My friends back East don’t quite get California’s crazy system of propositions, which dates back to the Progressive Era. True, it’s been compromised by big money, by special interests, by misleading and simplistic 30-second attack attacks.
But it’s still democracy, messy and flawed as it is.
Here are the major measures on the Nov. 8 ballot, a week from today. (I’ve already voted by absentee ballot.)
Proposition 73: Requires parental notification before a teenage girl can have an abortion.
San Jose Mercury News recommendation: No
MoveOn recommendation: No
JD’s recommendation: No
Proposition 74: Makes it harder for teachers to get tenure.
SJ Merc: No
MoveOn: No
JD: No
Proposition 76: Give governor special authority to cut state spending. A close call, but Gov. Schwarzenegger has shown misplaced spending priorities.
SJ Merc: Yes
MoveOn: No
JD: No
Proposition 77: Put redistricting in the hands of retired judges. Again, a close call, but it’s hard to take such a step while the Republicans have created the mother of all gerrymanderings in Texas.
SJ Merc: Yes
MoveOn: No
JD: No
Proposition 78: A watered-down health care benefit for uninsured Californians.
SJ Merc: No
MoveOn: No
JD: No
Proposition 79: A more robust health care benefit for uninsured Californians. I’ve received a half-dozen hit pieces against this proposition in my in-box from some surprising sources.
SJ Merc: No
MoveOn: Yes
JD: Yes
Proposition 80: Repeal of Deregulation and Blackout Prevention Act. As the Merc says, “The title combines a false premise and a false promise.”
SJ Merc: No
MoveOn: Yes
JD: No
If most of the ballot measures in this special election go down, as I suspect they will, it will be a huge public reprimand to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected on a reform slate and yet quickly sold out his legislative agenda to the Republican minority in the statehouse.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What do you think about the fact that Prop 79 could end up tied up in courts for years like the Maine plan? Seems like that would be a worse outcome than 78 winning. at least if 78 passes, insured people will get the discounts that they need…
Well, that argument has its merits, but I just don’t believe that citizens should base their votes on whether one faction or another is sufficiently motivated to litigate the outcome in the courts.
I definitely see your point…everyone has the right to vote based on their own beliefs. I just get really disappointed when people vote for something good, like drug discounts, and it gets put on hold indefinitely right away…how many good ideas have died a slow death that way? That’s why I think it is worth taking into account whether the prop that passes has a chance of doing what it promises…