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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, California, Election 2006, Politics, Proposition 73, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 78, Proposition 79, Proposition 80, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: McClintock’s Positions on the Propositions
California State Senator, Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, Flap’s Senator and friend has published his position on the November California Special Election Ballot Propositions. They are at his blog or here at the Pro-Family Townhall of the Capitol Research Institute.
Proposition 73: Parental Notification for Abortion. If parental consent is required for a child to use a tanning booth or get her ears pierced, shouldn’t parents at least be notified if she’s getting an abortion? YES. Whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, this should be the all-time no-brainer.
Proposition 74: Teacher Tenure. Do parents have a right to expect a higher level of competence before a teacher is granted life-time tenure? YES. This modest measure simply increases the teacher probation period from two years to five years.
Proposition 75: Public Employee Union Dues. Should public employees decide for themselves which candidates they will support with their own money? YES. This measure requires that before a public employee union can take money from that employee for political donations, it has to get the employee’s permission.
Proposition 76: State Spending. Should government live within its means? YES. This measure restores the authority that the governor of California had between 1939 and 1983 to make mid-year spending cuts whenever spending outpaces revenue without having to return to the legislature.Proposition
77: Re-districting. Should voters choose their representatives in legislative districts that are drawn without regard to partisan advantage? YES. The most obvious conflict of interest in government is when politicians choose which voters will get to vote for them by drawing their own legislative district lines. This measure puts a stop to it.
Propositions 78 and 79: Prescription drug discounts. Do you want the same people who run the DMV to run your pharmacy? NO. These are rival measures, one supported by drug companies and the other by liberal activists – both of which purport to lower drug prices. What they really do is assure that one group of patients gets to pay higher prices to provide subsidized prices for others. There’s no such thing as a free Levitra.
Proposition 80. Electricity Regulation. Do you want the same people who run the DMV to run your electricity company? NO. This measure locks in monopoly control of your electricity by the bureaucratized utilities and forbids you from ever being able to shop around for the lowest-priced electricity available.
Tom is RIGHT on all of the Propositions and will make a good running mate with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
Now….. if we can get Schwarzenegger to endorse Proposition 75, Paycheck Protection and Proposition 73, Parental Notification.
McClintock’s Lt. Governor website is here.
Technorati Tags: Tom McClintock, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Special Election, Proposition 74, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 78, Proposition 79, Capitol Research Institute, Proposition 73, Proposition 80
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page
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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Flag League, California, Politics, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77, Proposition 78, Special Election 2005
California Special Election Watch: Latest Public Policy Institute of California Poll
The Public Policy Institute of California has PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Californians and the Initiative Process, August 2005.
Some findings of the current survey
* A majority of likely voters across age, income, education, racial and ethnic groups, and in every region of the state, oppose holding a special election this fall.
* When asked which ballot issue was most important to them, a higher percentage of likely voters (16%) volunteered the answer “none†than named any one measure.
* At this time, likely voters are not very enthusiastic about the three reform measures on the fall ballot that are supported by the Schwarzenegger administration:
Proposition 74 (teacher tenure), 49% support, 42% oppose;
Proposition 76 (spending and funding limits), 28% support, 61% oppose;
Proposition 77 (redistricting), 34% support, 49% oppose.
* Governor Schwarzenegger’s approval ratings are at a low point: Only 34% of state residents approve of the way he is handling his job.
* The state legislature fares even worse, with a 27% approval rating.This is the 58th PPIC Statewide Survey and the first in a series of three surveys focusing on Californians and the initiative process. This special survey series is funded by The James Irvine Foundation.
The PPIC statewide survey can be found here.
Well, this news is mixed for the Governor with a little bad news for him and the Democrat legislative leaders.
However, on the bright side: the Paycheck Protection Initiative, Proposition 75, is handily winning with 58 per cent support, 33 per cent opposed and 9 per cent undecided.
Will the Governor finally embrace Proposition 75?
Technorati Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Recovery Team, California Special Election, Bear Flag League, Proposition 75, Proposition 76, Proposition 77
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page
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California Biotechnology Companies Worry About California Special Election
California Biotchnology companies worry about the impact of the California Special Election Propositions 78 and 79 on their business prospects. The San Francisco Business Times has this piece, Biotechs worry about ballot’s side effects.
Biotechnology executives are worried about unwanted side effects from what’s expected to be an $80 million campaign the pharmaceutical industry is readying over competing initiatives on California’s November ballot.
Pharmaceutical companies have raised more than $54 million, with Pfizer, Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline each contributing $9.8 million. But with the exception of $4.6 million from Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. and a handful of smaller donations, biotechs are staying on the sidelines.
This is understandable.
Why should emerging technology companies who constantly battle these major pharmaceutical companies for their very lives (fight off take-overs and hostile recruitment of employees and management) put themselves out there to be beat up in the public arena?
Several executives expressed fear that joining with big pharma’s campaign will put them in the middle of a potentially ugly fight with a heavy-handed partner — one not interested in reaching a political compromise but looking to do whatever it takes to defeat its opponents.
The sheer size of the campaign led by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, is unfathomable to many biotechnology executives. The planned $80 million expenditure would be enough to fund the entire operations of PhRMA’s counterpart, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, for two years.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization has not taken a position on either proposition. BayBio, the Bay Area’s biotechnology association, has not taken a position on the ballot measures. It previously supported legislation with language identical to Prop. 78.
Though it’s likely the biotechnology industry will be forced to take a stand on the ballot measures by the fall, it is unclear how active a role it will take in the campaign.
Some executives are holding out hope that a compromise can be reached for a legislative solution that will spare them from being thrown into a bruising battle.
The legislature is on recess and the capital is abuzz with deal rumors.
PhRMA looks well financed for a fight. And…. biotechnology will join by Labor Day.
Stay tuned.
Cross-posted to the Bear Flag League Special Election Page