Free Republic

Welcome to the live thread for the California Primary Election. Polls are open until 8pm tonight. If you are a registered voter, it is your duty to vote and defend your rights and civil liberties, protect your pocketbook, and vote the bums out where applicable. Feel free to discuss issues key to your local area that others may be interested in. Post your polling place experiences if you like. And post numbers as they come in later tonight.

CALIFORNIA voters should keep this news from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office in mind when they vote in November: State operating budget shortfalls under the spending plan are expected to reach "nearly $4 billion in 2007-08 and nearly $5 billion in 2008-09." Then voters should reject Propositions 86, 87 and 88, because the three measures would raise taxes without fixing the structural shortfall. Good-government types call measures such as these "ballot-box budgeting" -- special interests cook up initiatives designed to appeal to voters because they dedicate spending to a pet cause. Voters believe that in approving these measures, they ensure...

The cast of characters at Monday's press conference was unusual, to say the least. The participants represented each of the major factions in last year's special election: the drug companies, big-business Schwarzenegger allies and unions. But this time they were all on the same side. They all opposed Proposition 89, which would create publicly financed campaigns in California. "It's a murderers' row of political spenders in California," says Common Cause's Ned Wigglesworth, who supports Proposition 89. If, as the saying goes, politics makes for strange bedfellows, then California's 2006 elections are one giant slumber party. Held in the twelfth-floor suite...

The principal financial backer of a statewide parcel tax initiative has apparently stopped funding the drive, leaving supporters without the kind of cash, staff and ads typically needed for a full-fledged campaign. Political consultant Rick Claussen said he has advised Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to "let go" of Proposition 88, which would establish a $50 parcel tax on all property for public school funding. "Because of the anti-tax sentiments right now, we took a look at the measure and felt it was better to let go of this one and regroup and decide where we might go in the future,"...

Prop. 88's statewide parcel tax would begin to chip away at state's property-tax protections. Proposition 13 faces one of its most serious challenges on the ballot this fall, in the form of Proposition 88. Prop. 88 is a statewide parcel tax – the first such statewide tax in California since 1910. Finally, this breach in the bulwarks of Prop. 13, although small, could be widened in the future should Prop. 88 pass. As has been seen with other taxes, such as those on cigarettes, the victory of one tax leads to attempts, sometimes victorious, to impose more of the same...

SACRAMENTO - Every property owner in California, no matter how big or small or valuable the parcel, faces paying a flat $50 tax to fund schools under a measure voters will be asked to approve in November. Although it's still early in the election season, the move already is generating criticism from taxpayer groups and property owners who say it's a regressive tax and adds to the burden on average citizens who are already overtaxed. Proponents of Proposition 88 - authored by EdVoice, a coalition that includes backing from such wealthy philanthropists as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Silicon Valley investor...

In California politics, Silicon Valley executives used to be considered newbies, nerds or simply multimillionaires with too much time and money on their hands. No longer. Emboldened over the past decade by some success passing ballot propositions, a handful of the valley's most influential power brokers are once again aiming to use the initiative process to put their stamp on public policy in California. Two of the boldest electoral initiatives yet to emerge from valley interests will be on November's ballot: NetFlix founder Reed Hastings and Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist John Doerr are backing Proposition 88, an unprecedented statewide real...

General Election - November 7, 2006 Prop. 1A Transportation Funding Protection: YES! For years, the Legislature has raided our highway taxes for general fund spending. Though it’s more window dressing than relief, this measure makes it marginally harder to do so. Prop. 1B Transportation Bond: NO! Although some of this money is for long overdue road construction, most goes for equipment, maintenance and social programs that will be obsolete decades before our children have finished paying off the debt. Californians pay the third highest tax per gallon of gasoline in the country – and yet we rank 43rd in per...

There are 13 measures on the statewide ballot this fall in California. Those advocating a “yes” vote on any of them have an uphill battle. And if you think it is too early to be talking about the next election, well, that proves the point. We just had the June primary and that was the fifth statewide election since 2002. Part of the issue, of course, is voter fatigue. But there is something deeper going on. Voters are still very distrustful. Polls indicate that Californians still believe that the state is headed in the wrong direction. This is strange because,...