If you’re a California voter, and you’re considering _not_ voting for Phil Angelides for Governor, or (even worse) voting _for_ Schwarzenegger, please read this. It’s a brief guide on why Angelides is worth voting for. I will post a second diary, in a day or two, on why Schwarzenegger is worth voting against!
*WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ANGELIDES*
He is not sexy, and he is not charismatic, and he is not running the greatest campaign, but Angelides _is_ a smart, forward-thinking policy wonk. Haven’t we had enough of the “cult of personality” candidates? How about one who knows what he’s doing? These examples of Angelides’s leadership are not of the headline-grabbing variety, but they amply demonstrate his knowledge of complex issues, and the people-first approach he takes to politics.
*Leadership During the California Energy Crisis*
While then-Governor Gray Davis was struggling to figure out what to do, and Schwarzenegger was meeting with Ken Lay, who was trying to preserve the deregulation that had caused the crisis, Angelides was taking the lead in proposing a state power authority, and flying to New York to calm financial markets:
Packed with reporters, the press conference was a high-energy affair. Burton, the pugnacious San Francisco liberal who once employed Angelides’ wife, Julie, on his legislative staff, insisted that Angelides’ proposal for a state power authority to build new generating capacity, finance energy conservation and alternative energy and possibly take over utility transmission lines, was the key to any long-term solution for California’s energy woes, repeatedly deferring to the younger man for the details on what had become the Senate leader’s bill. Later, Burton, who has often criticized Davis for moving slowly and not far enough, said of Angelides, “Phil is doing what a leader does.”
It’s not what a state treasurer has usually done, though, as was apparent that afternoon when a reporter and news photographer met up with Angelides at the meeting of one of the nine financial authorities his office oversees. Meeting in muted light and hushed tones in a small amphitheater-style state auditorium, the Debt Limit Allocation Committee seemed surprised to see someone snapping pictures. One staffer came up to ask who we were. The intense Angelides had come and gone by then, deciding to go back to his office to work on the power authority proposal and prepare for a trip to New York to calm financial analysts who were worried about the state’s economy. A deputy toiled on in his stead.
*Fought to Save State Budgets*
In February 2002, with state budgets collapsing nationwide, Angelides, along with Felix Rohatyn, “the financier who helped save New York City from bankruptcy in the ’70s,” New York Comptroller Carl McCall, and University of Texas professor James Galbraith proposed to Congress a “revenue-sharing block grant to prevent” state budget cuts in “schools, health care, roads, and mass transit and environmental safety.”
*Fought to Shut Down Corporate Tax Havens*
As Peter Meade wrote, in the August 14, 2002 Boston Globe (it doesn’t appear to be still online):
California Treasurer Philip Angelides, a board member of the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, is proposing that the nation’s first and third largest pension funds divest holdings in tax-haven companies.
And he made good on his promise:
Arianna Huffington in Salon, in March 2003:
Reeling from the most severe state fiscal crisis since the Great Depression — it’s a tossup whether 47 states will be able to balance their books next year — state officials across America are also taking up the anti-tax haven charge. North Carolina has already passed legislation banning government contracts for expatriated companies. Similar bills are currently pending in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California — where treasurer Phil Angelides is refusing to invest any of the state’s money in companies incorporated in tax havens.
*Fought for Mutual Fund Transparency*
In August 2002, Arianna Huffington wrote in Salon about the danger to investors when large mutual funds are conflicted by the revenue they generate from large corporate contracts.
Mutual funds are now among the largest owners of American corporations, controlling close to $3 trillion in stock. The 75 largest mutual fund companies control 44 percent of the voting power at U.S. companies. So there are enormous consequences for all of us when the owners elect not to act like owners but like timorous lackeys desperate to please management.
But that’s exactly what’s happening because of a gargantuan conflict of interest: The giant mutual funds are serving two masters. As owners of huge amounts of stock, it is their job to hold incompetent or self-interested management accountable. But there are massive fees coming their way when corporate executives award them 401K and pension fund assets to invest.
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Those running the mutual funds know that if they create controversy they jeopardize their chances of getting the contracts for these services. And it’s definitely controversial to make a stink about excessive CEO pay packages, blank-check loans to senior executives, or abusive accounting strategies. That’s why the whistle they should be blowing seems stuck in their throat.
So they hold their tongues, don’t ask the tough questions, and time and again refuse to disclose how they vote on proxy ballots. And as California Treasurer Phil Angelides told me: “That silence speaks volumes.” Angelides is at the forefront of demanding that mutual funds be more transparent, but, so far, to no avail.
