[Mb-civic] Arnold takes big $$ for his veto

[Mha Atma Khalsa]

ct. 10, 2005 - 01:10 PM
by Doug Heller

$105K for a Veto (Give it Back, Gov)

For weeks, Arnold sat with SB 399 on his desk. The
bill would have ended a taxpayer subsidy of the
insurance industry in which government health programs
pay the medical costs of car accidents instead of the
insurance company of the driver who caused the
accident. 

Supporters of the bill -- doctors, county hospitals
and attorneys -- pinned their hopes for a Governor
signature on a study explaining that taxpayers cough
up $225 million each year to pay the claims that the
insurance companies are allowed to duck. 

Opponents had a different strategy. On Friday, the
last day for Arnold to sign or veto the bill, one of
the bill's lead opponents, the American Insurance
Association, sent the gov a $105,000 campaign
contribution. That same day, before you could say
"waste of taxpayer money," Arnold vetoed the bill. 
This is, of course, the worst kind of shakedown
politics; the kind that had Californians so hopping
mad in 2003 that they threw out the last cash register
governor. As Arnold said during the recall: "the money
comes in, the favors go out." 

The gov must return the $105,000 that the insurance
industry paid for this veto. Then, the legislature
should reintroduce the bill on the first day of next
year's session and send it back to the Gov. (Because
the Legislature will have the same members next year,
there should be no trouble passing an exact copy of
the bill quickly.) Arnold can then figure out what to
do with the proposal without the help of the insurance
industry's checkbook.

Read more at ArnoldWatch.org





	
		
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