By Dave Johnson, Speak Out California

As I wrote the other day, the California Chamber of Commerce has come out with their annual list of “job-killer” bills.  The list only targets bills by Democrats, and the bills are all acts that would help the people of California by improving the environment, worker wage and safety, public health, etc.

The California Chamber of commerce is a lobbying association.  They represent their members: businesses, many of which are large corporations.  This is about private greed vs. the public good.  The Chamber’s job is to convince the legislature to pass laws that enrich the owners of the corporations that fund them.  Nothing more, nothing less.  

If that involves convincing the public of something, then they do that.  Hence the label “job killer.”

But the companies represented by the Chamber are the real job killers.  They outsource jobs to other countries.  They lay people off when they calculate it will maximize their profits.  They employ as many people as needed to maximize the income to and wealth of their owners.  Nothing more, nothing less.

The very idea that the Chamber of Commerce would care if something is a “job killer” is ludicrous when you understand their function.  They are a lobbying association that represents the interests of companies that eliminate as many jobs as they want to, at their discretion, and then use some of the money that would have been paid in salaries to pay the Chamber to convince us to support their interests — and the rest of it to enrich themselves, which is their primary interest.  

That is how corporations work in the modern, “free-market” world that we find ourselves in since the Reagan era.  Not for the public benefit, not necessarily even for the company’s benefit, but for the financial benefit of the executives and (some of) the owners of the company.

Private greed vs. public good.  Nothing more, nothing less.

So there isn’t really an argument about whether the “job-killer” bills on this year’s list really do or do not “kill jobs.”  That is not the point of the label.  Instead it is up to us to understand who we are hearing from.  If we get caught up in arguing about whether these bills create more jobs than they might cost, we’re missing the point.  Their arguments are propaganda with no basis in reality, designed to do nothing more than sway opinion.  The point of the “job-killer” label is to make people afraid for their jobs, not to actually argue that these bills will or will not actually “kill” any jobs.

For example, a bill to require energy efficiency in new housing construction obviously creates many new jobs in the new, innovative “green” industries.  But such a bill might lower the profits that go into the pockets of the executives and owners of some of the companies that the California Chamber of Commerce represents.  (The LA Times on Wednesday said the Chamber’s agenda “seems dominated by development and energy interests”.)  And, again, it is irrelevant whether the bill might or might not really cost jobs in some of those companies.  The Chamber doesn’t care.  That is not their function.

The use of the label “job killers” is about scaring the public.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It is about fear.  It is about creating a climate in which people who are afraid for their jobs will go along with measures designed to enrich the owners of the companies that the Chamber — a lobbying association — represents.

So please don’t be fooled.  Don’t be swayed by propaganda designed to make you afraid.  As I wrote above, it is up to us to understand who we are hearing from.

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(Congratulations to Asm. Dave Jones for winning the annual “Job Killer” Sweepstakes. Jones leads the pack with 4 bills on the list of bills that protect workers and Californians. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

By Dave Johnson, Speak Out California

The California Chamber of Commerce has released its annual list of what it calls “job-killer bills.”  

Why is it that the Chamber’s job-killer bills hit-list seems to only target Democrats? Not a single targeted bill belongs to a Republican. “Bad bills”, like those designed to protect public health, climate concerns or consumer rights legislation, are all authored by Democrats.  The chamber has always been a lobbying organization, but it has gotten so bad that the Chamber seems to have devolved into little more than just one more fear-mongering Republican Party front group.

The “job killers” on this list are any laws that protect consumers, reduce energy use, require worker protections or anything else that might hinder a very few corporate executives from reeling in another several-hundred-million dollars a year.  The jobs that are “killed” are those of lobbyists for the energy industry.  

The first group on the “job killer” list is bills that ask for any kind of energy or water conservation or environmental standards for new housing construction.  For example, AB 1085.  The bill describes itself as undating,

“building design and construction standards and energy conservation standards for new residential and nonresidential buildings to reduce wasteful, uneconomic, inefficient, or unnecessary consumption of energy.”

But the Chamber’s job-killer list says this

Substantially increases the cost of housing and development in California by implementing significant energy efficiency measures

Now, think about this — if it costs less to heat and cool your house, this saves you money.  If you want to add energy-saving technology like solar electric or water-heating on your house this creates good jobs.  Maybe Exxon won’t benefit as much from this as the new, upcoming solar industry, but heck, the solar companies aren’t coughing up the big bucks and providing the good jobs to the Chamber of Commerce’s lobbyists!

The next group of “job killers” is “workplace mandates” like paid sick leave for employees, disability pay for on-the-job injuries or providing California’s citizens with health insurance.

Ah yes, the money businesses pay out to provide sick leave and disability pay for those pesky employees “kills jobs.”  They could hire so many more people if they didn’t have to actually pay them and keep them from getting injured!  This is one of the oldest arguments in the books.  Slaves are always cheaper.  But why do we have an economy if not to provide US with good jobs and other benefits?  Do we have an economy so a very few corporate CEOs get all the money and benefits, or do we have an economy so the people can also get good pay and benefits and safe working conditions?  The evidence (this, for example) is clear that good wages and benefits do not hurt jobs or the economy.

Then there are “economic development barriers” like asking online retailers to collect the same sales taxes that you local business owner collects, asking the wealthy to help pay for our schools, raising fire standards in high-risk fire areas and protecting our environment.  I guess the online retailers must be paying the Chamber more this year than the retailers who have to actually rent storefronts and pay wages in your town.  I can’t think of any other reason why SOME retailers should collect sales taxes and others should be exempt.  Doesn’t this change the playing field waaayyy in favor of online retailers and harm the prospects of businesses that actually set up in our local communities?  God forbid we ask them to help pay for our schools and police and fire protection!

This “job killer” list is nothing more than the use of fear to scare us into allowing a few rich corporations to have their way.  By saying that protecting workers or the environment might “cost jobs” they are trying to make us afraid to ask these big corporations to live up to their responsibilities to our communities.  How long will we let these lobbyists make us afraid?

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