Here is the third in a series of discussions and reasons why Lt. Governor candidate Tom McClintock and Controller Candidate, Tony Strickland are too extreme for our state and need to be defeated in the coming election by voting for John Garamendi for Lt. Governor and John Chiang for State Controller. Not only are Garamendi and Chiang eminently more qualified for these positions, but they share our values for a California that honors hard work and is fair to working people, as contrasted with the extremist Bush administration mentality espoused by McClintock and Strickland that believes Corporate America can do no wrong and should not be accountable to taxpayers or their own employees.
Our friends at the California Labor Federation have supplied us with the following information about the voting records of these two right-wing extremists who believe corporate profits should trump people and any sense of responsibility of good corporate citizenship.
Their comments follow here :

” McClintock and Strickland –Too Extreme for California
Candidates have a long history of opposing worker protections
(Sacramento) –With the focus of the 2006 cycle mostly on the gubernatorial elections, working families are facing an even greater threat in down ballot races.
Two of these races, Lt. Governor and Controller, have candidates whose campaigns have been pandering directly to the extreme wing of their party -positions that are out of step with California. The candidates, Tom McClintock and Tony Strickland, have been running on a strident pro-corporate, anti-labor and anti-regulation message aimed at appeasing big business at the expense of workers.
For all the hard-working people in California, it’s time to stand up and say no to those who disrespect the hard-work and sacrifice of our working families. McClintock and Strickland couldn’t be more a part or that anti-worker mentality.
Let’s make sure they don’t have the chance to do more damage to our working people than they’ve already tried to do as legislators. Let’s make sure we send them the strong message that we don’t want their Bush-Corporate influences damaging the hard-working people of California.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Tom McClintock has taken over the extreme wing of the party from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. His campaign has been an endless series of attack ads against working families and labor unions. As a second-term State Senator, McClintock has supported undercutting government regulations designed to protect workers on the job and has voted against raising the minimum wage.
Indeed, McClintock, an avowed social conservative, showed how out of step he is with voters on the minimum wage saying, ‘The cold truth is that if your labor is worth $6.75 an hour and the minimum wage is raised to $7.75 an hour, you simply become unemployable.’ In 2006, McClintock again refused to support a minimum wage hike and castigated his fellow conservative, Governor Schwarzenegger,for his recent signing of the minimum wage increase.
‘Tom McClintock has a 19th Century mind in a 21st Century world,’ said Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation. ‘That kind of thinking today would return California to the 12-hour workday with no meal breaks, no health care and no worker rights.’
As for Tony Strickland, the record is no better. Along with McClintock, he voted against the ‘Paid Family Leave Program’ in 2002 and the ‘Health Insurance Act of 2003’ a plan that would have given one million uninsured Californians health care coverage.
The biggest concern for California’s working families is the damage Strickland would do as Controller. As Controller, Strickland would be responsible for overseeing distribution of state funds and conducting audits on corporations doing business in the state. However, as an Assemblyman, Strickland repeatedly supported big business at the expense of California taxpayers – as Controller he would have the power to do even more.
In one such case, Strickland voted on a bill that opposed requiring employers to report information on the number of employees and independent contractors working for them. Many believe Strickland’s vote would have allowed companies to legally avoid paying a fair wage or health care for employees. More importantly, it would have allowed companies to avoid paying their fair share of taxes — forcing Californians to pay higher taxes in the end.
While Strickland has shown a consistent willingness to shortchange California working families – and taxpayers–this isn’t even their greatest fear. Many working families in California also face the terrifying prospect of losing their pensions with Strickland as Controller. Indeed, as the Controller sits on the CALPERS Board, Strickland would have the power to take away defined- benefit pensions from public employees –something he has alluded to throughout his career.
‘Tony Strickland as Controller is like the fox guarding the hen house,’ said Pulaski. ‘When Californians aren’t looking, he will steal their nest eggs.’ ”
We will continue this series with a piece on McClintock and Strickland’s records on consumer protection–equally as abysmal and out-of the-mainstream as they are in the areas of Womens’ Rights and the Environment that we’ve discussed in our recent blogs. Please make sure your friends are well-aware of these two extremists and their positions on these important issues before they cast their ballots.