Arnold has been campaigning
against fraud and deception in the workers compensation system, but
there’s new deception in his campaign to change the system. Arnold has
received $452,000 in campaign contributions from eight of the nation’s
largest workers’ comp insurers into campaign committees he controls.
Now he has moved a million dollars from his California Recovery Team
committee to an initiative campaign that would limit what Californians
receive after a workplace injury, but do nothing to limit what
insurance companies charge to California businesses or earn in profits.
Because of this sleight of hand, the insurers’ role in the battle will largely be hidden.
One week ago the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating
Bureau said that insurance costs would be $7 billion less than had been
previously projected, indicating that insurance rates should be lowered
for the state’s businesses. But rather than pushing insurers to reduce
workers’ compensation rates, Arnold has pressed for insurer-supported
legislation.
In recent weeks, the Gov stepped up the campaign by sending letters to
business owners around the state asking them to sign a petition to
lawmakers demanding that the politicians enact Arnold’s workers’ comp
plan or else face a showdown at the ballot box.
The initiative shell game started with Arnold’s Props 57 & 58
campaign — when TV ads told voters that funding for the measures came
largely from "Governor Schwarzenegger�s California Recovery Team," even
though big developers, financiers and other special interests were
actually funding the Recovery Team. Similarly, when the workers’ comp
initiative ads appear, the insurers’ will not be identified.
Arnold, who said at a rally recently that he is not going to be pushed
around by special interests, is unwilling to push back on the insurers
that have given him nearly a half a million. But, at least, he should
stop playing the game of "hide the contributor" that will allow
insurers to fight their war without having to show their face on the
battlefield.
