For decades, public employee unions and crony capitalists faced no resistance when using the CA Legislature to obtain financial and legal privileges at the expense of residents and taxpayers. That started to change in 2011 when we launched GFC. In 2021, we blocked nine bills, including bills to raise taxes and expand collective bargaining rights … Continue reading Flexing Our Political Muscle In 2022 →

When a private equity executive filed papers to run for governor of Illinois in 2013, I wondered if he had done due diligence. That's because Illinois governors can do little without the consent of a majority of legislators whose terms of office, unlike the governor's term of office, are not term-limited. To me, being governor … Continue reading Private Equity Executive Meets Public Reality →

A couple of supporters wrote to ask how this line in a recent WSJ op-ed — “Teachers were the fourth-largest campaign contributors to California’s legislative races in 2020 behind energy, prison guards and healthcare” — fits with our assertion that GFC is the largest bundler of direct donations to legislators and candidates for the legislature. … Continue reading Political Finance →

Explaining what we do in a pithy fashion isn't easy but we got some help last week when a questioner translated my long-winded answer into “Low Cost Collective Action, Persistently Applied.” We like that! As informed GFCers know and many a special interest has demonstrated, political power in Sacramento is less about wealth than organization … Continue reading “Low Cost Collective Action, Persistently Applied” →

Last year, the GFC Network made 1,100 donations averaging $2,000 each to more than 100 members of or candidates for the California Legislature. Do those figures surprise you? They shouldn’t. That's the pattern of donations made by any active special interest union or corporation in Sacramento. Persistent donations broadly distributed are the path to power … Continue reading GFC Is Relentless →

In traditional philanthropy there's likely a correlation between wealth and impact but that’s less the case with political philanthropy where steadfastness is more important. That’s because the path to political change is steep and narrow. To change any of California's 29 codes of law, a legislator must gain the agreement of 61 other legislators, each … Continue reading Potent Political Philanthropy →

Recently a journalist concluded the “California Dream Is Dying.” But another says CA is still the land of opportunity. Another characterizes the state as tilting leftward while another sees it as captured by union and corporate interests. At GFC, we see California as Walt Whitman's words might describe it: “Do I contradict myself?Very well then … Continue reading Summing Up California →

Each of GFC's 18 chapters are chaired by volunteers such as Kathy Hallsten. Co-chair of the Palo Alto chapter, Kathy graduated from Stanford, earned her medical degree from UCSF, and has been practicing medicine in the Bay Area for more than 25 years. Like her fellow chairs, Kathy is involved with GFC because she loves … Continue reading Profile Of A Chapter Chair →

Often we are asked why GFC has regional chapters. The answer is that we admired the political power of the Service Employees International Union so much that we copied it. SEIU knows how to punch its political weight. Like SEIU’s chapters, GFC’s chapters are infantry units that persistently donate to legislators and candidates for the … Continue reading GFC’s Army →