Government Unions are “On the Air,” Debut TV Ads Against Schwarzenegger

State treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides is dead in the water, according to informed political watchers in the Golden State, but that hasn’t stopped public employee union officials from launching statewide television attack ads on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The spots renew the union bosses’ attack on Schwarzenegger’s character, with a nurse, firefighter, police officer and several teachers portraying him as untrustworthy.

The Los Angeles Times reports that “the coalition paying for the ads is the Alliance for a Better California, a version of the group that ran labor’s campaign against Schwarzenegger’s initiatives last year. Members include the California Teachers Assn., Service Employees International Union, California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. and California Professional Firefighters, said Gale Kaufman, a Democratic campaign strategist for the unions.”

They fail to mention the ads are funded with mandatory union dues coerced from government workers who have little choice in the matter.

Ahh! Power and privilege, it is the Golden State for Big Labor.