OC Blog News Roundup -- November 24, 2005

Today's top stories from behind the Orange Curtain:

Op-ed: Unions Get Into "Protection" Racket -- OCR
FlashReport publisher Jon Fleischman pens an excellent op-ed on the government employee unions "shareholder protection" initiative scheme.

Editorial: Pilgrim's Progress Toward Freedom -- OCR
The Reg reminds us that Thanksgiving isn't just for present abundance, but for our forebears securing our freedom.

Campbell's Dupe -- OC Weekly
OC Blog compadre Gustavo Arellano writes, " Congressional candidate’s supporters wage war against Minuteman founder Gilchrist."

Alicia Robinson's Political Landscape: Raising Money To Run -- DP
Candidates for U.S. House seat count their fundraising totals; Marinapark blog generates some interest; Chuck DeVore's wife posts her pumpkin pie recipe to much acclaim.  Note to Alicia -- would it kill you to mention OC Blog and FlashReport Blog by name?

Newport Beach Postpones Decision On Civic Center Project -- OCR and DP
City Council votes 5-2 to take more time to study project in hopes of easing concerns about expense and location.

Santa Ana, Parkland Play A Mean Game Of Hide And Seek -- LAT
The city is far below nation's 50 largest in parkland acres per person. One small plot near downtown is being considered.

Nativo Lopez Recall Petitions Faulted -- OCR and LAT
Petitions to remove Nativo Lopez should have been in Spanish, too, 9th Circuit says.

Comments

[Blog Watcher]

Fleischman misses one HUGE point. Both Prop 75 and the upcoming union initiative have one thing in common. They are attempts to impose a restriction upon one group from another group that is totally outside. I don't recall a huge groundswell of support coming from within union ranks for Prop 75. In fact just the opposite. Despite the hundreds of thousands of union members, not even 200 endorsed Prop 75. So it is with the union initiative on corporate PACs.. No one is asking for it. But it's coming.

Has anyone else noticed that Fleishman and "Jared" from the "Subway" commercials look the same. Have you ever seen them in the same room together? Me either. HMMMM

[Jason]

Both Prop 75 and the upcoming union initiative have one thing in common. They are attempts to impose a restriction upon one group from another group that is totally outside.

You may be right about the authors of the measures, but not about the effects. If Prop. 75 would have passed, it would have been an action of the voting taxpayer telling a government agency (which those taxpayers fund and, by representation, run) what it must do with its payroll disbursements on their way to their employees. If this new measure is passed, it would be an action of the voting public telling a private corporation how it must conduct its relationships with its shareholders and how it may spend its revenues.

For Prop. 75 to fail was an indicator that a plurality of the people who fund and run the government agencies didn't want to make any changes to those agencies. For the new measure to pass will be an indicator that a plurality of regular people want to make new rules on how somebody else can run their business. Some might like the fact that Prop. 75 failed and that's perfectly fine, but it's hard to make a commonsense argument that the SEC and FEC don't already have too many rules on what a business can and can't do.