"There is power in a..." line-item veto


Don't get too excited about all the much-touted talk of bipartisan compromise surrounding the new California budget.

Off-camera, after the announcements, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sat down and made 31 pages of changes, using the line-item veto — cutting a total of $190 million in spending.

Among the programs cut was the entire budget of UC Berkeley's Labor Center, a body whose stated mission is "to improve the lives of working people by linking the University of California's research and education programs with initiatives for social and economic equity."

I can't help but see this veto as the first volley in what will likely become an all-out war against labor and allied interests, typified by Prop 75's attempt to gut the political influence of public employee unions. After all, why study working people at all if they don't have a voice anyway?

(Props to janinsanfran over at happening-here?, who brought the story to my attention and who has an awesome article on the subject on her site)

Posted: Thu - July 14, 2005 at 08:15 AM   | Category:     |   |   | |


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