Consumer Federation of California

Consumers Beat Back Big Business on Props 16 and 17′

The taste of victory is sweet, especially when it overcomes $62 million of the worst kind of deceitful campaigning. Two arrogant corporations received the humiliations they richly deserved when voters turned down Proposition 16 and 17 yesterday.

PG&E and Mercury Insurance were in a contest to see which would stoop the lowest to buy a law through the ballot box.

Voters saw through PG&E’s $46 million spending spree on Prop 16 (by a vote 52.5% no to 47.5% yes) and Mercury Insurance’s $16 million contribution to Prop 17 (DEFEATED by 52.1% no to 47.9% yes vote).

Consumers have much to celebrate. Beating back Mercury’s attack on Prop 103 rate regulation, motorists can rest assured that their auto insurance rates won’t be jacked up without good reason.

Utility ratepayers held onto their right to pursue lower cost, more environmentally friendly alternatives to PG&E’s high priced fossil fuel-dependent electric monopoly.

Congratulations on showing the world that California voters can detect a fraud even when it hides behind boatloads of money.

Read CFC’s Richard Holober’s article “PG&E Customers Kill Prop 16” and click here read the article by the Campaign for Consumer Rights entitled “Voters Defeat Proposition 17, The Mercury Insurance Initiative”.

Prop 15 Defeated, Corrosive Influence of Lobbyists and Big Money Protected

On a sad note, the defeat of Prop 15 is a setback for the cause of clean money elections. We did get closer than ever, but there is no denying this was a deep disappointment. The campaign was optimistic that with all the recent examples of the undue influence of corporate money over our elected officials, both nationally and in state, from the Wall Street bailout to the BP disaster to the coal mine collapse to Meg Whitman spending $81 million of her own money to buy the Governorship, voters might connect that final dot: we must rid our electoral system of big money.

Clearly we have a lot more work to do to adequately instill in voters the need for real structural reform to our campaign finance system. CFC will continue to work with allies to loosen the stranglehold of special interest money in Sacramento.

Click here to read CFC’s Zack Kaldveer’s recent op-ed entitled “Prop 15: Step One in Breaking Big Money’s Strangle Hold on California Elections”

The Consumer Federation of California also, for the first time, made endorsements in legislative races – prevailing in every one that has been decided, with one race too close to call as absentee ballots are being counted through the beginning of next week.

Results of June 2010 races in which CFC made an endorsement:

Won AD 5 – CFC endorsed Richard Pan (D)

Won AD 20 ‘ CFC endorsed Bob Wieckowski (D)

Won AD 28 ‘ CFC endorsed Luis Alejo (D)

Won AD 35 ‘ CFC dual endorsement for Susan Jordan (D) and Das Williams (D)   Williams won

Won AD 53 – CFC endorsed Betsy Butler (D)

Won AD 57 – CFC endorsed Roger Hernandez (D)

Winning SD 40 ‘ CFC endorsed Mary Salas (D) who has a 684 vote lead

Tags: Bob Wieckowski, Das Williams, Luis Alejo, Mary Salas, Richard Pan, Roger Hernandez