The full story behind the fight to Stop Arnold

Healthcare corporations have never had a friend like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. As a result -- they're both in trouble.
 
Governor Schwarzenegger's taken their money and done whatever favors they asked. On every issue, from affordable prescriptions drugs to the number of registered nurses per hospital patient, the Governor has dutifully protected the wealth of his corporate donors at the expense of California patients. 
 
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed bills to expand access to prescription drugs, expand crucial patient safety protections in hospitals, and make it easier for mothers to purchase pre-natal and maternity insurance coverage. His payback? Millions of dollars in corporate donations and other support for his candidacy. It's a good investment for them, as his corporate healthcare donors continue to make a killing in the market.

They are hoping to profit even more from California healthcare this November, when Schwarzenegger's special election will include two measures close to their "hearts" -- one to give Schwarzenegger the power to unilaterally slash healthcare spending in the budget, another to stifle the voices of Registered Nurses in political debates. All part of their long-term agenda of turning California into a "bleeding red" state like Florida and Texas.
 
The good news is -- people are realizing that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's gone too far. Way too far.
 
It all began when his corporate hospital friends urged him to take on California's nurses. First the Governor tried to gut the state's cutting-edge law that guaranteed a safe ratio of RNs to patients in hospitals and emergency rooms -- all to boost corporate healthcare profits. To top it off, he publicly labeled RNs a "special interest" and bragged that he was "kicking their butts."
 
Governor Schwarzenegger's pro-corporate policies and insulting comments sparked a coalition of caregivers and patients to fight back. We were sick of a healthcare system that didn't care about the patients it is supposed to serve. Our coalition fought back to protect California's safe-ratio law to protect patients in hospitals and emergency rooms. And that's not all...

Within weeks of Schwarzenegger's comments, 6,000 RNs from up and down the state gathered outside the State Capitol proclaiming, "patients are MY special interest." The California Nurses Association ran television, radio, billboard and print ads demanding that the Governor put the interest of California patients ahead the profits of his corporate healthcare donors. Registered Nurses from many states put on their scrubs and traveled to his fundraising events across the country, asking the donors to stand up for nurses and their patients. Our crusade made news in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, ABC, FOX News, Newsweek and every single media outlet in the state of California. We were eventually joined by teachers, firefighters, parents, students, patients, and the working-class men and women who had born the brunt of Governor Schwarzenegger's attacks.

Have a look at what other groups are saying and doing to Stop Arnold: California Teachers Association (www.cta.org); ArnoldWatch (www.arnoldwatch.org); and Governor Girlie Man (www.GovernorGirlieman.com). 

Spread the word
The more people hear about Governor Schwarzenegger and his unscrupulous corporate drug and healthcare fundraising the more they're turning away from him. The more they hear about his attacks on nurses the more they're turning away from him. And the more they hear about him putting profits before patients the more they're turning away from him. We need your help to spread the word.

Take action
As registered nurses we consider it our duty to advocate for our patients, both at the bedside and in the public arena. Governor Schwarzenegger has unlimited corporate funding and worldwide celebrity. It's time to Stop Arnold and his attacks on the most vulnerable and neediest among us. Take action today, and review the companies on the right to see if your medicine cabinet is financing attacks on you...

Learn more
You can read Governor Schwarzenegger's full public health record and learn more about the California Nurses Association's commitment to fighting for public health for all people, here.