Well, Californians, your past is coming back to haunt you.  In 1978 you got caught up in the fervor of the Howard Jarvis anti-tax movement and passed Proposition 13, and turned on its head how the state and local governments get their revenue. 

The result has been an economy tied almost solely to fluctuating personal and business incomes.  Now we have under funded schools, crumbling infrastructure, rollercoaster funding of consumer services, etc. The Proposition process also brought with it what is and has been plaguing California's budget process for the last 10+ years; the new budget and any new revenues also require a supermajority (two-thirds) to pass.

Fast forward:  In 1990, you jumped on the "throw the bums out" bandwagon and voted for term limits on the California Legislature.  The result?  A state legislature full of miscreants and idiots who for the most part know nothing about running a state government and everything about fundraising and placating the special interests they have raised the funds from. 

So we get wonderful little goodies like Pete Wilson's energy deregulation (also known as energy company executive profit enhancement), consumer privacy law derailment (finally passed and signed into law as of this writing), out of control workmen's comp insurance etc etc etc.

I Don't Recall…

And now, for something completely different, a small group of GOP anti-government crusaders and one wannabe Governor millionaire have brought forth the biggest affront to representative government since…well, since the Presidential "election" of 2000.

WE THE PEOPLE love to find fault, at least with others, and there was a sitting duck entrenched in Sacramento by the name of Gray Davis.  So, 1000 or so paid signature gatherers fanned out across the Republican strongholds of the state to gather the needed signatures to put the question on the ballot.  Once again an old law that was meant to do good, regaining control of the state back from the railroad robber barons at the turn of the twentieth century, has been twisted into a partisan pile of poop.

They were aided and abetted by the headline hungry media who fanned the flames whenever the original drive started to die a natural and just death.  This brought the moneyman out of the woodwork, GOP Representative Darryl Issa; perpetual candidate for Governor, car alarm millionaire, car thief.  Of course, once he pumped in the money, the State GOP usurped the cause and gave Issa the not-so-gentle boot.

"But why??"

In the interest of full disclosure it should be known that, like the majority of Californians, I am not a fan of Gray Davis.  I find him surly, slimy and a politician's politician in the pocket of too many special interests, but that could describe any politician these days.  I also don't really think he is much of a Democrat.  Gray Davis belongs to the Gray Davis party.  In fact, I can honestly say I have held my nose as I voted for him twice for Governor.

However, the reason given to recall him is near slanderous.  Davis had very little to do with the problems this state and 49 others are now facing.  Economically, in fact, if any finger pointing is needed, we can point it eastward toward Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capitol chambers.  The facts are, or at least should be, too well known.  The Dot.Coms bombed, Bush cut his friends' taxes, but not yours or mine and Enron and the rest of the energy companies gouged us illegally.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, under the thumb of the Bush Administration did nothing even when they ruled that the energy companies did in fact gouge us.

As far as the budget goes, we must admit and fix our mistakes of the past.  Discard the supermajority and eliminate the artificial term limits.  (We actually already have term limits.  It's called voting.)  The result will be on-time balanced budgets.

Schools?  If you want better schools there is only one answer, money!  Politicians have used the "our schools have gone from the top to the bottom" line too much and too long without addressing the reason why.  You get what you pay for and we haven't paid our way for many, many years.  Instead we mandate stupid tests, hire more administrators, hire incompetent teachers (it's all we can afford), and, the worst of it, blame the teachers instead of holding the students accountable to learn. ("But it's easier that way!")

Far be it from me to tell you how to vote.  Just vote.  It's time to get off our apathetic butts and put pen to punch card ballot (watch out for those chads).  Let your voice and opinion be known in the voting booth instead of sound bites on the news or opining in the opinion polls.

Despite the endless dither from folk running for the office, this government is yours.  You make it, you run it…but only when you vote.

Fini
 

Tracy