During the budget week from hell, we mildly cheered on the progress of the budget process. We were concerned about the short-term budget issues, but were also dismayed by the rapid rightward shift of the negotiations. Unfortunately, as an Editorial Board we simply cannot support the measures as they have been brought to the May 19 Special Elections Ballot. We share the concerns of the League of Women Voters that this package was poorly designed and poorly executed, resulting in a plan that will ultimately create more harm than good. And since none of these measures address the structural revenue gap, adding another layer to an already suffocating fiscal straightjacket makes no sense whatsoever.
We do not appreciate the fearmongering message from supporters of the initiatives, who obviously can't find anything to recommend in these solutions and thusly must warn of impending doom in order to get them passed. We remind voters the words of Bill Clinton: "If one candidate's trying to scare you, and the other one's trying to get you to think... if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you'd better vote for the one who wants you to think and hope."
The issues presented in Propositions 1A through 1F mark the culmination of the legislature's dereliction of duty and the ultimate expression of California's farcical "initiative process." Each of these measures is of serious bugetary importance as the state tries to dig its way out of a massive deficit, but each of these measures is clearly beyond the scope of relevance and import to the average California voter.
Put simply, there are reasons we have a representative democracy, and one of them is to deal with the minutiae of financing the government. So the best way to handle this travesty is to send the whole kit and kaboodle back to Sacramento. Earn your pay you stonewalling, politically trepidacious legislators, because we're voting "No" all the way down the line.
WTF do the Celtics know about California?
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