Barack Obama visits California for a couple DNC fundraisers today.  I doubt he’ll have time to turn on the teevee.  But if he does, he will be greeted with a new ad featuring Pauline Beck, the woman who Obama worked with in the SEIU’s “Walk A Day In My Shoes” campaign during the Presidential primaries.

The ad is aimed mostly at Arnold Schwarzenegger, who mandated cuts to home health care worker pay, and got the federal government to sign off on them without impacting the flow of stimulus dollars.  Basically, Schwarzenegger used the technicality that counties would not be responsible for backfilling worker pay, and therefore burdened with dealing with state cuts, because they always have the option of just cutting the workers completely.  It’s just another example of the Governor thinking that the message of “the people” is to place the entire burden of the budget deficit on the backs of the most vulnerable members of society.

But a new print ad running in today’s LA Times actually addresses Obama directly over the issue.

Dear Mr. President,

I am Pauline Beck – the California home care worker you spent a day on the job with in August 2007. You helped me provide care to Mr. John Thornton, an 86-year old man in a wheelchair who is able to stay in his home because of the care I provide.

I know you are very busy, but Mr. John and I, and my fellow home care workers and their clients, need your help.

You see, Governor Schwarzenegger wants to cut my pay back to $8 an hour. These are tough times, but if my pay gets cut to minimum wage I won’t be able to support my family. It’s just wrong to pay us so little for taking care of people who have given our communities and our country so much…

I know you are a good man and I am proud of the job you are doing. I hope you and the Governor can work together to help Mr. John, me and the 750,000 of Californians just like us. It would make such a difference in our lives. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Pauline Beck

SEIU is right to personalize this crisis and take on the Governor and the political leadership.  The President ought to know about how California is seeking to reverse his stimulus package by slashing the salaries and services of those most able to contribute quickly to the economy, forestalling recovery.

…incidentally, at this link you can write a message to the Governor about these home health care worker cuts.

UPDATE by Brian: I was going to write about the 48-hour vigil that SEIU workers are engaging in right now, but it fits with Dave’s post quite well. Beginning yesterday at around noon, homecare workers have been set up at Capitol Park to protest wage and service cuts. They’ll be testifying about the very real pain these proposed cuts will cause.

SEIU has been focusing on the fact that there was a billion dollar plus corporate tax cut despite the budget mess, and they’ll be hitting that note in a number of protests tomorrow.

Commenter seanp mentioned this in my Calitics diary about the Obama Administration waiver for the Governor to cut In-Home Support Services salaries for health care workers:

When Obama was running as a Presidential candidate in 2007 he spent a few hours working with a home health care worker in Alameda, 61 year old Pauline Beck. Remember, this woman had a union contract:

While Beck’s life – struggling to make ends meet with two jobs and regular visits to the food bank – couldn’t be more different than the 46-year-old Democratic presidential candidate’s, she came away feeling “he just cares about people. … He wanted to know about me, yes, he did. He really wanted to feel what I did.”

I wonder how Pauline Beck feels about the Obama administration helping cut her wage from $12.10 an hour to $10.10 an hour. I guess she can get a third job.

Actually, according to Andy Stern, Pauline and IHSS workers like her will get cut back to $8 an hour.  Several bigger bloggers and national groups are picking up on this story today.  As Greg Sargent notes, Pauline Beck even spoke at the 2008 DNC.  There’s video of the then-candidate’s visit with Pauline Beck.

Sargent confirms with SEIU that Beck would be hit by this reduction in wages, just two years after Barack Obama walked a day in her shoes.  The Administration could have used the power of the purse – and the threat of pulling stimulus money away from California – to get the Governor to back off on these wage reductions.  Instead, they acquiesced, and Pauline Beck, Obama’s former work buddy, will pay the price.

Brian Beutler of TPMDC has more on this, and Andy Stern has sent a message to his supporters asking them to call the Governor and stop the cuts, although the President is implicated in his message as well.

Two years ago, President Barack Obama walked a day in the shoes of SEIU home care worker Pauline Beck.

Today, Pauline and home care workers across California face pay cuts of up to 33% — from $12.10 an hour down to $8.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s belief that solving the state’s fiscal problems on the backs of those who take care of the most fragile among us is an absolute disgrace.

Please call the Governor’s office and tell him you strongly disagree with his misguided priorities:

916-445-2841

Earlier this week, Californians sent a clear message of no confidence in Governor Schwarzenegger — soundly rejecting his proposed budget reforms.

He proposed four ballot initiatives, and all four went down to overwhelming defeats.

The L.A. Times noted that some are beginning to write his “political obituary.”

It’s no wonder why.

Stern intimates that he will “file a challenge” against the Govenror’s decision.  Maybe Schwarzenegger needs to walk a day in the shoes of these home health care workers- oh, wait, that didn’t work either.