Tag: decision-2006

Fellow Texans, I am proudly standing here to humbly say.
I assure you, and I mean it- Now, who says I don’t speak out as plain as day?
And, fellow Texans, I’m for progress and the flag- long may it fly.
I’m a poor boy, come to greatness. So, it follows that I cannot tell a lie.

As everyone and their brother are noting, Rumsfeld is resigning. When President Bush was asked why he told reporters last week that Rumsfeld was staying on to the end of his term, Bush said, “I didn’t want to inject a major decision about this war into the final days of the campaign. The only way to answer that question and get you on to another question was to give you that answer.”

Now my good friends, it behooves me to be solemn and declare,
I’m for goodness and for profit and for living clean and saying daily prayer.
And now, my good friends, you can sleep nights, I’ll continue to stand tall.
You can trust me, for I promise, I shall keep a watchful eye upon ya’ll…

In other words, the Texas Side-Step (if you’ve ever seen Best Little Whorehouse in Texas you know what I mean). Tell them something so they go on to the next question. Never mind that it isn’t the truth. But it wasn’t under oath, so we can’t investigate perjury charges, which we did over a stained dress.

Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t-
I’ve come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.

To top it off, note that the proposed replacement (Robert Gates, an ex-CIA head) will be confirmed by the outgoing senate, not the incoming senate. In politics, timing is everything.

Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t-
I’ve come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls. Bill Clinton has called me several times. Antonio Villaraigosa has also called. My phone is ringing off the hook. But you see, they don’t want to talk with me, they want to talk at me. Given that, I just hang up. Only in America can you hang up on the former president.

In other words, I’ve been getting lots of recorded political ads. Many more than I’ve ever gotten in past years. I have no idea why… it’s not the tightness of the election (we’ve had tighter). It’s not that they didn’t have my number (I’ve always been in the book). I’m on the do-not-call list, but that exempts political calls (funny that). In any case, it’s annoying. For some, it might annoy them so much they vote for the other candidate.

Guess what? That may be what they are counting on. miketheactuary (who is in real life starowl) brought to my attention this slashdot post, which noted:

The NRCC hired Conquest Communications Group to conduct a massive nationwide robocalling campaign with calls specifically scripted to appear as if they’re coming from the Democratic candidate — in violation of FCC regulations on such ‘robocalls,’ which requires the identity of the caller to be stated at the beginning of the message [47 CFR 64.1200(b)(1)]. The call begins with ‘Hello. I’m calling with information about,’ and then says the name of the Democratic candidate. There is then a pause; if the recipient hangs up here, they will receive repeated calls back with the same message, potentially up to 18 times or more (according to one callee). If the callee doesn’t hang up, they hear a smear message from the machine about the Democratic candidate. The NRCC thinks the legality of the calls is, conveniently, a ‘complicated legal question that’s not going to get adjudicated this weekend.’”

Why is this being done? Simple. If the voters get annoyed enough, they vote for the other candidate or stay home.

Mike has only reported of this happening in New Hampshire, but the volume of calls has increased here in Southern California. Could it be happening here as well? I don’t know, but I won’t let is sway me from voting.

And with that, I’ll join the chorus in reminding you to go to your local polling place and vote. I haven’t voted yet, but that simply because I leave for work (5:30am) before the polls open (7:00am). I’ll be voting after work. Need help on analyzing the ballot? If you look here, you can see my ballot recommendations for this year.

Our family has a motto: If you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain about what government does. Even with all of our problems in this country, from potentially tainted voting machines (although I do like Los Angeles County’s system), to politicians who don’t know how to admit mistakes, to politicians who have fears of being inadequate (as demonstrated by a fear to pull out prematurely), to a growing movement of the religious right… even with all of these problems, we’re still a lot better with our political system than most of the rest of the world, which is why people keep wanting to live here. As American citizens, we have the obligation to make our system work and to not abandon it to those who want to think for us. So make it work. Vote.

My name is Daniel, and I paid for this message to encourage you to vote, and to hopefully stave off the Christmas music and the man in the red suit for one more day.

In a series of previous posts, I presented my analysis of the propositions (1A-1E, 83-85, 86-90, and many of the main candidates and local measures. I summarized those posts here. In this post, I address the remaining offices on my sample ballot.

