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The Will Power Report: Nothing but the Truth
LAY-OFF NOTICES ARE EXTORTION!
February 17, 2009 (San Diego) -- The use of layoff warning letters as an excuse to terrify workers has an old history. For decades, school boards would send out letters to teachers on March 15, designed to terrify teachers and force them to accept substandard contracts and working conditions.
Now Arnold “Terminator†Swartzenegger has decided to use this tactic with many other California State Workers. If the Republican caucus does not cast a single vote for the new budget, the letters will go out immediately.
How much will this political posturing cost? Hundreds of thousands of dollars at minimum. That’s just the postage! The Politics of Fear have gone on long enough. Even Ronald Reagan didn’t go this far. He raised state taxes when necessary, even though he held his nose.
State workers, especially in Health care and Welfare Offices simply cannot ignore the needs of the elderly , infirm, and destitute without causing immense harm to society. Even Swartzenegger should realize this.
It’s interesting that Policemen, Firemen, and Prison Workers will not be receiving these notices. They are solidly Republican.
This kind of partisan political posturing is beneath the dignity of any (Oxymoron Alert) respectable politician.
In a time of fiscal and political crisis, we must all start cooperating and stop the political gamesmanship. We can’t afford to let the world’s fifth largest economy fall off the rails because of thirty diehard Republican State Senators. It’s time to pass the budget!
Will Power is a retired teacher who holds a masters degree in creative writing.
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