TGWTG User Blogs

11.07.08

Yo,

After my tirade against the religious oppression of gays inherent in their propositional efforts on Tuesday, I decided to flesh out my political exploits by including a score-sheet of what I voted for or against this year. Amidst raving, rabid political rants, of course.


President/Vice President of the United States:
My Vote:Barack Obama/Joe Biden
Outcome:Barack Obama/Joe Biden (with 53% of popular vote)



Everyone with a pulse knows of Obama’s victory, and the hope and joy that it caused in multiple communities. Anyone watching on television would call the victory a landslide, with Obama coming away with 364 electoral votes, McCain scrounging to pick up his 162. But, like many people, I find the electoral college to be an outdated model of polling in this country, as it was first designed when the country slightly more than a dozen states. Ah, who am I kidding? I want popular vote to supersede any other polling data because if that was the case in 2000, Al Gore would have been president by a solid margin. Speaking of margins, a lot of people believe that the 53/47% break between Obama and McCain on the popular vote is not a huge difference, and mathematically speaking, they’re right. But Obama came away with the highest margin in the popular vote since Bush Sr. in 1988, and the highest of a democrat since Johnson since 1964, according to The Wall Street Journal.
I am extremely happy with the outcome of this election, even though it wasn’t the most difficult one to predict. Between Obama and McCain, I side with the democrats on more than 70% of the issues this time around (McCain’s stance on nuclear power is the major thing I stand by with him,) and therefore gave my first legal vote in a presidential race away to the guy that I knew was going to win anyway. The selection of vice presidents only made the decision easier, with political veteran Biden against retarded housewife Palin being one of the simplest decisions I’ve ever made, up there with the time I had to decide between a fish hook shoved down my urethra or a nice slice of chocolate cake. Will Obama change the world as much as he says, not in one term, and most likely not even in a second. But electing him definitely put us on the right track to re-establishing alliances overseas, and the man can definitely put forth the beginnings of changes that those after him can continue. Among my expectations for his term in office is a possible rise in the minimum wage, pressure on businesses to adapt cheaper alternative energy products, practical discussions into alternative energy power, with funding possibility going into development of solar and wind energy plants, a withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the beginnings of a new, affordable healthcare system. The one thing Barack Obama can do while in office, to guarantee continued support from both liberal and conservative constituencies, is right before his inauguration speech, directly after taking the Oath of Office, he turns to the microphone, and with his newly established presidential powers, calls for the citizen’s arrest of John Ashcroft, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, David Wolfenstein, and Dick Cheney, with accessory charges against George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice. If we can get pictures of PC police and secret service apprehending the inner Bush Cabinet and placing them under arrest, Obama can rely on solid support from at least half of the 76% of America that hates that administration. The dude’s got a lot ahead of him, especially with assigning “change” as his word of choice. Let’s hope he patch up the failures of the last 8 years.

California Senate/House of Representatives:
My Vote:N/A/Steve Young
Outcome:N/A/John Campbell (with 55.8% of popular vote)



California didn’t have anyone under senate election this year for office, but my congressional district did have two guys up for the House; the greater county, thankfully, gave both establishments Democratic majority. Although the Senate didn’t get the 60-seat majority (they gained 6 seats that the Republicans lost, giving them 57) that would allow them to bust up filibusters, their slight majority will give them the edge for the surely liberal policies that will be coming from the Obama White House. Democratic control of Congress, the Senate, and the White House; this is going to be fun! The House, on the other hand, elected against my vote for Democrat Steve Young, instead re-electing Republican John Campbell. Although he is a fiscal conservative (the only kind I like), his views on Immigration are a bit off in my taste, except for making English the national language. Despite his social conservatism, his financial stances seem solid enough, so I’m not too sad over the loss. As for the lack of Senator to vote on, I’m extremely happy with Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, both share strong Democratic values and fought hard when against a Republican majority in the past. Go Women!

Proposition 1a - Safe, Reliable High-Speed Train Bond Act
My Vote:Yes
Outcome:Yes (with 52.2% of popular vote)



This proposition was a measure to use 30 billion of the State budget, taken out over ten years, to construct a high-speed mass-transit rail system that goes from Los Angeles/San Diego to San Francisco, effectively connecting the two major cities and halves of the state together. Even though I won’t, most likely, be able to use it to see my friends in Nor Cal (as completion dates for the earliest sections of the rail is 2011, the latest 2030), it’s a safe, reliable travel option to leave for those that can make the trek. It cuts down on congestion, interstate travel cost, and carbon emissions for the State. The upfront costs aren’t as steep as you think (estimated costs to fix the Santa Ana Highway alone rank up to 25 billion), and it’s a good way to connect the State and add a high-tech way of travel, with possible expansions to the rail being laid open for the future (entire West-Coast/Canada/Mexico connections……sweet). Awesome sauce in a can.

