Protect Your Paycheck and Your Vote: Yes on Prop 32!

As a public school teacher in South Gate, I resented that the United Teachers of Los Angeles took a portion of my paycheck every month, even though I had not even joined the union, then spend the money on candidates and cause which I did not support.

This cronyism is intolerable. I see no value or interest in permitting an organization which assumes to represent me then deciding to take a portion of my pay. One counterargument points out that the union negotiates on behalf all teachers, whether they join or not, so they are entitled to taking a portion of the paycheck in dues, anyway.

This is a specious argument, at best, as most teachers can attest that the teachers unions do next to nothing for the first and second year teachers, who can be summarily terminated for the most arbitrary and obscure reasons. The union does very little for new teachers, and in many cases very little for the tenured faculty who cannot be fired, but who can be disciplined, demoted, or demeaned with little help from their collective. "Conservative Teachers for America" , among other organizations, are rising up to counter the power of public sector unions over pupils, intstructors, and their paychecks.

Of course, I can add numerous stories of counselors and even experienced, tenured staff complaining about their adverse treatment at the and of administration, yet the union leadership did next to nothing to help them.

On the October 7, 2012 edition of NBC 4's "News Conference" with Conan Nolan, Gloria Romero, a former California State Senator and advocate for school reform, strongly advocated for Prop 32 -- and she is a card-carrying union member, as well, and she has outlined the same argument which should quicken every voter, union or otherwise, to vote "Yes!" on Prop 32. Her opponent Kathay Fang of Common Cause, debate the demerits -- another repetition of distortions which the "No on 32!" campaign has trotted out to bring down the law.

Ms. Fang, like the proliferation of scattered negative ads, alleges that Prop 32 is primarily a tool by the rich corporations to exempt themselves while enacting legislation that will effectively defund public sector unions from financing candidates and causes near and dear to their interests.

The language in the Proposition could not be clearer, refuting these empty charges. Here here are samples from the text of the proposed law, starting with the purposed of the initiative:

1. Ban both corporate and labor union contributions to candidates;

2. Prohibit government contractors from contributing money to government officials who award them contracts;

3. Prohibit corporations and labor unions from collecting political funds from employees and union members using the inherently coercive means of payroll deduction; and

4. Make all employee political contributions by any other means strictly voluntary.

Further into the proposed legislation, the law explicates the bans on corporate donations. The law provides the following definintion of "corporation":

"Corporation" means every corporation organized under the laws of this state, any other state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, or under an act of the Congress of the United States.

These excerpts are from the proposed law, not just the summary provided for undecided voters in the Official Voter Information Guide. In no way are "certain corporations" exempt from the ban on contributions paid in by the stockholders or corporate employees.

Still, detractors are fanning the flames by arguing that labor unions will be disproportionately affected by this initiative. The problem, then, is not with the law, but with the "Fourth Branch of Government" in Sacramento, which are the powerful labor unions. The current breakdown on the power of corporate and labor interests influencing California politics indicates that labor unions have disproportiate power. In the top five donors, the California Teachers Associations, California State Council of Service Employees, the California Federation of Labor all figure prominently. Their influence is having a corrupting hold on our government even pressuring Southland Assemblymen  to abstain from voting on legislation that would expedite the remove of predatory and abusive teachers from the classroom. The subtle betrayal of the safety of our children, along with the fiscal solvency of our state and our schools, is at stake, yet the public sector union lobby stops reform time and again.

Do not buy into the lies, do not accept the hype. Prop 32 will protect your paycheck and your vote!
On Noverber 6th, Vote "Yes!" on Pro 32!