On the propositions, we won the two most important -- defeated the effort to kill the global warming law, and passed a majority budget rule -- but lost everything else (at least, with respect to my own vote; I ended up having mixed feelings about 19, since I found my friend Wade's arguments against it fairly persuasive, although I still kinda think that any step towards ending Prohibition would probably be better than what we're doing, and that if there were bad consequences we could sort them out by further steps in that direction). I'm particularly disappointed about 26; now ANY measure to raise revenue requires a 2/3 vote. So we can pass a budget, but we're constrained, basically forever, to the revenue structure we currently have, which has shifted, over the past forty years, to be more and more regressive. You cannot provide everyone in society a decent infrastructure to live their lives in, if those who benefit the most from gov't services do not pay their fair share. Instead, we'll continue trending towards a return to the 19th century: the very wealthy can buy their own private services -- gated communities with private security, private sources of clean water, etc. -- and the rest of us can have inadequate police and fire protection, water that may from time to time poison us, etc.
- Mood:
indescribable
Results...
On the propositions, we won the two most important -- defeated the effort to kill the global warming law, and passed a majority budget rule -- but lost everything else (at least, with respect to my own vote; I ended up having mixed feelings about 19, since I found my friend Wade's arguments against it fairly persuasive, although I still kinda think that any step towards ending Prohibition would probably be better than what we're doing, and that if there were bad consequences we could sort them out by further steps in that direction). I'm particularly disappointed about 26; now ANY measure to raise revenue requires a 2/3 vote. So we can pass a budget, but we're constrained, basically forever, to the revenue structure we currently have, which has shifted, over the past forty years, to be more and more regressive. You cannot provide everyone in society a decent infrastructure to live their lives in, if those who benefit the most from gov't services do not pay their fair share. Instead, we'll continue trending towards a return to the 19th century: the very wealthy can buy their own private services -- gated communities with private security, private sources of clean water, etc. -- and the rest of us can have inadequate police and fire protection, water that may from time to time poison us, etc.
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In which I ask you to give money, and spread the word.
Donation Link! Mapping Inequality: Digitizing our Redlining History As most people who would bother to read this probably know, in the past few…
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November 3, 2020 General Election
I read widely -- among California papers, I subscribe to the LATimes, SM Daily Journal, SJ Mercury, Sacramento Bee... Possibly some more I'm…
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Onineko Nisshoku, ~7/1/2018 - 10/10/2020
Nisshoku was born in a household with a cat hoarding problem. We have photos of him visiting our yard from as early as October of last year…
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