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Posted on 03/30/2008 11:59:24 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Sen. Alan Lowenthal thinks it's about time that California removes some of the last vestiges of the Cold War from its laws.
The Long Beach Democrat has introduced a bill that would scrap statutes allowing teachers and other public employees to be fired for being members of the Communist Party.
The measure, scheduled to be considered Wednesday by the Senate Education Committee, also would drop a requirement that representatives of organizations seeking to use school facilities sign a form stating they do not have communist affiliations.
Lowenthal said the measure would drop old laws that were adopted at the height of the Red Scare following World War II and that have been found unconstitutional by the courts.
"Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the threat between us and communism just isn't there...," he said in an interview. "They are not a danger to our liberty, and the courts have uniformly said that."
But some conservative groups and bloggers have sharply criticized the measure, contending it would lead to the indoctrination of students.
"Less than 20 years after the fall of the communist Soviet Union, California lawmakers are eager to once again begin advancing a political ideology responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people," Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Family Impact, said in a statement.
"Instead of promoting communism in our schools, lawmakers should be focused on actually teaching students to read, write and think for themselves."
The bill still would allow a public employee to be fired for advocating the violent overthrow of the government. That's a tactic the Communist Party USA has disavowed, said John Casey, Lowenthal's chief of staff.
Lowenthal also amended the bill to leave intact a portion of the law that allows a teacher to be fired for trying to give students "a preference for communism."
"That seems to be the part of the bill that caused people the most headaches and was not the part of the bill that Alan had the most interest in," Casey said.
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, introduced legislation last year that would have dropped the old anti-communist provisions from the statutes but allowed the firing of public employees who supported terrorist groups.
It was rejected, 7-0, by the Education Committee after the American Civil Liberties Union and California Teachers Association argued that it violated the First Amendment.
Here are some of the other bills facing action this week:
DOWNER CATTLE - On Tuesday, the Assembly Public Safety Committee will consider a bill by Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank, that would prohibit slaughterhouses from selling meat from nonambulatory cattle for human consumption. The hearing comes after an undercover video shot at a Chino slaughterhouse led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history. The video showed workers dragging sick cows with metal chains and forklifts, shocking them with electric prods and shooting them with streams of water.
UNLISTED PHONES - Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has a bill that would ban telephone companies from charging customers additional fees to have unlisted numbers. It's scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee.
CLONED FOOD - Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, is making another attempt to require food made from the meat of cloned animals to be labeled accordingly. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill last year, arguing that states are prohibited by federal law from requiring food labels. This year's version of the measure is scheduled to be considered Wednesday by the Senate Health Committee.
DRUG TESTING - A bill by Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Riverside, would require random drug testing for welfare recipients. Benoit says the bill was proposed by a Riverside high school student, R.J. Feild, who suffers from spastic triplegic cerebral palsy brought on by his mother's use of illegal drugs while she was pregnant and on public assistance. It's scheduled to be taken up Tuesday by the Assembly Human Services Committee.
Oops, is someone membership showing?
HERE ^^^ Blue Text on Blue Background. Note: MoveOn.org They shared the same donor button until we started posting this here.
"They are not a danger to our liberty, and the courts have uniformly said that."
?
Somebody might want to check the color of that hack's underwear.
Pro-Communist trash.
Someone should make this guy read the communist manifesto.
Yeah, China, North Korea, Venezuela, and C.ANSWER pose no threat to our nation's stability < /HURL >
Under this law the California Democrat Party would be free to change their name to what they really are.
I’m all for the public being alerted to the fact that the party is run by DINO Communists.
I'm a bit confused: I thought membership in the Communist Party was MANDATORY for teachers in California (and most other states too.)
california has NO laws it’s wing it by the highest bribe.
Since they feel it is an unconstitutional prohibition on association, do these Democrats also feel that members of the Nazi party or other Fascist political organizations should be permitted to become teachers at California public schools?
Exactly. If the teachers are registered democrats, they already ARE communists!
With all the problems California faces, this is the legislature’s fix.
Just change the word “Communist” to Islamic. That would be a good idea.
I don’t guess we have to wonder about Sen. Alan Lowenthal’s party affiliation, do we?
I say bring back McCartheyism... We need to root out the communists (fascists) and others who only desire the destruction of the USA.
But that won’t happen - too many on BOTH SIDES of the isle would go down in flames...
“...DRUG TESTING - A bill by Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Riverside, would require random drug testing for welfare recipients. Benoit says the bill was proposed by a Riverside high school student, R.J. Feild, who suffers from spastic triplegic cerebral palsy brought on by his mother’s use of illegal drugs while she was pregnant and on public assistance...”
Makes perfect sense to me. Thus, it will never see the light of day. Nurses have to pass a random drug test to keep their license. Why shouldn’t those of the dependent class have to do the same to receive tax payer money?
Californica has long been way too low on testosterone to enforce that statute. However, It is simply the first step toward being able to wear the bar and cycle on their lapels and to persecute anyone who might fail to teach communism in their schools.
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