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As Oliver Hardy once said, here's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into. My hair is in a recession. The economy is in a depression.
I'm in favor of voting. It's not enough by a long shot but it is something...why not? The forces of repression all show up at the same place once a week while we're sleeping in. Peace and freedom is a better way altogether, so again...why not vote? It takes very little time, really.
Fixing the fine mess requires shifts in consciousness, changes in course, realizations of truth. We are all just renter here in life, and there is no rent control. Concepts of ownership are laughable and doomed. In truth, we must interconnect on a deeper (dare I say spiritual) level, to cosmos and communities. All the intermediate noisy constructs - states, nations, property lines - are mere bureaucratic boxes, profoundly devoid of meaning. What's that 2012 thing about?
Okay - what's up is that I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I make decisions daily, yet with a reduced level of attachment and a heightened level of compassion. Downright Buddhist, perhaps. One can only sustain crabby so long. I was starting to complain about complaining.
It's easy to get outrage fatigue, and I don't even watch tv. Somehow Bushies slithered away, inexplicably unindicted, to collect their eight years of bribe money washed through book deals and corporate speeches. So change means a better looking, more glib figurehead leading the race to the bottom. We no longer make things, we just watch each other.
The good looking guy likes nuclear power and oil drilling too. At least until a couple weeks ago (cue screeching u-turn). Would you like oil with your redfish?
The outrage baton passes to the tea partiers, the pissed off and pliable. The intended results from years of education cuts. Boiling slowly on the stove, blaming fellow gumbo ingredients for their fate. Haven't figured out the burner controls, or even that there is a burner. Like all overcooked gumbos, it's an inedible mush in the end.
Ah the curse of awareness. Not saying we're smarter and kinder and better, but er...we are, actually. It is time to speak loudly, to crank the music, to dance in the moonlight, to join in nature's samba line. Grab your neighbor's waist and boogie along. Just sayin'...
Okay, back to the election recommendations. Is it just me, or is this getting easier all the time? Props 14, 16 and 17 are such blatant money grabs, voting for these is against the best interests of 99% of the population. The only bafflement is that anyone votes for them.
Check out the competition: Wilbur and Mr. ED...
Partisan State Offices
It's good to be Green. We've got the best candidates, even if they generally run unopposed. Democratic candidates range from bad to mediocre, the Republicans are truly horrific. I'm always amazed when people vote directly against their own best interests. But that's me.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Lots of problems with the front runners Torlakson, Romero and Aceves...keeping the last education dollars away from things like classrooms. Here's a really bad idea: let corporations run schools. Economics 1A: if you have a private business running a public function, they cut corners and skim profits for themselves. Some things (fancy toasters, for instance) are mainly private benefits and best remain in the private sector. Other things (schools, health care, roads) are public benefits and best remain in the public sectors. Get this wrong, and nothing works - on one side you have the ABC telling bartenders not to put pineapples in our drinks, and on the other you cut out textbooks to make the quarterly numbers. Either way, this is all nuts.
I chose Leonard James Martin after a web surfing expedition. Seems like the best guy. Avoid the Bible thumpers.
Siskiyou County Offices
If I had time, I'd foment political organizing. Nestle is gone for the moment. Still, there's a long, long way to go.
I love my house but this county definitely has the worst politicians ev-er! The supervisors, including the one one the ballot, won't even go along with Ahnold (and virtually everyone else involved) on Klamath River dam removal. Not the advanced course, folks. The sheriff candidates hail from Dresden. 4th of July means checkpoints (remember freedom!), undercover agents in the schools (help those kids learn they have no rights), blocking dispensaries...and that's the "reasonable" candidate. I can't vote for any of these clowns, and you shouldn't either.
On to the propositions, quick and easy work:
Proposition 13 - Seismic Retrofit Property Tax Reassessment - YES
It's good to fix your house, especially so it won't fall down in an earthquake (any Tea Partiers want to challenge this?). You shouldn't have to pay more taxes just because you did that. Easy call. Of course it doesn't fix the original Prop 13 screwup. Long dead commercial real estate lobbyists (see, I said they couldn't take it with them!) completely screwed the whole state's economy in 1978. Sorry kids!
Proposition 14 - Primary Elections - NO, NO, NO!!!
This is really stupid. There's already too few differences (if any) between the corporate controlled parties. This also attacks third parties such as the good old Greens. Keep going in this direction, we might not even need elections, just have a corporate board make all the decisions. Hey wait - doesn't that happen already?
Proposition 15 - Public Campaign Financing - YES
This is a good idea. Corruption is an epidemic, because campaigns are funded by corrupt and greedy people. Not sure this will solve all the problems, but why not start?
Proposition 16 - PG&E Wants to Steal Your Money - NO, NO, NO!!!
PG&E sees public power - on an even playing field, many times cheaper and cleaner than theirs - as a threat. Educated communities such as Marin are successfully fighting for a public alternative, and it's working. In communities considering this, PG&E thinks they should get two votes and their opponents just one.
Clearly, PG&E knows it can't compete on an even playing field. This is a business decision - they think it's cheaper to spend millions confusing the gullible on this proposition, than to change their business model. They can be slimy (it's what they do) but we don't have to be stupid. Vote no.
Proposition 17 - Mercury Insurance Wants to Steal Your Money - NO, NO, NO!!!
So let's say you go traveling. Let's say you can't afford a car (that can happen, particularly since there's no jobs). If later on, you buy a car, this lets the insurance companies jack your rates up even higher.
They way they see it, they are entitled to your money. They have support for that position, since laws require drivers to buy insurance no matter how much of a ripoff it is. Pretty sweet. This proposition just goes a bit further, it let's them punish you for not paying them all the time no matter what.
Do you agree? That question is another basic intelligence test. Don't flunk. Vote no!
Other people who sometimes agree with me:
More information resources:
Smart Voter - lots o'links
Project Vote Smart - even smarter?
Around the Capitol - lots o'information here
Fundrace - find out where your neighbors gave money
Open Secrets - another place to follow the money, which is really the only way to understand politics in Amerika...