How I Voted and Why.
I mean to post this weeks ago when sent in my absentee ballot, but I never got around to it, so... better late then never.
First the big one:
President: Barack Obama
Don't get me wrong, the "cult of Obama" can be a bit annoying, and I wish I was into him as some of his supporters seem to be, but it's nothing compared to how into, say, Howard Dean I was. It's not that I think Hillary Clinton would be a bad president, far from it, in fact, i've grown to like her a lot more then I used to.
I like Obama a hell of a lot better though, and the media loves him too. His "post-partisan" talk gets on my nerves sometimes, but hey... how nice would it be to actually HAVE a uniter, and not a divider. I'm afraid no matter how much Hillary wants to be otherwise, she's as divisive as she can be.
Experience isn't always a great thing, look at Dick Cheney. heh.
Either Clinton or Obama would kick ass as president, and I will work hard for either, but Obama is the easy money for me, and yes... the one whose bumper sticker I am sporting on the Probe.
Here is a great message from the Booman Tribune with 10 reasons why undecided voters should pick Obama over Clinton. It sums up most of what I have to say.
Bottom line is that Obama is the best of the two choices we have left, and a victory over the establishment, which is damn, damn important.
Aaaaand, now for the propositions since, in this state instead of having a legislature actually legislate, the well moneyed minority party seems to think that we should vote on EVERYTHING.
Proposition 91, Transportation Funding: No
Prop 1A took care of this, this is a no brainer.
Proposition 92, Community Colleges: Yes
Look, I hate doing the budget through the ballot box more then the next guy, but community college fees are OUT OF CONTROL in California. (thanks Arnold!) I'm sure this doesn't come as news to anybody here.
This is a total yes.
Proposition 93, Term Limits Reform: Neutral (but I voted Yes)
High waffle factor/I don't give a crap factor here. I ended up voting yes for it.
Prop 93 changes how term limits work, from 6 years in the Assembly and 8 years in the Senate, to 12 years total in either House.
In a way it's great because another thing the Republicans did awhile ago was get really strict term limits in place, so that everybody is constantly running for their next job instead of concentrating on the current one. More experience people leads to more progress... it also makes it harder to get rid of the douches.
I voted yes, but high waffle factor.
Propositions 94-97, Native American Gambling Referenda: No
The tribes don't have to do jack for labor, in fact, they can break every rule in the book with impunity. The only reason to vote for this is the $$$, guess what though? The compacts state that the money doesn't even have to go to the state:
This number is through 2030, the life of the compact, and the Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that on an annual basis, the income will be no more than $200M for the next few years, ranging up to the mid-hundreds of millions at their height. That is between 0.2% and say, 0.5% or 0.6% of the annual general fund income, which is currently $100B. Furthermore, if non-gaming tribes do not receive enough revenue, as dictated by the compacts, the state has to dip into its portion of revenues.
Screw that, renegotiate it, make sure labor isn't get screwed and that the state gets a taste.
Don't be misled by the ads!
Oakland local measures: A,B,E and G
I voted yes.
Some stuff about the hospital, community pool and education parcel tax.
I'm for it.
--
But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself SmartVoter.org
Oh yeah, lastly, but not leastly those that are "decline to state" or "independent" voters CAN vote in the Democratic primary, you just have to request a Democratic ballot. Please do that, it makes a difference, because otherwise you aren't voting for a presidential candidate in the primary at all.
So hey, if you haven't voted already, please vote eh?
-C.
First the big one:
President: Barack Obama
Don't get me wrong, the "cult of Obama" can be a bit annoying, and I wish I was into him as some of his supporters seem to be, but it's nothing compared to how into, say, Howard Dean I was. It's not that I think Hillary Clinton would be a bad president, far from it, in fact, i've grown to like her a lot more then I used to.
I like Obama a hell of a lot better though, and the media loves him too. His "post-partisan" talk gets on my nerves sometimes, but hey... how nice would it be to actually HAVE a uniter, and not a divider. I'm afraid no matter how much Hillary wants to be otherwise, she's as divisive as she can be.
Experience isn't always a great thing, look at Dick Cheney. heh.
Either Clinton or Obama would kick ass as president, and I will work hard for either, but Obama is the easy money for me, and yes... the one whose bumper sticker I am sporting on the Probe.
Here is a great message from the Booman Tribune with 10 reasons why undecided voters should pick Obama over Clinton. It sums up most of what I have to say.
Bottom line is that Obama is the best of the two choices we have left, and a victory over the establishment, which is damn, damn important.
Aaaaand, now for the propositions since, in this state instead of having a legislature actually legislate, the well moneyed minority party seems to think that we should vote on EVERYTHING.
Proposition 91, Transportation Funding: No
Prop 1A took care of this, this is a no brainer.
Proposition 92, Community Colleges: Yes
Look, I hate doing the budget through the ballot box more then the next guy, but community college fees are OUT OF CONTROL in California. (thanks Arnold!) I'm sure this doesn't come as news to anybody here.
This is a total yes.
Proposition 93, Term Limits Reform: Neutral (but I voted Yes)
High waffle factor/I don't give a crap factor here. I ended up voting yes for it.
Prop 93 changes how term limits work, from 6 years in the Assembly and 8 years in the Senate, to 12 years total in either House.
In a way it's great because another thing the Republicans did awhile ago was get really strict term limits in place, so that everybody is constantly running for their next job instead of concentrating on the current one. More experience people leads to more progress... it also makes it harder to get rid of the douches.
I voted yes, but high waffle factor.
Propositions 94-97, Native American Gambling Referenda: No
The tribes don't have to do jack for labor, in fact, they can break every rule in the book with impunity. The only reason to vote for this is the $$$, guess what though? The compacts state that the money doesn't even have to go to the state:
This number is through 2030, the life of the compact, and the Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that on an annual basis, the income will be no more than $200M for the next few years, ranging up to the mid-hundreds of millions at their height. That is between 0.2% and say, 0.5% or 0.6% of the annual general fund income, which is currently $100B. Furthermore, if non-gaming tribes do not receive enough revenue, as dictated by the compacts, the state has to dip into its portion of revenues.
Screw that, renegotiate it, make sure labor isn't get screwed and that the state gets a taste.
Don't be misled by the ads!
Oakland local measures: A,B,E and G
I voted yes.
Some stuff about the hospital, community pool and education parcel tax.
I'm for it.
--
But don't take my word for it, read it for yourself SmartVoter.org
Oh yeah, lastly, but not leastly those that are "decline to state" or "independent" voters CAN vote in the Democratic primary, you just have to request a Democratic ballot. Please do that, it makes a difference, because otherwise you aren't voting for a presidential candidate in the primary at all.
So hey, if you haven't voted already, please vote eh?
-C.