Yesterday John Cole wanted us to burn. Then he re-evaluated his position on my dear state after learning that things aren't always what they seem.
We don't need no water let the motherfucker burn.
Burn, motherfucker. Burn.
Oh yes, I'm a fan of Jimmy Pop. Click here for the song.
Tuesday's failure of the band-aid-on-a-volcano style reforms was a fantastic thing. I actually have some hope (me? hope? really?) that bringing the system to the very edge will demonstrate the necessity of radically changing course.
Already, people have begun actually thinking.
Michael Hiltzik argues in the LA Times - in the business section nonetheless - for the following three changes:
- Repeal the 2/3 budget rule
- Remove legislative terms limits
- Revise Prop 13 (the third rail of California politics)
The one thing he forgets to mention is my number one issue - eliminating the dreaded ballot initiative process.
The ballot initiative process — in which legislators or independent groups ask voters to mandate how the state’s money is spent or not spent — has become at times an exercise in fiscal self defeat, with voters moving to earmark money for one special program one year, only to contemplate undoing their own will a few elections later.
Or as Bill Maher puts it...
California used to be like the rest of the country, following the instructions in the Constitution and everything. But then we chucked that, and now our state is governed not by elected representatives but by special-interest people standing in front of the supermarket with clipboards asking,
"Would you like to sign a petition to cut your taxes?"
And then that becomes law. Proposition 14C: Two weeks paid leave for hangovers and universal teeth whitening, paid for by Central Valley cow gas.
"Vote 'yes' on gain, 'no' on pain."
How are our elected representatives supposed to do their jobs when their hands are tied by a million propositions on the books that either contradict each other or already allot funds before legislators can craft a budget? It's called Fail.
Obi Wan, the constitutional convention is our only hope. Gavin Newsom says he's on board. Maybe I'll get on board too, for a change.
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