What they don’t want you to know about Prop 32, the so-called Stop Special Interest Money Now Act

Misleadingly called, “The Stop Special Interest Money Now Act,” by its millionaire backers, many predict defeating Prop 32 on the November 2012 ballot will be California labor's top priority.  This bill is also known as the “Paycheck Protection Act” or the “Paycheck Deception Act,” depending on who’s talking.

Prop 32 proposes to prohibit unions and corporations from directly contributing to candidates for state office and to political parties, with an eye toward reining in campaign contributions by both unions and corporations—or so its backers say.

Look closer, however, and the deceptive wording of the initiative specifically muzzles the voices of union members.  The initiative would prohibit unions from using payroll deductions to raise money for political activity.  Instead, unions members would be forced to write checks or make transfers from their bank accounts toward political activity.

By contrast, corporations would still be allowed to spend freely on independent campaigns and initiatives, and only be restricted from direct contributions to candidates..  Research shows many big-ticket donors spend far more on initiatives and independent campaigns anyway, rather than on direct candidate donations, which is what this measure targets.

Most importantly, Prop 32 does not change anything about fundraising and spending by Super PACs, so-called “independent expenditure committees.”

Corporations already outspend unions 15 to 1 in politics according to the Center for Responsive Politics (http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/blio.php).  The natural outcome of banning corporate contributions to candidates would be to divert even more corporate money into Super PACs.

A more truthful name for Prop 32 may be, “Stop the Voice of Working and Middle Class Americans Speaking Up Together Now.”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/22/4139050/dan-morain-reform-initiative-wears.html#ixzz1hHsmjBG1#storylink=cpy


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