Posted on 10/13/2005 6:24:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Entering a fight over union rights that could have national implications, Sen. John Kerry warned Thursday that a ballot initiative backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could tip the balance of democracy by muzzling the voice of working people.
Proposition 75 would force public employee unions, such as those representing teachers, firefighters and prison guards, to seek written permission from members before using dues for political purposes. Kerry, speaking outside a downtown firehouse, said the initiative would condemn workers to "a completely unfair system."
The proposal "represents part of an ongoing effort by the Republican Party to create an unfair playing field, to change the balance of democracy in America," the former Democratic presidential nominee said. "They want a one-sided argument - their side."
While pharmaceutical, insurance and other industries pump millions of dollars into political races, the California proposition would "take away the voices of the firefighters, the police officers, the teachers, the nurses," the Massachusetts senator said.
Republicans want "to strip away Democratic power," Kerry added. "We saw this in the Senate. This is not just a California fight."
Schwarzenegger, on a campaign stop in Burbank, said little when asked about Kerry's criticism. He noted that he skis and plays hockey with Kerry - they both vacation in Idaho. Kerry never mentioned Schwarzenegger by name, but focused his criticism on the proposition.
"I don't pay much attention," Schwarzenegger said. "He has his beliefs, I have mine."
Schwarzenegger has argued that the initiative is not about workers but union bosses who have frustrated his agenda in Sacramento. But public employee unions see it as a threat to their political strength, and they have raised more than $80 million to defeat the proposition and other Schwarzenegger ballot proposals.
Kerry's appearance comes three days after the Republican governor enlisted Arizona Sen. John McCain, a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, to help sell his ballot initiatives at public appearances in Burbank and Oakland.
Kerry, flanked by firefighters and other union members, was introduced by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a fellow Democrat who was one of Kerry's national campaign chairs during the 2004 presidential race. He called the proposition "the wrong way to go."
The mayor derided the governor for failing to work with the Democrat-controlled Legislature. He said supporters of Proposition 75 are corporate interests that want to "discriminate against one group of unions."
In addition to the union proposal, Schwarzenegger is pushing ballot initiatives that would cap state spending, strip lawmakers of the power to draw political boundaries and lengthen the probationary period for teachers from two years to five.
Recent polls have shown that the union initiative is the only one on the governor's slate favored by voters.
How touching.
NOT!
Kerry Criticized for Betraying Union Workers ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1210724/posts
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National Shooting Sports Foundation ^ | Doug Painter
NEWTOWN, Conn., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a letter sent to Sen. John Kerry from National Shooting Sports Foundation President Doug Painter: National Shooting Sports Foundation President Doug Painter today criticized presidential candidate John Kerry for betraying union workers whose pleas for help he ignored earlier this year in a vote that would have protected union jobs. Kerry was also taken to task for accepting as a gift a hunting gun that could be banned under Kerry-sponsored legislation. The strongly worded letter delivered to Capitol Hill today emphasizes the Senator's hypocrisies. On Labor Day, Kerry claimed to be...
Somebody get this bozo off the stage.
So Kerry wants the union bosses to know best how to spend member money.
What an idiot.
Why the heck are tax deductible union dues allowed to be used for political purposes anyway?
I resent him speaking for me. This nurse does not belong to a union and I dropped my membership to my nuses association for supporting a candidate that I didn't.
Oh yes! It's *much* more "fair", to take union
members money away from them, without their consent,
to use for candidates and issues that the union
members get no choice, in whether or not they support or oppose...Sounds like 'taxation without representation'
to *me*.
M. Savage rings in my ears and sears my brain - it's a disease. I never have understood the thinking of the left for going on 63 years. They are brilliant in manipulation and marketing. Their critical thinking - for me - is to warped to weave.
How many Heinz workers are union?
Hey John F'n Kerry...go ride a bicycle, windsurf of Make-a-new-Plan man or...
Run John Run!
The Junior member from Boston Massachusettes, of
all places..A stanch advocate of 'Taxation without Representation'!
The Sons of Liberty would have hung the powdery
wig wearin effete Tory "Fredo" Kerry, from the
Liberty Tree.
:o)
As a Firefighter my International backed John Kerry. They didnt come to the Locals and ask the rank anf file who they wanted to back. The Executive Board made that decision on their own without input from the Locals. IMO the members should have a say in where their money goes. Also IMO John F'in Kerry should spend a little more time on Capito; Hill and a lot less in Caliofornia.
It might be nice if he represented the people who elected him once in a while instead of picking up his check fraudulently. Which by the way he has gotten away with for years.
Let's see. Forced to join a union, forced to pay dues, given no choice in how those dues are spent for political purposes, and told to shut up when you object.
The name for this is bolshevism.
Who really cares anything about Kerry and his clan anyway?
There must be better things to talk about.
Right there is a tacit admission that unions only support Democrats.
Senator, what about union members that are Republicans, hmm?
--crickets--
Even if Arnold isn't re-elected, a big part of his positive legacy on California politics will be this becoming law.
Once again, dems are exposed as the thuggish goons they are.
I hope something similar happens in Washington State. Current breakdown shows unions donated 90% to democrats, 10% to republicans. I'm there are state union workers who wish their money wasn't going to this ratio or not at all to political parties. Should be their right to choose.
I think any time Kerry says anything the reply should be, "...really? so what about your military records?"
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