Unions - 1, Arnold - 0
The Business Times reports: “A plan to ask voters to privatize the state’s public employee pension plan has been dropped by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The idea was headed to the November ballot if a planned petition drive were successful. But police and firefighters opposed the idea.”
The governor said Thursday he would hold off on the petition drive until at least the June 2006 balloting as long as the state Legislature comes up with a compromise measure.
The governor’s retreat was praised by union leaders.
Is their jubilation any surprise?
“His scheme to switch public employees to a riskier 401(k) pension plan was shortsighted and unnecessary. We are pleased that he finally recognized that the ill-conceived initiative could have taken away death and disability benefits from the families of police and firefighters,” said J.J. Jelincic, president of the California State Employees Association, in a written statement.
Democratic Handbook: Political Warfare 101, Talking Points - Any time a Republican proposes any reform, it must repeatedly and collectively be dismissed as a “scheme.” Optional: add “risky” for emphasis. (See “risky scheme” by Al Gore, Bill Clinton, DNC, AFL-CIO on Social Security) For a complete listing, please check other resources.
“While the immediate threat is over, we recognize that this initiative by the governor was part of an ongoing national campaign by the right-wing to privatize Social Security and public employee pensions. That’s why we must — and we will — remain vigilant.”
Y’see, folks, it’s not just about blocking Gov. Schwarzenegger’s attempts to establish reforms. It’s about preventing all reforms, and discrediting your opponents by misrepresentation.
By the way, just in case you were wondering:
“CSEA is California’s largest state employee [union], representing more than 140,000 state and university workers, managers, supervisors and retirees.”
RELATED: See Playing Politics With California’s Pension and No Luv For The Guv?
See Dan Weintraub’s blog for a roundup.
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June 15th, 2005 at 2:05 pm
[...] ogant Party With No Ideas California Needs Less Spending, Not Higher Taxes Unions - 1, Arnold - 0 Playing Politics With California’s Pension Posted @ 1:38 pm | Permalink | [...]
September 18th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
[...] Misconceptions? Translation: The labor unions successfully organized a public campaign of misinformation, resulting in a reported drop in the governor’s approval ratings. Therefore, Arnold concluded that it’s better to rebuild his political capital for a new approach to reform in ‘06, rather than have his initiative fail with the voters this year. [...]