During one of two panel discussions that were part of Wednesday morning’s Public Policy Institute of California’s forum on Improving California’s Democracy, former Los Angeles Times Reporter Joe Mathews declared his opposition to Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act on the November ballot. As former lawmaker Sunne McPeak looked on, Mathews said, “I’m not a big fan of public employee unions, but Prop. 32 is not fair.”
Further, Mathews took on rule by the wealthy, arguing that “Associations are the real bulwark against people width money ….where all decisions are made by Charlie and Molly Munger at family reunions.” Molly Munger, the sponsor of Proposition 38, a funding measure on the November ballot, has reportedly put more than $30 million behind the initiative. Her brother, Charles, has reportedly put more than $4 million behind Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that seeks to undermine the involvement of working women and men in the political process. Mr. Munger has also reportedly put millions into the No on Proposition 30 campaign.
Mathews, author of a political biography of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a book on California's political reforms, is now the California edtior of Zocalo Public Square.
Should Proposition 30 fail, automatic trigger cuts would cut another $6 billion from public education funding, on top of more than $20 billion in funding slashes that have decimated the state's K-14 education system. Should Proposition 32 pass, it would increase the advantage that corporations, real estate investment trusts, limited liability corporations, and other corporate entities would have in the political arena. These entities already outspend middle class women and men and the unions that represent them by a ratio of 15 to 1.
Read more »