OT - Schwarzenegger Faces Recall Effort

[WayOutWest]

Schwarzenegger Faces Recall Effort

Spokesman: Union To Seek Recall Of Governor
Prison guards union to press Schwarzenegger recall

KNBC-TV
updated 7:16 a.m. PT, Mon., Sept. 8, 2008
A powerful union representing the state's prison guards wants to see Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger booted from office.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association may file paperwork today to launch a recall of the governor, who was swept into office in 2003 after the recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.

The 31,000-member union is upset over the ongoing state budget stalemate and the governor's refusal to exempt prison guards for an executive order reducing state employee pay to the federal minimum wage until a new spending plan is adopted.

"In the history of governors in California, we think that this is the worst governor that we've ever had," said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the union. Corcoran said Department of Corrections employees should have been exempted from the executive order. "We perform an essential part of public safety," Corcoran said.

Aaron McLear, the governor's press secretary, said the union is just upset that members did not get a raise.

"This is an organization that was asking for a $1 billion raise while the state is forced to cut money to schools and to hospitals," McLear said. "The governor stood up to them then. He'll continue to lead in the best interest of California. He's not going to be intimidated by these tactics."

If the union files recall-related paperwork, the organization will then have to get signatures from the public to make a recall happen.

[westkoast]

No way!  The Terminator sucks at being the governor?!  What a big surprise....

[jemagee]

I wonder if the republicans would screw up a recall election the way the democrats did last time?

[westkoast]

Super corny yet funny this morning...

They are labeling this 'Total Recall 2 Staring Arnold Schwarzenegger'

[JoMal]

That is one powerful union trying to recall Schwarzenegger. It is also completely corrupt from top to bottom. Prison guards get hired via cronyism like no other. They armtwist legislatures so they get a tremedous hazardous work stipend, plus tend to retire early from 'stress' or other work-related injuries with full benefits and top retirement incomes. It cost California taxpayers millions annually. They tried to curtail its strength a couple of years back and got a beatdown like no other. Now, even in the throes of a budget stalemate with no end in sight, they want more - much more.

Get rid of the rest of the state workforce, the prison guards want all $100 billion in the state budget for themselves.

[jemagee]

Isn't saying a union is corrupt kind of like saying the sky is blue or we need oxygen to breathe?

You got schools not getting money, you got state vendors owed millions of dollars and you got a governor who wants to give the workers pay cuts but as i understand it the payroll system is too antiquated to make the temporary kind of change he wants to make.

Seriously though, this is nonsense, and a demonstration of how politicians just DO NOT CARE about their constituencies in general.  If they did, the leaders of BOTH SIDES of the assembly would hammer out a compromise budget that was 'veto proof' (i.e. over ride the veto) and get this done.  How the government of california is not embarassed by this debacle on all levels is beyond me.

[westkoast]

That is one powerful union trying to recall Schwarzenegger. It is also completely corrupt from top to bottom. Prison guards get hired via cronyism like no other. They armtwist legislatures so they get a tremedous hazardous work stipend, plus tend to retire early from 'stress' or other work-related injuries with full benefits and top retirement incomes. It cost California taxpayers millions annually. They tried to curtail its strength a couple of years back and got a beatdown like no other. Now, even in the throes of a budget stalemate with no end in sight, they want more - much more.

Get rid of the rest of the state workforce, the prison guards want all $100 billion in the state budget for themselves.

Let's not even get into how prison guards are in with the Mexican Mafia and other large gangs to help them do their bidding from prison.  Not just call shots but move drugs as well. 

You are much closer to this then I am but I see Arnold as dragging his feet in this (budget crisis) as well.  He keeps saying people need to compromise, they need to meet in the middle....but only if it's his middle.  To make matters worse he talks as if he just got into office.   Like he hasn't been sitting there for what, 5 years now? 

[JoMal]

Isn't saying a union is corrupt kind of like saying the sky is blue or we need oxygen to breathe?

You got schools not getting money, you got state vendors owed millions of dollars and you got a governor who wants to give the workers pay cuts but as i understand it the payroll system is too antiquated to make the temporary kind of change he wants to make.

Seriously though, this is nonsense, and a demonstration of how politicians just DO NOT CARE about their constituencies in general.  If they did, the leaders of BOTH SIDES of the assembly would hammer out a compromise budget that was 'veto proof' (i.e. over ride the veto) and get this done.  How the government of california is not embarassed by this debacle on all levels is beyond me.

The corruption in most unions is usually kept quiet and behind the scenes. This union must wear "Buy me off" badges and have "Corrupt Guard" tattoes on their asses.

As for the schools, Prop 98 guarantees California schools a large percentage of the State budget each year with guaranteed increases, even in bad budget years. Guess what? All that addtional money has achieved in getting California children the 42nd ranked State high school education in the country. For every additional dollar spent on education each year, about $0.19 cents gets to the classroom. The rest goes mostly to the administration offices here in Sacramento - auditors, mainly, whose job it is to - watchdog how that $0.19 cents gets spent.

As for Schwarzenegger, he is looking a bit buffoonish lately, as his empty threats are being ignored more and more and causing no real concerns with the legislators and the budget crisis.
I had to go over to the State Department of Education recently to discuss Average Daily Attendance (ADA) issues with the analysts over there that provide the data needed by me to calculate the ADA (an important budget number used for Capital Outlay on building and improving schools statewide). Their offices are opulent, to say the least, which artwork in the lobby and much nicer accommodations then we have here at Finance. The State owns their building. We rent space in a building that mostly houses State lobbyist and law offices.