Ken

"WE IN AMERICA do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." - Thomas Jefferson

This is your country.

Vote.

You owe it to yourself, your friends, your family, your community.

Vote.

It's your responsibility, your privilege, your right.

Vote.

Thomas Jefferson was right, and even more right in the midterm elections.

That's when people get voted into power who don't represent the voters, because the voters didn't bother to vote.

There's nothing more inspiring than going to your local polling place, and joining with other citizens of every age, color, religion, and political view to take your part in running this country.

It's what America is about.

Don't miss it.

Vote.

We need you to make this democracy work.

THE LIBERTY SCALE was intended from the beginning to be non-partisan.

It's about voting in a way that will empower the average citizen—giving him or her more control over everyday life.

Because of that, the scale has nothing directly to do with which party a measure is endorsed by, or which party a candidate is endorsed by.

"Vote for the candidate, not for the party," is a very good stance in normal times.

Unfortunately, we do not live in normal times.

Democrats:

Republicans:

The Democratic party has not been perfect these last two years.

SO, TO SUM UP The Liberty Scale perspective on California Propositions for this ballot:

#	How it Shifts the Power	Vote
19		Yes
	Would decriminalize adult marijuana use under California law.
20		No
	Would turn redistricting for Congress over to an appointed committee.
21		Yes
	Would finance the preservation of our State Parks through an $18 vehicle license surcharge.
23		No
	Would suspend (indefinitely) bipartisan bill AB 32, which protects our environment and air quality. (Written and financed by out of state oil companies.)
24		Yes
	Repeals $1.3 billion per year in tax giveaways to wealthy corporations
25		Yes
	Allows our elected representatives to do their jobs (and be held accountable) by removing the 2/3s majority hurdle for passing a budget.
26		No
	Makes it virtually impossible for the state to make corporations repay the costs they create for taxpayers, including environmental cleanup.
27		Yes
	Returns responsibility for redistricting to our elected representatives.

You can click on the numbers to find the posts where each proposition is analyzed in detail.

Sometimes the posts come in two parts, so just click the next post when you get to the bottom of the page. (Links to the previous and next post appear just below the end of each post, the "up" link takes you to the beginning post in a series.)

You'll notice that I haven't posted about Proposition 22.

TO CONTINUE OUR discussion of the hurdle gambit:

Proposition 23:

The two-thirds rule makes budgets virtually impossible to pass on time, and the two-thirds rule for taxation makes it virtually impossible for our elected representatives to develop a sane tax strategy.

But two-thirds rules aren't the only way to set a hurdle impossibly high.

First, a little history.

The current situation is that Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), was passed by the legislature, and backed by Governor Schwarzenegger, to do two things:

CALIFORNIA PROPOSITIONS are a particularly appropriate subject for The Liberty Scale, because the process is supposed to be about the average citizen exercising power in government.

But as I've pointed out before the only path to real liberty—to keeping power in the hands of average citizens—is constant vigilance.

If we don't pay attention the power will be grabbed.

One way to do this is to cripple the legislature so that it doesn't matter who we vote for, since their hands are tied so firmly behind their backs.

And one way to do that is by an especially misleading trick: put a law in place that seems to make something difficult while actually making it virtually impossible.

Propositions 23 and 25 both touch on this tactic, in different ways.