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initiative, referendum, and recall too much government

The Color of Contempt

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The good sense that California voters exhibited at the polls in May has been rewarded with continual attack and derision.

Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO and Republican candidate for governor, recently said, “In many ways, the proposition process has worn out its usefulness.”

She’s criticizing the initiative, and she’s not alone.

Wrong target. California’s initiative process account for what little political sanity exists in the state.

The problem is spendaholic politicians.

But politicians and pundits continue bashing California’s ballot initiative process. Anything to deflect attention away from the inability of politicians to prioritize.

Even The Economist has taken up the bludgeon. A recent story, headlined “The ungovernable state,” said of the voter initiative process:

At first, it made sense . . . . The state in 1910 had only 2.4 million residents, and 95 percent of them were white. (Today it has about 37 million residents, and less than half are white.) A small, homogenous and informed electorate was to make sparing and disciplined use of the ballot to keep the legislature honest, rather as in Switzerland.

Is The Economist actually suggesting that a multi-ethnic electorate is incapable of democratic decision-making? I think we are witnessing the insider class move from condescending disdain for the people to a full-blown case of dementia.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

11 replies on “The Color of Contempt”

And our “esteemed” leaders in CA. just announced that they want to raise the license fees…..THEY ALREADY DID once this year…..and raise taxes on oil production. Correct Steinberg and Bass, please destroy our very FRAGILE economy even more. Their only alternative. Raise taxes. We are sooooo lucky to have these clowns, sorry, leaders.

If the Economist suggested Switzerland as its model, (as opposed to culturally and lingustically (as well as racially) homogeneous countries such as France, Germany, or Italy,) aren’t they already touting multi-ethnic society (unless race is the only component of ethnicity that counts anymore.)

It is very funny that they use Switzerland as an example of homogeneity. Switzerland has four official languages, and 26 states with only 8 million people.

“The problem is spendaholic politicians.”

That is only part of the problem. The bigger part of the problem is the never-ending demand for more government services, more entitlements, and more spending on (pick one or more: schools, roads, police, community centers, public pools, parks and trails, etc.). The politicians who make the most promises are the ones who get elected and reelected. After the spending, of course, comes the taxing, and then the screaming about the ridiculously high costs of government.

Californians made their own bed, but they later discovered that the bed was of handcrafted teak, and the mattress was filled with the softest eider down. Very nice, but the price was far too exorbitant. Decades later, they’re still paying for the bed (that also needs lots of maintenance by inefficient, unionized government workers).

Most voters aren’t demanding higher spending and more programs from government. Politicians and special interests seek constant expansion and then, if they can get people to take advantage of any program, they claim the people are “demanding” it.

As usual, right on! Please keep on, also, attacking this anti immigrant mind set. Somehow, the conservatives must be convinced that more immigrants are a good thing and that the same unworkable administrative law of which they so strongly disapprove in other administrative agengecies is rammpant in the INS. The open border policy is truly the only free market solution, but seems to be impossible for the conservatives to understand and relate to the other issues where they are upholding the free market, individual liberty position.
PS As former Oklahomans we are closely following the political struggles there.

As usual, right on! Please keep on, also, attacking this anti immigrant mind set. Somehow, the conservatives must be convinced that more immigrants are a good thing and that the same unworkable administrative law of which they so strongly disapprove in other administrative agengecies is rampant in the INS. The open border policy is truly the only free market solution, but seems to be impossible for the conservatives to understand and relate to the other issues where they are upholding the free market, individual liberty position.
PS As former Oklahomans we are closely following the political struggles there.

If I am not mistaken, Mexico wants Callifornia. I think that it is time for the sane people, military bases, and the businesses to leave California. Then we can hand over the state with its huge debt to Mexico. Then all the Gay rights lobby would need to do is bribe the right government officials to pass whatever rights legislation they want. As long as the people have some rights, they will not be able to even bribe their way to happiness.

This would be a great solution for all of the illegal immegrants as well. They can be invited to move there and get their free health care, education, food, and retirement benefits from the new “California Provence” of Mexico, thus releiving the rest of us US taxpayers of that burden… It seems like a fair trade to me.

The self-styled “elites” purport to lo-o-ove “the little guy”, and especially “minorities”. But in fact, they despise “the unwashed masses”, and only want to be adored by them.

Paraphrasing Dame Thatcher, Socialism only works until they run out of other peoples’ money. And Mexifornia is wa-a-a-ay beyond that demarcation line.

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