Hooray For California, Propositions 1A-1E Go Down In Flames

In April I hoped California, Please Send A Message! Today it happened. California voters soundly defeated Propositions 1A-1E in spite of teachers' unions and other misguided souls wasting millions of dollars in a last minute ad campaign to get Californians to tax themselves to death for the benefit of unions and other undeserving parties.

California Ballot Propositions

Seven statewide ballot propositions were on a special May 19, 2009 election ballot in California.



1A-1E went down in flames according to the May 19, 2009, Proposition Results Map. 1F, a proposition to restrict legislative pay raises when there is a budget deficit overwhelmingly passed.

Proposition 1A, 1C, 1D, and 1E all looked like this:



Voters in San Jose lost their minds and voted for Proposition 1B



The irony of this vote is that 1B is only effective if 1A also passed. Voting for 1B without 1A makes no sense at all.

Proposition 1F



Proposition 1F was really a toothless waste of time. Instead I would rather have seen the following propositions:

M1 - Cut legislative pay by 20%
M2 - Legalize Marijuana
M3 - Free all the prisoners on minor drug offenses
M4 - Privatize services starting with the prison system
M5 - Eliminate defined benefit pension plans for all new state employees

With this success (yes the failure to pass these propositions was a huge success) the budget deficit is $21 billion and counting. Had the measures passed, the deficit would have been $15 billion. At the time it was proposed, the propositions were supposed to close the deficit. The reality is California is losing $2 billion a month with no end in sight.

Schwarzenegger is going to have no choice but declare another fiscal emergency. Let's see if the legislature can make some better choices this time, starting with reducing their own pay.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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