Campaigners continue to lie

Just in case you thought things were going to change . . . ahem, "Back when Jerry Brown was governor nearly 35 years ago, in his first day in office, he gave public service unions the right to collective bargaining," Governor Candidate Whitman said. "Then a number of years later, his chief of staff, Gray Davis, who became governor, actually gave away the store to the public service unions."

Brown did not actually give collective bargaining rights to state workers on his first day in 1975, her campaign later acknowledged. Her comment apparently referred to a statement Brown made that was supportive of such benefits.

"Once again, Whitman has her facts wrong," said Brown's campaign spokesman, Sterling Clifford. Clifford noted that collective bargaining measures were approved in 1976, 1978 and 1979, covering different workers.