California gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell endorses Citizen Power Initiative

California gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell today endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative as one of the most important reforms for turning around California’s troubled state government.  Campbell is the first gubernatorial candidate of either party to endorse the measure, which will end the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions’ paychecks.  “Fixing our broken state government is priority one,” he said. “That’s why I am running for governor.”  The Citizen Power Campaign issued the following press release:

Tustin, CA [December 30, 2009] –  California gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell today endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative as one of the most important reforms for turning around California’s troubled state government.  The Citizen Power Initiative is a California ballot measure and proposed constitutional amendment that will end the practice of allowing taxpayer money to be funneled to political causes through public employee unions’ paychecks.

Campbell is the first gubernatorial candidate of either party to endorse the Citizen Power Initiative.  “Fixing our broken state government is priority one,” he said. “That’s why I am running for governor.  Our state budget is broken.  Our state pensions are broken. They’re broken because Sacramento is broken — dominated by a political machine where the public employee unions have excessive power in influencing legislation and budgets.”

“I saw how they worked to defeat the budget-balancing initiative in 2005 and funneled millions of state employees’ dollars into attacking the best hope we had to prevent the budget melt down we are now suffering,” says Campbell, “If state employees want to make political contributions, that’s their right, but their unions should not be able to make that decision for them without their explicit approval.  In Sacramento, however, that’s how the system works. Once in a while, those who aspire to lead our state have to show they’re not afraid actually to show leadership.  That’s why I’m helping lead the charge for the Citizen Power Initiative.”

The Citizen Power Campaign www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org) is currently collecting signatures to qualify the Citizen Power Initiative for the November 2010 ballot.  The proponents have until mid-April to render nearly 700,000 valid signatures to the Secretary of State.

“Tom Campbell’s endorsement shows there are politicians with the courage to do what’s right, even in the face of immense public employee union pressure. We truly appreciate his willingness to take a stand for what he believes,” said Mark Meckler, one of the measure’s five proponents. Meckler, who also serves as the California co-coordinator and a National Coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, explained, “In 2005, a similar initiative was placed on the state ballot and was narrowly defeated because the public employee unions and their corrupt political machine spent millions to do so.”

“Now, California is in a worse crisis and needs this reform even more,” says Meckler, “But today, the electorate is much more informed, much angrier at government irresponsibility, and thanks to the tea parties, much more activated. People from all walks of life in California now understand the institutional corruption in Sacramento is caused by all the political money flowing to the unions from the state government, and they are actively working to stop it through the Citizen Power Initiative.”

“California is at a tipping point,” Campbell explains, “Now is the time to repair our broken democracy and make California governable again.  The Citizen Power Initiative is a necessary first step. We can’t fix anything while the public employee unions are able to defend the system that got us to our present crisis.  Even now, these unions are filing lawsuits to block the spending cuts we need to balance our budget.  And they’re paying for this with money that comes from their members, who are paid out of taxpayer’s pockets. The Citizen Power Initiative fixes this.  That’s the kind of change I hope to bring to Sacramento.”

To read the full text of the initiative and to learn more, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.org and click on “The Solution.”

To download petitions and join the Citizen Power Campaign’s online community, visit www.UnplugThePoliticalMachine.ning.com.

THE CITIZEN POWER CAMPAIGN

The Citizen Power Campaign combines grassroots taxpayer organizers, retirees, and political veterans.  The initiative’s official proponents are Mark Meckler and Dawn Wildman, California’s Tea Party Patriot state coordinators; Larry Sand, retired public school teacher and founder of the California Teacher Empowerment Network; Allan Mansoor, Costa Mesa Mayor and Orange County Deputy Sheriff; and Mark Bucher, Orange County attorney and author of the 1998 ‘paycheck protection’ initiative, Proposition 226.  The Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group of about 200 business owners and executives who believe in limited government, lower taxes, and the promotion of free enterprise, has been an early supporter and financial contributor to the Citizen Power Campaign.


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