Disclosure: I proudly work for Yes on 24

       Rupert Murdoch is a powerful man. The Australian billionaire owns News Corporation, which is the world’s third-largest media conglomerate. In American politics, he’s perhaps best known as the man in charge of Fox News, the self-proclaimed ‘fair and balanced’ media source that often serves as little more than a mouthpiece for right-wing agendas. The one advantage we have is that we can judge Fox News with full knowledge of what it is.

Murdoch’s use of his company to promote a political agenda extends further though. News Corp is one of several huge media corporations to shell out 6 figures to smear Proposition 24, which will be on the California ballot in November. Proposition 24 would repeal an absurd set of tax giveaways that were gift-wrapped in 2009 to large corporations during California’s budget negotiations. They are set to cost California billions of dollars desperately needed for education and other vital social services. And they have many defenders who would like nothing more than to defeat Proposition 24.

Of course, you won’t see Rupert Murdoch’s name on advertising that attacks Prop 24. Instead you’ll see a committee name that undoubtedly includes the word “jobs”, and talks about small businesses. They won’t mention that all their funding comes from large corporations like Murdoch’s, and that the money would go to them, not to small business.  

       Rupert Murdoch wants to keep that money. If he succeeds, it might get lost in a pile. Forbes Magazine estimates that Murdoch himself is worth well over $6 billion. He has not suffered the way ordinary Californians have from the economy and ongoing budget crises, and it would be ludicrous to say that he and his company need more tax giveaways.

      The share of California’s money that Murdoch wants his company to keep is the difference between keeping good teachers in their classrooms, or distributing pink slips. It is the difference between retaining the in-home care that disabled and elderly Californians rely upon, or leaving the helpless to fend for themselves.

The urgency of Proposition 24 is real, and greedy billionaires like Rupert Murdoch cannot be allowed to deny Californians what we need. Vote Yes on 24.