I My Political Ideology:
No matter how you vote this year, all that really matters is that you do vote! I have filled out my absentee ballot and I'll be dropping it off at my local polling place on Tuesday. My election this year occurs in the City of San Jose, County of Santa Clara, State of California.
I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. As far as I'm concerned, they are both almost the exact same party (at least in a fiscal sense). Both parties want to over tax us and over spend, the only difference is what they want to spend our money on. The Republicans want to redistribute the wealth of middle class Americans through subsidies and tax breaks to large, multi-national corporations. The Democrats want to redistribute the wealth of middle class Americans to poor people and poor communities all over the US and abroad. I'm not a fan of either.
I do consider myself a conservative. I believe the political beliefs I have are (or should be) conservative positions, and I believe the GOP has hijacked and perverted the conservative platform. I was raised to believe civil liberties and fiscal responsibility were conservative values. Today, neither of those are important to Republican politicians. The GOP makes alot of noise about fiscal responsibility, but don't let them fool you, they like wealth redistribution just as much as the dems... They just want the money to flow in the opposite direction.
Although I consider myself a conservative, most people who also call themselves conservatives consider me a liberal.... Interestingly enough, those who call themselves liberal consider me a conservative... I am probably one of those hated "moderates"...
II The Candidates:
Generally speaking, I usually vote against all of the major party candidates by voting for a third party candidate. If I don't know much about any of the third party candidates, I generally mark the box for the Libertarian, knowing they aren't going to win anyway, it's more of a statement of disdain for the major parties than anything else.
Governor: Dale Ogden, Libertarian
I can't stand Meg Whitman or Jerry Brown, and I don't care which becomes governor (although I'd probably prefer Brown) because both of them would make a terrible governor. Jerry Brown is a terrible Governor (he was our Governor before and did a terrible job then), a terrible mayor, and a "less than good" Attorney General. A career California politican that's always done a shitty job... So why vote for him now.
I just generally don't like Meg. On top of that, she's a Republican... Right off the bat that's bad enough to disqualify her as far as I'm concerned. Also, she's not a Californian. She moved here to take her job at Ebay. To add insult to injury, she's a filthy rich Republican, totally out of touch with middle class California. Just not a good candidate.
Lt. Governor: Gavin Newsom, Democrat
I was really disappointed he didn't run for Governor. He would have had my vote for sure. Great mayor of SF, would have made a great Governor. Maybe he'll run when Brown terms out.
Secretary of State: Christina Tobin, Libertarian
Controller: Andrew Favor, Libertarian
Treasurer: Edward Teyssier, Libertarian
Attorney General: Timothy Hannan, Libertarian
Republican Steve Cooley? Are you joking? The last thing we need is a radical religious wacko enforcing his extreme brand of christianity as California law. Democrat Kamala Harris was a terrible city attorney in San Francisco, and would make a crappy Attorney General. Why would I vote for her?
Insurance Commissioner: Richard Bronstein, Libertarian
State Board of Equalization District 1: Kennita Watson, Libertarian
United States Senator: Barbara Boxer, Democrat
I've voted in every election in California since 1992, and this is the first time I've ever voted for Boxer, and to be honest, I hated doing it this time, but I did it this year because I decided a vote for anyone else would be a vote for Fiorina, and I feel like Fiorina is the ONLY reason to vote for Boxer.
US Representative: Mike Honda, Democrat
State Assembly, District 22: T.J. Campbell, Libertarian
Judicial: No vote
Superintendent of Public Instruction: no vote
Board of Education: no vote
Freemont Union High school district board member: no vote
III Measures Submitted to the Voters:
Prop 19, Legalize marijuana: Yes. Hell yes!
I really hope prop 19 passes. Prohibition against marijuana hasn't worked any better than the 1930's prohibition against alcohol. It has caused the same problems as alcohol prohibition, and truly, there is not a single reason for it to be illegal, aside from imposing one persons morality and lifestyle choices onto everyone else, which I'm against in any situation.
Prop 20, Redistricting: Yes
We must take redistricting authority away from the politcians to end gerrymandering.
Prop 21, Annual DMV Fee for state parks: Yes
I really hope this passes. Our state parks are in terrible shape, they are worth investing in, and this will provide them the funds they need while doing away with park entry fees so that every Californian who can get to a state park can enjoy it without having to pay an entry fee. Great program!
Prop 22, Prohibits state from stealing money from transportation funds to pay for other shit: Yes
Prop 23, Suspends air pollution law: No
I felt the oil companies were pushing this to make it harder to encourage green industries. I'm no fan of big oil. I believe in a sustainable way of life.
Prop 24, repeals recent change in business tax law: No.
If there were ever a case that supports a representative democracy vs a direct democracy, this propisition is it. I really struggled with deciding how to vote on this one, and I'm still not sure I voted the right way on it.
Prop 25, changes vote requirement for budgets to simple majority (except for raising taxes): Yes
Prop 26, requires taxes and fees required a 2/3 vote: Yes
Prop 27, eliminates state commission on redistricting: No
A yes vote on this one cancels out Prop 20. We must take redistricting authority away from the politcians to end gerrymandering.
Measure A, Childrens Health Protection: No.
All children in California are already covered under Medi-Cal. The last thing we need in this recession is more taxes, more spending, and more social welfare programs.... Even if that program is called "milk for babies and kittens act".
Measure B, Tax to repair county roads: No.
Use the money we're already paying in taxes more effeciently. I'm not going to vote to give the county more money to waste.
Measure C, term limits for water board members: yes
Term limits for any office are good!
Measure E, annual parcel tax to benefit Foothill and Deanza College: Yes
Our colleges are struggling and we need to support them.
Measure U, Marijuana Business Tax: yes
Legalize it and tax it!
Measure V, limit powers of outside arbitrators: No
Are you kidding me? this sounds like an attempted power grab if I've ever seen one...
Measure W, City Pension Reform: Yes
Pensions for public employees are very important, but we have to be able to pay for them. We can't allow them to bankrupt us.
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