 13th that he is calling a special election this fall Â… an election that could have a profound impact on the life of every California firefighter.
The election, which will cost taxpayers $80 million, was called by the governor as part of a multi-stage attack on more than two million public employees … firefighters, teachers, nurses, cops, bus drivers and other hard-working Californians. The “reform” agenda of Schwarzenegger and his allies would:
Give him new power to slash local and state safety services,
Silence your political voice and
Set the stage for a renewed assault on public employee retirement security in June of 2006.
“Governor Schwarzenegger has declared war on working Californians, especially first responders,” said CPF President Lou Paulson. “If he gets his way, everything we have struggled to achieve over the last three decades could be wiped out.”
At the center of the governorÂ’s power grab is an initiative that imposes new government-mandated restrictions on your unionÂ’s ability to compete in local and state politics. The Public Employee Union Dues initiative also requires that records on membersÂ’ political activities be sent to Sacramento.
“They call it ‘paycheck protection,’ but the only people whose paycheck is protected are the corporate bigwigs who put up the money for it,” said CPF Secretary Treasurer Dallas Jones. “This isn’t about reform … it’s about power.”
The timing of the governorÂ’s attack is critical.
At the beginning of the year, Schwarzenegger proposed to completely privatize your retirement security – a plan so sweeping that it even eliminated death and disability benefits for firefighter families. Your strong union voice, coupled with that of thousands of teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers and survivors, forced the governor to send his pension plan back to re-write.
If the union dues initiative passes this November, heÂ’ll be back in June of 2006. Only this time, we wonÂ’t have the resources to fight back.
“The governor knows he can’t win when the public hears both sides of the story,” noted Paulson. “So first, he’s got to shut us up, so that the only voice the public hears is his, and that of his big-money supporters.”
Another proposal that is potentially devastating for CPF members and their families is Schwarzenegger’s Budget Power Grab initiative. Under the guise of fiscal reform, the plan gives the governor vast new “fiscal emergency” powers to slash local and state safety funding and even void collective bargaining agreements. The plan could also impose automatic caps on local government spending, including money set aside for public safety services.
Even the governor's close allies in local government management say they will oppose this naked power grab.
"The governor's political team is planning a $50 million campaign to create a 'phenomenon of anger' at people like you and I," concluded Paulson. "We won't let him. We will fight him and we will win."
ArnoldÂ’s two-phased plan: Silence your voice, then steal your retirement
The game is on.
Hidden in the security of a Capitol TV studio, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced on June 13th that he is calling a special election this fall Â… an election that could have a profound impact on the life of every California firefighter.
The election, which will cost taxpayers $80 million, was called by the governor as part of a multi-stage attack on more than two million public employees … firefighters, teachers, nurses, cops, bus drivers and other hard-working Californians. The “reform” agenda of Schwarzenegger and his allies would:
Give him new power to slash local and state safety services,
Silence your political voice and
Set the stage for a renewed assault on public employee retirement security in June of 2006.
“Governor Schwarzenegger has declared war on working Californians, especially first responders,” said CPF President Lou Paulson. “If he gets his way, everything we have struggled to achieve over the last three decades could be wiped out.”
At the center of the governorÂ’s power grab is an initiative that imposes new government-mandated restrictions on your unionÂ’s ability to compete in local and state politics. The Public Employee Union Dues initiative also requires that records on membersÂ’ political activities be sent to Sacramento.
“They call it ‘paycheck protection,’ but the only people whose paycheck is protected are the corporate bigwigs who put up the money for it,” said CPF Secretary Treasurer Dallas Jones. “This isn’t about reform … it’s about power.”
The timing of the governorÂ’s attack is critical.
At the beginning of the year, Schwarzenegger proposed to completely privatize your retirement security – a plan so sweeping that it even eliminated death and disability benefits for firefighter families. Your strong union voice, coupled with that of thousands of teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers and survivors, forced the governor to send his pension plan back to re-write.
If the union dues initiative passes this November, heÂ’ll be back in June of 2006. Only this time, we wonÂ’t have the resources to fight back.
“The governor knows he can’t win when the public hears both sides of the story,” noted Paulson. “So first, he’s got to shut us up, so that the only voice the public hears is his, and that of his big-money supporters.”
Another proposal that is potentially devastating for CPF members and their families is Schwarzenegger’s Budget Power Grab initiative. Under the guise of fiscal reform, the plan gives the governor vast new “fiscal emergency” powers to slash local and state safety funding and even void collective bargaining agreements. The plan could also impose automatic caps on local government spending, including money set aside for public safety services.
Even the governor's close allies in local government management say they will oppose this naked power grab.
"The governor's political team is planning a $50 million campaign to create a 'phenomenon of anger' at people like you and I," concluded Paulson. "We won't let him. We will fight him and we will win."