BILL MAGAVERN’S BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS, NOVEMBER 2005

Here are my husband’s famous ballot recommendations for how to vote in the special election in California, Tuesday, November 8th–it’s pretty easy this time. Please forward them to anyone who think might need them:

From Bill:
Yes, the very existence of this election is idiotic, of benefit only to the state’s small cadre of campaign consultants, but don’t let that keep you from voting. If turnout is low, some of the idiocy might get written into law.

So, on the off chance any of you have not already voted, here are my brief thoughts:

73 – NO

Sure, it would be great if minors discussed all important life decisions with their parents, but having government require it is not going to make it happen.

74 – NO

With all the real problems in our schools, this is the best Schwarzenegger could come up with?

75 – NO

Funny how this initiative does nothing to address the ability of large corporations to spend money on politics without the consent of their shareholders, or to replace private campaign funding with public funding. It’s an obvious effort to tilt the political playing field even more toward the wealthy and big companies, and to dry up one of the only sources of political money for progressive candidates.

76 – NO, NO, NO

This is the worst measure on the ballot, a gubernatorial power grab that would make a dysfunctional budget process even worse by empowering a minority in the Legislature to stand in the way of solutions. The goal of 76 is to facilitate the erosion of needed social programs, especially for education, while making sure the rich get to keep all of their precious tax cuts. Even programs that are funded by user fees rather than taxes – like most of our clean air and water programs – could be mindlessly cut under this proposal, to satisfy a rigid formula.

77 – NO

It pains me to oppose this one, because we really need sound redistricting reform. Districts that are more competitive and representative of actual communities would benefit the public interest. Unfortunately, this proposal is badly flawed. It would draw new districts mid-decade, based on the obsolete 2000 census data, simply for blatant political advantage. New districts should be drawn every decade, right after the census, which had been the practice nationwide until Tom Delay’s criminal intervention in Texas. And having voters then decide on the new districts, at the same time as elections are being held in those new districts, is really harebrained.

78 – NO

79 – YES

These initiatives both address prescription drug prices. 78 was written by the big drug companies who are spending tens of millions of dollars to obfuscate the facts. 79 was written by consumer advocates. The key difference is that 79 would use the state’s purchasing power to keep drug prices down, while 78 relies on voluntary discounts.

80 – YES

Enron (you may remember them as “the smartest guys in the room”) and other energy companies sold our politicians on the canard that the magic of the market would bring down electricity prices. It didn’t exactly work out that way, so now a consumer group is trying to re-regulate electricity to make sure the market can never again be manipulated and the state held hostage by greedy amoral sharks. The opposition’s argument that 80 would hurt renewable energy is bogus. 80 would actually accelerate the current clean energy requirement, while allowing for future increases.