Anybody voting in CA election tomorrow?

Thursday, May 21, 2009
How Wannabe Govs Stand on State Constitution Do-Over

Meg Whitman embraced the call for a constitutional convention by an influential business group Wednesday, while Republican gubernatorial rival Steve Poizner scoffed at the idea as “one more excuse” for Sacramento politicians.

Democratic front-runner Jerry Brown gave the convention call the old paddle-on-the-right, paddle-on-the-left treatment, while S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom gussied up his longtime support for the idea with a brand new branding message. And L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, more focused on licking his wounds from a stinging surrogate election defeat, gave the world’s shortest answer when asked for his take on the constitutional remodel.

One day after California voters (well, about a quarter of them who bothered to participate) delivered a deafening roar of disapproval to Capitol electeds by overwhelmingly rejecting a propositional package of alleged budget reforms, the political atmosphere crackled with the lexicon of political change, as vows to “overhaul” and “restructure” a “failed system” and a “broken government” echoed throughout the state.

“If ever there was a tipping point in history, this is it,” Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman told a Sacramento news conference, apparently figuring that if ever there was a day for rhetorical excess, this was it.

“It’s an idea that ought to be considered, given the crisis and dead end that the state finds itself in,” the general added. “We need some kind of catalyst for change, that’s for sure.”

Full article:

http://calbuzzer.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-wannabe-govs-stand...

I went to my city hall on my lunch hour to file a records request. On the Clerk's counter was a stack of copies of the local paper with the masthead and a headline: Schwarzenegger Makes Case For Ballot Propositions in Culver Roundtable - Day of Decision is Tuesday."

Below the fold was a transcript of the Governator's plea to support 1A. The Culver City Observer also contained a letter to the editor supporting 1A in the Letters section inside.

Does anybody know if it is legal for a city government to use the public counter to prominently display a newspaper for the apparent purpose of swaying voters? This is a weekly paper, and it was probably on the counter all week prior to the vote.

IMissLiberty

Libertarian Party of California Says the Failure of Propositions 1A Through 1E Signals Need for Real Budget Reform
To erase the deficit, the California Legislature must address its addiction to spending

PANORAMA CITY, CA — The Libertarian Party of California (LPC) applauds the defeat of ballot propositions 1A through 1E, and notes that to eliminate the perennial budget deficit, the state legislature must confront its addiction to spending.

"The Libertarian Party of California couldn't be more pleased that voters soundly rejected the proposed tax increase and phony budget solutions offered by Props. 1A through 1E," said Kevin Takenaga, the chair of the LPC. "These propositions, which were crafted in a backroom deal with no public input, offered phony solutions to real problems.

"The legislature has no choice now but to confront its addiction to spending. And the Libertarian Party of California has offered, and will continue to offer and support, policy suggestions that could save billions of dollars dedicated to wasteful and inefficient programs."

Government demonstrates every day that increased spending doesn't guarantee quality service. For example, test scores for students in government-funded schools are lower, on average, than for students who attend private schools, which spend less per capita than its public counterparts. In "The Money Myth: School Resources, Outcomes, and Equity," author and University of California professor W. Norton Grubb cites studies that find only a weak relationship between public school funding and educational outcomes.

Moreover, adjusting state employees' pay and benefits to average that of workers in private industry could save the state up to $40,000 per position and would go a long way towards eliminating the current budget deficit. The state budget could be further cut by reviewing each state department, division, bureau, board, and commission to determine whether the taxpayer-funded government service should be discontinued, merged with other departments, or charge user fees to cover its budget, or whether the service should be competitively bid out at less cost to taxpayers. Many such options were already offered by the California Performance Review Commission.

The legislature and governor can also find savings by rethinking its current punitive taxes on wages, enterprise, the sale of goods, and the value of buildings, and replacing them with voluntary user fees, pollution charges, and taxes on the land value generated by governmental public goods.

Spending relief could also come as a result of decriminalizing recreational drugs. Billions of dollars could be saved by eliminating enforcement of drug laws, including the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders.

"Libertarians don't just complain, but offer real solutions," Takenaga said. "Our sound advice is a far cry from the shell games, phony spending caps, and budget gimmicks that the Democrats and Republicans have tried for years to offer as budget reform. If they have proven anything, it's that their ideas don't work. It's time for a fresh approach. Libertarians believe in freedom and limited government, but we want the government we have to work efficiently and effectively. Unfortunately, that is a novel concept for the career politicians who control Sacramento, but it's one we hope voters will embrace as a real solution for California."

About the Libertarian Party of California

The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. The Libertarian Party of California fields candidates at the local, state, and federal level each election cycle. It also publishes the weekly Libertarian Perspective, an op-ed column authored by writers who strongly believe in freedom and individual liberty. Libertarians are socially tolerant and fiscally responsible, believe in personal freedom in both social and economic spheres, and in government small enough to protect those freedoms. For more information, visit www.ca.lp.org.

Press release from the Libertarian Party of California

you should always vote bev..... if some guy was coming to rape you would you just let him have his way or fight??

"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson

I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. --Mark Twain

NO

California Republic

If we have to bail out CA, does that mean that Obama is going to fire Arnold and put someone else there? Also, if we go by how Obama is doing other institutions, does that mean that state reps will be sent home and not allowed to vote until the bailout is paid back? Does CA lose its electoral votes until full repayment? Things to think about when you're nationalizing a State... ;)

And voting NO on all that crap.

_________________________________

My liberty-minded home base of thought:

www.ponderthis.net

We have got to stop the spending - maybe this is an opportunity to reign in the government to it's basic functions.

It can't be...can it?

I'll be voting against all but the last one.

i will be there.

voting locally is infinitely more important than voting nationally.