[Sustain] Pro Prop 98 Leader's Bush Style War Rhetoric Against Tenants

[Eric Brooks]

Just found this in Beyond Chron. Apparently we are at war...

http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/_Yes_on_98_Group_Insults_Tenants_Calls_Elected_Officials_Terrorists__5480.html


    "Yes on 98" Group Insults Tenants; Calls Elected Officials "Terrorists"

/by Paul Hogarth, 2008-03-18/

To learn about Proposition 98's agenda, look no further than Dan Faller, 
President and Founder of the American Owner's Association (AOA) -- the 
largest landlord group in California. In a nine-page essay published in 
the association's magazine, Faller complains heatedly about rent 
control, calls pro-tenant elected officials "terrorists" and "suicide 
bombers," compares the effort to pass Prop 98 with World War II, says 
that renters "choose not to provide for themselves," and -- with 
rhetoric that channels George Bush -- tells landlords: "you are either 
for us or against us in this fight for your freedom and property 
rights." We cannot dismiss Faller as just another right-wing kook, for 
his organization has already contributed $325,000 to the "Yes on 98" 
cause -- and the AOA has plans to raise even more money in the coming 
weeks. And with voter turnout in June expected to be very low, Faller's 
fringe beliefs might actually become public policy in California -- if 
we don't act now.

While proponents want voters to think it's about eminent domain reform, 
Prop 98 is the most dangerous right-wing initiative to hit the 
California ballot in years. It would abolish rent control, gut the most 
basic tenant protections, repeal sensible environmental laws and 
endanger public water projects. Another measure, Proposition 99, would 
reform eminent domain -- which Faller opposes because it would "only 
protect owner-occupied homes." In other words, the Prop 98 forces don't 
really care about the middle-class homeowner who fears eminent domain. 
They just want to repeal all regulations of private property.

In the post-9/11 world, calling someone a "terrorist" is a serious 
accusation -- but Faller refers to pro-tenant elected officials who 
oppose Prop 98 as "terrorists" or "suicide bombers" at least seven 
times. "The bombs and explosives they are throwing at us," he writes, 
"are rent control, eminent domain, inspection laws, building codes, 
requiring 60-day notices so tenants can steal more time from you, 
eviction laws that allow tenants to live rent-free for several months, 
relocation fees, inclusionary zoning that drives up the price of housing 
so they have another excuse to justify even more laws. These elected 
officials are dangerous."

Urging his fellow landlords to fight this "war" on the "terrorists," 
Faller says the solution is to hit them with the "big bomb": Proposition 
98, which would invalidate all these existing laws and then some. "Help 
to permanently take away their weapons that allow unfair eminent domain 
and rent control," he writes before asking for campaign contributions. 
"This is certainly one war that we all believe in and can hold our heads 
high as we fight to win! You are either for us or against us in this 
fight for your freedom and property rights."

According to a Field Poll conducted in December, George Bush has a 28% 
approval rating 
<http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2255.pdf> in 
California -- with 64% who disapprove. Yet, one of the top supporters of 
Prop 98 is using exactly the same rhetoric as our Commander in Chief to 
deride his opponents. If voters in June are educated about who's behind 
this initiative, they will defeat it.

But it's not just the "terrorist" politicians that Faller has a bone to 
pick with. He demeans people who can't afford to buy California real 
estate as lazy and ineffectual. As he urges landlords to "join this war" 
to pass Prop 98, Faller says "you've worked hard providing housing for 
others who chose not to provide for themselves ... You gave up a lot of 
weekends to make it possible -- something others were not willing to 
do." Apparently, it's okay to berate the state's 14 million tenants 
because they "obviously" did not work hard enough to buy property 
themselves. Hyperbole is one thing; personal insults are quite another.

Does the fight over Prop 98 match the battle against Nazis and fascists 
in World War II? Dan Faller seems to think that it does. Recalling his 
childhood memories in Los Angeles when he feared that "the enemy was 
going to land their troops in Long Beach and along our coast," the AOA 
President puts the fight to pass Prop 98 on a similar plane. "There were 
big signs and advertisements that read 'Uncle Sam Needs You!' during 
WWII," he writes. "There's a big AOA sign today that says 'Freedom 
Loving Americans Need You!' We need your support to win this War to 
protect your property rights!"

It would be easy to laugh at these outlandish statements if Dan Faller 
was just your crazy uncle who makes offensive jokes that amuse only 
himself. But he's the President and Founder of the American Owners 
Association -- a national trade association of landlords that boasts 
more members in California than any other group. Faller is on the Board 
of Biopharma <http://www.biopharmasci.com/about/board.asp>, the owner of 
a commercial brokerage firm, and used to be a Wall Street broker. The 
AOA's monthly newsletter -- which printed his "Yes on 98" screed -- is 
the most widely read landlord publication in the country.

Under Faller's watch, the AOA has provided crucial seed money for Prop 
98 to get on the ballot -- and they're now aggressively fundraising to 
get it passed. The group has already put $325,000 towards the effort -- 
and Faller has urged members to give even more. "Donate at least $1,000 
with an additional minimum of $50 for every unit if you own over twenty 
apartments," he wrote. "If you own less than 20 units, please donate the 
$1,000 minimum. If you own more, step up and invest according to all the 
benefits you'll enjoy as a result of winning this campaign."

With such a fundraising appeal, the "Yes on 98" campaign should have 
plenty of funds to hoodwink voters into thinking that their extreme 
ballot measure is about eminent domain. Opponents of Prop 98 must be 
vigilant, fundraise and get out the message to expose it as the Hidden 
Agendas Scheme that it really is. Only by doing so can we truly save 
such essential programs in California that 14 million renters rely on to 
live here. And with the June ballot garnering such low attention, 
there's a serious chance that we could lose.

Was Faller joking when he called pro-tenant elected officials "suicide 
bombers," accused tenants of being lazy, and compared the fight to pass 
Prop 98 with fighting the Axis powers in World War II? Apparently not. 
"Please take every word of this article more seriously," he wrote in the 
preface, "than any other article you have ever read in this 
publication." That should give us all pause about how dangerous Prop 98 
really is ...

-- 
"I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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