Let's start with 36. Prop 36 does away with someone getting a "third strike" for certain "non-serious, non-violent" offenses. Sending someone away for a minimum of 25 years for a non-serious, non-violent offense regardless of past history is cruel and unusual punishment, even if the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise. This should be a no-brainer ( Read more... )

These make sense to lump together because they are both ballot initiatives funded by business interests with vast amounts of cash behind them. Because of that, without even considering either, you should peg the odds that you should vote again both of them at about 90 ( Read more... )

This is designed to restructure government somewhat, requiring a two-year budget process, giving more power to the Governor in times of "fiscal emergencies", requires various oversight processes and provides even more inflexibility for changing things that affect financials than are already in place. And other stuff that isn't very clear ( Read more... )

Not much time left to cover all eleven propositions on the California ballot, and all but the last one (redistricting approval) are potentially interesting. We'll give it a shot, though ( Read more... )

After primary day on June 5th it seemed like the proposed tobacco tax in California had been defeated by about 1%. But in California there are lots of absentee and provisional ballots that don't get counted on election day and which seem to be generally of a progressive bent. That is how Kamala Harris won the battle for Attorney General in 2010, ( Read more... )

Proposition 29 would increase the tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, up from $0.87 to $1.87. The price of a pack of cigarettes is listed here as $5.19 in 2011, so this would increase the cost by a little less than 20%. The revenue will be devoted mainly to cancer and other smoking-related disease research. It is vacuously true, as the ads and ( Read more... )

Proposition 28 would change the current term-limits law for State Assemblypersons and Senators. Currently, one can serve up to six years (three terms) in the Assembly and eight years (two terms) in the Senate, a total of fourteen years. But you have to switch Houses to do it ( Read more... )

Today is Day One of the effort to Recall Scott Walker, aka Governor of Wisconsin, aka Supreme Ruler of Fitzwalkerstan. (The Fitzgerald brothers being the Republican leaders of the Wisconsin House and Senate ( Read more... )

And what an election day. Obscure, critical elections are taking place from coast to coast.

In California, a 12568 candidate race for Mayor in San Francisco is taking place using ranked-choice voting. The incumbent, Ed Lee, who swore he would not run when he was appointed to replace Gavin Newsom (who resigned to become Lieutenant Governor) seems ( Read more... )

New (and old) Governor Brown released his proposed budget yesterday. It was a real yawner; no 'radical' proposal of any kind to restructure California's revenue streams or government. Basically 12.5 billion in proposed cuts, and 12 billion in proposed new revenue (almost all resulting from extending 'temporary' hikes in taxes enacted a couple of ( Read more... )