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

Tue Mar 18 12:56:05 PDT 2008

http://no98yes99.com/

Rita Goldberger wrote:
> Hi Eric,
>  
> Thanks for sending this around.  We need to hang on
> to this for our campaign.  Is there going to be a
> website for the "good" initiative?  If so, this should be
> place prominently on it.
>  
> Rita Goldberger
>
> */Eric Brooks <brookse32 at aim.com>/* wrote:
>
>     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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-- 
"I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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