How Prop. 89 Will Work

By Craig Dunkerley, Letter to the Editor

Sarah Phelan's article on Proposition 89 ["Clean Money Draws Bipartisan Enemies," 7/19/06] says it's drawing bipartisan enemies. I think that's a bit of a stretch.

The vast majority of the opposition is and will be from corporations and other wealthy special interest groups that don't want to lose what Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has described as their "stranglehold on Sacramento."

I am sad to see the teachers' union opposing it, but they obviously don't speak for all of organized labor. I have to believe they don't fully understand or appreciate how Prop. 89 would benefit the state's ailing educational system.

The biggest single thing that cripples efforts by the California Teachers Association to improve the lot of teachers and our schools is the millions of taxpayer dollars squandered on special interest tax loopholes and other legislative favors doled out to big campaign donors at the expense of the public good. Prop. 89 would fix that! And since corporations and unions are subject to the same limitations under Prop. 89, it's hard to give credence to the so-called "legal experts" who fear that corporate restrictions might be thrown out by the courts, leaving unions as the only restricted party.

Unions get outspent by corporations many times over, every election cycle. They'd be better off under Prop. 89.

Craig Dunkerley
San Jose

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