When I got home last night I was intrigued to find waiting for me in my mailbox a piece from the Yes on 1A/1B campaign (hey Brian, where’s my direct mail?). It’s apparently directed to Democrats, because the mailer is attempting to make the case that Obama supports 1A and 1B, and you should too:
Apparently, Obama’s not-quite-endorsement of the special election propositions came at a love-fest with Schwarzenegger a couple of months ago during the President’s visit to Los Angeles, during which I barely got out of downtown before they shut down the streets.
The mail piece quotes a piece by San Francisco Chronicle political writer Carla Marinucci, which basically describes a love-in of sorts between Schwarzenegger and Obama regarding the state and federal budget crisis:
Obama praised Schwarzenegger as “one of the great innovators of state government, somebody who has been leading California through some very difficult times, somebody who has turned out to be an outstanding partner” in economic recovery.
Schwarzenegger, who has prominently broken with some of his fellow Republican governors who have criticized the federal stimulus package as an example of bloated overspending, went the full measure on Thursday, praising both the president and his stimulus plan.
“It’s the greatest package,” he said. “I’m so happy we are getting these kinds of benefits from the federal government and President Obama.” He called the Democrat “a fantastic partner” and “our leader in economic recovery.”
During the event, Obama added a nod to “the initiatives” on the ballot:
Obama, addressing a question from a member of the audience regarding cutbacks in education funding, stopped short of a formal endorsement of the governor’s six ballot measures. But he told the audience at the Miguel Contreras Learning Center that he had discussed the issues with the governor.
“That’s why it’s so important for everybody to get engaged in the various initiatives that are going to be coming up, to make sure – that what you just articulated, to invest in our kids … is reflected in the state budget,” he said.
He warned that in the current economic situation, voters who want better schools, better roads and better infrastructure should know that “you can’t have something for nothing … you can’t ask local elected officials to balance the budget” and cut taxes and improve roads. “Somebody’s got to pay for it,” he said.
The Yes on 1A campaign is trying to get you to vote their way because of a tepid nod by President Obama. But what’s really telling is the last paragraph, not the middle one. I fully agree with President Obama on that. Now, if only we could get him to move past giving lukewarm nods to special election propositions that will have a bunch of negative consequences, what if we actually got him to support a sane constitution for this state instead?
…and I am not trolling at all.
Don’t you think that the grass roots Democratic apparatus in CA (which I am admittedly not a part of) would have a greater and quicker success in pushing drug prohibition repeal, sentencing law reform and intercity development through the private sector as opposed to these un-winnable battles over tax increases?
If 2/3rds or Prop 13 was going to be repealed it would have been done by now. It’s not gonna happen. People love social programs in theory and perhaps even more so when they are paid for by evil smokers, drinkers, gamblers, etc. But when you ask them to come out of their pocket the vote is no.
Why shouldn’t South Central be just as great a place to live as Orange or Marina Del Ray? What is keeping these communities from thriving? Throwing money at the education system has done no good so far.
If social justice (even if I may disagree on the exact definition of) is the goal it would seem the measures used so far to achiv it have fallen woefully short.
But I seem to recall listening to that event on the radio, and it was in answer to a question from a teacher, saying, hey, what can you do to keep them from cutting teachers. And Obama basically said he agreed but that he controlled such a small percentage of education funding that it was up to us in the state to decide that we wanted to fund these programs.
I recall that being BEFORE 1A-1F were on the ballot, and I also never had the sense when he said it, if I am remembering the right event, that he meant specific initiatives on the next ballot but rather ‘initiatives’ in the generic sense of ideas and programs that would be discussed in the Legislature and ballot box in general.
I definitely had no sense, when listening to him, that he was endorsing specific ballot measures.
They are propositions placed on the ballot by the legislature and the governor. They are only “initiatives” when they are proposed by the citizens. It’s very unlikely that when Obama said to “get involved in the various initiatives,” he was speaking about 1A-1F. Unlikely to the point of impossible.
So what are we saying — that the pro-1A campaign is lying when they say Obama supports the propositions? I’d say so. Just like they have lied from the very beginning, by putting dishonest wording on the ballot (the title of 1D is “Protects Children’s Services Funding” — which is the opposite of what it does; the title of 1A fails to mention that it raises taxes; etc.), and playing fast and loose with the truth about what the measures would do, and who supports and doesn’t support them.