1. The California Legislature is seriously dysfunctional. The 2/3rds majority vote for budget measures has made things worse. (Ironic how a simple majority was sufficient to deprive people of their civil rights, but to spend anything needs a super-majority.)
2. I really see the need for this special election rising out of that dysfunction. The Legislative isn't willing to compromise one single bit, so they've pawned the decision off to the voters.
3. I see voters being woefully uneducated about the true cost of providing services. You get what you pay for, folks, and you've been paying almost jackshit for many years now.
4. No matter what the outcome of the election (and they're not likely to pass), there are likely to be another round of cuts next year, almost as bad as this year's round.
I'm definitely in the minority out here in California - I think we don't pay near enough taxes. It simply comes down to you get what you pay for, people just don't get that. Or even worse, they don't care. Living in Orange County, I've seen so many anti-tax bumper stickers around here. It really disturbs me that people care so little about their community.
I'm going to vote yes on all of the Propositions, but I'm resentful that it has come to this point.
- Mood:
angry
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Comments
It just drives me bonkers. I don't know what's worse - the fact that people are so concerned about themselves or that people can't see the benefit they get from stuff like children in school instead of in the work force or on the streets. >.< I think I'm just sensitive because my parents had trouble affording the basic little things we had to buy for school (paper, notebooks, the occasional novel, etc.) I know a lot of the schools are being forced to shift the burden more and more onto the parents to purchase stuff for the classes, never mind what the teachers have to buy. (My professors have to bring their own dry erase pens for the boards in our classrooms and almost all tests are online because there is no longer a budget for paper. That's just ridiculous.)
Meanwhile the 97.00 difference between the cost of a sandwhich and what I get charged is going into wonko the wonder politican's pocket and/or being used as ineffeciently as humanly possible. This doesn't make me want to pay more.
The other big thing in Texas, at least, is again, using the "get what you pay for" metaphor, a lot of people feel that those who pay no taxes *should* get what the pay for. Ie nothing (I think they forget sales taxes and tolls -_-).
Which is why you get major arguments here when school districts take in children whose parents don't pay anything for that service, thus demanding more money from those who do.
But the alternative is not letting those kids go to school 0.o And who benefits from that!
Frankly, I just think we need to have some kinda residancy that's easier to get, because I've known a fewillegal aliens. They're not cheapskate feelaoders, they just can't pay taxes 'cause they aren't legal.
If we set up some kinda thing where they paid like 5.00 a month to be legally okay to stay in Texas that would put some serious money into our state programs and we'd loose the illegal alien problem and no one could say they weren't paying for state programs!
But nooooooo nothing is that easy.
. . also 5.00 might be a bit too much for some families. I picked it randomly without taking economics into consideration. ^^
Edited at 2009-05-19 04:24 pm (UTC)
Yeah, taxes are a bitch, and no one likes to pay for them, but they pay for essential services. Like any public good, there are always going to be free riders like you described, but that doesn't mean that we should not provide them at all - that causes more harm than good.
I also think the assumption that government = inefficient is completely out of date. Given the fact that individuals are unlikely to do anything that doesn't directly benefit them, it's the government's responsibility to maintain the things needed to have a safe society - roads, schools, police force, etc.
I'm voting no on A, C and E, but yes on B. While I'm not necessarily against the principal of these bill, I feel like there are too many unknowns. I am not confident about taking money away from a program that in a couple years will really need it when we get more budget cuts.