This election is exactly why I chose Mr. Wilde's comment about truth. The truth of these initiatives and propositions is certainly not pure and most are written to seem simple but have loopholes inside of loopholes. Here are my thoughts. Short, simple, to the point.
Measure E - YES - this is important for schools. Temporary, all money goes to teachers, arts programs, class size reductions, clean and safe schools and no money goes to district administration. Yearly audit. Basically, a little more than a quarter a day or $2 a week to help our school system that has lost $20 billion in funding and thousands of teachers, counselors, maitenence workers, etc. in the last 3 years.
State Superintendent of Schools - Tom Torlakson - good, solid, former teacher, understands what it is like in the classroom and the boardroom. Gloria Romero is in the pocket of big money that wants to privatize public instruction.
Governor - I'm voting for Jerry because I'm a democrat and I enjoy voting in a primary that I know all the candidates are democrats, which is one of the reasons why I am opposed to Prop 14.
I have looked all over Meg Whitman's website and have yet to find concrete details about how she will do all the things she is promising. She says she wants to 'fix' education but never specifically says what she thinks is wrong with it, nor does she express any specific changes other than the current mantra these days about charters are good and teachers need to be fired more easily.
Poizner used to be socially moderate and fiscally conservative but has drifted so far to the right I don't know what he really stands for anymore.
Prop 13: YES - retrofit without having to raise property taxes
Prop 14: NO - no open primaries until campaign finance reform is in place. I want to know who the candidates are, not what they are pretending to be.
Prop 15: Maybe - could be the beginning of campaign reform, could be a waste of time because of too many loopholes for corporate pacs.
Prop 16 - NO - will make PG&E very rich, give them an almost monopoly in California, give them the power to raise your rates (oh yeah, you don't get to vote on that decision) and has nothing at all to do with 'taxpayer rights to vote'. It is purposefully misleading and tapping into the voter/tea party anger. It will stop new green energy solutions and will do nothing but make PG&E richer.
Prop 17- NO - again, another cynical attempt to subvert the initiative process. See who wrote and funded this initiative. Mercury Car Insurance. This will possibly punish good drivers, add surcharges to some policies and make Mercury extremely wealthy. This is designed for a corporations benefit, not you, the consumer.
Vote as you will, but please don't be fooled by the onslaught of slick, but empty TV ads. Read the initiatives, see who is funding them, go to the websites of the candidates and look for details instead of rhetoric. Make up your own mind because you understand the positions not because Fox, or MSNBC, or I told you what they mean and how to vote.
