Reading between the lines: Big Business in love with Proposition 14

If you knew Blue Shield of California, Hewlett Packard, Shea Homes, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and Pacific Life Insurance Company all made donations ranging between $5,000 and $100,000 to support a measure, would you believe it was for giving voters more choices on the ballot?

Your gut reaction would probably be the same as mine. It is safe to assume that large corporations regulated by the state want to have government in their pockets. They want to maintain the two-party status quo. California’s Proposition 14, also known as the Top Two Primary Act, would make these parties tyrannical.

You can see the big corporate money behind Top Two here. These are the same special interests behind the Sacramento politicians who have driven California to the brink of bankruptcy.

California is desperate for new ideas and new solutions to reform their broken government. Historically, third party and independent candidates are the ones who bring these proposals to the public-policy debate.

Recently, I have spoken before the Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and on AntiWar.com radio, where my message for free and equal elections was very well received. Now, you may be asking, what do these organizations have to do with electoral reform?

Go back to the link of donors supporting Top Two and you’ll find that the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association gave $10,000. That group also blocks prison reform in a state where judges have been forced to intervene to reduce the prison population, because the legislature refuses to address the problem. They have an interest in keeping the prison population high so they can create more government jobs for their members.

A group advocating drug-policy reform has a lot to say about how to reduce prison population. But if Top Two passes, their ability to support independent candidates who would carry their message of reform would be taken away.

In Washington DC, we’ve seen a change from a Republican administration to a Democratic one. And yet their war policies continue unchanged. If you oppose war and live in California, Top Two would only allow you to vote for candidates of the War Party.

These are just two issues that serve as examples. No matter what kind of reform you seek, whether it is considered liberal, conservative or somewhere in between, Top Two would make it impossible for you to choose third party and independent candidates who support your ideas. And if you can’t chose these candidates, then who’s going to tell the truth inside American electoral politics? We can’t count on our bought and paid for establishment parties as long as they think they own our votes.

Truly free elections allow voters to act as another check on the power of the establishment. An election that only gives you two bland status quo options is not free. Donate today to help us stop Top Two.

For free and equal elections,

Christina Tobin

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