Saturday
(3)Tired of the orgy of Kerry worship from the British media, not just the BBC, but also from ITV and C4, I turned to the internet for some other news from the United States.
As expected, propositions 57 and 58 passed in California. Prop 57 being approval to borrow billions of Dollars (sorry 'issue bonds') in order to 'pay for' already agreed government spending, and Prop 58 being a promise (sort of) not to borrow money in future.
However, I came upon another proposition - Prop 55. This prop was a request to borrow (again sorry 'issue bonds') - $12.3 billion for government education spending on top of what had already been agreed. This bond debt to be on top of the $73 billion bond debt that the State already has.
The prop passed - I admit that it passed only narrowly (50.6% to 49.4%), but it passed.
So on the same day that Californians agreed (in Prop 57) to borrow another $15 billion (or so) for existing spending and (in Prop 58) overwhelmingly voted not to pile up more spending... they in fact did just that.
"We will not add deficit spending on to the deficit spending we already have"
...except that more deficit spending is indeed added and on the very same day.
That sums up politics - not just in California, but everywhere.
But Proposition 56. which would have lowered the necessary majority for spending increases from 2/3 to 55% in the Legislature, FAILED. You still need a 2/3 super-majority for budget increases...
Posted by B. Durbin at March 6, 2004 06:23 PM
Yep. And in other good news, Arnold has made comments implying that he's ready to push for a (state) constitutional amendment that would at least reduce gerrymandering in future redistrictings. He's got the moment to make it happen, if he also has the nerve.
Posted by Harry at March 6, 2004 07:25 PM
Robert Heinlein, from Starship Troopers (Ace Edition, 1987), p. 183:
Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal - else a balancing takes place as surely as current flows between points of unequal potential. To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizens were not responsible for the fashionin which they exercised their sovereign authority... other than through the tragic logic of history. The unique 'poll tax' we must pay was unheard of. No attempt was made to determine whether a voter was socially responsible to the extent of his literally unlimited authority. If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead - and responsibility was forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundationless temple.
Posted by Greg at March 6, 2004 08:27 PM
Proposition 56 would have lowered the threshold for tax increases, not spending increases. It failed by a large margin. (It was the first time in years that my vote was on the majority side of something.)
Posted by Ken Hagler at March 6, 2004 09:03 PM
Yeah, California is a mess. I voted against all the propositions. Mr. Hagler is slightly incorrect: the current law is that the budget requires a 2/3 vote and legislation that increases taxes requires a 2/3 vote. The reason it may seem that the 2/3 vote is only in effect for tax increases is because enough Republicans can always be peeled off to vote for a budget that increases spending (you know, "doing what's right for California's kids") but almost never for tax increases.
An aside on Prop. 55: if the measure had failed, it would have been automatically placed on the November ballot. We may have just made a mistake out of ignorance the first time, you see.
Michael Messina (my name doesn't show up in preview)
Posted by Michael Messina at March 6, 2004 11:03 PM
Do I detect an anti-Kerry sentiment in this posting? I don't have the energy right now to post why Kerry is thousands times better then the current administration for privacy rights advocates like the fine audience of Samizdata, so I am just going to provide this like to a wonderfull article by warblogging.com . I commend the Brit media for their pro Kerry stand.
Posted by Revolutionary Blogger at March 7, 2004 01:53 PM
Oh, then Mr. Kerry must have been talking to someone who cares about privacy. Dollars to donuts he slamed such concerns (or will!) when next talking to a law enforcement group.
He's made of silly putty (or tofu, take your pick), and always tells you what he thinks you want to hear.
Posted by David Mercer at March 7, 2004 08:48 PM
"Revolutionary Blogger" - fix your blog. We can't comment on your hypocrisy.
Kerry is no better than Bush domestically. If the Dems take control of the Federal Government, it would be in exactly the same sorry state as the Gubmint of Kalifornia.
Posted by Ironchef at March 8, 2004 01:57 PM
There's obviously a straightforward contradiction between spending squillions by taking out yet another mortgage (Prop 55) and promising to kick the habit (Props 57 and 58), but the main reason 55 scraped by is that it was "for the children" who were apparently suffering from leaky school roofs and lack of computers in the classrooms. Your typical voter falls for this one every time . . .
Posted by Kevin Morrison at March 10, 2004 05:29 AM
What's sad about 55 is it was evenly split throughout CA except in one area.... (spoiler.....) (spoiler....)
In San Francisco, 55 passed by 70%/30% or so. If S.F. had voted split like the rest of the state, 55 would not have passed.
One-quarter of 55's money goes to the Los Angeles Unified School District (350 miles south of S.F.)
Not to be mean-spirited or something, but if it had failed it might have shown that we can't continue to educate the world: many of those students are illegal aliens.
Posted by The Lonewacko Blog at March 10, 2004 08:00 AM
