California Governor's record of blocking health care reform criticized

In the USA, California nurses and other labor groups have sharply criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for a health care summit on July 24 at the University of California Los Angeles as an election year ploy that belies a blocking of genuine health care reform.

"Arnold Schwarzenegger has opposed every health care reform he's seen," said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation. "I find it hard to believe he's had a change of heart three months before the election. The governor has even failed on his own promise to expand health coverage for children," Mr Pulaski noted.

California Nurses Association Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro accused Gov Schwarzenegger of "rhetorical pandering while offering empty solutions that abandon millions of Californians."