Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican White House candidate John McCain will promise on Tuesday to lower corporate tax rates if he wins the U.S. presidency and ease the tax burden on middle-class workers to help revive the faltering economy. The Arizona senator, who has wrapped up his party's presidential nomination, also would propose a simpler, alternative tax system and insist that chief executives' pay and severance packages have shareholder approval. "No matter which of us wins in November, there will be change in Washington. The question is what kind of change?" McCain will tell a conference for small businesses, referring to...

Rekindling a political power struggle between unions and business interests, proposed legislation would require corporations to ask shareholders whether they approve of contributions made to California candidates or ballot measures. The legislation--backed by the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO--orders corporations to provide shareholders with a list of contributions made in California. Shareholders could then reject individual contributions and receive back their pro rata share. (snip) The chamber and other business interests backed Proposition 75 in November, which would have prevented public employee unions from making campaign contributions without approval of their members. In retribution, the California Teachers Association, Service Employees International...

SACRAMENTO - In a sign that unions and business interests have arrived at a post-special-election detente, labor has quietly dropped a ballot measure that would have required corporations to get shareholder approval before giving political contributions. Unions let a Dec. 30 deadline pass without submitting signatures to the Secretary of State's office. That means the measure will not qualify for the June ballot. Unions had threatened to place the measure on the ballot as a reprisal for Proposition 75, the November special election ballot measure that would have required unions to get their members' permission before using dues for political...

Most political analysts would agree: The single most politically significant measure on the Special Election Ballot is Proposition 75, dubbed “Paycheck Protection” by its proponents. Proposition 77, the Redistricting Reform measure, is also a major reform. But without a change in the campaign funding paradigm (especially at the state legislative level), fair districts will not necessarily be competitive districts--Republicans are significantly outspent by the majority party. No, it is the major loss of political resources by public employee unions that would rock the foundations of the status-quo in Sacramento. Most political insiders, let alone members of the public, are unaware...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent both his allies and his enemies into a frenzy Tuesday, a day after he vowed to support a union-backed effort that could take corporate money out of California politics. "If that's the governor's position, we respectfully disagree," said Sara Lee of the California Chamber of Commerce, which has spent more than $1.4 million to support the package of Schwarzenegger-backed initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot. "We predict this will be his next broken promise," said Charles Idelson of the California Nurses Association, a leader in the fight against the governor's initiative efforts. The dispute swirls around...