Posted on 03/07/2006 2:16:11 PM PST by NormsRevenge
They don't make humanitarians like they used to.
Ten years ago, if someone were asked for an example of a humanitarian, chances are Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the poor, would come to mind.
Fifty years ago, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who brought modern medicine to a remote area of Africa, was a humanitarian icon. When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 he used the $33,000 to expand his hospital and build a leper colony.
One hundred years ago, Andrew Carnegie was busy giving away a fortune, much of it to public libraries and education. The Scottish immigrant made his money in the steel industry. At the time of his retirement in 1901, he was recognized as the world's richest man. By the time of his death, nearly two decades later, he had dispensed 90 percent of his fortune.
What all these great humanitarians have in common is that they all gave freely of themselves and their fortunes, no matter how great or meager, to aid others.
While, today, there are no doubt millions of people who strive to do good for others, most labor in anonymity.
However, in California, we are now seeing the rise of a new class of self-styled humanitarians, who, instead of giving of themselves for what they perceive to be a worthy cause, have chosen to misuse the initiative process to compel others to give. The two individuals who stand out for the most adroit use of this "humanitaxian" approach are actor-director Rob Reiner and Reed Hastings, whose DVD rental company Netflix provides his foundation of support.
Hiram Johnson, the father of the initiative, referendum and recall in California, said that the intent of these measures was to "...place in the hands of the people the means by which they may protect themselves." The initiative process made the people the legislature of last resort when elected lawmakers proved too corrupt, too incompetent or too indolent to properly conduct the peoples' most important business.
Proposition 13 was a classic example of the proper role of the initiative. Using it, voters were able save their homes when the Legislature refused to take action.
However, in recent years, Reiner, Hastings and other "do-gooders" have seized upon the initiative process as a way to fund their pet causes. In 1998, Reiner succeeded in placing on the ballot the Californian Children and Families Act, Proposition 10, which raised taxes on tobacco products to fund child development programs. Since smokers now enjoy the status that lepers held in the Middle Ages, the measure passed.
In the year 2000, Reed Hasting backed two measures to make it easier to increase property taxes for school bonds. Tapping his billionaire Silicon Valley colleagues, his campaign spent $60 million with the eventual result that Proposition 39 was narrowly passed and ordinary homeowners are now paying billions more in property taxes.
In 2004 Reiner was back, this time with the California Teaches Association, promoting a ballot measure that would have increased property taxes for education. After spending $2.5 million to gather signatures for a measure that would have cost taxpayers $10 billion annually, backers were made aware of fatal drafting errors and the effort was suspended.
This year both Reiner and Hastings are back. For the June ballot, Reiner has qualified Proposition 82 that would increase taxes on high income Californians to provide preschool for all at a cost estimated by the Reason Foundation of $109,000 per year for each additional child that the program would cover. Reiner is now embroiled in a well-justified controversy because the First Five Commission, which he chairs and is supported by revenue from the Proposition 10 tobacco tax, spent $23,000,000 taxpayers dollars in advertising to promote universal preschool while signature gatherers were working to place Proposition 82 on the ballot.
Hastings, meanwhile, has begun the process to qualify for the ballot the Classroom Learning and Accountability Act, which would establish a universal statewide property tax. Under his plan, a Silicon Valley billionaire in his mansion, a retired couple in a bungalow, and newlyweds in a tract home would all pay the same amount.
Both Reiner and Hastings could have chosen another path and received the acclaim of the community. Each could, no doubt, afford to endow scholarships, and each could use their fame and wealth to speak out to require greater accountability for the billions of dollars -- over half the state budget -- that we already spend on education.
Instead, they have become self-appointed experts on what our children need, and they are determined that others will pay to see that their visions are realized.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
If it (the super majority) is good enough for the state legislature, it ought to be good enough for the good ole boy network that is ripping off taxpayers.
Whether Reiner, Hastings or Schwarzenegger, they should be bound by our constitution protections on taxation.
Well, CRAP! I love Netflix.....
"Rich liberals... The New Robber Barons"
Yep. They won't come off their own cash so they push legislation to take ours. Hanging's too good...
