Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447668
C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 11 munization programs, infection control, and indigent care, one reason the Califor- nia State Association of Counties has cir- culated a memo warning of a "severe fiscal impact on counties." This is not reform, it is a mean-spirited assault on our healthcare and social safety net. The initiative was written by the Cali- fornia Chamber of Commerce, presumably to avoid the real solution to improving the state's financial picture—reverse the de- clining share corporations contribute to state coffers and make them pay their fair share. Teacher job security. The initiative would put public teachers on job probation for five years, up from two years, the cur- rent requirement. At a time when growing num- bers of teachers even have to buy their own textbooks for their stu- dents, the underlying message is that teachers, not our under- funded schools, are to blame for public education woes. The governor's other implicit goal is to punish teachers and their unions for challenging his broken promises to ade- quately fund our schools, and further erode their voice and influence coincid- ing with the emergence of Education Main- tenance Organizations (think HMO): private, for-profit school operators and others who hope to privatize education. Redistricting. This measure removes the role of the Legislature in drawing elec- tion districts for Congress and the State Legislature. Ignore the governor's rhetoric about unfair elections—if he really cared about our corrupted election process he would be supporting public financing of elections to eliminate the buying and sell- ing of politicians by the same corporate in- terests who finance him. The real purpose is to redraw legisla- tive districts to force out the governor's po- litical opponents and replace them with politicians who support the line of the gov- ernor and his corporate funders. Many of the legislators the governor is targeting have been sponsors or supporters of key health- care reforms, such as programs to increase healthcare coverage, curb the abuses of HMOs, and establish RN staffing ratios. Silencing public employees and their unions. This measure would require writ- ten consent of every public employee be- fore their union can participate in the political process. Notably, there is no con- current limit proposed for the big corpo- rations that now dominate elections and sway legislation. The top 100 donors to Gov. Schwarze- negger, for example, averaged $220,000 in their contributions. Imagine an individual nurse trying to match that to be heard in Sacramento. CNA, for example, has given RNs a collective voice to advocate for patient protections and other public safety meas- ures, providing individual RNs the power to stand up to the multi-billion dollar hos- pital corporations, HMOs, and pharma- ceutical giants. The anti-union and redistricting meas- ures are twins, the antithesis of democracy, intended to remove effective opposition to the governor and his corporate donors. "Voluntary" pharmaceutical price con- trols. A substitute to genuine measures to lower the cost of prescription drugs, this measure, originally proposed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in January, relies on the goodwill of Big Pharma compa- nies, an industry characterized by price gouging and corporate greed, to voluntarily provide cheaper drugs. The appearance of this initia- tive on the ballot is one reason some have predicted that the pharma- ceutical giants, some of the wealth- iest corporations in the world, will spend up to $100 million in this election on behalf of all the governor's initiatives. The advertising onslaught we can ex- pect in the next few months, funded by the tens of millions the corporate interests have funneled to the governor, present a huge mountain to overcome. But, as the fight to protect our ratio law, block the governor's proposal to privatize pensions, and retain the BRN has demonstrated, the voice and collective power of registered nurses and our many allies in the public can indeed move mountains. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Blue Cross of California/Wellpoint Pfizer, Inc. San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos Univision Chairman Jerry Perenchio DHL delivery company founder William Robinson Ameriquest Capital Corp. (mortgage lender) Newscorp/Fox News Dole Foods Williams-Sonoma Toyota USA Hewlett-Packard Anheuser Busch Target Corp. The Gap Chevron Texaco Pacific Gas & Electric Wal-Mart Clear Channel Home Depot Behind the Curtain Major donors to Gov. Schwarzenegger This is a partial list of donors of $100,000 or more to various Schwarzenegger- linked committees. For a more complete list, see CNA's website, www.cal- nurses.org. Source: CA Secretary of State filings In the world of Schwarzenegger and his legion of corporate sponsors, the public is only entitled to health- care, education, and other public services if they can afford them.