Free Republic

(Editor's note: This is the second in John Armor's series of ten articles to explain the Constitution and America's government. The first article appears below. Watch for others in the series, which will appear periodically in this space.) Article 1, the Congress In the modern world, we take it for granted that every nation has a parliament or legislature. Even the most barbarous, tin-pot despot usually rules with a pliant, controlled legislature in place under him. There was no such assumption of a legislature when the U.S. Constitution was being written in Philadelphia. That is why the very first Article...

The U.S. would no longer use the Electoral College to choose its presidents under a proposal introduced Friday by Florida's Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Instead, presidents would be picked by popular vote, a method that would have given former Vice President Al Gore the White House after the contested 2000 election. "It's time for Congress to really give Americans the power of one person, one vote," Nelson said in a statement. But changing the system requires a constitutional amendment and a meat grinder of legislative tests. First, Congress must approve the idea, and then 38 state legislatures must ratify...

SACRAMENTO — Expect surprises. It's no longer politics as usual. Want to overhaul the Legislature into a single nonpartisan house? How about creating universal health care or a bullet train? Voters may soon get the chance. Californians are so tired of Sacramento and Washington that they are creating a "unique hybrid democracy" to dissolve political gridlock on key issues — a trend that could spread across the nation. That's the conclusion reached by California's two foremost pollsters, looking back to the Nov. 7 election and ahead to coming sessions of the Legislature and Congress. Californians are backing away from the...

Direct democracy in California is becoming the latest hot investment for venture capitalists looking to merge their societal goals with a good return on their money. By backing ballot measures tailored to promote their personal and financial interests, investors can quickly change public policy and make a buck at the same time. Proposition 87 on the November ballot, which would tax oil to promote alternative fuels, is winning support from a key financier who is heavily invested in the kind of technologies that the initiative would reward. Vinod Khosla, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems and now a prominent...

Despite rising voter fatigue and the growing political risks for ballot initiatives, California voters in November once again will be faced with sifting through more than a dozen measures that would add up to $43 billion in state borrowing and $3 billion in annual tax increases. Los Angeles voters also could face two extra measures as city officials weigh whether to tack on a $1 billion housing bond and a $1 billion street-paving bond. And even though the deadline for placing measures on the statewide ballot has passed, some state lawmakers are considering whether to go ahead and add measures...

Got a call from my brother in the Bay area, telling me that he saw some people circulating 2 petitions. Petition 1 was a petition to raise the cigarette tax another 7.5cents. Petition 2 was a petition to raise taxes on everyone making over $400,000 to pay for "free" pre-school. He wants to know if anyone knows about these petitions and who is circulating them? He's working now and is not able to go online. If anyone has any information on these or any other CA petitions being circulated, please post it here. Thanks in advance.

The passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 ignited, as has often been observed, a more or less perpetual fiscal crisis in California - a chronic gap between the promises and expectations for state and local spending and the ability of the tax system to generate revenue to meet those expectations. Proposition 13 also sparked another phenomenon whose effect has been even wider - government by ballot measure. As the Capitol became increasingly polarized and gridlocked, in part because of the aforementioned fiscal conundrum, the purveyors of political causes, whether on the right or left, increasingly turned to the initiative as...

The gridlock in Sacramento has become so bad that the people's business has been turned over to the big money fund-raisers and the manipulators of public opinion. Last week, a Superior Court judge ruled that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can raise unlimited amounts of cash so he can put directly to voters reform measures that the Democrat-controlled Legislature won't even consider seriously. It essentially sanctions both sides to engage in an unfettered cash-fest from special interests and to spend these fortunes on what almost certainly will be false and misleading advertisements. California is giving up the pretense of a representative democracy....

<p>Like doughnuts or deodorant, politics is about selling. And what sells a product isn't so much what the product does, but what the buyer thinks it does. Take Proposition 56. It doesn't really matter if it actually reforms the budget, because as long as people think they are getting budget reform, they will vote for it.</p>

Governor considers calling special election By Ann E. Marimow TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU SACRAMENTO - After his string of ballot measure successes, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might call a special election next year to force radical change on the Democratic-controlled state Legislature. The governor and his advisers are considering a long list of proposals to change the shape of legislative and congressional districts, require rapid disclosure of campaign donations, impose new limits on state spending and subject the Legislature to more public scrutiny. If successful, Schwarzenegger could intimidate his competition for 2006, should he decide to run for re-election. If he...

TALLAHASSEE -- They would force lawmakers to substitute teach and usher 16-year-olds into the voting booth. They would dash the budget-busting dream of high-speed rail and force every driver and passenger to buckle up. They would legalize marijuana and close the peephole into bedrooms. This year's dizzying collage of 52 citizen initiatives, ranging from pie-in-the-sky universal health care to humdrum insurance rates, will be watched more closely than any in decades. History suggests that only a fraction will reach the 488,722-signature threshold to even become an issue on Election Day. Fewer still can expect to land in the constitution. But...

<p>Nearing 70, the former governor, now a professor, reflects on what he's learned.</p> <p>The phone rings in the Northeastern University office where professor Michael S. Dukakis is scribbling away at his desk. On the other end of the line is a friend who wants to know how he is doing. Asked of anyone else, it would be an innocuous question. "Well, I'm living under the worst national administration of my lifetime," Dukakis barks in his trademark staccato, his caterpillar eyebrows arched to signal a punchline is coming. "If I'd beat his old man, you'd never have heard of this guy, so blame me."</p>