Yes, it shows the people spoke up and it also shows that they are morons. The farce has begun. I voted for Bustamonte only because he had the biggest chance of beating Ahnold. Otherwise I would have voted for Camejo. Really, I think this is embarrasing and a crock of shit.

Three points…

1-They were already morons…Davis was going to enable illegal immigrants to become legally licensed drivers!!! I can’t even begin to explain the stupity behind this one…

2- Being without power because some little weasel boy is too scared to put his foot down is ridiculous. He has the ability to make the average business day at every company in California unbearable if they mess with the public. Instead he folded faster than Superman on laundry day and gave big business what it wanted.

3- Teh press has made a mockery of this…not the people. Arnold is one hell of a business man…being a millionaire long before he ever started in movies or weight training…give the guy a chance! His practices just may turn Cali aound. He couldn’t do any worse than Davis already has. Besides…Bono was an artist gone politician, and everyone seemed to like the way he ran things…

O.K. As a Californian (Huntington Beach)… Here is my take on the whole show…

1) The electorate had the chance to remove Davis from office in November of 2002, and failed to do so. All of the issues for the recall, which does not included the licenses for illeagl immigrants (that was signed after the petition, and Davis was pandering, and it did more harm than good) were brought up in the last election cycle, and I think that the recall should have been limited to what was done since his second term began. The republican party could have had the Governor’s mansion has they elected Riordan in the primaries over Simon. It is amazing how the republicans decided that pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay rights are not important when Arnold ran, but it was important when Riordan ran. (Democrats sell out too, don’t get me wrong)

2) The recall petition becomes certified with only 900,000 signatures on the petition. California has almost 15,000,000 registered voters, in a state of 35,000,000 people. Do the math. 6% of registered voters, and less than 3% of the population. The standard to get a petition like this on the ballot should be higher than 12% of the turnout of the last election, or those who can sign a recall petition must have voted in the last general election.

3) The direct democracy that this recall is supposed to exemplify is why California is in trouble. We, in California, have this initiative system where the voters can determine almost every issue. We have also passed a lot of these, which restricts the state’s abiltiy to govern its finances. Proposition 13 limits property tax, which is revenue for the State, Counties, and Cities lose. Proposition 53 WOULD have forced the government to spend 3% on infrastructure. Proposition 49, Arnold’s after school proposition, is still unfunded. The legislature only controls about 40% of the budget of California. All the rest is tied up in initiative mandated spending. And to top it off, our budget needs a 2/3 vote to pass. (Also, the framrs of the US Constitution did not want a direct democracy, which is why we have a representative democracy)

4) Term Limits suck. I was a fan of term limits at first. After seeing what they have led to, I have reconsidered. Career Politicians know how to compromise. The yahoos in Sacramento do not. They only pander to their special interests, and are looking to what office they can run for after they get limited out of their current position, and not what is good for the state. I can not recall a compromise budget resoultion coming from Sacramento that did not come from months of stalled talks.

O.K., I think I have ranted about this beautiful state long enough..

Arnold was elected to the governor’s office fairly, even though he did not specifically identify one item he would (or could) cut, or which taxes (except the VLF) he would cut.

However, he will be our new governor in about a month or so, and I hope for the sake of California, he and the Legislature can cut through this partisan bullshit which is destroying this state.

Carl.

Allright…

As far as the licensing thing goes…whether or not it was there b4 doesn’t matter…what matters is that it is a bad idea, period. You are giving illegal people, legal documentation. You’re opening up Pandora’s box. The possibilities are limitless, and there’s a reason this policy is no longer in effect.

As far as the power thing goes…I will have to research this more, before I can make a truly informed statement. Being in Ohio, I only can go on what I can find on the tube, in the paper, and on the net. However, being the governor of 35 million people, this man has a lot of power at his disposal. If electric companies want to jerk him around…he could simply say, Cali isn’t going to do business with you. Do you seriously believe some other company wouldn’t step up to the challenge of supplying that market and gaining the monetary reward???