*Opposed Bush’s Cuts on Corporate Taxes*
Schwarzenegger likes to pretend he’s a moderate (more on that later), but one thing he’s never spoken out against is tax cuts that favor the wealthy and powerful. He _is_ wealthy and powerful, and enjoys its benefits. Angelides immediately recognized the danger from Bush’s tax cuts, and his criticism was cited by the New York Times (firewalled):
Phil Angelides, the California treasurer, said, “there is no question” that the Bush plan would cost states more and drive investors “away from bonds that broadly benefit the public at a time we have enormous infrastructure needs.”
*Opposed Schwarzenegger’s Hypocritical First Budget*
When Schwarzenegger campaigned against Gray Davis, one of his major points of criticism was Davis’s attempt to solve California’s budget deficit by selling bonds. Immediately upon taking office, Schwarzenegger began developing his own bonds proposal. Most Democrats cowered before Schwarzenegger’s star power, and instead of calling him on his obvious hypocrisy, supported it. Steve Westly was Schwarzenegger’s Democratic point man, when it came time to sell the plan to the public. Angelides?
From the L.A. Times, in January 2004:
Few Democrats could top state Treasurer Phil Angelides in crafting a nasty description for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first budget: He called it “morally and economically bankrupt.”
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He faulted Schwarzenegger for proposing billions of dollars in new debt to extract California from its fiscal crisis without raising taxes. The burden of interest payments in the years ahead, Angelides argued, would siphon sorely needed money from schools, transportation and other areas vital to California’s economy.
as the San Francisco Chronicle editorialized:
In fact, some Democrats observed Friday that some of the dodge-and-defer approaches in the Schwarzenegger budget were reminiscent of those attempted by his predecessor, Gray Davis. Treasurer Phil Angelides, who was critical of Davis’ gimmicks, noted that Schwarzenegger proposes to close the $14 billion gap with about $8 billion of “one-time fixes,” such as deferring certain spending commitments in education and transportation.
“It does not, in my mind, meet the test of truthfulness, economic soundness or fairness,” Angelides said.
*Opposed a Major HMO Merger*
According to the Associated Press, in September of last year, Angelides led opposition to the merger of two major health insurers, a deal that would have provided over _three hundred million dollars_ in payments, bonuses, and stock options to the companies’ executives! He is also investigating whether a similar merger, the year before, was responsible for subsequent premium hikes charged to the merged corporation’s policy holders.
*So, What Does It All Mean?*
As State Treasurer, Angelides’s portfolio has had a very narrow, but very important focus. And if you look at his actions, a pattern becomes obvious: Angelides puts people first! He isn’t afraid to take on big corporations when they put profits ahead of the common good. He’s fiscally responsible, and doesn’t believe in budget gimmicks that defer problems to the future. He believes it is government’s role to provide good schools, adequate health care, reliable infrastructure, mass transit, and a healthy environment. Sounds like a Democrat!
As Harold Meyerson put it, when the L.A. Weekly endorsed Angelides in the primary:
In short, like New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (now running for governor in his state), Angelides has used his power to try to curtail the excesses of winner-take-all capitalism, and to establish a more socially responsible capitalism in its stead. For that matter, Angelides and Spitzer are just about the only elected officials at any level of government to have taken on the culture of boardroom chicanery during the past decade, and Angelides stands alone, alas, for the magnitude of his efforts to put capital to remunerative but also socially necessary purposes.
*What Else?*
Angelides’s website offers detailed stands and plans on a host of issues, but I’ll briefly describe a few of my favorites:
-Supports NET NEUTRALITY.
-Supports gay marriage. The legislature passed a bill legalizing it, but Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Given the chance, Angelides will sign it! This section, from
Angelides’s website, honestly explains the evolution of his thoughts on the issue:
Angelides’s personal struggle with the issue prepared him for a lunch meeting with state Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) in the winter of 2004. Leno had introduced his first gay marriage bill in Sacramento that February 12 – the same day San Francisco began marrying same-sex couples – and he was looking for support from the state’s top Democrats.
At that point, the only statewide officeholder to support his bill was then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a liberal Democrat from San Francisco. Unsure what Angelides’s response would be, Leno had a hunch he could convince him to support the legislation. As he would find out, it didn’t take much arm-twisting.
“It took a while for us to build universal support. He was one of the first people I went to see,” said Leno, who said Angelides’s response “was unequivocal at that point.”
