Lack of transparency
Outside money weighs in negatively on Propositions 30 and 32
Transparency is a virtue for political action and government—a human virtue. It is a positive aspiration in whose name the most surreptitious acts are committed. This is especially true when it involves interests foreign to California that seek to influence our state’s politics.
A case in point is the campaign against Proposition 30 and in favor of Proposition 32. The first prop raises taxes to balance the state budget, while the second limits political contributions in a way that hinders unions and allows the business sector to contribute thanks to U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
The importance of transparency, in this case money for politics, is exactly the argument being made by supporters of Proposition 32. That is the message in the flood of ads.
However, the issue of transparency disappears when the time comes, for example, to determine who donated one-third of the funds of the political action committee (PAC) promoting No on 30 and Yes on 32.
It is known that an Arizona group, Americans for Responsible Leadership (ARL), is the main opponent in that state of an initiative that raises taxes and another that creates open primaries like in California.
The problem is that this group also donated to the PAC that is against Prop 30 and for 32. The Phoenix organization has the goal of promoting “government accountability, transparency, ethics…”—but in order to promote that transparency, it hides the identity of its donors, because it is a nonprofit. How ironic and contradictory!
It is also known that three low-profile Arizona businessmen are behind the group and that connections have been reported between the ARL, Republican strategist Karl Rove and the Republican National Committee.
This shows a tangled web of money from powerful donors who want to impose their ideological agenda at all costs. If they cannot accomplish this in the U.S. Congress, they try to do it by supporting or opposing specific state initiatives.
So the next time you hear or read that Prop 32 will bring transparency, don’t believe it. Nothing transparent can come out of what is hidden.
The ARL, by donating to oppose Proposition 30 and back 32, is not interested in the well-being of Californians. This is all part of an ideological chess game on a national level, where California voters are the pawns.
