I'm a Libertarian living in Humboldt County, CA. I've lived here in Eureka since 1973 and joined the Libertarian Party in 1992. This blog will mostly focus on local political issues, but I may stray into state and national issues as well, when I can't help myself. Please post your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Although I do moderate comments, you need not be a registered user to post them.
The San Diego Union- Tribune doesn't think voters share as much of the blame for the budget crisis as I seem to. They make some good points, but I still say voters are entitled to at least some blame for electing most of our problem legislators over and over again.
Labels: California State Government
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:20 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Right on the money Fred. Voters are ultimately responsible for all of it.
They continue to elect the same old corrupt, self serving boobs to the state legislature. And do so in the name of "the party," - not giving a damn about how incompetent they are.
Then they continue to pass every self serving special interest initiative on the ballot with no thought at all who is supposed to fund it.
I blame the voters for electing idiots like Berg, Wiggins and Chesbro - all career leeches. And don't even get me started about our local leeches - Neely is the first that comes to mind.
The problem with the voters is not who they elected, it's what they've saddled the Legislature with -- term limits, the two-thirds requirement and endless initiatives. Elect good people and give them license to govern. Don't tie their hands and make it impossible for them to move the state forward. If voters aren't happy with the decisions the legislators they elect make, they can vote them out quickly enough. The lower house -- two-thirds of the Legislature -- is up for re-election every two years.
One other observation. Californians love the initiative process. It's been a part of California government since the populist movement of the early 20th century. California voters like having this direct control. Now all of the sudden they are sending a message to the Legislature they don't want to do this anymore?
"The problem with the voters is not who they elected, it's what they've saddled the Legislature with -- term limits,".
There's certainly something to be said for institutional memory.
That said, much of what caused our state meltdown seems to have started back before term limits. Arguably, the point of no return- the 2000-2001 budget passing, which blew all the money from the .com boom- happened under seasoned legislators. No one had been term limited out at that point.
The last redistricting fiasco really backfired on a lot of repubs and independents,err well....anyone who isn't totally centrist.But how does a state the size of California develop more truly representative districting lines?I can't answer that,but it sure should be a huge priority for establishing a new constitution.And again here I will throw my pitch towards ranked choice voting,which we need to implement to elect a more truly representative leader,and should be established in the new constitution as well.
But the best solution is for the northernest part of the state and southern Oregon,a state which may very well revive a state income tax shortly because of its budget woes,should seriously begin efforts to bring to the table the state of Jefferson.Well personally,I don't care about the name,but certainly am interested in the idea.Don't have time right now to expand greatly on why I think it's necessary.
Are you insane 8:24? We are not electing good people. We are electing career leeches advanced by the "party elite" in each party.
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