ADVISORY: If you are logging on
using an AOL browser, you may have trouble navigating at this website unless, after you
get online, you open another browser like Explorer (which is in all the Windows programs)
to log onto our website. In order to be accessible to ALL computers new and old, we pledge
to keep our website simple.
Last update, on UPDATE on January
15, 2007 and on Weblog, on January 9, 2007. Minimum updates, once monthly,
before the 15th. Final progress note about the state of the recall campaign can be found
in the UPDATE section (click above). Starting in February 2007, postings will be made
primarily at our new section called And Now? Last posting: January 17, 2008.
HURRAH!
We got health coverage for our working poor!
NEWS FLASH! CONGRATULATIONS, VOLUNTEERS! The Sally Lieber Bill raising the minimum wage for the working poor was
signed on September 12, 2006 by Gov. Schwarzenegger. This bill translates to as much as 5
billion dollars a year to those who often work two jobs to make ends meet. Dr. Matsumura
launched the recall because of the plight of these working poor patients who, Dr.
Matsumura learned, were stretching their medications to last to their next pay day.
Because of the overwhelming response of Californians and the press to the recall effort,
Gov. Schwarzenegger took what we said seriously. He had vetoed the raise in the minimum
wage twice, the last time only three days before Dr. Matsumura launched his recall. There
is not a shred of doubt that the launch of the recall and the enthusiastic attention by
the media to this recall effort are what prompted the governor to make changes in his
thinking. Our Sacramento volunteers continually working every weekend to keep our
visibility high continued the pressure on the governor. Thank you, volunteers, not only in
Sacramento but thousands all over the state! Now (9/28/06), we got him proudly fighting
global warming, too -see Weblog of this date.
OUR WEBSITE WILL MONITOR & REPORT ON THE
CONDUCT OF GOVERNOR
SCHWARZENEGGER. We posted our demands in December. In a bizarre turn of events,
by January when our signature gathering launched, he had adopted our platform as his.
Today, he is running for re-election with OUR campaign platform. 1) He has tried even to
by-pass the legislature in order to more quickly institute a dollar raise in the minimum
wage for our working poor (he had vetoed the raise just two days before Dr. Matsumura
launched the recall). 2) We repeatedly demanded the repair of the delta levees whose
failure threatened Southern California's water supply. He had been completely neglectful
of our infrastructure while protecting his wealthy supporters. Today, the infrastructure
is the main thing on his mind! 3) Fearful of our thousands of nurse and teacher volunteers
ready to gather recall signatures, he stopped harrassing our nurses and began to return
the money he stole from our public schools. 4) Hearing Dr. Matsumura on statewide KGO
radio about the governor's broken promises to protect the environment, Gov. Schwarzenegger
helped California lead the nation in taking steps to end global warming. It appears that
this governor can use our help in steering the right course for California. Many comments
from our over 12,000 volunteers across the state that we need to keep a watch over him
have led to our decision to keep our group together through this website. The Democrats
are massacring themselves at the Primaries. We hope the winner can recover in time for the
November election. However, should the worst happen and, as we warned many times, Gov.
Schwarzenegger is re-elected, we stand ready to recall him if he returns to his old habit
of breaking promises with the voters. Our machinery is now well-oiled, and should he
return to his old habits, no one will have any hesitation from a feeling that perhaps he
has reformed. Governor Schwarzenegger, we are very pleased that you have adopted the
Recall Campaign platform. We are watching you. We will retain the original postings below
for historical purposes and for future use should it become necessary once again.
Volunteers: Be sure to keep reading the Weblog section for updates.
PLEASE
DONATE SO THAT OUR STUDENT VOLUNTEERS CAN AFFORD TO SPEND MORE TIME COLLECTING THE 400,000
SIGNATURES EASILY GATHERED IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE EAST BAY, AND SANTA CLARA. YOUR MONEY
WILL SUPPLEMENT THE 650,000 SIGNATURES OUR UNPAID VOLUNTEERS WILL FINISH COLLECTING.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE DONATE AT LEFT!
HELP
US GET A NEW GOVERNOR BY THIS SUMMER! We are
witnessing a historic outpouring of volunteers. We are now over 10,000 strong.
Californians went to the polls on November 8th in record numbers to say NO! to
Schwarzenegger. That was the first step. Next, we must get rid of the source of
those evil initiatives that cost Californians over 150 million dollars battling them, by
recalling this dysfunctional governor. By eliminating Schwarzenegger in June 2006,
we don't just gain 5 months, but a whole year. If we kept Schwarzenegger until November,
we will lose a lot of vital legislation to his veto and all of 2006 will be lost. With a
successful recall, we can have a California-saving Summer of 2006 re-enacting important
bills vetoed by Schwarzenegger over two years that have stagnated our economy, starved our
schools, and deprived our elderly, the sick and the poor. Politics change from week to
week. Don't count on a progressive legislature in 2007 nor in ousting Schwarzenegger in
November 2006. TO DOWNLOAD A PETITION, CLICK AT "PETITION" TAB at top.
