Tomorrow’s Election

Well, tomorrow’s the big day. For what it’s worth, here’s a few thoughts on the the four questions on tomorrow’s ballot :

Proposition 53 :

This is the one that mandates that the state must spend 3% of the budget on infrastructure improvements. To be honest, I haven’t given this one any thought at all. On the one hand, infrastructure improvements tend to fall to the wayside. In that respect, this is a good idea. On the other hand, having spending caps without providing a way to raise the money needed seems like it could be a bad idea, especially in a fiscal crisis when we may need to spend a little less on infrastructure in order to meet other spending priorities. I voted against it, but I really don’t have a strong opinion on it either way.

Proposition 54 :

The OC Register referred to this measure as “Ward Connerly’s noble effort to restrict the collection by government of non-essential racial and ethnic data [which] would help bring multi-cultural California beyond the politics of race and ethnicity”. Well, that’s one way to put it. A better way would be to call it one of the most ignorant measures to ever appear on a ballot. Proponents of Prop. 54 like to accuse their opponents of trying to “fight racism with racism”, but they don’t get it. The fact is, racial disparities exist. If this measure passes, these disparities will be impossible to verify and track. The people behind this obviously have good intentions, but to pretend that this will help us move toward “a colorblind society” is like saying that the only way to cure breast cancer is to outlaw mammograms.

“The Recall”

I’m obviously opposed to this measure. At the very heart of this entire election is a rich dickhead who spent millions of dollars to pay people to collect signatures in order to get a “do-over” for last year’s election. That’s not democracy in action, that’s democracy for sale. This is a shameful moment in California’s history and anyone who pretends otherwise is fooling themselves. This whole incident is indicative of the GOP’s ruthless attacks on the senate process over the last 10 years. Bill Maher had it right when he said “Republicans are willing to do just about anything to win elections short of getting more votes.”

Complaining about how we got here isn’t really going to do any good though. There are plenty of good reasons to oppose this recall on its merits. History will show that Gray Davis (as slimy as he is) has gotten a bum rap. Sure, he hasn’t done a great job by any means, but there have been three factors that have made the national economic problems (which have hurt every state economy) hit California especially hard.

  • The California energy crisis drained billions of dollars out of our state. Gray Davis was warning us about this back in 2000. The Republicans were blaming the people of California. The last few years have shown that we were robbed by the friends of our president, yet we still haven’t received a dime in return.
  • The bursting of the tech bubble hit California much harder than other states. Silicon Valley was the home of many of the dotcoms and venture capital firms that defined the late 90′s business climate. Once they realized the people didn’t want to buy everything online, our state started hemorrhaging jobs like a Vegas magician bitten in the neck by a tiger.
  • Homeland security costs going to the states. For almost two years, governors have been begging the federal government for financial help. With state governments completely broke, paying for increased domestic security has forced many states to cut social spending. As the Republican Governor of Arkansas said “If you put extra personnel on bridges, you’re taking money from public schools or telling scholarship students they can’t go to college or taking medicine from elderly people. We’re beyond the point of inconveniencing people. We’re close to hurting them.” And that’s how bad it is in Arkansas. In California, we’ve got it worse than just about any other state (expect New York). Not only do we have two major cities to protect, but we’ve also got a porous international border, and the longest coastline of any state.

    “The Replacement Governor”

    Now it would be easy for me to just say “Don’t vote for the Hitler-loving rapist”, but there are more substantial reasons why Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t deserve your vote. He’s a vanity candidate who’s a complete blank slate. If I was in a position to talk someone out of voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger, I’d imagine it would go something like this :

    ME : What is Arnold going to do if he’s elected?

    Arnold Supporter : The first thing he’s going to do is get rid of the car tax.

    ME : Well, yeah. That’s what every candidate, including Bustamante, has promised to do. What’s he planning to do after that?

    AS : He’s going to clean up Sacramento.

    ME : Huh? Is he running for Governor or janitor? What is he going to do??

    AS : Well, he’s going to end the era of partisan politics and restore leadership for California.

    ME : How is he going to “restore leadership”? Are you trying to imply that Gray Davis wasn’t in charge? What the hell does that mean?

    AS : It means that he wants to lead a movement for change and give California back its future.

    ME : I understand that, but what does he want to change??

    AS : The politicians are not doing their job. We need to put the needs of children first.

    Blah, blah blah. I think you get my point. Arnold’s entire campaign is just a bunch of empty, feel-good rhetoric that means nothing. I voted for Bustmante, because I wanted to support the liberal candidate who has the best chance of beating Schwarzenegger. In a perfect world, this election would be down to the choice between McClintock and Camejo, since those are the two candidates that (in my opinion) best represent the views of the left and the right. Okay, strike that. In a real perfect world, we wouldn’t have to go through all this recall bullshit in the first place.


    • posted by greg on October 6, 2003 @ 12:03 pm

    3 comments

    1. We all know, though, that the chief executive gets the blame and the credit for what happens on their watch. Our current President gets the blame for a recession that started before he was President, and that’s fine. We all know it’s part and parcel of being the big boss. But let me ask you, if you had the power to attempt to recall George Bush right now… would you attempt it?

      Comment by Earnest — October 7, 2003 @ 8:03 am

    2. Jeez, I wish my problems with George Bush were only with the economy. Gray Davis may have mismanaged the economy, but it wasn’t to give billions to the rich. Gray Davis also hasn’t gutted environmental regulations, short-changed homeland security, pissed off the rest of the world, or stolen any elections.

      Comment by greg — October 7, 2003 @ 8:59 am

    3. Well, given all that would you recall the President? It’s not the recall that I dislike but the system that makes it possible. The people really have too much power in California. Of course, that may be better than being absolutely impotent like New Yorkers who are at the bottom of a political process so convoluted, it’s amazing that anyone knows which office to run for.

      Comment by Earnest — October 7, 2003 @ 10:42 am

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