Personal Voices, Dateline California: The Case For Arianna

By Van Jones, AlterNet. Posted September 10, 2003.

The California GOP is up to no good, as usual. The question is: What should progressives do about it?

Should we stand on the sidelines, shaking our heads during this unprecedented fiscal and political crisis? No way. Should we rally, once again, to defend the failed and compromised California Democrats -- who have presided over unconscionable environmental devastation and a massive incarceration boom? Double no way.

We shouldn't stand aside for the power-grabbing Republicans, who initiated the recall attempt. Nor should we defend the broken status quo under failed Democratic Governor Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Instead, the time has come for us to recover from our "post-Nader" shell-shock, roll up our sleeves -- and turn this attempted "right-wing coup" into a successful, bottom-up rescue of the state.

GOP Ruining USA, But Dems Are Ruining California

Most of us know in our hearts that California's Democratic Party no longer deserves passionate support from progressives, not even in the face of this GOP-led attack. The truth is that leaders of the California Democrats helped create this mess. With Republicans running amok, I know that's hard to hear, but it's true.

For one thing, California ain't Texas. And it ain't Washington, D.C. California today is a de facto "one-party state," run by Democrats. The Democrats control both US Senate seats, most US House seats, a majority in both houses of the state legislature, and every single state-wide office (from the Governor's office all the way down to the insurance commissioner). The Republicans may run the country, but they don't run much of anything here in California.

To the contrary: California's GOP is just a marginal collection of warring fringe groups, hopelessly divided between so-called "moderates" and Neanderthals. Even in the midst of the recall, three major GOP candidates are in the race, mainly fighting each other.

Because most California voters are pro-choice, the only Republicans who stand a chance in state-wide races are "moderates" like Arnold Schwarzenegger (who says he is pro-choice, pro gay rights, pro-gun control and who is willing to court people of color). True right-wingers like Bill Simon and Tom McClintock simply cannot win here. Period.

So while progressives rightfully fear the national GOP, we have little to fear from these state-level clowns. More important, we must not let our outrage at the national GOP blind us to the California Democrats' unconscionable crimes.

Cal Dems' Awful Record Under Davis/Bustamante

Conservatives have attacked Davis (hypocritically) over the budget shortfall and the energy crisis. But progressives have our own reasons to shun him: He takes the prize as the king of corruption in California's shockingly corrupt political system.

A shameless "pay-to-play" politician, he shakes down his contributors and openly sells his support (and veto) to the highest bidder. He has helped turn the state government into a giant vending machine for big-money interests. And until he got into hot water, he was best known for shooting down progressive legislation and fanatically funding prisons.

Davis is a disgrace. And he is not alone in his party. Sure, the GOP is main home of the state's open racists, anti-gay bigots and anti-abortion fanatics. But the California Democratic Party has its share of big polluters, profiteering incarcerators and corporate power-abusers. In fact, those forces now dominate the Party. And Davis and Bustamante represent those forces, to the hilt.

Democrat Davis in Pocket of Incarceration Industry

Take, for example, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (the prison guards' union). It makes hefty campaign contributions to politicians willing to pass draconian laws. The tough laws require longer sentences, which require more prisons, which then require more guards, who then pay more union dues, which then buy more tough laws. And on it goes.

As a result, California's prison budget has exploded by more than 600 percent in the past 20 years. We are now the nation's number one spender on prisons. In fact, we spend more on prisons than colleges.

Like you, I support organized labor. But the CCPOA isn't just defending its members. It actively twists laws to ensure that lots of human beings (mostly Black and Latino) are locked in cages. It profits by trafficking in human flesh, and gobbles up billions of dollars in the process.

So you would think that the "liberal" California Democrats and the CCPOA would be enemies, right? Think again.

Pay Hikes for Prison Guards ... Pink Slips for Teachers?

The CCPOA gave Democrat Davis $3.4 million in the past two election cycles. In exchange, Democrat Davis has given the guards three pay raises since 1998 -- including a gigantic 7.5 percent pay hike this year. That's right: In the same year in which a $38 billion deficit resulted in massive teacher layoffs and hospital closures, Democrat Davis gave the guards a $120 million pay raise. And by 2006, that pay hike will climb to 36 percent, costing an additional $700 million a year.

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