Crazy people...and PG&E, if you were my provider of ELECTRICITY I'd create my own power company.
Proposition 8 should be PASSED!!
Posted on 08/05/2008 11:20:39 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy
SACRAMENTO - PG&E, the huge utility that serves Northern California, has waded into the controversy over same-sex marriage by donating $250,000 to the campaign against Proposition 8, which would ban same-sex marriage.
The donation was announced Tuesday morning by Equality California, a gay rights group that is opposing the ban, and PG&E officials.
In a news release, Nancy McFadden, vice president for PG&E, said the utility was "proud to join No on 8 and Equality California to protect the freedom to marry for all Californians."
A spokeswoman for Proposition 8, Jennifer Kerns, said she was not surprised.
One month during last winter, our PG&E bill was over $500 FOR ONE MONTH and last month our bill was over $400 FOR ONE MONTH. Now PG&E takes MY family's money and uses it to crap right in my face. This cannot stand.
We are going to have to do something. We cannot let this go by without some activism. I am working on a flyer and perhaps FReepers can download it and we can all distribute it in our local areas this Thursday. There are PG&E offices in most CA cities, right? I know there's a big office bldg here in Fresno.
More to follow . . .
Ping and bump at the same time
I think I forgot to check the excerpt box. Read the entire article here:
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/07/pge_joins_fight_against_propos.html
I’ve no problem with a private person donating money to whatever political cause.
But PG&E is a regulated MONOPOLY. They shouldn’t be donating any money to any election campaigns, even ones directly related to their mission. Any business whose customers have NO CHOICE but to buy from that business, due to government regulation, shouldn’t be permitted to use those customers’ payments for political purposes.
My thoughts exactly.
I just tried to call this Nancy McFadden, VP of PG&E, and of course you cannot get through. They are above all of that. The best you can do is call 1-415-973-8295 PG&E customer relations and leave a message (which I just did). Their corporate offices are:
1 Market Spear Tower, Ste. 2400
San Francisco, CA 94105-1126
And the FAX # is 1-415-267-7268
I am not going to take this lying down.
Watch today from 1 to 2 PST Scott Hawkins discuss this topic on “Internet Radio” http://www.centralvalleytalk.com
I am proud to say that the Knights of Columbus recently donated the same amount ($250,000.00) in SUPPORT of Proposition 8.
Chairman, President, and CEO of PG&E
Peter A. Darbee
Treasurer, Christopher P. (Chris) Johns
Corporate Strategy and Development, Rand L. Rosenberg
Will make the call
Hooray for the Knights of Columbus! They done us proud and I’m sure most of their supporters - if not all - approve.
Here is the letter I just FAX’d to PG&E corporate offices:
Nancy McFadden
Vice President, PG&E
1 Market Spear Tower
Suite 2400
San Francisco, CA 94105-1126
FAX 1-415-267-7268
Dear Ms. McFadden:
I saw your photo yucking it up with your anti Prop 8 friends. You gave $250,000 (a half a million dollars) of MY FAMILY’S hard earned money to defeat a state proposition that I support.
This is spitting right in my face . . . because you can . . . PG&E is a monopoly.
Today, it is very hot here in Fresno, and there are people who cannot afford to run their A/C or swamp coolers or even fans – yet you take our PG&E fees and throw it away on a cause that is an insult to us.
If one more person dies in this heat because they could not afford to pay their PG&E bill, their blood is on your head – you and your arrogant, elitist, anti family friends.
Very sincerely,
Saundra Duffy-Hawkins
cc: Posted all over the Internet
Peter A. Darbee, Chairman, President, and CEO of PG&E
Awesome.
I’ll bet that Michael Savage is on this topic tonight.
Terrific fax, Saundra.
I think the monopoly angle has alot of merit.
Unfortunately, $250,000 is a “quarter-million”, not “half a million”.
"No restriction appears in the articles of PG&E which would limit the authority of its board of directors to act upon initiative or referendum proposals affecting the affairs of the company or to engage in activities related to any other legislative or political matter in which the corporation has a legitimate concern. Furthermore, there are no statutory prohibitions in California which preclude a corporation from participating in any type of political activity. In these circumstances, the contribution by PG&E to Citizens for San Francisco was proper if it can fairly be said to fall within the express or implied powers of the corporation.
