Wednesday, April 06, 2005
The Corporate Attack on Freedom of Speech
Dear XXXXX:
You may already know this, but I don't think it was made clear yesterday since your time was cut short: the initiative being sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies (by Citizens for Paycheck Protection) includes the following line about deductions, " whether the deduction is voluntary or not..." As a small "d" democrat, I find most acts, including this one, that have a chilling effect on freedom of speech to be offensive.
Also, I think that simply contacting our local representative at the state level on this particular issue is only effective if that representative does not support the initiative. I would suggest that teachers not only email their local rep.'s, but send hard copy mail to Senators Dick Ackerman, Dennis Hollingsworth and John Campbell since they are the signatories of the letter, and the letter is misleading. The letter states that "Every month, special interest unions take money from the paychecks of public employees, almost always without their approval..." The emphasis is in the original. As you can see, this emphasized portion implies that the initiative is somehow going to restore choice to employees; but, as seen in the actual text of the initiative, no choice is the final option.
Thanks again for your presentation. I would appreciate a copy of your PowerPoint presentation.
You may already know this, but I don't think it was made clear yesterday since your time was cut short: the initiative being sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies (by Citizens for Paycheck Protection) includes the following line about deductions, " whether the deduction is voluntary or not..." As a small "d" democrat, I find most acts, including this one, that have a chilling effect on freedom of speech to be offensive.
Also, I think that simply contacting our local representative at the state level on this particular issue is only effective if that representative does not support the initiative. I would suggest that teachers not only email their local rep.'s, but send hard copy mail to Senators Dick Ackerman, Dennis Hollingsworth and John Campbell since they are the signatories of the letter, and the letter is misleading. The letter states that "Every month, special interest unions take money from the paychecks of public employees, almost always without their approval..." The emphasis is in the original. As you can see, this emphasized portion implies that the initiative is somehow going to restore choice to employees; but, as seen in the actual text of the initiative, no choice is the final option.
Thanks again for your presentation. I would appreciate a copy of your PowerPoint presentation.
