Sometimes I think the major media must issue marching orders,
complete with mandatory pat phrases, to its journalists.
Sometimes I think the major media must issue marching orders, complete with mandatory pat phrases, to its journalists. Take, for example, the way every pundit is solemnly intoning that our gubernatorial recall is making California a laughingstock in the eyes of the nation.
Granted, the recall is entertaining. But it is also a wondrous, amazing, awe-inspiring exhibition of grassroots activism, of pure Athenian democracy. In fact, Democrats conceived and legislated the recall process, and are probably aghast to see Davis hoisted by this Democratic petard. I bet that politicians in other states are viewing our recall with more fear than laughter.
The state Republican Party mucky-mucks did not support the initial recall efforts. It was the little guys, individuals, who buttonholed their friends and acquaintances and garnered the signatures of more than a million registered voters.
I signed late; a friend shoved a petition under my nose in Garlic City Coffee and Tea. I hadn’t intended to sign until someone pointed out that Davis surely knew before the election that California faced a $38 million deficit, and that he surely suppressed the information to re-gain his seat.
Deceit bothers me, as does fiscal irresponsibility: over Davis’s first term, state revenues increased 25 percent, while inflation and population combined increased only 21 percent, but general fund spending increased 40 percent. That is what caused the deficit, and our current cuts.
There are 10 other great reasons to recall Davis. His fundraising tactics border on bribery. He signed for $42 billion in overvalued energy contracts, exacerbating our energy crisis. He signed a Family Leave law and a bill to almost double worker’s comp payments, both of which will drive more businesses out of California to Arizona and Nevada. He illegally tripled the car tax by executive order.
He promised to sign a bill to allow illegal aliens to apply for California driver‚s licenses, and another to give illegal aliens in-state tuition rates at state colleges – even as tuition soars and spaces disappear. He did an end-run around Prop 187, which was passed by 59 percent of the voters, so that illegal aliens can still receive state-funded education, welfare, and non-emergency health care.
He is set to do another end-run around Prop 22 by signing AB 205, which will grant the rights of marriage to registered homosexual couples. He signed a bill imposing fines on businesses that refuse to hire transsexuals and transvestites.
But who should replace Davis? Though I love Arnie’s movies, he is pro-abortion, pro-gay adoption, and pro-gun control. Not only is he socially liberal, but his only foray into politics involved a hefty increase in state spending.
Fortunately, State Senator Tom McClintock is running, so I can actually vote for someone I want and trust.
I first saw Tom McClintock at a meeting in Salinas, about the then-proposed car tax roll-back. Our then-Assemblyman Peter Frusetta introduced Tom (in Peter’s own inimitable rambling down-home style.)
Then Assemblyman McClintock began to speak, and I was bowled over. He was smart, articulate, wryly humorous, honest, incisive, and to the point. I’ve voted McClintock on every possible occasion ever since.
McClintock is being largely ignored, so you may not have heard of his platform, which he has promised to implement on his first morning in office. He’s going to rescind Davis’s tripling of the car tax, void the $42 billion of overpriced state electricity contracts, and call for a special legislative session to slash worker’s comp costs by two-thirds, which should help reverse the loss of jobs to other states. “And then I’ll go to lunch,” says McClintock.
Folks, California’s economy has been bleeding out since Davis was elected in 1998. Businesses have been leaving the state in droves, workers have been following. Under the guise of tax-the-rich, our state government has burdened businesses with killer taxes, along with crippling regulations, high energy costs, worker’s comp, and family leave. California lost 289,000 manufacturing jobs in less than two years.
October 7th is our chance. Recall Davis. Vote for Tom McClintock. Or it’ll be “Hasta la vista, California.”
