CalPERs and CalSTERs
Pretty glad this guy, and the SEIU, got put in their respective places.
http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/850590.html
"Opposed by the state's two public pension funds and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an assemblyman withdrew a bill Wednesday that would have prevented the funds from investing in private-equity firms partly owned by foreign governments with poor human-rights records.Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, announced he is withdrawing Assembly Bill 1967 for the time being.
"This delay will give us time to properly address some of the concerns that have been raised," he said in a press release.
Officials at the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System had said the bill would have cost them billions of dollars in lost investment opportunities. On Wednesday, the governor announced his opposition in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times.
The bill was sponsored by the powerful Service Employees International Union, and critics said AB 1967 wasn't really about human rights. Rather, they said it was meant to help the SEIU in its struggle to organize employees of a nursing home chain owned by the private-equity firm Carlyle Group."
I really hope that the SEIU realizes that by championing the cause against private equity they directly affect the returns on their own constituents' personal retirement wealth.
Besides, I see very little correlation between how rich or poor a country is and their subsequent stance on human rights.