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Ole's voter guide

Monday,  11/01/04  12:55 AM

Here it is, Ole's voter guide.  If you're not a Californian citizen, feel free to skip this post.

Okay, here we go:

  • Proposition 1AYes.  Helps ensure local revenue is spent locally.
  • Proposition 59Yes.  Makes government more open.  Won't really do much but harmless.
  • Proposition 60Yes.  Top vote getters from each party's primary appear on general ballet.  This is essentially what happens today, somewhat helps minority parties.  Hopefully 62 passes, if not, this would be better than nothing.
  • Proposition 60ANo.  Requires that proceeds from state property sales would be used to pay off specific bonds.  Not a bad idea but voters should not be micromanaging the budget.  This started as part of proposition 60 (believe it or not), but was so unrelated that a judge ordered it be a separate proposition.
  • Proposition 61No.  $750M bond for children's hospitals.  Look, I'm all for medical care for children, but California is broke and we can't afford to borrow for this sort of thing.
  • Proposition 62Yes.  Any citizen could vote for any candidate in the primary elections (regardless of part).  This is important, it would bring both parties back toward the center.  I hope this passes which would make 60 irrelevant.
  • Proposition 63No.  1% personal income tax on income over $1M to fund health services for the mentally ill.  A good cause, but not a good way to do it.  Special interest taxes are bad.
  • Proposition 64No.  Arnold calls this "stop shakedown lawsuits" but actually this protects big companies against liability suits without accomplishing genuine tort reform.
  • Proposition 65No.  An early version of 1A with klunkier provisions.  Vote yes on 1A instead.
  • Proposition 66Yes.  Limits "three strikes" law to violent and serious felonies.  This just makes sense, and would save millions in prison costs.  Three strikes has not proven to be much of a deterrent anyway, and it sure inhibits rehabilitation efforts.
  • Proposition 67No.  Increases surcharge on mobile phones for emergency medical services.  Another good cause done in a bad way.  These special taxes don't really work out.
  • Proposition 68No.  Along with 70, would enable significant expansion of Indian gaming.  68 permits more casinos near residential areas.  I think the whole idea that Indian reservations have different laws than the rest of the state is ridiculous.
  • Proposition 69Yes.  DNA database for felons.  This is a good thing.  I don't mind the privacy implications.
  • Proposition 70No.  See 68.  This bribes the state to keep gaming exclusive for Indian reservations.  Completely and totally absurd and doesn't have a chance of passing.
  • Proposition 71No.  $3B bond issue to fund stem cell research.  Okay, this one was hard for me, because I really really think stem cell research is a good thing.  However California is broke and we can't afford this.  Also, I don't think government funding is the best way for these technologies to develop.  Better the state should help by staying out of the way of academia and private enterprise.
  • Proposition 72No.  Requires minimum health care coverage to be offered by medium and large businesses.  This is the kind of law that makes doing business in California so expensive, and which drives business to other states and offshore.  Let the market deal with these issues.

And if you live in Ventura County...

  • Proposition AYes.  0.25% sales tax for purpose of land preservation and open space creation.  We really don't need more residential expansion into the hills.
  • Proposition BYes.  0.5% sales tax for purpose of highway maintenance.  This won't pass but we really need this money, since the state is broke.

Thanks for your attention!