Tuesday, July 08, 2003

Recall the Recallers
Also, Vote Brown this November

So it seems that the Davis recall vote is inevitable. What an enormous waste of money and resources. First, "Rescue California" has raised $1.5 million just to raise the signatures, plus let's not forget that the election itself will cost California taxpayers $30 million.

Apparantly the Davis recall effort picked up steam when he tripled the car tax. So let's see here. There's a $38 billion deficit (and that is, of course, over two years, not one), and we really don't want to raise taxes. So, genuis Republicans, what are we going to do? We could raise sales tax half a cent per dollar, which in the short-term would piss rich people off because they have to shell out an additional $5,000 for every million dollars spent (boo hoo), but in the long run would help clear up our deficit and generate more money for education and public safety. Or we could fire some more police officers and teachers, which in the short-term would save some money, but in the long-run would cost society several-fold, both in intangible and monetary ways.

I'll be careful not to generalize here, but it seems that Republican legislation consistently prioritizes the short-term over the long-term. It's a battle between right this second and thirty years down the road, and immediacy always wins. Deficit? Let's cut essential programs like education and public safety so I don't have to give up a few hundered dollars on car fees. When my house gets broken into because fewer police officers are on the street and at-risk kids didn't get the educations they deserved, the last thing I'll be worried about is half a cent for every dollar. (Not to say that petty thieves are "victims" of society - of course everyone has the opportunity to choose an honest life - but the more education a kid gets, the less likely he is to steal a TV.) The envirionment? Well, while dumping waste into the Everglades may destroy an entire habitat and hundreds of species in twenty years' time, forcing sugar producers to take care of their waste responsibly would cost them extra, which would in turn make the products I consume slightly more expensive. And god forbit I have to pay an extra tenth of a cent for a box of Hershey bars.

Anyhow, back to Davis. I might actually suport a recall if I thought that anyone else could do a better job at this point. Perhaps Davis made some mistakes during this term and last, but now that the deficit is in place, what can anyone else do to "fix" it? What would anyone else do that would be better than what Davis wants to do. For god's sake, cutting programs isn't the answer, and needlessly kicking out Davis certainly isn't either.

If in fact us liberals are forced to choose a new governor this November, I have a few suggestions as to who would be the best successor:

Conan O'Brian. He'd have to relocate Late Night to northern California, but then maybe I'd finally have the means to see a taping. Also, I think it's about time that humor be injected into our drab government. Imagine an "If they mated" between Barbara Boxer and Willie Brown. Hilarity is the only logical outcome.

Strom Thurmond's corpse. He'd make the Democratic party look vibrant and fresh-smelling in comparison. Hey, he'd probably be better at balancing the budget than Arnie.

Me. I'm young, charming, athletic, and I have a genuine interest in improving the lives of all Californians. I also got a 1490 on my SATs, and if anything the College Board tells me is true, the SATs are an accurate indication of my ability to succeed in life.


On a less gubernatorial note, check out these pictures that I took for my Visual Studies 181 course.

posted by Rebecca C. Brown at 2:30 PM

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