"The crux of the controversy at bench, therefore, is whether a contribution toward the defeat of a local ballot proposition can ever be said to be convenient or expedient to the achievement of legitimate corporate purposes. Appellants take the flat position that in the absence of express statutory authority corporate political contributions are illegal. n4 This contention cannot be sustained. We believe that where, as here, the board of directors reasonably concludes that the adoption of a ballot proposition would have a direct, adverse effect upon the business of the corporation, the board of directors has abundant statutory and charter authority to oppose it."
Marsili v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 51 Cal. App. 3d 313, 323-324 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 1975)
I don’t think Saundra is contemplating a minority shareholder derivative lawsuit against the directors of P,G&E (are you Saundra?)
She’s upset with the coersion of having to pay hard earned money to P,G&E, which has a monopoly on her and her families’ power (to stay cool in the Fresno summer heat) meanwhile a portion of that money (a QUARTER of a million dollars) is used to defeat a Proposition she and her family support.
If P,G&E had any competition, Saundra could take her business elsewhere— But they don’t...so she can’t.
A letter campaign and media blitz are very appropriate outlets for her complaints....
Give it to ‘em, Saundra.
Also I read AT&T wrote a check against Prop 8. Thankfully my cellular contract with AT&T is up next month so I will be switching providers.
In this case PG&E is using money it has obtained from customers who violently disagree with the political position that PG&E has decided to take and without their consent is using that money to undermine their customer's political positions.
PG&E is a public utility and as such it is a quasi governmental institution. People are not allowed to pick an choose which electrical company or gas company from which they can buy their electricity and gas. To allow such would be to undermine the whole idea of a utility company.
I'm pinging some legal beagles to see if they have any ideas about how to apply Keller to the situation where a public utility is using money obtained from utility customers to undermine the political beliefs of those customers, especially here where there is no logical linkage between providing utility services and allowing gays and lesbians and God knows what to marry.
I wish Prop 8 supporters the best of luck, and hope that they get the seniors out of the centers and into the voting booths. Low turnout for Obama in Cali (even though he will win the state) could allow it to squeak by.
The ONLY way Cali can ban same sex marriage is via an amendment via Prop 8. Otherwise, it will fall afoul of Cali's anti discrimination law, which is why the last straw poll, er, ballot initiative was thrown out in court.
You can check out Ms. McFadden’s biography at PG&E’s website here:
http://www.pgecorp.com/aboutus/our_team/NEMcFadden.shtml
She’s quite a player for the other team.
***It is REALLY hot in Fresno today and some people may literally DIE because they cannot afford to run their A/C or swamp cooler ...***
You call that hot?
Fresno: 98 degrees, humidity 14%, Heat index 93 degrees.
It feels cooler than it actually is.
NW Arkansas: 97 degrees, humidity 42%, heat index 104 degrees.
I’m melting!
But after seeiing what PG&E is doing with Prop 8 I get even hotter!
Two summers ago, it got to be around 120 (?) degrees and people and animals did die. PG&E stinks anyway you look at it. Thanks for your post.
“Unfortunately, $250,000 is a “quarter-million”, not “half a million”.”
LOL! I noticed it too late. I was so mad when I wrote the letter, I couldn’t see straight. Ha! It might as well be half a million! It hurts the same.
“Nancy McFadden is Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for PG&E Corporation. She is responsible for managing the company’s federal, state and local government relations, and philanthropic and community initiatives, while helping guide its efforts to be a national environmental leader.
“Before joining PG&E, McFadden spent nearly two decades as a key legal, policy, and political strategist in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, most recently as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to Governor Gray Davis.”
Oh, for goodness’ sake! Figures!! Lord have mercy on this state.
Bingo...you are dead on correct.
Public utilities without competition, btw, would seem to indicate a form of "public cost with private profits." This system was used in the economic system of Germany from the late 30's to the late 40's.
Crazy people...and PG&E, if you were my provider of ELECTRICITY I'd create my own power company.
Proposition 8 should be PASSED!!
I agree, it is public costs with private profits and they’re slapping us in the face with it.
Perhaps we should be looking @ what other propositions they are giving their money too. Like Prop 7, the solar and clean energy one, they’ve given over $12 million (48x more than what they donated to Prop 8). They want us to keep depending on their fossil fuels and jacking our rates up, when we have a mojave desert that the Department of Energy says can power the entire state with just an 11 x 11 sq. mi. of solar panels and mirrors. This prop also doesnt ask for any bonds or taxes. Imagine that, a corporation that doesnt have to live off of us with subsidies and make pure profit? Both our Republicans and those dirty dems oppose it cause PG&E money lines their pockets. They’ve picked pocketed us for years, we should hit them back by passing this prop. Aren’t we called to be responsible stewards of God’s earth anyways?
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