Banished Moderate Update: Why Didn’t Parra Stay Bought?
In the coverage of how Assemblywoman Nicole Parra was kicked out of the Capitol (she is now the only one of California’s 120 legislators without an office of the building) for the crime of abstaining on a meaningless budget vote because a water bond was not attached, I was struck by this quote from Parra’s Democratic Assembly colleague Patty Berg (D-Eureka). It speaks volumes about the mindset of legislators here. And for those who want to know why Californians favor direct democracy over legislative action, it should give you a sense of why we Golden State voters choose the ballot over our lawmakers.
From this Sacramento Bee Story:
"We have spent millions of dollars ensuring that Nicole comes back three times in a row. The way it’s done here is that if you are in the majority party, and you are a Democrat, you vote on the budget."
The Politics Behind Prop. 2
Jill Benson wrote eloquently last Friday about the devastating economic impacts Prop. 2, the UN-SAFE Food Initiative, would have on California’s egg farmers…if it passes.
In reading the initiative and the YES side’s propaganda, it paints a pretty bleak picture. I actually paused for a minute before popping three eggs and a mound of bacon into the frying pan this morning. However, after digging a few inches beneath the surface – looking at the links on proponents’ Web site and reading some of the press clippings, etc. – the YES side’s true agenda come to the forefront.
Prop. 2 is sponsored by well-financed special interest groups that want to limit our food choices. These entities want each of us to eat less meat, force everyone to buy “organic” or “free-range” or some other pricy designation, and replace meat-based foods with vegetable-based substitutes.
Equally troubling, Prop. 2 is not an idea unique to California. The initiative’s well-funded sponsors have failed to enact similar bans through the legislative process in six other states. So, knowing that with enough money anything can qualify for the California ballot, they forked over the cash, submitted their signatures, and presto – Prop. 2.
Small Business Escapes Another Mandate – For Now
Earlier this month, the Senate Appropriations Committee defeated Assembly Bill 2716, deciding against imposing yet another costly, unnecessary mandate on California small businesses – for now. AB 2716 would have mandated that employers provide workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of paid work. In smaller businesses, employees would have been allowed to take up to 40 hours or five days of leave in each calendar year, and all other workers would have been able to take up to 72 hours or nine days of leave per year.
A study released in June by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation showed the loss of approximately 370,000 jobs within five years in California had AB 2716 become law. In addition to significant job losses, the bill imposed a direct cost, just like a tax, of $4.6 billion on California employers that would have disproportionately affected small businesses.