Propositioning, the legal kind
Posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 0:34.
This was my first time voting in California. The numerous propositions intrigued me. Propositions in California are like dog poop covered in icing. The icing is the sweet tasting soundbite of good will for all Californians. The dog poop is the special interest group that profits substancially. The special interest group’s goal is to pursuade voters to bite into the icing without tasting the poop before election day. Generally, there is much more dog poop than icing.
For Example
Proposition 86: tax on Cigarettes to stop teen smoking: organized by hospitals trying to form illegal monopolies
Proposition 89: political campaign reform: organized by special interest groups to keep smaller special interest groups from getting funding by making tax payers fund the selected special interest groups
How I voted
Winner: Proposition 1A now prohibits the state sales tax on motor vehicle fuels from being used for any purpose other than transportation improvements. The Proposition specifically hopes to help traffic congestion relief projects. Traffic in California sucks and this proposition, unlike the many others, does not place an additional tax or bond burden upon Californians.
Loser: The real losers in Proposition 87 are Kevin Nida and all of Earth’s residents.
Proposition 87 would have established a $4 billion program to reduce oil consumption by 25%, with incentives for alternative energy to be funded by a tax on oil producers that could not have been passed onto consumers. President Clinton, Al Gore, and many other smart people supported the proposition.
Not smart people, like Kevin Nida, President of the California Firefighters Association, were featured in commercials that aired during every single primetime commercial slot for weeks prior to the election. Nida lied about how the tax would result in higher gas prices and create a reliance on foreign oil. Perhaps Nida hasn’t realized that America already relies on foreign oil.
Nida lacked the foresight to understand that alternative renewable energies are cheaper and better for the environment. If Nida truly was concerned for the firefighters he represents, he would have supported Proposition 87. Global warming’s effects can be seen in the changing rain patterns that have left California in a multi-year drought that has resulted in costly, uncontrollable wildfires.
The blood of future fallen wildfire fighters is on Nida’s hands.
Oil is an addiction worse that cigarettes. America needs to handle oil companies in the same manner it handled cigarette companies. Big oil should be required to advertise against itself, list the severe health consequences from its use, and prevent future generations from being addicted before they’re killed by the addiction.
