In My Opinion: "Hi, I'm From Washington and I'm Here to Protect Your Paycheck"

Out-of-state insurance executives, right-wing political consultants and multimillionaire conservative donors are suddenly blessing the working people of California with a touching concern for their welfare.

A so-called “Paycheck Protection” initiative on the ballot in California this June — and coming soon to other states — is the brainchild of a Washington, D.C. lobbyist named Grover Norquist who heads a right-wing organization presently under investigation by the U.S. Senate for its questionable 1996 campaign practices.

Bankrolling advertising for the initiative is an Indiana health insurance tycoon, one J. Patrick Rooney. His Golden Rule Insurance Co. is a leading funder of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s political action committee, GOPAC. Rooney stands to make millions if his scheme — supported by Gingrich — to unravel Medicare in favor of private insurance accounts is adopted.

These and other radical right forces have authored a ballot measure that supposedly would “protect” union members by requiring annual written permission for use of their PAC contributions or portion of dues for political action purposes. In reality, the measure gives workers no new rights or protections, but it would hamstring union political action programs by creating a burdensome red-tape process involving employers and California officials in monitoring employee political contributions.

Most union political expenditures, and the only contributions given to candidates, come from voluntary donations to political action committees such as CWA-COPE. Members who contribute by dues check-off already have signed written authorizations, and they are free to stop those payments at any time.

Obviously, Rooney, Norquist, Gingrich, the Coors Brewing Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other big corporate interests are not out to “protect” us, they’re out to diminish our power and cut our incomes.

These are the same folks who fought the minimum-wage increase and who have pushed an agenda of making it easier for companies to raid pension funds, of getting rid of the 40-hour week, of slashing job safety and health programs, of legalizing company-dominated unions, and of gutting Medicare to pay for tax breaks for the rich.

These right-wing and corporate forces were behind the recent Republican filibuster that stymied the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill in the Senate. All the while that GOP leader Trent Lott tries to block any meaningful step toward campaign reform, he is pushing a Senate version of the “Paycheck Protection Act” with a one-sided attack on union political efforts.

The fact is, corporations outspend unions by an 11-to-1 margin in politics, and the balance of power has been shifting away from working people (the margin was 9-to-1 six years ago). In the case of unrestricted “soft money” contributions to political parties — which CWA and AFL-CIO seek to ban — corporate America spent fully 23 times more than unions did in 1996.

Yes, let’s have campaign finance reform — real reform which would restrict the flow of funds from big business, foreign sources, wealthy individuals, and organizations of all kinds, not just those that represent working families. Genuine reform would provide public financing and open access by candidates to the news media, so that not just the well-heeled can get their message to the voters.

But the “Paycheck Protection” initiatives and bills to weaken unions would do nothing to advance real campaign reform. Clearly, the folks behind these measures don’t want to keep the big money out of politics — they just want to keep workers out of politics.

It is essential that CWA members and their families in California, and wherever else these bills and ballot initiatives surface, get out to the polls and defeat this right-wing powerplay to silence the voice of working men and women.