Posted on 11/23/2005 5:33:09 PM PST by FairOpinion
Legislative leaders and Schwarzenegger truly need to compromise or state is on the road to bankruptcy.
Immediately following the Nov. 8 special election, several editorials and opinion columns said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the big loser because all four propositions he supported were soundly defeated. Wrong! The big losers were all the people of California.
Why, given all the political mistakes Schwarzenegger allegedly made, including calling for the special election in the first place? Well, we elected a non-politician to be governor, didn't we? Weren't we fed up with career politicians who made most decisions to retain their offices rather than for the benefit of the people? Then, like the maverick, unpredictable, gullible voters we are, we failed to give the governor the tools he needed to do our work.
So aren't the majority who voted for the dysfunctional status quo, and thus all of us, the big losers?
The dishonor roll of defeat
Californians voted down a measure designed to improve the quality of teachers and thus the effectiveness of public education simply by providing more time to adjudge new teachers before granting tenure, and making it easier to remove those who are no longer effective.
They voted down a proposition intended to rein in the government employee unions that in exchange for pay and benefit increases elect socialist Democrat legislators bent on spending more and taxing more.
They voted down a measure to give the governor greater ability to limit expenditures to revenues, and control the structural spending when revenues are lacking. This leads to a sizable deficit each year.
They voted to retain the gerrymandering for redistricting for state and national elected offices wherein the elected officials are able to define safe districts, choosing their voters rather than the voters choosing their representatives.
The big losers include:
• Income-tax payers and especially high earners who pay most of the taxes.
• Those who buy things subject to sales tax.
• Property owners who pay property taxes and all the fees attached to circumvent Proposition 13.
• Renters whose rents will increase due to property tax increases.
• Business owners, who will see a rise in their taxes and the minimum wage.
• Workers whose potential pay increases will be subsumed by business tax increases in the future.
• Union members whose dues were used for political purposes without their permission.
• Union members who also pay taxes, although they act as though they were exempt.
• Public schoolchildren whose education will not improve because it will remain difficult to find them better teachers.
• All levels of government -- city, county and state -- whose worker-pension and health-benefit costs will continue to increase beyond what's affordable.
• Owners and operators of motor vehicles whose fuel prices will stay high due to the reinforcing of the coalition of liberal socialist Democrat legislators and environmental extremists. It is they who prevent oil drilling and the construction of refineries and energy facilities.
• All who heat their homes and businesses with natural gas or fuel oil due to the above coalition, which prevents recovery of natural gas and building of liquefied natural gas import terminals.
This is really stretching it, you say. There were no propositions dealing with energy, housing, minimum wage, workers' pay, pensions and health benefits, sales and income taxes or business taxes.
True, but consider what voting for the status quo tells the controlling coalition. It tells them to keep on doing what they have been doing.
To see what they have been doing, examine the budget with its built-in deficits and the thousand bills the Legislature cranks out each year on all kinds of socialist spending and regulations, about half of which are rightfully vetoed.
The inability to solve major state issues is supposed to be the governor's fault because he did not negotiate compromise with the Democrats. Really? After they refused to consider his five proposals, the governor tried on three separate occasions to reach compromises with the Democrats, who not only refused to seriously negotiate but introduced measures for more spending and tax increases.
The only course left for the governor was the proposition route. After the governor's threat, citizens groups began petition drives as insurance against further failed negotiations, resulting in the government employee unions embarking on their $150 million-plus television, radio and mailer campaign of lies, distortions, obfuscation and personal attacks on Schwarzenegger, which killed the propositions.
Don't capitulate to Democrats
Where do we go from here? The governor said he recently had a very good meeting with the legislative leaders, who said they sought to solve the state's problems in concert with the governor because they thought that was what the people wanted. (They didn't want this earlier in the year?)
Let's fervently hope so, but compromise with the Democrats heretofore has meant "do it our way," and their way means bankruptcy or higher taxes, already among the highest in the nation, or huge bond issues, which are higher taxes in disguise, paying $2 for every $1 spent.
No, the governor wasn't the big loser, and the unions weren't the big winner. All the people of California were the big losers, and the election likely was only the beginning of their losses.
Stan Katten is a former RAND Corp. analyst and a San Pedro resident.
Good article.
The "cut off your nose to spite your face" people hurt all of us.
Yeah, good opinion piece. Stan Katten usually gets things right.
