Some voting recommendations for Californians, especially college students.
:
****CRUCIAL**** vote for Democrats for California Assembly and California Senate even if you haven't heard of them before. Every year, the Republican minority in both houses holds the state budget hostage because California is one of three states that requires a 2/3 vote to pass a budget and taxes. Proposition 25 would change the budget vote to a simple majority.
If you're a college student, this is why the classes you need keep getting cut, fees go up, and your instructors worry about losing their jobs.
If you like getting an education, vote YES on 25, Jerry Brown for governor, and any Democrat for California Senate and Assembly. If you are a friend of mine and Libby's, it will keep the two of employed and less likely to ask to live on your couch.
YES 19
Legalize Marijuana (save money on law enforcement and get tax income from pot)
NO 20
Redistrict Congressional Districts (whenever legislators want to screw us but are afraid we will take notice, they create commissions to avoid responsibility and make it harder for us to block their action)
YES 21
VLF Surcharge for State Parks (adds $18 to vehicle license fees to keep state parks open because of budget logjam. Sounds good to me).
NO 22
Prohibit the State from Taking Local Funds
NO 23
Suspend Air Pollution Control Laws (AB 32)
YES 24
Repeal Corporate Tax Loopholes
YES 25
Majority Vote Budget (this is a big one. See CRUCIAL note above).
NO 26
Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Fees (corporations want this to avoid paying for clean up of environmental damage they cause)
YES 27
Eliminate Commission on Redistricting (see Prop 20 above)
Senator
Barbara Boxer (D)
Boxer is running against another self-funded corporate CEO with no experience in elected office, who like Whitman, doesn't think she needs to learn the ropes with lower office but can skip straight to the big leagues.
Even more transparently than Whitman, Boxer's opponent Carly Fiorina is a cookie cutter conservative who thinks the way to create jobs is do away with environmental and workplace regulations, so your boss can treat you like shit, pay you nothing, and give you cancer.
Governor
Jerry Brown (D)
Think about it--do we really need another Republican who thinks economic development means cutting education spending and lowering working and environmental standards to Third World levels?
And when a corporate CEO with no political experience (and until very recently, no record of even voting) is running for office, it's not about ideology, it's about cutting the taxes of the rich and diverting our taxes into the pocket of the already wealthy. You can take that to the bank (she sure as hell will).
We don't need another Arnold twin who talks a moderate game then takes an axe to programs that help middle and working class people.
Jerry Brown is a blast from the past when California was the top in the nation in schools and standard of living. When his dad was governor he even enacted the radical idea that higher education ought to be free for everyone who can benefit from it (that commie bastard)! That's a trip down memory lane we need to take.
Lieutenant Governor
Gavin Newsom (D)
Secretary of State
Debra Bowen (D)
Secretary of State is actually important. A few years back, most Californians were using electronic voting machines that were easily rigged or hacked, and across the country, they gave results that didn't match the exit polls like paper ballots. Bowen fixed this.
Attorney General
Kamala Harris (D)
Controller
John Chiang (D)
Treasurer
Bill Lockyer (D)
Insurance Commissioner
Dave Jones (D)
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Tom Torlakson
The other guy is an administrative tool who will play ball with the business people trying to privatize K-12 education and think the answer to everything is more standardized tests. (Recent research has shown that most jobs do not involve filling in bubbles on scantrons).
