Proposition 29, a nearly $1 billion tax hike slated for the June ballot, has already stumbled into an ethical gray area. Before voters even cast their first ballot, the San Francisco Chronicle exposed Don Perata, the career politician who wrote the measure, for paying out a long time political crony who he was also simultaneously lobbying [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/28/BA3N1NR09G.DTL]. Yet, read the nearly 4,500 words that comprise Proposition 29, and one will find that the conflicts-of-interest seen on the campaign trail would pale to the insider dealing permitted by this flawed measure. Proposition 29’s sole safeguard against sweetheart deals is the nine...