Main Street Menace of the Week: SB 789 (Steinberg) – Employee Intimidation at its Worst
While the legislature is in session, the National Federation of Independent Business/California will be profiling anti-small business bills and the adverse effect they would have on California’s job creators. This is the first column of that series.
Former presidential candidate Sen. George McGovern has a message California’s legislators need to hear: “As Americans, we should strive to ensure that all of us enjoy the freedom of expression and freedom from fear that is our ideal and our right.” This progressive icon and pillar of the Democratic Party was addressing Congressional members of his own party and that party’s biggest financial supporter—labor unions.
This spring, Congress is expected to continue to discuss and debate unionization in the workplace through federal “card check” legislation, referred to by most as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). After reading the fine print, most would agree that a more appropriate name would be the “Employee Forced Choice Act.”
Oregon Does Not Have the Answer for Initiative Reform
Legislators are on the look out for ways to reform the initiative process, either for the high-minded purpose of improving the process, or with a goal to limit direct democracy and re-claim the lawmaking function for themselves.
California is not the only state initiatives play a major role in policy making. Oregon often has more initiatives on the ballot than the Golden State so it was no surprise last week when a Senate Committee in Oregon held a hearing on a bill that would give power to the legislature to place a measure on the ballot to counter any initiative that was qualified by voter signatures. Supporters of this maneuver claim that voters would be given a choice on different approaches to the problem the initiative is designed to fix. They also argued that initiatives are often poorly drafted and the legislature and its staff, with experience in drawing up laws, would be able to present a better-constructed law to voters.
Money Never Sleeps!
I got the strangest phone call this morning…
…someone claiming to be the national debt called me …it was the weirdest thing.
I said hello? and it said money never sleeps pal…so I said who is this? it said this is the national debt, I said the national who? it said the national debt you dope! I said dope? excuse me…why are you calling me?
It said, I’m calling everyone…I said why? It said because I’m hungry…I said what are you talking about? It said yeah, everyone needs to eat, especially someone who weighs over $11 trillion pounds dollars, except that my food comes to me in the form of interest…
ah…
so I said you want more interest? It said exactly…I want more interest…
And so what am I supposed to do about that? It said support politicians who want to tax, spend and borrow …because that is how I will eat more and how I will grow bigger, stronger and more powerful…
An End to Padded Water Bills?
When you buy a pair of shoes, you assume that the price you pay
includes the store’s cost for the footwear and a profit margin on
top of that. However, when you pay your water bill to a government
agency, you do not expect a profit margin to be built into the
price. But if you live in Los Angeles, that would be wrong.
The City of Los Angeles has a long-standing practice of skimming
money off the top of the customers’ water bills.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has just concluded a legal
case that may put an end to this practice once and for all. In
encouraging news for Los Angeles water customers, on March 25th the
Los Angeles Superior Court issued a tentative ruling in LA vs. All
Persons finding the City’s practice of padding water bills to pay
for unrelated City expenses to be unconstitutional.