Democracy is a form of government in which all people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. (Wikipedia)
Last Friday, a governor of a very liberal state, defied the will of the people by signing a state law that overturned the people's vote on a very important issue. These people had voted overwhelmingly in support of a ballot initiative that prohibited discrimination - in one area as much as 76% voted yes on this initiative. The people were currently gathering signatures to put this same issue on the ballot in other cities and counties. The people knew that if left up to the local boards and city councils, made up of politicians who owed favors to special interests, that this discrimination would continue to occur - both to the detriment of workers and the taxpaying citizens. So the people used the power they had - a ballot initiative - and made their will law.
But the governor and his friends didn't want to abide by this ban on discrimination - after all, the discrimination gave them an unfair advantage in the market place! And so, they drafted a bill that said these bans on discrimination were not allowed and that each local board or city council could make the decision - instead of the voters. And in areas like charter cities, in which the State has no authority to make such a rule, they made it law that if these bans on discrimination were enacted, that charter city would no longer receive state funding.
And in his signing message, the governor wrote that it was more democratic to allow each local board or city council decide whether or not the discrimination was right for their area. More democratic apparently than allowing the voters in those areas to decide. Because democracy is a form of government in which only the officials have a say in the decisions that affect the lives of the people, right? Oh wait, that's called dictatorship.
What would you say if this discrimination was against ethnic minorities? What if it was against certain religious groups? What if it was against certain genders or sexual orientation? Well for sure the governor and his friends would never promote that type of discrimination because that would just be wrong.
This discrimination promoted by the governor and his friends is discrimination against the worker who decides to not belong to a union.
Because while the Democrats in our state (and the nation for that matter) pretend to be the group that speaks out for the social injustice of the world - these same people not only allow, but PROMOTE discrimination of the non-union worker. Somehow in their world, this makes sense.
I am speaking here, of course, of Jerry Brown and the Democrat legislators in our state who passed SB922 along party lines (it received not one Republican vote), to ignore the will of the people in several cities and counties who have banned Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). These are agreements that will not allow non-union workers to work on a project, (a project funded by their own tax dollars) unless that worker joins the union and pays dues, gets dispatched from the union to the project, and pays into the union pension and benefits programs from which they will never receive benefits or pension. The effect of these rules is that non-union contractors do not bid PLA projects because of the drastic pay cut that results for their employees, and having to abide by non-productive union work rules such as staffing on the project.
Which is just fine for the unions, because they don't like competition anyway.
I am disgusted at this law. First, because it absolutely spits in the face of real democracy. Second, because it is funded entirely by special interests (unions) who are legally able to take mandatory dues from their members and fund political campaigns whether or not the members approve. Third, because our politicians in this state MUST comply with the union rule or else risk being thrown out in the following election when the unions support an alternative candidate, and their insane legislation illustrates these favors to the unions. Four, because of the hypocrisy of the Democrat party which portrays itself as the great equalizer but only really for those it calls friends.
If ever there was a time to change the direction of our state, this is it. I for one do not love America for its dictatorship - I love it for its democracy. And that, my friends, is dead in California.
For more on this issue please check out the following links:
Gut and Amend Bills Bad for California
Governor Brown doesn't think it's okay for local boards and city councils to decide on an issue like circumcision, but they can decide themselves to discriminate against 75% of the construction workforce in CA.
Here's the story on union campaign contributions that led to the passage of SB922.
And this is fun! From maplight.org you see the total contributions by Interest groups for 2009 and 2010. Wow, small business doesn't have a chance in California. But I can see why our state is going bankrupt and is full of frivolous lawsuits!
Top Interest Groups
Last two years of available data, Jan. 1, 2009 - Dec. 31, 2010.
| Construction unions | $5,438,156 |
| Attorneys & law firms | $4,147,108 |
| Police & fire fighters unions and associations | $2,665,964 |
| Native American tribes & governing units | $2,572,862 |
| State & local government employee unions | $2,494,189 |
| Property & casualty insurance | $1,815,768 |
| Telecommunications | $1,721,519 |
| Pharmaceutical manufacturing | $1,278,381 |
| Teachers unions | $1,200,551 |
| Physicians | $1,131,876 |
But hey, don't worry voters! While Jerry and his friends can reverse your ballot initiative with the swipe of a pen, all you have to do to overturn their law is raise about $4 Million and go for a referendum.
No sweat!
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