Read More …

Over the weekend, I posted my pre-election analysis. As I know folks don’t always go back through all the weekend posts, I’m summarizing my endorsements here:

Position/Proposition	My Position	Link to Analysis
Governor	The Governator (R)	Analysis
Lt. Governor	Garamendi (D)	Analysis
Secretary of State	Bowen (D)	Analysis
Controller	Chiang (D)	Analysis
Treasurer	Parrish (R)	Analysis
Atty. General	Brown (D)	Analysis
Insurance Commissioner	Poizner (R)	Analysis
Equalization 4th District	Undecided	Analysis
Prop. 1A: TRANSPORTATION FUNDING PROTECTION.	For	Analysis
Prop. 1B: HIGHWAY SAFETY, TRAFFIC REDUCTION, AIR QUALITY, AND PORT SECURITY BOND ACT OF 2006.	For	Analysis
Prop. 1C: HOUSING AND EMERGENCY SHELTER TRUST FUND ACT OF 2006.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 1D: KINDERGARTEN–UNIVERSITY PUBLIC EDUCATION FACILITIES BOND ACT OF 2006.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 1E: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND FLOOD PREVENTION BOND ACT OF 2006.	For	Analysis
Prop. 83: SEX OFFENDERS. SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS. PUNISHMENT, RESIDENCE RESTRICTIONS AND MONITORING.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 84: WATER QUALITY, SAFETY AND SUPPLY. FLOOD CONTROL. NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION. PARK IMPROVEMENTS.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 85: WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 86: TAX ON CIGARETTES.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 87: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. RESEARCH, PRODUCTION, INCENTIVES. TAX ON CALIFORNIA OIL PRODUCERS.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 88: EDUCATION FUNDING. REAL PROPERTY PARCEL TAX.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 89: POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS. PUBLIC FINANCING. CORPORATE TAX INCREASE.	Against	Analysis
Prop. 90: GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION, REGULATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.	Against	Analysis
Prop. H: Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds.	Leaning Against	Analysis
Prop. J: Technical changes for Proposition F Regional Fire Stations	For	Analysis
Prop. R: Councilmember Term Limits of Three Terms; City Lobbying, Campaign Finance and Ethics Laws.	Leaning Against	Analysis

As always, attempts to sway my position are welcome, encouraged even. If you agree with me, I acknowledge your superior reasoning skills, and welcome any additional arguments for our shared position that I didn’t think of, due to my puny faculties.

Silly Season ’06 is upon so, and so it is time for some political observations on the news:

• From the “Boy, Are Those Some Weighty Issues” Department:It appears that there is another mechanism that may come into play to prevent your vote from being counted: The US Postal Service. It seems that some counties (such as Riverside county) have so many issues and candidates on the ballot that the 1 oz threshhold has been crossed. Unfortunately, not everyone voting absentee knows this, and some folks may think a single-stamp will suffice. For example, in Riverside County, the six ballot cards that voters will mark together weigh just over an ounce, requiring 63 cents postage to mail the ballot to the county registrar of voters–this is due to a combination of 13 state measures, 15 local measures, and state and federal contests. Two other counties are in similar straits.
  [Los Angeles Times]

• From the “But We Know What It Is To Be Orphans” Department: Do you think every proposition on your ballot has active backing? Think again. Quite a few have had their original backers back out, just as a large number of propositions that you might have signed to get on the ballot had their efforts quietly dropped. One example: the education parcel tax, Prop. 88. Netflix founder Reed Hastings and venture capitalist John Doerr jump-started the effort with nearly $7 million. The contributions, used to pay signature gatherers, consultants and attorneys, were enough to secure a spot for the parcel tax on the November ballot. However, since that effort, its backers have long since stopped giving, in light of public opinion surveys showing weak voter support for the tax. Organizers now say they are unlikely to air a single television ad. But this isn’t the only instance of this. The Los Angeles Times cites an effort by the California Healthcare Foundation (a trade group for hospitals) in 2004, where they spent $2.6 million to put a measure on the ballot that would have created a tax on phone calls to fund emergency rooms and other services. After the measure qualified to go before voters, the group backed out of the campaign, crippling its chances. Also that year, card clubs and horse racetracks spent $27 million on a measure that would have allowed them to install slot machines. A month before the election, they pulled the plug on the campaign for the foundering proposal. In 2005, the California Teachers Assn. spent millions on campaign consultants and signature gatherers for a measure that would have raised property taxes on businesses. The group withdrew it before it qualified for the ballot. Situations like this make me think twice about groups raising money to put something on the ballot.
  [Los Angeles Times]

• From the “No, It’s Your Fault” Department: It’s started. The Democrats are blaming the Republicans for letting N. Korea get out of hand, and the Republican’s are blaming the Clinton administration, 6 years ago, for letting N. Korea get out of hand. It’s getting really silly. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, accused Democrats of playing partisan politics with a nuclear weapons threat. “Listening to some Democrats, you’d think the enemy was George Bush, not Kim Jong Il,” he said. Others are noting North Korea’s reported nuclear test is providing Republicans an opportunity to shift the focus from the congressional page scandal to national security, an issue the GOP considers its strength. But, then again, some House republicans are blaming the Democrats for that as well. Me? I think there’s plenty of blame to go around. I’m more impressed by the person that is willing to admit their responsiblity and mistakes and state what they will do differently, than someone who keeps doing what doesn’t work and just points the finger. I’ve got a finger for them!
  [San Diego Union Tribune, Jackson Hole Star-Tribune

Luckily, voter interest is high this election year, and both men and women voters are approximately equally smart.