Compromise is not going to prevent the Dems from bankrupting the state of California. You just need to completely disregard everything they stand for, if you expect to have any chance of saving it. And even then, it will be very dicey, given the damage that has already been done.
It ain't over till its over. It just means that nothing will happen there until the next disaster which will certainly occur sooner rather than later.
Great article bump for us "Kaliforniahns"!
Never overestimate the intelligence of the average CA voter. Very disappointing.
Too bad the voters were stupid enough to believe the lying propaganda of the leftists. The rats are going to bring this state down completely before people wake up.
That's the future for California. The RAT scum party has existed for 70 years on one big lie: that you can vote to raise the other guy's taxes
"It ain't over till its over. It just means that nothing will happen there until the next disaster which will certainly occur sooner rather than later."
Agreed. The problem is I'm "there", in a radically gerrymandered electoral district, surrounded by the most ignorant voters and vile special interests you're ever likely to encounter. As one commentator said, this election was a complete no brainer and the idiots got it wrong.
Lets see now, that would be Prop. 76, I believe. You know, the one that you assured us was essential in order for Arnold to be able to make the big cuts in costs and "blow up the boxes" as promised pre-recall. Now we learn today that Arnold is planning a $50-$100B bond issue for "infrastructure".
Please explain to us dirty unwashed how to reconcile your hero's need for Prop. 76 to make cuts when he was planning a $50B-$100B bond issue all along.
We're waiting for your explanation.
* crickets *
And please explain how we are better off, now that the unions are stronger and Prop. 76 with its speding cuts, and limitations of Prop. 98-s power has been defeated.
"As one commentator said, this election was a complete no brainer and the idiots got it wrong."
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He certainly summed it up well. Sad, but true.
Well I live in the People's Republic of New York. We don't have an initiative process that means anything. We are sliding into oblivion as fast as California. Its just a matter of time till we hit bottome too.
You really don't have an answer, do you? Of course not.
Your man Arnold is a complete and total fraud. He's busy now cozying up to the unions, public employees and the Rats in Sacramento.
To call your little act pathetic would be to give you more credit than you deserve.
This is just more disinformation, your stock in trade FO. Prop 76 did NOTHING to limit Prop 98, indeed it BORROWED money to satisfy Prop. 98 deferrals. Further, with the revenue baseline fattened by the real estate bubble, there was virtually no prospect that Prop. 76 would have forced cuts in subsequent years of declining revenue because it allowed overspending the limits in such a case.
Had Arnold chosen to merely restore the Gann spending limits, he would have had my whole-hearted support. Prop. 76 wasn't even a near equivalent.
"He (Arnold) 's busy now cozying up to the unions, public employees and the Rats in Sacramento. "
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Sure, that's why he fought hard to put the props on the ballot and to get them passed that would have severely curtailed the power of the unions and Dems.
Spending cuts? What spending cuts? You forget so soon (or should I say "continue to ignore"?)
"The key is not to crank government spending down," said Tom Campbell, Schwarzenegger's former finance director, who left the post to campaign for the initiative. "It's just to spend no more than we have."Prop 76 was a sham masked as a "spending cap" that deferred expenses, authorized more bonds and made the borrowing terms more attractive to lenders. All of this, in preparation for Arnold's new BIG BANG BOND of $50 to $100 BILLION dollars!
San Diego Union-Tribune, October 21, 2005But Campbell said he has looked forward starting in 2006, which is when the measure would take effect, and doesn't believe that the cap would have an impact on state spending until 2013. "That's because we start with three good years of revenue behind us," he said. "It completely depends on what year you start."
San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2005"Prop. 76 smoothes out education funding, so that in the low-revenue years, more money will go to education. That's not in doubt... During high revenue years, the Legislature can choose to add more to education..."
North County Times, October 22, 2005
I am disappointed that Props 73 thru 75 did not pass, but I am relieved that Prop 76 and Prop 78 didn't. Not all of the propositions touted by Arnold were favorable to taxpayers.
On your next post, try to say something coherent.
My friend is an active dem in LA. He was glowing about the election results. I asked him? What now? More of the same? The dems have no platform except to throw money at the various victims groups in the state.
I see you offer more deceit: Arnold did NOTHING to put Props 73, 75, or 77 on the ballot. He was in fact, late in supporting any of them.
This line should read more like..."Never overestimate the "stuck on stupid" so called intelligence of the average CA voter"
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