After three days and 400 miles of barnstorming up the state to support high-speed rail and Jerry Brown, the Good Jobs Express Tour wrapped up in Sacramento Thursday. Exhausted yet energized, the two unemployed iron workers who embarked on the tour — Robert Escalera and Larry Greenhagen — had one final stop before heading home: Meg Whitman’s high-dollar fundraiser at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.
Budgets reflect the priorities and values of a state. Public dollars dedicated to schools, safe communities, healthy kids and well-maintained infrastructure demonstrate that a state is committed to creating a high quality of life for residents. California’s budget tells a whole different story. Because California has a two-thirds vote requirement to pass a budget, a small group of partisan legislators can withhold their votes to extract concessions from the majority. As a result, California’s budget process ends up full of corporate loopholes, special favors and worker takeaways—not exactly a reflection of the values of the majority of working people in California.
Read More
Today in Anaheim, unemployed ironworkers Larry Greenhagen and Robert Escalera will kick off the 400-mile “Good Jobs Express,” a five-city tour up the heart of California to rally support for high-speed rail and the half million jobs it would create. Over the next few days, workers, elected officials, union leaders, environmentalists and community allies in five cities along the high-speed rail route will rally for jobs and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who has promised to make building high-speed rail and putting people back to work his priority as Governor.
Rather than come clean with the public about her mistreatment of her former housekeeper, Meg Whitman lied to cover it up. She has never admitted any wrongdoing or taken any responsibility for her own actions, and has failed miserably to live up to the standards by which we should hold anyone running for elected office.
Today in front of Whitman’s East LA office, domestic workers joined elected officials to call on Whitman to open tomorrow night’s debate with an apology to Nicky and the people of California for the mistreatment and hurtful allegations she directed at Nicky, and the lies she told in an attempt to cover up the scandal.
Read More
by Rachel Johnson
The Central Valley could be the California equivalent to Florida or Ohio in presidential politics – a critical battleground that may determine the fate of an election.
That’s why unions have placed special emphasis on the region this year, ramping up more phone banks, precinct walks and worksite visits than ever before. And if this weekend’s Central Valley GOTV kick offs are any indication of how much grassroots energy there is statewide for Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer and other working family candidates, it’s going to be a good night on Nov. 2.
Read More
Taking full advantage of California’s depressed economy, a handful of out-of-state oil tycoons are trying to dupe working people into voting against their economic interests by supporting Prop 23, a ballot initiative that would overturn the state’s job-creating global warming law. It’s a brazen move bankrolled largely by Valero, Tesoro and Koch Industries to further enrich themselves while preventing Californians – including hard-hit construction and manufacturing workers and more than 2 million unemployed throughout the state – from realizing the immense economic benefits of a clean energy economy.
Read More
Governor Schwarzenegger leaves behind a legacy of devastating budget cuts and huge tax giveaways for corporations. In the last two years alone, Schwarzenegger has slashed $32.5 billion from the state budget — and while state workers have endured deep wage cuts, corporations have enjoyed massive new tax breaks. Now, Meg Whitman is on a mission to ratchet up the pain on working people in California — above and beyond the misery that Governor Schwarzenegger has already imposed.
* Whitman housekeeper scandal raises credibility questions * Governor Schwarzenegger vetoes vital job creation and corporate accounability bills *
* Jerry Brown wins first gubernatorial debate * Judge rules against Schwarzenegger's holiday takeaways * Two workplace safety bills become law *
Read More