My Wish List For Today's Special Election

Prop 73 would require a 48 hr waiting period after notification of parents before a minor could have an abortion. As a strong believer in parents' rights and responsibilities, I hope it passes.

Prop 74 would change education code so that teachers would be granted tenure after 5 years instead of two or three. It would also severely restrict due process even of tenured teachers, making it too easy to fire people that administration doesn't agree with. This moves the pendulum from too far in favor of teachers to too far in favor of administration. I hope it fails.

Prop 75 would require public employee unions (police, firefighters, teachers) to get permission from each member each year before spending that members dues money on political campaigns/events. Currently these public servants are forced to pay money to a union, which then can use that money in any way it sees fit. This proposition should make the unions somewhat more accountable to their members. I hope it passes.

Prop 76 would allow the legislature and governor to make mid-year course corrections if money coming into the state treasure falls below what was expected. The legislature would have 45 days to determine what cuts to make, and if they fail to act then the governor could. Every expenditure of state money has a constituency, and of course someone would be hurt by state budget cuts. The alternative is to continue to spend ourselves into debt. I hope it passes.

Prop 77 would take decennial redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and would place it in the hands of retired judges. A pool of retired judges would be selected by lottery among those who would volunteer, and then the majority and minority leaders in the state senate would choose from this pool--but they'd be forbidden to choose members of their own party! This should ensure that moderates are chosen for the job. The final group chosen would consist of three judges, all of whom could not be from the same party. And they would determine the new districts without taking voter party affiliation into account, all three of them would have to agree on the final plan, and the plan would be presented to voters. I can't imagine a more fair system. I hope it passes.

Props 78 and 79 deal with prescription drugs. I don't want government meddling in the moderately-free market and I certainly don't like the idea of socialized medicine. I hope both of them fail.

Prop 80 would reregulate California's electrical service providers. I don't want government meddling in the moderately-free market. I hope it fails.

Early returns, with only 11.5% of precincts reporting, show 73, 74, and 75 passing, and the others failing. Lefties want the four propositions championed by Governor Schwarzenegger (I think those are 73-76) to lose. CTA is recommending "no" votes on 74-76 while urging "yes" votes on 79 and 80.

If the final tally goes as shown above (with only 11.5% of precincts reporting), it'll be a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I'll be extremely happy that 73 and 75 passed. I feel strongly about those two. I'd be disappointed for representative government in California if 76 and 77 fail, but I'll be honest--most of my emotion in this election falls on 75. If it passes, I'll suck up any of the other ones that don't go my way.

Update: Oh no! My bellwether has 75 losing.

Update #2: With 28.2% of precincts reporting, here's how it stands:
Prop 73 50.2-49.8 too close to call
Prop 74 48.9-51.1
Prop 75 52.4-47.6 but dropping steadily, and my bellwether county has it losing 46-54
Prop 76 41.4-58.6
Prop 77 44.6-55.4
Prop 78 42.1-57.9
Prop 79 38.9-61.1
Prop 80 35.2-64.8

Update #3: Apparently things are going swimmingly in a state in which the legislature has an approval rating in the 20s and the governor has an approval rating in the 30s. Two years ago we recalled a governor and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised to reform government--and the people cheered. Yesterday they pulled back from the unknown and stuck with the "devil you know", rejecting all 8 propositions.

I went 4-4 on them, which isn't the worst I've done in an election, but I'm disappointed in the failure of Proposition 75. How many scores of millions of dollars of member dues money did CTA spend to fight these propositions, to the point where they're now trying to get a $40 million line of credit to stay afloat? Ugh.