E tenebras, lux dormiens

I hope the Californians are wise enough to make an informed decision on Propositions 55, 56, 57, and 58.

The problem is that Proposition 13 has made it extraordinarily difficult to raise tax because it requires 2/3 of the votes. We NEED tax. I might seem arch-liberal, but taxation is necessary to safeguard our resources and services that the government pays for us. By requiring such majority of votes, there is no way to pay for anything that we want. If you want to live in the sunshine state, you better be willing to pay for it, buddy! So Proposition 56 is needed to make it easier for the legislature to pass tax increase by 55% of the vote, still a majority, but not as difficult as 2/3. It should reduce partisan bickering because in a 2/3, there's a lot of special interest making sure that the votes never make a 2/3 majority.

Some people have made sinister accusations that Proposition 56 could spell a never-ending increase in taxation. Hah! If that was the case, we'd go Republican! Besides, there are certain things we value, such as efficiency in money allocation, so we have to trust our politicians to do the things we want them to do, even if it hurts us over the short run. We can trust the Democrats not to tax and spend and tax and spend because that's what President Bush is doing, and even his conservative base is angry.

Proposition 57 is a stupid proposal, using bonds to pay of debt than to pay for construction and other projects? Oh, Arnold, I know you'd promised not to raise tax, so I understand that you don't want to break that promise. Boo hoo. That's what makes being a politician sucks, and that's why I have some sympathy for those politicians. I guess what could happen if Proposition 57 is not passed is that you will, or the Republicans in the legislature will, be willing to raise tax to balance the budget. Besides, I don't even agree with having a constitutional requirement to balance the budget. That's why Proposition 56 also has a sticky point for me.

Proposition 58 gives the Governor a lot of power, wow. Well, I thought the governor already has a lot of power, but I guess I was wrong. For some reason, it may have been stripped.

Well, I probably would not support Proposition 57, but I would support Proposition 58. We'll see. I'm expecting to see a LOT of commericals for and against different propositions. Sometimes I wish they were all captioned . . . Anyway, I'm all for state's spending not to increase income, but there's a problem with that.

Once you try to lower tax, it is extraordinarily difficult to raise it. For some reason, Americans have a propensity toward lower tax, but are not willing to give up any services that come from taxation. I guess it was part of that Boston Tea Party traditions. I still have doubts about that. I wouldn't be a British supporters, per se, nor the "American patriots." I very likely would have kept myself out of the action, waiting to see who wins.

However, if someone suddenly drafted me to fight for American independence, I very likely would have been influenced by the writings of Jefferson and Paine, and angered by British actions to the point that I would actually fight for American independence. It's hard to tell, though.