Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, October 25, 2010 5:56:54 PM
With each passing day, I think more about moving out of California, the state of my birth, where I have lived my entire life, and where I had hoped to live my entire life. Even when we pass a good ballot initiative, it gets subverted by the legislature or judges. And this time, it looks like a good ballot initiative is going to be defeated while a bad one gets passed. Evan Halper
reports in the Los Angeles Times about a poll conducted by the paper with USC.
Despite the struggling economy, most California voters oppose suspending the state's landmark global warming law, which would place strict new environmental regulations on business, a new Los Angeles Times/ USC poll shows.
Proposition 23, which would put the new emissions standards on hold, is trailing 48% to 32% among likely voters, according to the survey.
Without Prop 23, gasoline is probably going to go up to about $9 a gallon and a million jobs are going to be lost in a state that already has unemployment over 12%, not counting those who have given up or are underemployed. Prop 23 would suspend things like certain regulations on CO2 (which we naturally exhale), until employment falls below 5.5% for a year. Prop 23 is needed because of California's draconian nanny-state AB 32.
The poll found that 58% of likely voters support Proposition 25, which would replace the constitutional requirement that the state budget be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature with a simple majority vote requirement. Such a change would allow Democrats to pass a budget without any GOP votes under the current makeup of the Legislature.
Since Proposition 13 was passed, the tax-addicts have been looking for ways to subvert it, and this will help to give them their fix. California already has too many taxes and too high taxes, but things are going to get worse if Prop 25 passes.
It is important to note that Prop 13 is what kept Jerry Brown from doing even more damage as Governor, so if Prop 25 passes and Brown is elected Governor, it will be a double whammy.
Tobias Martinez of Riverside, a 45-year-old truck driver, is among the voters troubled by oil company involvement in [Prop 23]. "When you see that they are funding it, it begins to look like this is something just to benefit them," said Martinez, who is registered "decline to state." "They want to be able to produce more pollutants.... It doesn't make sense that stopping the improvement of air quality would create jobs."
It isn’t about air quality. It is about limiting things like CO2, which is something we all exhale naturally, in a vain attempt by a single state to fight "global warming". The regulations will restrict businesses in such a way that they will have to either spend more money on something other than providing a product or service, close down, or move out of state.
The proposal to change the legislative vote threshold needed to pass a budget, meanwhile, would dramatically alter the political dynamic in Sacramento. Proposition 25 is pitched by supporters as a means to end Sacramento's notorious budget gridlock. In their advertisements, supporters also have stressed that the measure would dock lawmakers' pay if a budget was not passed on time.
Voters are fools to fall for that meager carrot.
The measure would leave in place a two-thirds vote requirement for broad tax hikes.
Right. We’ll see how that actually works out.
Edgar Duran of Fontana is tired of the status quo. "Those guys can never agree on anything in Sacramento," said the 49-year-old, who is unemployed and registered "decline to state." "I am tired of watching them play games and waiting to see who makes the first move. Getting to two-thirds never happens."
It happens EVERY YEAR! We get a budget EVERY YEAR. We don't need to change the 2/3rds requirement. What we need to do is have two-year budgets and switch to a part-time legislature.
Recommendations:
Proposition 20 - VOTE YES
Proposition 21 - VOTE NO
Proposition 22 - VOTE YES
Proposition 23 - VOTE YES
Proposition 24 - VOTE NO
Proposition 25 - VOTE NO
Proposition 26 - VOTE YES
Proposition 27 - VOTE NO