VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 211
As a former legislator in the 90’s I supported legislation that compelled any person making a candidate contribution over $25 to provide their name, address and occupation. PAC contributions also had to be disclosed. That system has worked reasonably well in Arizona. With the heated political climate we now live in, however, vicious whiners can threaten, dox, harass, or in some cases, even force someone from a job for donating to a cause or candidate deemed unpopular. Enter Prop 211 . . .
Proposition 211, with the benign title “Voters Right to Know Act,” would require any group or entity spending over $50,000 in a statewide race, or $25,000 in any other race, to disclose their donors and those donating to the group collecting those donations. I-04-2022 Voters' Right to Know Act.pdf (arizona.vote) In today’s climate much of the harassment comes from one side of the political spectrum. The Left has shown itself as vindictive and intolerant when faced with dissenting views.
The instances of intolerant student groups barring conservative speakers from campuses across America are too numerous to mention. Earlier this year after someone leaked a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court justices presumed to support the opinion had their home addresses published on-line. These justices had nightly protests at their homes. SCOTUS protesters plan to march on justices' homes after public doxing (nypost.com)
Student Protest
Photo by anaru
In 2019 Joaquin Castro, a congressman from Texas and twin brother of former presidential candidate Julian Castro, listed major Trump donors in his district. Joaquin Castro tweets list of Trump donors: Why it’s so controversial - Vox This led to harassment to some of those on the list. When former California Attorney General Kamala Harris ordered non-profits to disclose lists of major donors, Former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich was pushed out for supporting California’s Proposition 8. Mozilla boss Brendan Eich resigns after gay marriage storm - BBC News At some point the Left transformed transparency into a license to intimidate.
So what does this have to do with Proposition 211 you might ask. Somehow, when former Democrat Mayor of Phoenix and Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard helped put this together, he must have forgotten to include unions and big tech from having to comply with the initiative. According to the fine print of the document, it exempts any labor union whose individual members do not contribute more than $5000 annually in dues. Since dues are typically only one to two percent of a members’ salary this exempts most unions. Do the math! That would require union members to make between $250,000 to $500,000 per year.
Proposition 211 Proponent Terry Goddard
Photo by Gage Skidmore
Big tech is exempted because the initiative exempts “organizations that spend only their own business income for campaign media spending.” Multi-billion-dollar big tech companies are in a position to write large checks without resorting to bundling the contributions of others. While other types of businesses might be able to write a few of those checks, these companies typically rely on groups of businesses that contribute to a political action committee. Prop 211 even exempts these groups, however, if no one person contributed more than $20,000 to the PAC in an election cycle.
While any group, conservative or liberal, could exploit the loopholes in this initiative it seems to favor liberal big tech along with labor unions. In Arizona, teachers’ unions are among the largest funders to Democrat campaigns. This group along with other unions could still do attack ads with impunity while hiding behind their anonymity. Of course, if Prop 211 passes, the legislature will never have the chance to amend these “oversights” due to a Voter Protection Act required a three-fourths majority to amend any voter-passed initiative.
Red forEd Supporters
Photo by Gage Skidmore
Can these campaign ads intentionally mislead people? Of course, but so can candidate rhetoric. Voters have sifted through the rhetoric and conflicting “facts” since the founding of the country. Proposition 211 seems to pick winners and losers. Transparency for thee, but not for me. It makes the playing field uneven and because of the Voter Protection Act, if Prop 211 passes we will be stuck with this turkey forever!