Angelides has not wavered on the issue since, despite some Democrats’ contention gay marriage was responsible for the party’s defeat in the 2004 presidential election. In fact, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Leno’s marriage bill last summer, Angelides publicly pledged if he were to be governor, he would sign the measure into law.
He did so, he said, “because I thought it was the right thing to do. I always want to see my state on the right side of history. If you look at the long march where this country’s been, it’s been a society that has moved toward more inclusion, more civil liberties, not less. I know this is where we will be and the sooner we get there the better. It is interesting to see how all our attitudes are changing.”
-Recruit, train, and support 40,000 new teachers during his first term.
-Roll back Schwarzenegger’s obscene college tuition and fee hikes
-Provide fellowships to up to 10,000 undergrads who pursue degrees in science, math, and engineering.
-Expand by 50% career and technical academies.
-Provide health insurance for all California’s children.
-Strictly regulate HMOs, including enforcing the existing law prohibiting excessive CEO salaries, and a law (unenforced by Schwarzenegger) ensuring that HMO subscribers are able to get the care they’ve paid for in a timely fashion.
-Guarantee maternity coverage by all insurance companies- the legislature passed such a bill, but Schwarzenegger vetoed it.
-Create a state website explaining how to buy cheaper prescription drugs from out of state (as many states already provide); Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation creating such a website.
-Prohibit the charging of excess premiums on prescription drugs for those uninsured or under-insured.
-Push Congress to repeal Bush’s law that banned states from providing free prescription drugs to Medicare recipients, which forced about a million Medi-Cal recipients to either begin paying for drugs they can’t afford, or do without them; and by buying in bulk, Medi-Cal was able to negotiate much cheaper prices than are allowed by Bush’s law.
-Declare a state of emergency for California’s prisons, which a federal judge has taken control of, due to Schwarzenegger’s mismanagement.
-Improve and expand rehabilitation, education, job training, and mental health and substance abuse treatment for state prisoners.
-Institute lobbying reform, including the creation of a rule requiring the governor to disclose personal gifts from corporations and other special interests; Schwarzenegger has taken millions of dollars worth of gifts, such as lodging, personal promotion, personal events, and expensive foreign junkets, and has refused to disclose who paid for them.
-Require registration and disclosure of all lobbyist contacts with the Coastal Commission.
-Close the loopholes on conflict-of-interest rules and penalties for statewide office holders that apply to the legislature.
-Prohibit state employees from simultaneously working for another employer, which both Schwarzenegger and his staff have done, thus creating more than questionable conflicts-of-interest.
-Oppose Diebold certification; Republican Secretary of State Bruce McPherson made the certification, but his opponent, State Senator Debra Bowen, will de-certify, when elected. Side note: send her money! She’s the real deal!
-Invest $5.5 billion of Prop. 87 and pension fund monies to develop and sell clean, renewable alternative sources of energy.
-Require that auto and oil companies give California drivers clean fuel choices.
-Enact “enforceable greenhouse gas emissions limits and create an enforceable, market-based cap and trade program to drive greenhouse gas emissions lower.”
-“Convert all state and local government fleets to clean, efficient vehicles.”
-Create a comprehensive plan to fight urban sprawl.
-“Identify, purchase, and protect key undeveloped portions of the coast.”
-Fight for a permanent ban on off-shore oil and gas drilling.
-“Restore funding for the Coastal Commission and other coastal protection agencies that have been cut under Schwarzenegger’s watch.”
-Middle Class tax cuts.
*And a Final Note To Former Westly Supporters*
The primary was ugly, and _both sides_ flung a lot of dirt, but it is now over! We have a Democratic nominee! We all respected Ned Lamont for announcing that he’d support Lieberman, should Lieberman win their primary; and we’re all pissed at Connecticut Democrats who now _won’t_ support Lamont, their party’s nominee. The same should apply, here. Angelides won. Westly lost. Angelides is the only Democrat on the ballot. Had Westly won, I would be writing a diary supporting his election. The experts say that, despite the polls, if Angelides can improve his standing by just _ten percent_ among California _Democrats_, he can win this race. It’s time to come home!
*If you’ve read this entire diary, you now know something critically important about Phil Angelides: he’s a _real_ Democrat! He gets it!* Gray Davis was a quisling DINO. Angelides has progressive ideals, and has the guts to fight for the common good! We haven’t had a _real_ Democrat in the Governor’s chair since Jerry Brown, a generation ago! It’s time!
(_crossposted to DailyKos_)
