Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Biting Back: Whitman's Nannygate

on the estate (did she fire the dog walker?)

Does it surprise anyone that Whitman would have undocumented workers toiling for lousy pay on her estate in Atherton?   Long before she was Candidate Whitman, she was citizen Whitman, and a busy one at that.  It would be a rare thing in that zip code for a household to not have undocumented (and documented) workers toiling away as housekeepers, nannies or yard help.

A little perspective might help since Silly Silicon Valley is a slightly different colored bubble than the rest of the universe.  The average (bell curve average) income in that zip code tops $240,000.   The average (!) home price is $3.92M.   When you think of Atherton, think of CEO-ville, Venture Capital-cove, and old wealth.  Atherton is an enclave nearby Stanford University that is well protected from peering eyeballs by high stone walls, huge foliage and lots of private security.  Nannies and housekeepers drive a Range Rover kept for that purpose. 

There are a ton of workers, documented and not toiling away in Atherton providing everything from housekeeping to mow, blow and go (that would lawn service) to shopping and nanny services.  And just because that zip code is supremely wealthy, it does not mean they pay the best wages either. 

If any papers were traded, and if (a big if) Ms. Whitman was paying payroll taxes including social security for this person, she would have known very early on that those papers were fake.  Even though we all know the IRS is slow, after half a decade you'd think they'd say something about it.  But nine years?  A more common practice is that the housekeeper, along with other household help were paid regularly with a check or cash - straight up for the hours without any payroll taxes removed.

If, as has been stated by the Whitman campaign, that the housekeeper came from an agency, then most agencies or companies that provide housekeeping services require that you pay the agency and not the individual.  The agency or company pays the employees directly.  If Whitman were to have gotten an employee from an agency, most provide extensive background checks and bonding, especially if they are sending employees to homes of very wealthy people (hello: security).  Something just does not add up.

There is truth to this matter somewhere in the facts presented by both sides, and undoubtedly it is rather simple.  However, the claims by the Whitman campaign so far are not making much sense.  But then again, having Gloria Allard as your mouthpiece tends to make things a little more sensational than they are.

It would, however, be surprising if Whitman had NOT employed anyone who had questionable immigration status as a worker in her home at some point in time.  The problem is more on the end where citizen Whitman became Candidate Whitman without a thought to how her past might factor into a public service job. 

All along Whitman has seen the CA Governorship as an extension of being a corporate CEO and still has no idea that past practices matter - like a voting record, or hiring household help.   It would be fair to say that Meg Whitman's housekeeper-gate will not be the only problem in her past that comes back to bite.

In fact, taken together, the growing list speaks to that attitude of arrogance: Goldman Sachs, her lack of understanding basic civics and the CA Constitution, the old absent voting record, and her waffling on immigration and green, and now housekeeper/nanny-gate.

Meg Whitman doesn't even understand immigration - she has waffled continually on immigration status and immigration reform from the beginning.  From the Daily Kos on the 9/28 Brown-Whitman debate:

"Whitman Says She Is Unfamiliar With Illegal Immigration Terminology
[Whitman] has struggled to explain her past and current positions on the issue. She said...her lack of familiarity with the issue and her newness to politics had caused the misunderstanding. ‘When you’re new to politics, sometimes you use words that have like a meaning to people who have been in politics for 20 years,’ she explained." [The Washington Post, 5/31/10]"

Housekeeper-gate will ebb into the news abyss as have the other issues, but in the end the combination of all these troubling factors might be the difference between Meg being just Candidate Whitman rather than Governor Whitman come November 2.

One can hope that voters are paying close attention.


Sunday, September 26, 2010

Meg Whitman's Unfortunate Editorial Board Adventure: Fresno v. Detroit

Really?  Detroit is in Michigan?  Not Louisiana? (AP)
Meg Whitman stuck her fashionable, yet practical stiletto (ok, pump) in her mouth yet again.  This week she compared the economic plight of Fresno to Detroit.  That's right.  Fresno, where they grow almonds and make lots of raisins is what she compared to Detroit, that bigger city on a Great Lake where they pretty much grow shipyards, auto plants, and Motown, once upon a time.
 
And how did Candidate Whitman lose her shoe this time?  Through a time honored tradition, candidates meet with various newspaper editorial boards for interviews as the election nears.  Editorial boards then sum up the meeting and give a thumbs up or down to the candidate.

