California:
- Jerry Brown (D) beat Meg Whitman (R) even when Meg spent $190 million (or was it $140 million? - whatever) of her own money, apparently without regret. I heard one Meg voter say they voted against Brown because they didn't like his wife. That's a hell of an excuse for a vote. His wife isn't going to run the state. Oh well... I think it shows just how influential the ads were, especially those that misled, lied, deceived or otherwise hyped outrageous issues. I'm glad that my vote cancelled out their vote.
- Barbara Boxer (D) beat Carly Fiorina (R). I'm glad Boxer won. She's done a lot for my family, even when many in my family say "they didn't like her." Since I know that they don't know anything about her or what she's actually done, the only reason I see that they didn't like her is that they believed all of the hype that the Big Money ads told them to believe. I suppose they would have voted for Fiorina even though she sent thousands of jobs overseas and couldn't see that by doing that she did just as much damage to the economy as anything else she could have done.
- Gavin Newsom (D) beat Abel Maldonado (R). I actually voted for Maldonado because he was the only Republican who went against the Republican Party's obstruction during last year's state budget fight so California could actually HAVE a 2009 budget. Otherwise, we would still be waiting for one and paying I.O.U.s at 9% interest. And, too, Abel did a good job handling the PG&E gas-line explosion while Arnie was gone. He actually CARES about California; that's my impression. But, that person who voted against Brown's wife, above, voted for Gavin, which was okay with me too, because they liked Gavin, even though Maldonado has more state level experience. They said, "I don't know anything about Maldonado." Oh well...
- As for the remaining state offices, it looks like Democrats are winning. Kamala Harris (D) for Attorney General is the only one hanging, probably for a recount. She's actually pretty good, so I hope she wins. She's not a death penalty supporter, but she follows the law. I'm not sure what else we can expect.
- Proposition 19 - legalizing Marijuana. Fear seems to be defeating this. I thought decriminalizing and controlling it was a good idea, much like we do alcohol and tobacco, but there is a lot of Big Money in running prisons and making sure that we have as many prisoners as possible. Too bad. The only good thing about prisons is that we're broke and can't afford them at the moment and so we are not jailing a lot of those for minor crimes.
- Propositions 20 and 27 - Redistricting by a "Commission" instead of by the state legislature (Prop 20), and Return Redistricting to the Legislature (Prop 27). Prop 20 is winning and 27 is losing, so the voters are united. A "Commission" is supposed to make redistricting "non-partisan." Are we kidding ourselves again? I think so. How can we be sure that a Commission of 12 or 14 good old boy judges or lawyers are not just as partisan as the legislature is? Actually, isn't it time that we asked the legislature DO ITS JOB? I think we just shot ourselves in the foot again.
- Proposition 21 - $18 Surcharge to fund/keep up state parks. Nope, it's defeated. Personally, I'm ready for the state parks just to go back to nature. If you want to go camping in them, then pay for it yourself at the entrance AND be prepared to see a few bears and mountain lions. There is no reason we have to pay to keep them up when nature does a hell of a job all by itself... free of charge. We pay for "forest fire" management, as in keeping the forests reasonably clear of too much combustible brush, so go do that.
- Proposition 22 - Restrict State Access to County/City Funds. Yeah! It's winning! Keep your hands of county/city money. If you have a problem at the state level, then deal with it there. 'Nough said.
- Proposition 23 - Suspend California's Greenhouse Law until we have 5.5% unemployment. It's losing. The Koch Brothers and two Texas oil companies tried to buy this one. I'm glad they're not winning. We haven't had 5.5% unemployment for 60 years, and we're not likely to get there in another 60 years. We can't wait that long. Green energy creates jobs.
- Proposition 24 - Repeal Corporate Tax Breaks. This one is losing, mostly because all of the Big Money was against it and they flooded the airwaves with "OMG! JOB LOSES GALORE" lying ads that scared the Bejesus out of everyone. So, I guess the corporations will bitch about poor schools, but not pay to fix them. Go figure.
- Propositions 25 and 26 - have to take these together. Prop 25 reduces the legislature vote requirement to pass a budget back to a simple majority, 51%, (from a two-thirds 66% vote) while Prop 26 increases the legislature vote requirement back up to two-thirds for adding "fees" (say taxes) to the citizens to pay for state services. It's one against the other, here. Prop 25 is winning, AND SO IS PROP 26, for God's sake! Big Money was against 25 and for 26. This shows that the voter is clearly confused. Heaven knows how the Governor and Legislature will figure this one out or whether a budget can be passed next year. The world is turned on its head.
How did those other states fair where people I know live? Not so well, it appears. The House went to Republicans. The Senate, so far, is still Democratic. Dan Coats won in Indiana, and he's about as Big Money as one can get, solidly in the pockets of Wall Street, the Big Banks, the Insurance Companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He was bought. Oh well.
I saw one voter vote for more Trauma Units, but was silent on their Senator and Representative vote. If it was Republican, then it was against Healthcare Reform and for Insurance Companies and against that Trauma Unit, and likely against grandsons, granddaughters, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. It's funny how those things turn out.
The "apparent Speaker to be" Boehner's so-called "Pledge to America" says he's going to "listen" to "The People." Ha! I'm worried about that. I don't think he or "The People" know what they want nor how to get there. I don't think their promised tax cut and anti-Obama movement will help America. I'd rather they listen to knowledgeable people who know how to get out of this mess,, whether it agrees with me or not, or whether it agrees with you or not, and do that. But, it appears they've made up their minds about that, and it's the popular thing to do. I think we should let the Republicans hang themselves.
Ha! And, can you imagine Rick Perry winning an election in Texas after all of the crap he's said and done? Go figure. Of all of the separate elections across the nation yesterday, he's the poster boy for the biggest tales, the most hype, the fear and outrageous stand on any issue. He snowed you, Texas. He's worse than the Witch in my opinion. Oh well, I guess Texans will live with it, come hell or high water or Texas death row injustice.
What will it all come to? I think this election leads to disaster. If it does, I hope that, this time, voters actually SEE THE CONNECTION between their vote and what America becomes, unlike their Bush vote where they DON'T REMEMBER the connection to disaster. What would America be today if Al Gore had been President? Not at war in two countries, I'm sure. Not in debt as much. I'm positive about that. More jobs? I think so. So, we've got what we've got. I hope we can live with it and come together to fix this country, but I'm skeptical. How can I not be?
Dave
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