The proposition ads are now all over the teevee, and there are some that at least attempt to hew to the truth, and some, well, not so much. Take the majority vote measure, prop 25. After the broken government crew tried to get the ballot language changed because they didn’t like the fact that it says it doesn’t affect taxes, they pretty much ignored the judges decision in their ad. I’ll save you the whole script, which you can check at the Bee’s adwatch, but here’s the relevant portion:
Narrator: We all want an on-time balanced budget, but Prop. 25 will just make things worse. Twenty-five makes it easier for politicians to raise our income taxes, sales taxes and taxes on our homes – so they can spend even more.(SacBee)
So, an appellate court says this is not the case, yet ad ignores that? Right, sounds like a textbook ad from the Norquistians out there. From the Bee’s ad-watch:
“In our view, Proposition 25 cannot be interpreted to operate as an end-run around the two-thirds vote requirement for raising taxes,” the appellate court wrote.
It is likewise inaccurate to imply that Proposition 25 would supersede the two-thirds vote requirements for property taxes set forth in Proposition 13.(SacBee)
Of course, from a long-range standpoint, we need to do more to really restore democracy in the state. However, we need to start by Passing Prop 25 and defeating Prop 26.
The right just covers the field with flat-out lies — there’s no legal (or apparently, political) penalty.
…is voting for Prop 25.
And they overwhelmingly support 25. (24 is not hard to love, either.) Our members have been cut to the bone, and the part where legislators forfeit pay when it’s late works for them.
Public school employees suffer immediately when the budget talks drag out, so a simple majority vote coupled with a penalty for blowing the deadline makes sense to them.