Friday, June 13, 2003

Only 899,999 to go!

So I have one signature (mine) already down on the petition to stop those morons from trying to run a petition to kick Governer Gray Davis out of office. And I need 900k to get my idea to the polling booths. Will you help me?

Okay, okay. I didn't vote for Gray Davis. I voted for the irreverant Peter Camejo. Can you blame me for despising the death penalty and supporting gay marriage rights and universal health care? I'm a frickin' liberal.

But could the people who are so hell-bent on ousting Davis please take the time to research their allegations, or at least try to understand that his legislative decisions are ones anyone in his situation might make? The official Davis-haters complain that public university fees have raised during his administration. Indeed, I hate that fact as much as anyone. My fees went from $6 to $166 overnight. But did they notice that Davis actually did not support the increase in fees, and that he was fighting for the cause of the universities? (Scroll down to Monday, June 2.) They complain that he has raised taxes, which no self-respecting conservative could appreciate. Well, George W. Bush lowered taxes and even started a war, and our national economy is still in the shits. They gripe that he wants to increase sales taxes and triple car registration fees. Again, is it his fault that the entire county's economy is sputtering, so less revenue is coming in from this state, so some taxes are going to have to be raised in order to fund things like education and public safety? And do you really need to have three Fords in your driveway?

What do you want Davis to do? He shouldn't raise taxes, so he should just let funding to universities and the CHP and public elementary schools drop even more. That would put a good number of government employees on the brink of losing their jobs. And would losing jobs be good for the California economy? So he's boring, and maybe a little wishy-washy, and he hasn't handled everything that has come his way perfectly. Personality was never justification for ousting a leader. And his "mistakes" are mainly byproducts of others' economic mismanagement.

If the anti-Davis team can gather these signatures, California voters will run (or more likely walk) to the polls to decide on the same day, on the same ballot (a) if we should ditch Davis, and (b) in the event of his overturn, who his successor would be. One replacement governor that has been discussed by the right is our good friend Arnie. I can only imagine what a huge tool he would be if actually elected. All his speeches to the legislature would be coyly ended with "I'll be back!"

Shudder.

posted by Rebecca C. Brown at 10:18 AM

Comments:

Post a Comment