Candidate Whitman's editorial adventure with the San Jose Merc did not go well.   Meeting with the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury News she began the conversation saying that Fresno was as awful as Detroit.  Really?

When asked to clarify, Candidate Whitman shoveled a little deeper.

"Fresno looks worse than Detroit. It's awful." She acknowledged it didn't go over well, and explained, "I made a comparison between Fresno and Detroit. It wasn't all that well received but what I was trying to say, what I meant to say, what was absolutely imbedded in those remarks is that it is not acceptable Detroit has a lower unemployment rate than Fresno."



But let's add a little logic to that simplistic comparison of "awful" made by Whitman.  Numbers are not always equally significant.   Fresno has a population of about 500K while Detroit's numbers are approaching 1M.  That 15% unemployment in Fresno and 14% unemployment in Detroit actually makes the automobile city's suffering much more "awful" (using the  Whitman awful-scale) based on real numbers of people out of work.  And a bright 5th grader might know that each city's various industries are not similar, the unemployed worker profiles are vastly different, and the overall recovery patterns would not be nearly the same. 

And just for fun, let’s help out Candidate Whitman with a few more relevant facts.

Fresno is steeped in California history as part of the gold rush and early railroad industry. But since it is in central valley, on the edge of the mountains, it also still serves as a great farming and orchard community; cotton, grapes, almonds and more are grown around Fresno.  Fresno is the world capital for raisins. About 60% of the world’s raisins are grown there and provide the majority of raisins sold in the United States. The largest employer in Fresno? The IRS.

Detroit?  It began as a flour milling town and moved into copper (you know, like gold only copper). And then there were the shipyards and ship repair, being not landlocked like that other city, Fresno. A big machine industry town, Detroit evolved into something we all think about when we think of Detroit; Motown and Gladys Knight.  Oh, and automobiles, too, as in General Motors and Henry Ford.

So much alike are these two cities, it is hard to tell where one begins and the other one ends.

While campaigning in the city of Fresno, Whitman was accompanied by Bobby Jindal, whom she calls a role model.  That would Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Rhodes Scholar and exorcist, who thinks creationism is great science; accompanying would-be CA Governor Meg Whitman, a Harvard Business School graduate who only began voting in 2002 and was the boss of Mr. Potato Head for a number of years. 

Is Meg Whitman smarter than a 5th grader?  You decide.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

11 Angry Men and One Citizen Whitman: Jury Duty Calling?

meg-whitman-and-the-boys
three angry men, one meg whitman and not one good excuse

Oh the conundrum.  This week, my husband, only a few short weeks into a new job was called to Federal Court for jury duty.  So far, he has yet to be required to report in person and has just a couple more days to call in.  With some luck and an approaching Federal holiday weekend, he may just not have to tell his new employer he will be away from the job.

But some other people called for jury duty this week are not facing the same good luck.  For instance, Meg Whitman.  Candidate Whitman who lives in Atherton, CA (look up the zip code, and average income and prepare to choke on your coffee) was called for service in the county in which she resides, Redwood City Courthouse in San Mateo.   Apparently, Candidate Whitman's handlers could not think of one way to get her out of that conundrum given that the election is about to heat up for that final stretch.   Hint: we hear that a Doctor's note works, but not so much a note from John McCain, Dick Cheney, or Michael Steele (especially not Steele).  

Monday, among the jurors called in was Citizen Meg.  When the judge asked if anyone had anything interfering with their ability to serve she raised her hand and responded with: I am running for Governor.  Note to Meg:  I find telling the Judge you have recurring migraines, or hate child molesters, or have a bias, or even urinary incontinence generally resounds better than “I’m running for Governor”.

Guess what?  The Judge was not impressed.  Citizen Whitman is back in court and being considered as a juror for a molestation trial.  It should take about a month they say.   Her campaign thinks she would be excused because of her busy busy schedule with the campaign.  

The trial Judge?  A democrat appointed by Gray Davis, ex-Governor - actually recalled (like the eggs) Governor Gray Davis.

California - where things that seem ridiculously boring (like the campaign) never are when you add a zip like  90210 94027 to the mix.  Oh, and the fact that Candidate and Citizen Whitman might be under the impression that she is shoe-in as Governor Whitman (who gets to appoint judges) based on those unreliable early polls – and just a tad too big a citizen for jury duty.

Maybe her friend, Mr. Potato Head can email her an infomercial on civics.  Again.