YES ON 82, PRESCHOOL FOR ALL, | |||
A COALITION OF EDUCATION ADVOCATES, BUSINESS LEADERS AND SERVICE EMPLOYEE UNIONS (ID# 971785) | |||
NAME OF CONTRIBUTOR | PAYMENT TYPE | EMPLOYER | AMOUNT |
CARL REINER | Monetary | SELF | $500,000.00 |
ROBERT REINER | Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $225,000.00 |
ROBERT REINER | Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $70,000.00 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $6,773.43 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $4,088.99 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $3,630.47 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $3,250.22 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $10,573.53 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $2,027.04 |
ROBERT REINER | Non-Monetary | CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT | $839.80 |
REED HASTINGS | Non-Monetary | NETFLIX, INC. | $250,011.90 |
CA STATE COUNCIL OF SERVICE EMPLOYEES ISSUES COMMITTEE | Monetary | $150,000.00 | |
HERBERT M. & MARION O. SANDLER | Non-Monetary | GOLDEN WEST FINANCIAL CORP | $100,980.00 |
ELI BROAD | Monetary | THE BROAD FOUNDATIONS | $100,000.00 |
STEPHEN M. SILBERSTEIN | Monetary | $100,000.00 | |
GEORGE L. SHAPIRO | Monetary | SHAPIRO/WEST & ASSOCIATES | $50,000.00 |
NANCY DALY RIORDAN | Monetary | NONE | $50,000.00 |
RICHARD J. RIORDAN | Monetary | $50,000.00 | |
F. WARREN HELLMAN | Monetary | HELLMAN & FRIEDMAN LLC | $50,000.00 |
F. WARREN HELLMAN | Monetary | HELLMAN & FRIEDMAN LLC | $49,000.00 |
SUSIE TOMPKINS BUELL | Monetary | $50,000.00 | |
JUDITH AVERY | Monetary | $50,000.00 | |
LAURENE POWELL JOBS | Monetary | COLLEGE TRAK | $35,000.00 |
BRIAN S. SNYDER | Monetary | H.B.J. | $30,000.00 |
ELIZABETH H. LOWE | Monetary | SELF | $25,000.00 |
ROBERT J. LOWE | Monetary | LOWE ENTERPRISES, INC. | $25,000.00 |
PHILIP HALPERIN | Monetary | SILVER GIVING FOUNDATION | $25,000.00 |
AKT INVESTMENTS, INC. | Monetary | $25,000.00 | |
THOMAS D. HORMEL TRUST | Monetary | SELF | $25,000.00 |
JOHN A. & LISA S. PRITZKER | Monetary | NONE | $25,000.00 |
SHARI FOOS | Monetary | SELF | $25,000.00 |
GEORGE SOROS | Monetary | SOROS FUND MANAGEMENT, LLC | $25,000.00 |
ALAN HORN | Monetary | WARNER BROS | $25,000.00 |
CHRISTOPHER F. GABRIELI | Monetary | SELF | $25,000.00 |
CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST | Monetary | $25,000.00 | |
JENA & MICHAEL KING | Monetary | KING WORLD PRODUCTIONS | $25,000.00 |
HISPANIC EXPRESS, INC. | Monetary | $20,000.00 | |
ROBERT A. DALY | Monetary | RULEMAKER, INC. | $10,000.00 |
DAVID GEFFEN | Monetary | DREAMWORKS STUDIOS | $10,000.00 |
(Propositions only -- since 2002) | ||||
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX.COM, Chairman/CEO | Citizens' Right To Petition, YES ON PROP. 45, ID#1233779 | Prop 45 | $ 102,891.20 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, CEO | Yes on 55--Californians For Accountability And Better Schools, ID#1245448 | Prop 55 | $ 296,475.20 |
Hastings Reed | JP MORGAN, Managing Director | Democrats For 57/58 , ID#1263036 | Prop 57/58 | $ 50,000.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, CEO | Californians For An Open Primary PAC, ID#1260238 | Prop 62 | $ 100,000.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, INC., CEO | YES ON 71: Coalition For Stem Cell Research And Cures , ID#1260661 | Prop 71 | $ 200,008.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, CEO | Californians For Fair Elections, Reapportionment , ID#1275071 | Prop 77 | $ 200,000.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, CEO | Californians For Fair Elections, Reapportionment , ID#1275071 | Prop 77 | $ 203,560.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, INC., President | Redistrict California - YES ON 77 , ID#1279790 | Prop 77 | $ 267,300.00 |
Hastings Reed | NETFLIX, CEO | PRESCHOOL FOR ALL, ID#971785 | Prop 82 | $ 250,011.90 |
Very revealing, thanks!
They likely want to abuse it so that the legislatures can build a case to take away the initiative options....
Now self-proclaimed 'humanitarians' try to give away everyone else's money.