TO THE HONORABLE ARNOLD
SCHWARZENEGGER: Pursuant to Section 11020, California Election Code, the undersigned
registered qualified voters of the State of California, hereby give notice that we are the
proponents of a recall petition and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from
the office of Governor of the State of California, and to demand election of a successor
in that office. The grounds for the recall are as follows: threatening public safety
and welfare by grabbing funds from local governments and demoralizing public workers,
failing in general to deal with state's major problems as they near crisis proportions,
and dismantling public education in California by starving schools of necessary funds
while protecting special interest groups of wealthy taxpayers. California should not
be known as the state with poor schools, poor healthcare, and poor disaster readiness, all
caused by a governor serving only the rich...
so began our
work to save California from a certain disaster under Governor Schwarzenegger, himself a
beneficiary of another governor's recall two years ago.
Very few governors in American
history have alienated so many groups of people in their state, in such a short time.
Schwarzenegger promised to protect
California's educational system from budget cuts. In fact, in 1999, voters had decisively
mandated that the public education budget be protected from economic upturns and downturns
and be guaranteed a certain minimum.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, upon taking office, took two billion
dollars away from California schools and has stubbornly refused to return the money.
Public schools have been forced to layoff experienced and dedicated teachers, close
classrooms, and eliminate vital curricula. More and more parents are forced to
consider removing better students from public schools in favor to private schools. Public
education is on the brink of extinction here in California.
Healthcare in the United
States had been in general turmoil for over a decade due to a number of factors.
Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived on the scene at a critical juncture. Lacking knowledge and
experience and motivated only to protect his special interest group of wealthy taxpayers
who funded his election,
Arnold
Schwazenegger grabbed billions of dollars from municipalities, starving public hospitals
of funds they desperately needed to care for the poor. Schwarzenegger recklessly and
unilaterally decided that overworked nurses can take care of more patients, ignoring
well-respected research showing that forcing nurses to care for too many patients leads to
patient injuries and deaths.
In times of an economic downturn,
history shows that the poor suffer disproportionately. Public policy must be carefully
crafted to shelter the poor by taxing the rich whose welfare is least affected by
taxation. In fact, just a few years ago, during its economic boom, California gave the
wealthy taxpayers a substantial tax break. It would have been natural to rescind the tax
break and restore the former rates, when the economy took a downturn. Instead,
Arnold Schwarzenegger steadfastly refused to raise
taxes, insisting on reducing motor vehicle license fees. Cities lost a huge amount
of revenue and Schwarzenegger single-handedly created a crisis. Cities have been forced to
drastically cut services to the poor, the sick, and the aged. Many cities have even closed
down vital programs that shielded the disadvantaged from a catastrophe. Schwarzenegger's
reckless budget planning has affected services to the middle class as well.
Libraries have been forced to close on weekends, and fire stations have been forced into
rotating shut-downs. Nearly
three years have passed, and he has not had any creative solutions that would cure our
ills, as he implied he had when he ran for this office. Time is running out! Everyone is in danger since California's disaster readiness has been
drastically reduced.
When the economy is slow, public
workers, like firefighters and police officers, are asked to reduce their pay demands. It
is the time when the public must show their appreciation to those who protect our
safety and welfare. Instead,
Arnold Schwarzenegger recklessly proposed that pensions be reduced for
widows of firefighters and police officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in serving
the public. He has caused an unprecedented uproar, demoralizing the front-line defenders
we need when disaster strikes. Completely insensitive Arnold Schwarzenegger's
totally insensitive response to worker's protest is to now attack their unions of public
workers, trying to silence them, in order to gain an unfair advantage over them.
The foregoing is just a small
sample of the unbelievable behavior of this man whose only previous experience is as a
Hollywood actor in movies in which he portrays mostly reckless and insensitive characters.
The state of California is not his movie set. We need a bright, sensitive leader who is
truly mature. With our state on the brink of disaster, courageous men and women
reluctantly came to the conclusion that they have no choice but to recall this governor
and set our state once again on the proper and safe course.
We are embarked on a remarkable
journey to secure the signature of over a million registered voters so that this man can
be made to face the people in time to rescue the 2006 legislative session. Ousting him in
November of 2006 would be too late, making us lose one whole year of legislation. By then,
our illustrious, world-class university will be irretrievably lost, our public hospitals
dismantled, and many of our poor will be homeless and in the streets. By then our
experienced public school teachers will have been forced to take enticing jobs in the
private sector, forever sealing the fate of our children. The timing of this recall is
crucial. Let us all work together to make it happen!
We will need 30,000 volunteers to
commit to securing 40 signatures apiece from at least five California counties. Our early
experience has shown that if we carefully choose where we collect the signatures, people
are eager to sign and are grateful to the volunteers. We also need people to serve
on organizing boards and sub-boards, and to make phone calls. Please write volunteer@saveCALnow.com with the subject line
TABLE (if you want to collect signatures), BOARDS, or MAKE CALLS. Please include your
phone number and the best time to reach you. Thank you!
And now, please enjoy the cartoon
donated by Charles C. Bright, all the way in South Carolina. He is now our Campaign
Cartoonist. Thank you, Charles. The cartoon is below the signature which follows. Please
read WEBLOG (tab at top), October 29, 2005 entry for a message from Charlie. (Yes,
remember to keep up to date by reading the UPDATE section every other day.)
Kenneth Matsumura, M.D., Proponent
of Recall
knm@saveCALnow.com
TEL
(510) 548 1516
