Propositions 1A-F Crash and Burn in California

Sacramento-May 18, 2009




Sacramento May 19, 2009



Yesterday, the voters of California spoke loud and clear (at least 15-20% of them did. Those that didn't vote shouldn't have.) At any rate, by wide margins, propositions 1A-E went down to crushing defeats-even as Governor Katzenjammer was in Washington celebrating passage of an emissions standard bill that will force automakers to make the kinds of cars their new owners (the Government) want them to make. The only bill that passed was 1F, which will mandate no raises for government officers and office holders when the government is in a deficit.

The reasons for the bills' failure was obvious. Not only would it have extended the recent tax hikes on the most heavily-taxed people in the US, it was a blatantly dishonest bill. Imagine campaign ads that tell you to stick it to "the politicians"-the very people who wrote the bill, the very people who told us of dire consequences if the bill didn't pass.

Imagine a bill whose pro and con arguments (required by state law to be published for the voters)were both written by the same people (the bureaucrats). Imagine a bill that said that it would put a cap on government spending by "those politicians who got us into this mess", but said nothing about the fact that it extended the recent tax increase for two more years until 2013.

Thanks to pundits like John and Ken on their daily radio talk show, most of the people in California were able to get the side of the story that Sacramento didn't want them to know. In the final weeks, as it became clear that the bill was headed to defeat, Governor Katzenjammer threatened the people with doomsday warnings about having to release the inmates from the prisons and lay off the firefighters. Of course, the last thing he would do is lay off the bloated government workers, represented by powerful unions that, in effect, rule California. In addition to the machinery of the government, the LA Times supported the proposition. Today, they are mad at the voters. The University of California Board of Regents put out a paper supporting the proposition outlining all the goodies they would have or not have depending on the bill's fate.

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/20765

The State Government even made back-room deals with entities like the Los Angeles Lakers, who chipped in money to pay for the campaign ads. (I never liked the Lakers anyway.)But it was all for naught.

So after the electoral defeat, Katzenjammer had to set aside the champagne, say goodbye to Obama, climb on his private jet and fly back to Kalifornia, leaving his own massive carbon footprint that will partially offset any good that comes of this emissions bill he supported. Now, he will have to find a way to pay for the things he and his new-found friends in the state legislature want to do. They will try to borrow from other funds, shift the peanut shells around and raise user fees for this or that. Hopefully, enough voters will be vigilant not to be taken in by the BS emanating out of Sacramento.

This is the second major defeat for Katzenjammer. The first was when he tried to do the right thing and pass measures that would have reined in spending. The unions brought him down on that one, after which he decided to play ball with the big boys. See where that got him. The truth is that until California gets the political leadership that can stand up to the public employee unions, California will continue to be in a fiscal mess.

So now, you say, the state is broke and has no money for this and that program? Good. And hopefully, the Federal Government will not bail it out.