Go Vote!

Tomorrow is “Super Tuesday.” Go vote, you wankers… it will only take a few minutes. And remember, if you’re registered as an Independent, you may select an Independent-Democratic ballot. Otherwise you’ll miss out being part of the clusterfuck that is Primaries 2004.

Besides the Preznit wannabes, there’s a bunch of other stuff on the ballot:

• Prop 55: authorizes the state to borrow $12.3B to build & repair schools. This one seems obvious, and there doesn’t seem to be any $400 gold pens and $2000-per-school ashtray allowances for the teacher lounges in this one. A no-brainer.
• Prop 56: lowers the requirement to pass a budget from 2/3rds to 55%. Majority rules, just a little less than before. *shrug*
• Prop 57 & Prop 58: the two are tied and one can’t exist without the other. 57 essentially makes it constitutional to allow a one-time bond of $15B to reduce state debt (the deficit), and put away a tiny amount for a rainy day. 58 resets to zero state, making it illegal once again to use such bond measures. It’s likely these two will pass, but I’m terribly conflicted… the whole fact that you have to make something constitutional in the first place to pass a related ballot measure makes me mondo-suspicious. And while it makes my skin crawl to agree with the Republicans, they’ve got a point when they say we’re doing nothing more than passing our debt down to future generations. It also really does nothing to stop the over-spending that got us here in the first place, basically giving our elected officials a “get out of jail free” card and no incentive to behave themselves going forward. Major Dems, including SuperSenator Diane Feinstein, have come out in support of this one, but I just don’t know… I’m no politician, but this whole mess seems more complex than to be remedied by a quick Terminator-style fix. I am, admittedly, somewhat irked by the repeal of the car tax: yes, it saved me money, but it’s almost perfect in terms of progressive tax, as it’s based on the worth of the car. It was “fair share,” and would of put a lot of money back into the state.
• Measure 2: Raises bridge tolls by $1 for mass transit in the Bay Area. Golden Gate excluded, as it’s already ridiculous at $5 (the bridge was paid for way back in the 70’s). Mass transit good, yes, and $3 going one-way isn’t going to break anyone.

Other regional elections, assemblies, and county measures exist as well. It’s a big ballot. You can see The Chron’s endorsements here, but I’m not saying you should take their recommendations. 🙂