Common Sense University

Once again, we here at Common Sense Authors find a combination of amusement and bewilderment when it comes to California Democrats. ‘Amusement’ only in the sense of great cynicism linked to the question: “What will they come up with next?” And while there may be other bewildering proposals coming down the pike in Sacramento from the Democrats, this particular one came to us by way of an editorial in the San Diego Union Tribune on March 5, 2008, entitled: Veto No.4, please. The article calls for a veto by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should this proposal be ratified by the Democrat controlled State Senate.

Here is what’s at stake and we quote from the editorial ”Single mothers who work as part of a welfare-to-work-program may chose the person who is paid by the state to keep their kids while they work. Many moms choose a relative – grandparent, aunt, or sibling – who needn’t be licensed. About 700,000 families are in this subsidized childcare program, which costs taxpayers more than $3 billion a year.”

It is logical for these moms to – since given a choice – select a relative, a person that they can trust and have no cultural or language barrier problems. These ‘babysitters’ are also not required to be licensed by the State of California. Now then, is that the concern of the Legislature since this is a government-subsidized program? Are they proposing to license the grandmas and others who watch the kids while the moms are at work? You would think so. But that is not the case. The Democrats have other priorities: They want the babysitters to be unionized! State Senator Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles introduced the bill and it already has passed the State Assembly and is now being considered in the State Senate. The bill allows the Service Employees International Union – SEIU – and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to try and organize unlicensed childcare providers into a “provider organization”.

We cannot help to be cynical at this point. The union’s purpose is to negotiate pay and working conditions of the new members and according to the editorial, topping the list of the union priorities are higher pay, health insurance and pensions! It is bewildering to us at Common Sense Authors that this is even an issue at a time when California finds itself in a major budget crunch, if not outright crises. There are currently budget cuts proposed for education programs in excess of $4 billion dollars for the 2008/2009 fiscal year.

We have to seriously wonder if there are any budget-conscious Democrats in the State of California in Sacramento. Is there nobody in that bunch of politicians who thinks in somewhat realistic and responsible terms who would stand up and say to his fellow Democrats: “Hold it, let’s not get sidetracked with new programs when we are struggling to find ways to pay for the ones we have on the books.” From our perspective we can only establish very strongly that the Democrat lawmakers at the state level in California are totally void of any degree of common sense. There is not even a smidgen of evidence to the contrary.

Running the numbers from the article, the granny-babysitters make on average between $4,500 and $5,000 per year paid for by the state. It used to be and we know for sure it still is in certain sectors of society where grandparents just love to watch their grandchildren while the parents are at work. That’s the way it has been for hundreds of years and should remain that way too. But one can always count on Democrats to come up with proposals that are simply mind- boggling and so far out of the realm of normalcy, we have to wonder about the mindset of people who keep voting for them, the Democrats, and therefore giving them opportunities to come up with these outrageous programs and then seriously fight for them to become law. By providing them “Union status” for protection, these grandmas can also go on strike if they think they are underpaid or do not get enough pensions in the future. Who will look after the kids then, should it come to that? This is so extremely ludicrous, it deserves no further comment!

Back to the editorial, the article is pleading with Governor Schwarzenegger to veto this bill and we have to ask – Why? Is there a chance that the governor would even consider signing this ridiculous bill? Apparently there is or the newspaper would not have written the article. We like to believe that a person – short of having had a lobotomy – who called just a few years ago the Democrats in California ‘girly men’ cannot possibly change to the point where he would sign such legislation, even if it would be part of a legislative trade-off as was suggested in the article. We will keep you posted as to what California’s ‘Governator’ will do, stay tuned!
 
This article and others on Common Sense Authors are designed to provoke further thought and investigation.   It is not the intent for the articles to be politically biased. Sources are referenced in each article to encourage readers to delve into the supporting material.  We welcome all readers to participate with their point of view either in support or contrary with additional information sources.

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