November 02, 2004

Election Day...

Now I can take down all of the political banners from my 'blog... I expect to be dropping in throughout the day and making comments as the day progresses. I live in California. We have a whole slew of propositions to vote on, as always. Here is tDF's Voting Guide and some of my rationale:

Candidates for Office:
President - John Kerry: Bush is a liar, a cheat, lost the last election, and is responsible for the needless deaths of over 1000 American soldiers, has no interest in moving away from petroleum based fuels. Kerry is much too conservative for my taste, but has to be better than "W."

US Senator - Barbara Boxer: Bill Jones is downright scary. Boxer, the more liberal of our two senators, is my preference. Again, I am not supporting Boxer as much as attempting to keep the senate out of Republican hands.

State Senator and Member of Assembly: Graber and Nava, respectively. Nava presents with environmental credentials that I like, is pro-education, and appears to be the better person for the position.

Propositions:
Props 1A and 65: NO. I believe that it is the responsibility of the state to fairly distribute funds to the areas where they are most needed. Both of these propositions keep funds local and harm poorer areas.

Prop 59: YES. I dislike secrecy. Best to have open government.

Props 60 and 62: NO. I believe in the integrity of membership organizations. I dislike the "open primary" and feel that a party's candidate should be selected by its membership. Once placed in nomination the only poll that really matters occurs. Frankly, the idea of Democrats choosing the Republican Candidate or vice versa is repugnant to a representative system.

Prop 60A: NO. I dislike the ambiguity of this bill. What state property will be sold off? Drilling rights in the Santa Barbara Channel? Public lands that are habitats for endangered species. This is akin to selling one's birthright for a bowl of weak porridge...

Props 61, 63, 67, 71 and 72: YES. All serve to enhance health care in California. Mental health is in a state of crisis. This is a constituency that cannot well represent itself. Funds need to be allocated to offer help and assistance. Think of it as caring for those who, if left untreated, can become harmful to the rest. This is economics not compassion (for my conservative friends). If I am in need of an ER and cannot find one nearby that can be life or death. Our hospital system is in shambles. We are losing services. Think... Illness knows no demography. A germ does not care about your politics. The infamous prop 187 was an epidemiological nightmare. Why compound the issue?

Prop 66: YES. Three strikes was a tragic error. This bill does not strike down that draconian law, but limits it.

Props 70 and 68: NO. I dislike gaming, but that is personal. I cannot support rights reserved for one sector of the society while denying the same to others. If there is to be gaming in California it should not be limited to tribal casinos.

Prop 69: NO. In East Germany the police had scent files on their citizenry. They were used to control the population and to enable the dogs to find anybody at anytime. This is the moral equivalent. The Republicans are acting like the Communists. While I like the irony (I've always considered that the Republican party has more openly embraced fascism under W), I dislike the bill.

Prop 71: YES. Stem cell research is beneficial to all. Think of this as an economic bill that creates new industries in California.

So there it is... tDF's Voting Guide. Shall see how they fair. More later.