Just Say No to CA Propositions 34 & 35

Don’t let the ballot box be used for petty revenge or budgeting

The California Apartment Association, the state’s premier landlord lobby and a major opponent of rent control is the major funder and driving force behind Prop 34. The primary purpose of the act would be to punish a political opponent. They threw in permission for Medi-Cal to negotiate drug prices as a sweetener.

This reminds me of the various measures put forth by the Heritage Foundation and other right wing groups to keep union dues from being used in elections. All their attempts here in California have failed because voters have understood that there’s no “freedom of choice” involved in denying workers a voice at the ballot box.

The state’s real estate interests have decided to kill the funding stream for the organization underwriting rent control initiatives. I’ll grant that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been a pest on this issue, but they have a point, namely that housing is a healthcare issue.

The law is written with enough wherefores and whereases so that only one organization would be required by the State of California to spend money in certain ways. In fact, I don’t approve of some of the ways the Aids Healthcare Foundation throws its weight around, like opposing ordinances allowing for urban densification. But I’m sure as hell not helping land barons do their thing.

As if these developer types weren’t evil enough, they’ve accused the No on 34 campaign of being directed by Trump advisors despite the fact that the Yes on 34 cause has been endorsed by the Republican Party.

The California Apartment Association has dumped just short of $20 million into this despicable effort, versus the $400K the Aids Healthcare Foundation has spent in defending itself.

The sponsors of Proposition 34 are slimeballs. Their proposed victims are no saints. But this effort is just plain wrong, and it’s the sort of thing that has the effect of discouraging political involvement. Perhaps that’s another motive at play here.

Just Vote No on this sucker. Your mama told you the difference between right and wrong.

Proposition 34 - RESTRICTS SPENDING OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG REVENUES BY CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. 

Official Arguments: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/34/

Yes on Prop 34
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No on Prop 34
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Proposition 35, a seemingly good solution to Medi-Cal’s money issues, has drawn last minute opposition. When I started research on this measure, everybody seemed to agree this was a good thing.

The California Democratic Party, Republican Party of California, SEIU California State Council, California Hospital Association, and California Medical Association all endorsed the initiative.

Funding for California’s health care services for low-income families with children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other groups covered by the Medi-Cal program has included a tax on managed health care insurance plans.

The problem here is that this levy was only authorized for a few years at a time. The current tax is set to expire in 2026.

Prop 35 would provide permanent authorization of this tax for Medi-Cal programs and services when current funding ends. It also provides a schedule of disbursements that would boost payments to doctors, clinics, behavioral and reproductive health services, along with training programs for post-doctorate doctors and the Medi-Cal workforce.

This lack of flexibility on how funds are spent has triggered a late-effort to oppose Prop 35. Of course, this flexibility can be a bad thing.

The Yes on 35 campaign notes that more than 40 California hospitals have stopped offering labor and delivery services, saying it’s because the state has redirected more than $30 billion in health care funding over the last 15 years to other purposes. 

Aside from negative comments from Gov. Gavin Newsom, noting the measure would hamstring his ability to allocate funding to close state budget deficits, the measure had no organized “No” side. Not a single opponent was listed in the State’s General Election Voter Information Guide.

But… A group of organizations has announced its formal opposition to the measure, including The California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, The Children’s Partnership, the California Alliance for Retired Americans, Courage California, and the League of Women Voters of California.

Saying the measure “threatens to do more harm than good” for communities who rely on Medi-Cal services,” they’re expressing concern about Prop 35 “taking away necessary flexibility in how Medi-Cal dollars are spent.”

The League of Women Voters opposition to Prop 35 stems from their stance against “ballot box budgeting.”

The Yes on 35 campaign has a $48 million war chest. Whether or not these opponents can raise enough cash to inject their arguments into public consciousness will determine whether this effort is merely symbolic.

PROPOSITION 35 Provides permanent funding for Medi-Cal Health Care Services. 

State Voter Guide info: https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/35/

VoteYes35.com
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League of Women Voters “No” Recommendation Page

I realize it might seem voting No on 35 could be compared to trash talking about puppies or kittens, but that’s what I’m going to recommend. Vote No on 35.

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News You Outta Know

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Right Wing Media Stars Push Russian Propaganda by MuellerSheWrote at Breakdown

• CNN is now confirming that Russian agents negotiated contracts worth millions of dollars for folks like Tim Pool and Benny Johnson - commentators for a company called Tenet media. As one sleuth pointed out - the Tenet Media mission statement matched that of “company 1” in the indictment, and the number of followers for both Tim Pool and Benny Johnson matched the number of followers mentioned in the indictment.

• So while we all knew that these guys were pushing Russian talking points, we now know that they were paid by Russia, and we have proof that Russia was dictating their talking points.

• In some of the exhibits attached to the indictments, we can see the talking points shared with this right wing nut jobs - and they read just like Trump’s campaign talking points.

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Republicans are the party of child murder by Jordan Zakarin at Progress Report

• The shooting was followed by the usual calls for gun control from Democratic lawmakers, including from Vice President Kamala Harris, but they’ve become rote by now, because we’ve all but given up the hope of actually passing the kind of policy that more than 60% of Americans vehemently support. We’re beyond even symbolic votes and posturing for campaign purposes. Republicans will rush to pass law after law to bully queer kids and feed students far-right bile, but keeping them from being blown apart in their classrooms is beyond discussion.

• This was the 45th school shooting of 2024, and with classes starting back up across the country, it is a grim reality that it will be far from the last. The right-wing War on Children continues to rage unabated, and it’s long since past the time that it’s become central to political campaigns. For decades, Democrats were terrified to run on abortion, and now it’s central to their message. They ought to do the same thing with gun control, forcing every single parent to contemplate the unthinkable before they cast their votes.

• If Republicans want to fear-monger over it, they can explain to Americans why they continue to enable the massacre of innocent schoolchildren

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We need to know who is funding the creator economy by Taylor Lorenz

• Right wing creators are often propped up financially because they defend the interests of the rich and powerful. While they cosplay as bold truth tellers, these influencers can receive millions of dollars to produce content that aligns with certain political agendas.

• According to the DOJ, Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin were getting paid $400,00 a month, at least $100,000 per YouTube video, by RT. Johnson even allegedly negotiated a $100,000 signing bonus. The median annual salary for a journalist, meanwhile, is $57,500, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

• "I just think it's funny (!) that if you are 10 degrees left of center, never mind actually on the left, you have to pester your readers for $5 every second of your life or you'll die," the journalist Luke O'Neill posted shortly after the news broke. "But, if you are a negative charisma Hitler 2, they back a cash dump truck up to your mansion every day."