Remember, tomorrow is Special Election day, guys! I highly encourage
everyone to get out and vote. If it gives you nothing else, it gives you
the legitimate right to bitch, piss and moan if things go badly in the
next couple of years
If they go well, it also gives you bragging
rights to say you helped change the Status Quo.
The biggies are:
Prop 74: Increases teacher tenure laws from 2 years to 5 years. Teachers
have to establish a track record for good performance before being
guaranteed a job for life, and teachers with 2 years of sequential bad
reviews can be dismissed. This one's important for the kids!
Prop 75: Changes Union rules so that public employee unions must ask
permission from Union employees BEFORE they take money from their checks
for political causes. Under current rules the Union can take the money
without telling you first, and if you choose to opt out you can be
thrown out of the Union, stripped of your Union voting rights and forced
to pay all Union dues PLUS $900 a year--that or lose your job. This one
is very, very simple: Ask permission before you take other people's money.
Prop 76: "Live within our means" act. This one's the one that's been
criticized as a "power grab" by Arnold, and nothing could be further
from the truth. The prop does *not* give the governor carte blanche to
cut spending wherever he pleases. Here is what it DOES do:
1. The legislature is only allowed to spend as much money as the state
expects to bring in in revenue.
2. If spending exceeds projected revenue by 1.5% or more, the Governor
can bring the legislature into session, and they have 45 days to correct
the spending imbalance.
3.If--and ONLY if--the legislature refuses to adjust spending, then the
governor can make spending cuts and adjustments to bring the budget in
line with project revenue. After that, the legislature *still* has the
authority to override the governor with a 2/3rds majority vote.
Prop 77: under current law, the legislature of California draws its own
districts, and the people get no vote and no say in the process. In
effect, the Legislature chooses its voters, guaranteeing their positions
of power. Clearly enough, this situation is *not* an example of
Democracy in action but of Democracy derailed.
Under 77: a panel of 3 retired judges, who cannot be all of the same
party affiliation (2 maximum for any given party), are chosen by the
legislature to draw new legislative districts. They are instructed to
draw these districts with the intention of creating zones of equal
percentages of party affiliations (as close as possible to 50% Democrat
and 50% Republican). All 3 judges MUST agree before the changes are
accepted, and then the new districts are put forth to a vote of *the
people* (that's us! W00t!) for final approval. If the people reject the
new districts, the process starts over and the judges work until *the
people* are satisfied with the changes.
Suffice to say, both Republicans and Democrats are *AGAINST* props 76
and 77, since neither wants to be held accountable to the people. Mostly
Democrats and Unions are against 75 and 74. Both parties are
predominantly allied against *the people*, and both have contributed
millions of dollars to the defeat of these propositions (remember those
commercials crying out that "Liberal judges will pick districts,
Republicans will lose big!" ? That was paid for by the Democratic
National Committee. Funny, isn't it? In kind, numerous flyers are
landing in our mailboxes and have been for weeks--bashing Props 76 and
77--and paid for by Republicans.
Anyway, I won't tell you to choose one way or the other, but IMHO the
choice is obvious: It's the people against the politicians, and while
they want to maintain the Status Quo, *we* need change. Whatever your
choices are, for or against any of the above, I encourage you to get out
and make your voice heard. Democracy only works when the people are
engaged in the process, and unless we use those rights we have, we're
bound to lose them entirely.
Here's hoping for the best, whatever that ends up being!
Jason
everyone to get out and vote. If it gives you nothing else, it gives you
the legitimate right to bitch, piss and moan if things go badly in the
next couple of years
If they go well, it also gives you braggingrights to say you helped change the Status Quo.
The biggies are:
Prop 74: Increases teacher tenure laws from 2 years to 5 years. Teachers
have to establish a track record for good performance before being
guaranteed a job for life, and teachers with 2 years of sequential bad
reviews can be dismissed. This one's important for the kids!
Prop 75: Changes Union rules so that public employee unions must ask
permission from Union employees BEFORE they take money from their checks
for political causes. Under current rules the Union can take the money
without telling you first, and if you choose to opt out you can be
thrown out of the Union, stripped of your Union voting rights and forced
to pay all Union dues PLUS $900 a year--that or lose your job. This one
is very, very simple: Ask permission before you take other people's money.
Prop 76: "Live within our means" act. This one's the one that's been
criticized as a "power grab" by Arnold, and nothing could be further
from the truth. The prop does *not* give the governor carte blanche to
cut spending wherever he pleases. Here is what it DOES do:
1. The legislature is only allowed to spend as much money as the state
expects to bring in in revenue.
2. If spending exceeds projected revenue by 1.5% or more, the Governor
can bring the legislature into session, and they have 45 days to correct
the spending imbalance.
3.If--and ONLY if--the legislature refuses to adjust spending, then the
governor can make spending cuts and adjustments to bring the budget in
line with project revenue. After that, the legislature *still* has the
authority to override the governor with a 2/3rds majority vote.
Prop 77: under current law, the legislature of California draws its own
districts, and the people get no vote and no say in the process. In
effect, the Legislature chooses its voters, guaranteeing their positions
of power. Clearly enough, this situation is *not* an example of
Democracy in action but of Democracy derailed.
Under 77: a panel of 3 retired judges, who cannot be all of the same
party affiliation (2 maximum for any given party), are chosen by the
legislature to draw new legislative districts. They are instructed to
draw these districts with the intention of creating zones of equal
percentages of party affiliations (as close as possible to 50% Democrat
and 50% Republican). All 3 judges MUST agree before the changes are
accepted, and then the new districts are put forth to a vote of *the
people* (that's us! W00t!) for final approval. If the people reject the
new districts, the process starts over and the judges work until *the
people* are satisfied with the changes.
Suffice to say, both Republicans and Democrats are *AGAINST* props 76
and 77, since neither wants to be held accountable to the people. Mostly
Democrats and Unions are against 75 and 74. Both parties are
predominantly allied against *the people*, and both have contributed
millions of dollars to the defeat of these propositions (remember those
commercials crying out that "Liberal judges will pick districts,
Republicans will lose big!" ? That was paid for by the Democratic
National Committee. Funny, isn't it? In kind, numerous flyers are
landing in our mailboxes and have been for weeks--bashing Props 76 and
77--and paid for by Republicans.
Anyway, I won't tell you to choose one way or the other, but IMHO the
choice is obvious: It's the people against the politicians, and while
they want to maintain the Status Quo, *we* need change. Whatever your
choices are, for or against any of the above, I encourage you to get out
and make your voice heard. Democracy only works when the people are
engaged in the process, and unless we use those rights we have, we're
bound to lose them entirely.
Here's hoping for the best, whatever that ends up being!
Jason
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