Proposition 2 - Standards for Confining Farm Animals
My Vote:No
Outcome:Yes (with 63.2% of popular vote)



The proposition sounds good, and makes farming business owners out to absolute villains. The measure would require farm owners to place creatures into pens that allow them the mobility to turn around completely. Sounds terrible, right? Must have been what everyone else thought, to. Philosophically, at least for the meat producing animals, I think it’s just polishing the deck of the Titanic; requiring an animal birthed and primed for the specific purpose of slaughter to be given living conditions seems a bit counter-productive to my ears. On a financial level, it’s going to cost California tax payers 9.5 million dollars a year to assure legal practices and government interventions are able to take action if a farmer doesn’t comply with the new regulations (giving him a fine or jail time.) Doesn’t sound like much next to the bond measure, but every little bit helps. On another financial level, every time with update farming regulation, it costs farmers money, to produce and maintain new cages and what not. Not that I am a stalwart ass-monkey for big business, but for California, agriculture and farming are huge, if not the biggest, exports we give to the rest of the country and world, and I just don’t really want to get in the way of that, in any way I can. We supply the majority of fruits and vegetables to the States, after all.

Proposition 3 – Children’s Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program
My Vote:Yes
Outcome:Yes (with 54.8% of popular vote)



As much as I don’t want to trust any federal employee that tells me that this money cannot be re-regulated to something other than what this bond act states, there was no way I was going to vote no on this one. Our hospitals are pathetic in this country, except when you can afford and need the cooler surgeries, and Children’s Hospitals are especially bad. This proposition will authorize $980 Million in Bonds be spent on the rebuilding or renovating of Children’s Hospitals across the State. Yeah, special interests will obviously get in their and muck things up, but this is California: if industries and corporate greed aren’t involved in all of our dealings, its not true Western spirit.

Proposition 4 - Parent Notification Before Terminating Minor's Pregnancy
My Vote:No
Outcome:No (with 52.2% of popular vote)

[img]http://www.ppshastadiablo...ion 5[/url] - Nonviolent Drug Offense. Sentencing, Parole, Rehab
My Vote:No
Outcome:No (with 60% of popular vote)


Sounds nice, especially in our pot-loving Golden State; it increases the State’s required oversight of rehabilitation of convicted drug users and reduces consequences of non-violent offenders. But, in reality, the money we save on prisons (since the druggies aren’t cluttering them up), we are spending on drug rehabilitation processes that have no guarantee of actually working (think “AA”.) On top of that, criminals can lessen their sentence on other crimes by claiming they were under the influence of drugs (making everyone an unhinged celebrity, apparently.) Unfortunately, marijuana is still being lumped legally in the heavy drug category, comparable to heroin and meth. And as much as this proposition claims to help reduce their sentence or not even be sentenced at all, the benefits of the proposition are far outweighed by its detriments.

Proposition 6 - Police, Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Laws
My Vote:No
Outcome:No (with 69.4% of popular vote)

Not a single county in the state had a “yes” vote on this proposition. It would essentially place additional penalties on drug and gang crimes, adding over 30 new laws in the process. Big problems with this little ditty is that the money used to pay for additional law enforcement and legal fees would be re-allocated out of the money used to pay for Schooling, Health Services, Transportation, Housing, and Environmental Protection, leaving us safe, but stupid, sick, and homeless. It would eliminate bail for illegal aliens convicted of the aforementioned crimes (meh), and would charge 14 year olds as adults for the same crimes. With only 30 some-odd percent of the vote, it didn’t qualify to be adopted and/or amended, thankfully.

Proposition 7 - Renewable Energy Generation
My Vote:Yes
Outcome:No (with 65% of popular vote)



This measure didn’t pass mostly, by my opinion, because it would require Californians to pay a higher electric cost. This proposition would require California utilities to produce 50% of their power through reusable means by 2025, meeting the challenge in increments (20% by 2010, 40% by 2020, and 50% by 2025.) Those against it claimed that it was poorly written (conceited) and that it forced wind and solar power out of the market. Admittedly, I did misinterpret the proposition, probably due to its poor literary quality, but I do think a similar measure needs to be adopted in the country, if only by replaced “reusable” with “alternative.” Forcing utilities to adopt alternative energy solutions by the same date could lead to huge investments in things like biogas, solar, and wind power, leading to advanced development of emission-reducing products and services. Let’s hope next time, the Energy peeps will know how to write.

Proposition 8 – Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry
My Vote:No
Outcome:Yes (with 52% of popular vote)



Here’s the big one. There is now an initiative being sent to the State which will change the California Constitution to define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. It’s absolutely terrible, and it was so close for the longest time. The archaic values of the world’s largest cult now become the word of law, and gays are forbidden to hold marriage documentation in any legality. There is no way to describe it other than discrimination. Marriage is not a religious institution; the causal definition of the term has just been monopolized. I already did a diatribe on this issue in my Last Blog, so make sure to check that out.

Proposition 9 - Criminal Justice System, Victims' Rights, Parole
My Vote:No
Outcome:Yes (with 53.5% of popular vote)

This one greatly extends the rights and notifications of the victims of violent crimes during the incarceration process. Sounds like something everyone can agree on, right? Well, Californians seem to have forgotten that they already passed most of the measures of this proposition twenty years ago! This means that this proposition is completely toothless, only now it will cost us more money with the cost of this year adding onto the passed measure from 2 decades ago. Yeah yeah, the rights of victims are important, but enough to get bloated, useless policies passed around them twice?



The rest of the propositions were more or less throw-aways, with a veteran’s bond measure that easily passed, another alternative energy initiative that didn’t have a prayer, and a confusing revamping of re-districting (the act of shifting county and city lines based on population and other elements every decade or so) which also passed. All in all, the election paned out well, although I gladly would have exchanged a high-speed train or the rights of food for gay marriage. But alas, I am not yet master of universal opinion, and must deal with the decisions of the people.

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…..damnit