Louis' Ramblings

Are people so deluded...

Well, the recall is almost upon us. I am voting no, because I feel the whole thing is horribly disruptive and just a bad idea, but I have sort of mixed feelings. I do not feel Arnold is particularly qualified. He is a Republican, which means I am likely ideologically opposed to his platform, but since he is not really expressed and significant views I can't evaluate it objectively. I do know the one major thing he has claimed he will do, bring in accountants and magically balance the budget, is impossible though.

California's voter initiative system allows for a lot of directly voter controlled issues. It also allows a lot of people who don't have long memories or deep understanding of economics meddle with things they really should not. Prop 13 (which limits property taxes) makes it hard to get a stable revenue source. Prop 42 removes (which earmarks gas taxes for public transit) removes money from the general budget. Props 98 (which makes it impossible to ever reduce education spending) and 184 (3 strikes and your out) cost a fortune. Are they bad things? No. But we (and when I say we I am taking on a lot of responsibility, since I was not in fact not living in California when any of those were passed), the electorate have emasculated the state legislature. They are required by statute to spend somewhere between 60%-80% of the budget on particular voter initiatives. Which means that the entirety of the overage has to be excised from what is left of the budget, potentially as little as 20% of the budget. It can't be done. And it is our (the voter's) fault.

So, now that we have established that not only is budget crisis not the governor's fault, but also that it is unlikely the governor can fix it, we can draw some conclusions.

• Arnold does not understand what he is talking about
• Neither Davis, nor Schwarzenegger can solve the issues at hand
• If the governor does not solve the budget crisis it will likely ruin his future political prospects

Given the above analysis, I think I may want Schwarzenegger to win. It seems he is really stupid enough to want to jump into this flaming heap of shit. If it can't be solved anyway, and whoever is in office is going to end their political career, then I see it as an ideal opportunity to take care of Schwarzenegger problem now.