[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I'm really beginning to wonder how the so-called "good government" folks at Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and AARP (and at least one Democratic gubernatorial contender) can look sleep at night after watching the daily mega-chunks of money being dumped into by big Republican donors into the Schwarzenegger redistricting ballot initiative they are supporting.
 
The latest $10,000 donor, Apria Health Care Executive Lawrence M. Higby,  was assistant to White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman during the Nixon Administration. According to Wikipedia, until 2005, Higby led a group of wealthy Republicans called the New Majority PAC. The New Majority PAC is dedicated to electing more Republicans to the legislature, and is one of the biggest donors to this campaign.
 
Another $50,000 came from Robert Day. Day dumped $100,000 in donations to Schwarzenegger's "California Recovery Team" in 2007. He has also given $25,000 to the California Republican Party and another $10,000 to the LA California Republican Party.

(Hopefully LA Democrats can remind any Democratic backers of the initiative about that last one.)

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Calling it a "fatally flawed initiative that does not accurately reflect the state's partisan diversity and similarly prejudices minorities and Democrats registration by using a biased ranking system that ensures an increased number of Republican legislative seats," the State's Building and Construction Trades Council unanimously has voted to defeat the Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause "Voters First" redistricting initiative.
 
Labor's vote is seemingly a warning shot to any Democrats that may be lured to endorse the initiative by good government groups. The signature gathering, as noted here, has been financed nearly exclusively by large Republican donors and Republican business groups.

The resolution is over the flip...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Remember when Common Cause was a "good government" group? When they fought for campaign spending limits? When they pushed hard for laws that cracked down on special interest contributions to campaigns?
 
Those days are over -- at least for the California chapter.
 
When it comes to its "Voters First" redistricting proposal, Common Cause is firmly in bed with the big money special interests that it built its reputation fighting against.
 
Yesterday Gov. Schwarzenegger's "California Recovery Team" dumped another $250,000 into the campaign. That's on top of $50,000 of seed money it put into the campaign early. If you go to the Secretary of State's website, www.ss.ca.gov, you'll see a list of $100,000 plus contributors. The same people that Common Cause used to rail against.
 
As a progressive, it's painful to see an organization that once stood for good government cuddle up to big Republican donors and shake them down for an initiative that means well but would be destructive to minorities, our communities, and a progressive agenda.

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

One of the state's most prestigious Latino organizations is mounting an opposition campaign to the redistricting plan being funded by big Republican donors and Governor Schwarzenegger -- and surprisingly, by former Controller Steve Westly.<> <>In a letter to the Pasadena City Council -- which plans to vote on endorsing the initiative -- the William C. Velasquez Institute calls the initiative "a flawed piece of legislation that contains numerous suspect provisions and is not the answer" and "full of unrealistic goals, harmful rules, and complex systems that would impede competent redistricting by commissioners and limit involvement by members of the public and experienced line drawers alike."There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

In the highlight reel this morning is this story from the Contra Costa Times, which picks up on several of my recent posts here on the California Majority Report exposing the heavy Republican donations to the so-called "bipartisan" redistricting effort being put forward by Governor Schwarzenegger and other big Republican donors.

The fact that the mainstream media is picking up on the story is significant in itself. Redistricting has gotten more positive press than Obama in the early days; this is the first article that goes beyond the concept of redistricting and focuses on the flawed nature and motivations of the "Voters First" initiative.

The article notes the heavy contributions by Schwarzenegger contributions and big name Republicans.

If they don't fix that, they're in trouble," Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media at Sacramento State University who has served on the Voices of Reform board advocating redistricting reform, said in the article. "If Democrats don't start contributing, people will say who's this helping, and whose ox is being gored?"

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The so-called "bipartisan" effort to change the way California's legislative districts are drawn is being almost entirely funded by major Republican donors and backers of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to new reports filed with the Secretary of State.

As noted here last week, the biggest backer so far is the New Majority PAC, which kicked in $150,000. On its website, the PAC says its "continued priorities include increasing Republican voter registration in targeted communities, identifying quality Republican candidates with an emphasis on bringing diversity into the Republican Party and supporting legislative Republican leadership in targeted races." The Governor's campaign committee also has kicked in $50,000.

Those Republican interests received additional backing last week, when another major donor, David Horowitz of the Horowitz Group in Laguna Niguel, added his support with a $5,000 check. Horowitz has given more than $100,000 to Schwarzenegger's campaign efforts since 2006 and more than $30,000 to the New Majority PAC. Horowitz has also given thousands to right-wing Republicans including State Sen. Tom McClintock, Assemblymember Chuck DeVore, and Assemblywoman Mimi Walters.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The Los Angeles Times has learned that the electoral college "reform" funded by out of state Republican donors has been dropped due to a lack of cash and support. Says the Times:

"In an exclusive report to appear on this website late tonight and in Friday's print editions, The Times' Dan Morain reports that the proposal to change the winner-take-all electoral vote allocation to one by congressional
district is virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds.

The reality is hundreds of thousands of signatures must be gathered by the end of November to get the measure on the June 2008 ballot.""

Thank you everyone who worked on defeating this initiative. Our (likely) success here is a good example of the Party and the grassroots working together effectively. Our early action allows our donors to invest their money in critical campaigns and not for a costly and unnecessary initiative battle.