CA 2010 Democratic/Progressive Proposition Guide

Ok, this isn't necessarily a down-the-line Democratic/Progressive proposition guide, it's how I'm voting on the propositions. I'll do my best, however, to explain why I'm voting the way I am, so hopefully it'll end up being pretty transparent.

Prop 19: Legalize Marijuana. Yes.
I've never smoked marijuana, but seriously, come on. Being illegal isn't stopping anyone from getting it. Tax it, quit locking people up, and let's get on with the damn future.

Prop 20: Citizen Panel for Redistricting. Yes.
Previously, voters ok'd a citizen panel to handle redistricting for state offices. this approves a citizen panel for federal offices. Without a citizen panel, you have legislators gerrymandering the place for their individual and party benefit, at the expense of the people. I don't care what your party affiliation is, you gotta believe that everyone's voice should be heard.

Prop 21: $18 Surcharge for State Parks. No.
When the budget crunch came, folks got upset that the state would have to close parks. Thing is, parks hardly cost anything, and the legislators did it to try to get people's attention, which they did. But taking the parks out of the budget so citizens can bury their heads about the hard choices of budgeting? No thanks.

Prop 22: State Can't Borrow Local Funds. No.
It's hard enough as is to get a budget passed, this just makes everything more complicated. Also, there is powerful political pressure to minimize the state taking from local governments already.

Prop 23: Suspend Greenhouse Gas Law until Unemployment below 5.5%. No.
This effectively kills CA's attempts to turn away from fossil fuels and become a center for next-gen energy. Will some companies turn away from CA? They already have. Will new companies with great growth potential arrive? Perhaps not in gross numbers as large, but yes. Mostly, I'm just tired of people throwing up roadblocks for trying to deal with global warming.

Prop 24: Repeal Business Tax Breaks from Legislature. No.
On principle, I'm against propositions. Especially propositions to overturn things the legislature has done. It's not about whether I'm for the tax breaks, the fact is, I don't really know the impact of these tax breaks and I gotta trust my legislators to figure it out. If we would get rid of propositions entirely, I'd be perfectly happy.

Prop 25: Pass a budget with Simple Majority instead of Two-Thirds. Yes.
It's a democracy, folks. The most basic thing -- passing a budget -- and we can't just have a damn majority to take care of it. You may fear the tyrrany of the middle, but that's a lot less of a problem than the tyrrany of the minority.

Prop 26: Fees Require 2/3 approval. No.
This is an attempt to choke off spending. Do we have too much spending? Perhaps. Should we tie our hands to make it impossible to raise taxes? I'm for the process, and this throws a giant wrench in that process.

Prop 27: Put Legislators Back in Charge of Redistricting. No.
This one is the opposite of 20 -- it returns gerrymandering power to legislators. Screw that.