Angelides, Friends Of Phil , ID#970634 | 25,000.00 | 11/4/2002 |
Angelides, Friends Of Phil , ID#970634 | 5,000.00 | 10/23/2001 |
Burton Senate Fund , ID#962647 | 10,000.00 | 11/5/2002 |
Burton Senate Fund , ID#962647 | 7,500.00 | 7/24/2003 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 100,000.00 | 6/11/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 100,000.00 | 6/26/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 100,000.00 | 7/31/2003 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 50,000.00 | 2/21/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 50,000.00 | 3/25/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 25,000.00 | 11/4/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 10,000.00 | 10/22/2002 |
Davis Committee, The Governor Gray , ID#962636 | 10,000.00 | 6/5/2003 |
Garamendi Committee , ID#1234626 | 2,000.00 | 2/28/2002 |
Machado For Senate , ID#983468 | 10,000.00 | 5/12/2003 |
Nation For Assembly, Joe , ID#990119 | 5,000.00 | 3/1/2000 |
O'Connell 2002 , ID#1222149 | 200,000.00 | 2/19/2002 |
O'Connell 2002 , ID#1222149 | 10,000.00 | 11/1/2002 |
O'Connell 2006 , ID#1260268 | 11,200.00 | 6/30/2005 |
Poizner For Insurance Commissioner, Steve , ID#1276770 | 5,600.00 | 6/29/2005 |
Poizner For Insurance Commissioner, Steve , ID#1276770 | 5,600.00 | 6/29/2005 |
Poizner, Reformers For Steve , ID#1256884 | 3,200.00 | 11/24/2003 |
Poizner, Reformers For Steve , ID#1256884 | 3,200.00 | 11/24/2003 |
Simitian For State Senate , ID#1250536 | 3,200.00 | 11/2/2004 |
Villaraigosa For Mayor - General 2001 , ID#1234344 | 1,000.00 | 5/24/2001 |
West For State Assembly, Tony , ID#992325 | 3,000.00 | 3/2/2000 |
Westly, Friends Of Steve , ID#1230847 | 10,000.00 | 9/30/2002 |
Californians Against The Costly Recall Of The Governor, ID#1256416 | 100,000.00 | 9/30/2003 |
Californians For Accountability And Better Schools, ID#1245448 | 110,000.00 | 11/2/2002 |
Californians For Accountability And Better Schools, ID#1245448 | 50,000.00 | 7/21/2003 |
Citizens To Save California, ID#1273022 | 25,000.00 | 3/25/2005 |
Northern Californians For A Strong Economy , ID#1260606 | 49,000.00 | 2/18/2004 |
Am I reading this wrong? 109K per child for a preschool. This seems outrageous. There is a very good preschool here in Pennsylvania that I was looking into that charges 575 a month for 5 half days per week. That works out to at most 4000 to 5000 per year. Full time boarding schools for grade school kids don't cost 109K. I question this number.
Or as the article calls him, a humanitaxian.
Bono is the worst of this breed of celebrity.
Privately-run boarding schools don't cost 109K but, remember, this is a government-run program. That cost figure doesn't surprise me in the least.
The key is in the wording.
Since most children already attend preschool (at the expense of their parents), the Reason Foundation estimated how many additional children might attend, then divided the total of the First 5 funds by those additional children. Here is an excert from their website:
California Universal Preschool Plan Would Cost $109,000 Per New PreschoolerLos Angeles (February 22, 2006) If California's $2.4 billion Preschool for All initiative meets its goal of 70 percent enrollment, just 22,000 new four-year-olds would enroll, meaning it would cost taxpayers a whopping $109,000 per new preschooler, according to a new Reason Foundation policy brief that analyzes the preschool initiative that will be on California's statewide ballot in June and existing universal preschool programs across the country.
The Legislative Analyst's Office says 66 percent of California's four-year-olds are already attending preschool, so why should taxpayers spend $2.4 billion a year on a new universal preschool plan that only hopes to get 70 percent, just an additional 4 percent of four-year-olds, into preschool? They shouldn't.
(snip)
Ping
ROBBER REINER'S LIES
AND HOLLYWOOD MONEY
WON AGAIN!
(Talk about Big Fat!)
Situational ethics?When Reiner put River Phoenix in his movie, Stand By Me, and had him
smoke throughout, Phoenix was only 14 years old. Guess it's okay to
have kids smoke when it's for Reiner's benefit.
Sure!
That's what they call 'Artistic Expression'.
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