You want to screw with Cali and make power unavailable to raise profits? Fine, I’ll send in so many analysis teams to make sure your company is operating according to code your head will spin. Hope your books are dead on, because we will be scrutinizing them with an extremely fine tooth come. Get ready for a whole boat load of regulations, becasue here they come. We can pay the higher prices for your electricity, but I’m going to tax your product and business so heavily, it will negate any price increases. Basically, you won’t be able to stop suddenly, without ten of my people getting stuck in your ass. Maybe, it should be regulated…

Do I have all the answers, no. I’ll be the first to admit that. However, I do have ideas and I’m basing my thoughts on the info available to me.

As far as the recall…

Of those 35 mil people, how many are children that can’t vote anyways? That stat alone will dramatically tip your numbers.
900,000 people were so fed up with Davis, that they got together in an extremely organized fashion, went through with the proper procedures, and got the recall moving. That’s a lot of unhappy people. If Davis, and his policies, were so cherished by California, then Davis would still be in office and Arnold wouldn’t have won. The bottom line here is, that lots of people were fed up with Davis, they had a legitimate election, and thus Arnold is now governor. Everyone in Cali had a chance to put in their 2 cents…

This goes back to what I’m originally saying…things are already messed up, Davis isn’t fixing it, so let’s give someone else a crack at it. Give the guy a chance, and see what happens…maybe the results will be great for all involved.

Why should I have voted in the last election to be able to sign a recall? This is just as much my country as it is anyone else’s. Just because I didn’t vote the last time around, should in no way negate me from having a say in government if I don’t like what’s going on.

The press AND the people…yes, I’ll agree with you on that one. But seriously, what’s with the last minute smear campaign on Arnold? It’s ridiculous. We can’t beat this guy in the polls, so lets at least try and destroy his reputation as a last ditch effort. It’s pathetic and it makes me sick.

As far as the representative democracy…I believe that’s what this is. The people vote for who they believe represents them them the best. The people receiving the highest vote, get put in office. They then start constucting legislation that they believe best concerns what the people want. Yes, I do realize that very often many of these people are making decisions based on what will suit them best rather than the people they represent. The nice part about it is that if enough people get together, they can push that person out of office, and put in someone they like. I also realize that we don’t always have a "choice". Very often, it’s the lesser of two evils, which is how I feel in the upcoming national elections. Pick the least loser of the bunch. Unfortunately, this is the way it works. Those with the money, carry the weight.

Be happy that you have such a direct say in how legislation is enacted. Governor Taft here in Ohio, recently spent some absurd amount of money (I’ll have to look up the exact number, but it was something like $800K) of the state budget, to "renovate" Ohio road signs and make sure to place his name on these signs. Do you think the average Ohioan would have OK’d that if they had the chance to vote on it?

OK, slightly fried for the moment so I will end it here… :aliensmile:

My politics? I go with whoever I think represent me best. Democrat, Republican, Independent? I don’t care…whoever I think will do the most to help make this world better for us all gets my vote

Don’t take my signature as my belief, it’s just a quip:twisted:

Giving everyone equal parts when clearly they are not equal is what class?
Communism!!!

I agree with you on this point.

He may have some power, but since power is now Interstate Commerce, it falls more under juristicition. And we all know how much influence the Energy Companies have over this current Bush administration. Davis had asked the F.E.R.C. for help, and he was told it was the market forces in action.

That is why I also refernced the # of registered voters (15 million). As for an organized fashion, it was ONE person. Rep. Darrell Issa of San Diego put together the petetion, and funded it.

I agree here, it is time to give Arnold a chance.

and here I must repectfully disagree. This is not a representative democracy in California. Yes, we do elect representatives. However, when they represent us, they only have access to 40% of the state’s budget. So if something needs funding, there is no way they can fund it. The rest of the money is already spent due to these initiatives. While it may look good to be able to vote directly on the state’s issues, in the long run it causes problems. How many people actually read all of the pages of the Election Handbook that comes out? This is why the framers decided to create a representative democracy. They understood that the electorate may not understand all of the consequences of their actions, hence the need for representation. Why have the representation then if the people can vote on it?

And as for your case in OH, why didn’t the legislature put a stop to it? There has to be a mechanism to stop such spending.

— this is fun..

Carl.