Let's face it, the recall is a joke, but it's a deadly and dangerous joke! The state will waste $66 million because conservative, anti-worker Republicans want to do last year's election all over again. Pete Wilson is back disguised as Arnold but with the same old agenda.
Because Gray Davis is Governor, working men and women have made substantial gains that will be lost if this recall succeeds. We can't allow that!
Pete Wilson was the worst anti-union Governor in recent history and now he wants to come back through a movie actor who has no opinions of his own. If he returns, over 120 heads of agencies and members of commissions and boards appointed by Governor Davis would be driven out and replaced by Wilson cronies. Critical gains such as prevailing wages, daily overtime, family leave, and a host of other victories are already under attack by Wilson and his right-wing thugs.
Union members understand what the recall is really all about. It's another in-your-face move by the Republican Party to steal yet another election. Because the Republicans can't win at the ballot box, they continue to use every trick and ploy possible to subvert the will of the people. They couldn't beat Bill Clinton so they tried to impeach him. They lost the 2000 Presidential election, but the Supreme Court yanked the election out of the hands of the voters and ignored voter fraud in Florida and handed the White House to George Bush on a silver platter. Now they are trying to steal the Governor's office by recalling Governor Gray Davis.
Governor Davis has committed no crime or even been accused of criminal activity. His only offense is that he is not very charismatic. Is that enough to waste $66 million on a recall election and undermine the will of the majority undoing an election that is less than a year old?
At the Presidential level, the Constitution provides for impeachment only for high crimes and misdemeanors. While famous impeachment actions concerned Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, a better example is that of Andrew Johnson, after the Civil War. No one accused him of any crime or misdemeanor, only that he was widely disliked. The impeachment failed, but the words of one of the Senators at the time are relevant to today's recall. He said:
"The question to be decided is not whether Andrew Johnson is a proper person to fill the Presidential Office, nor is it fit that he should remain in it… Once set, the example of impeaching a President for what, when the excitement of the hour having subsided, will be regarded as insufficient cause, no future President will be safe… What then becomes of the checks and balances of the Constitution? …I cannot be an instrument to produce such a result."
When the Founding Fathers created our constitution, they created a system of checks and balances designed to prevent any political party or any of the three branches of government, judicial, executive or legislative, from becoming too powerful. That system has protected this country from mob rule and anarchy for over two centuries.
Unfortunately, California's constitution doesn't have the same checks and balances, so anyone with money can force a recall just because they don't like the outcome of an election. In this case, the money came from a radical politician by the name of Darrell Issa. The Republican right-wing in California wants to play by new rules that fly in the face of the democratic process.
The only rational result on October 7th is to defeat the recall resoundingly, sending a message that the democratic process still works in California.
Fortunately, the worst nightmare has come true for proponents of this costly recall campaign. The mighty giant that is California's unions is awake and angry. Union members are telling the recall terrorists: "Not in our state!"
The SBCTC urges a NO vote on the recall.
Important Propositions Also on the Ballot
While the recall gathers the headlines, two important propositions also deserve attention from voters.
Proposition 53 would set aside permanent funding for infrastructure construction each year. Using a percentage of the state budget, this proposition would provide a steady stream of money for urgently needed construction in California.
The SBCTC recommends a YES vote on Proposition 53.
Proposition 54 is a dangerous ploy by Ward Connerly, a right-wing fanatic appointed by Pete Wilson. This proposition would bar state and local agencies from collecting and analyzing data on race and ethnicity. This would cripple efforts to provide needed research and proof of discriminatory practices in public health, workplace, housing and schools.
The SBCTC recommends a NO vote on Proposition 54.