OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Nurses Association today called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to cancel the November special election and contribute the tens of millions of dollars he has raised from corporate interests to the disaster relief effort in the wake of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Gulf region.
“In the fight to save people’s lives and restore their health, it is critical that we devote all available resources for immediate aid for those harmed by this colossal disaster. The best place to start would be the $250 million that will be consumed by the governor’s wasteful, unnecessary special election,” said CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.
“We should pool all the money, including the $55 million in taxpayer dollars for running the election, and the $200 million, half of that from wealthy pharmaceutical giants, that will be wasted on advertising and other campaigning and spend it where it is needed,” said DeMoro.
“Every single measure on this election can easily wait until our next regular election, in June, 2006,” DeMoro said. “At a time of almost incomprehensible human suffering in the disaster zone, it is obscene to throw away $250 million on an election that was opposed by two-thirds of Californians.”
How the $250 million could be better spent
DeMoro cited a number of ways the $250 million could be used for immediate assistance, for meals, drinking water, blankets, clothing, building new homes, or employing needed nurses, and how it could have been used prior to the disaster (see below).
“Instead of setting a deplorable standard for fundraising excess and cash register politics, Gov. Schwarzenegger should set a new moral yardstick by rerouting those resources to those in immediate need,” she added.
CNA, said DeMoro, is prepared to offer funds it would spend on the election if Schwarzenegger and his legion of corporate sponsors take the same step. In addition, CNA is asking nurses to volunteer to participate in the relief effort where needed.
DeMoro noted that Schwarzenegger himself, with almost daily fundraisers, has collected at least $25 million en route to his goal of $50 million or more just for the three measures he is officially sponsoring. Additionally, the pharmaceutical industry has raised about $75 million to date and is expected to get to $100 million or more to promote its proposal that would restrict real reform of drug pricing practices. Another $50 million or more, much of it from Schwarzenegger allies, is likely to be raised for other ballot measures.
Here’s a few examples of how the $250 million could be better spent, said DeMoro: * 250 million bottles of drinking water at $1 per bottle * 10 million blankets at $25 a blanket * 12.5 million ready to eat meals at a cost of $20 each * $625 each for 400,000 people who have lost their possessions to buy new clothes * 1,250 new homes built at $200,000 each * Employ 61,425 registered nurses in Louisiana for one month (at current Louisiana pay rates, according to federal data) Additionally, the $250 million: * Could have funded the estimated amount needed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for upgrades needed to repair New Orleans levy system prior to Hurricane Katrina * Is 24 times the amount the Bush administration budgeted for southeast Louisiana’s hurricane protection project.
California Nurses Association
CONTACT: Charles Idelson of California Nurses Association,+1-510-273-2246, or cell, +1-415-559-8991
Web site: http://www.calnurses.org/
