My recommendations are below the following diatribe. Hope you can make it through it!

This is a strange election. Frankly, these kinds of things should be handled by the legislature, but we have strange rules here and too many partisan fools to get things right on their own. Rules and fools are a poor combination, though at least they rhyme. If only that were worth anything. The gerrymandered districts that both parties colluded to make after the 2000 census created this mess. Most districts are safe for one party or the other, so candidates tend more toward one side or the other. Compromise and solutions are simply not valued.

In my visits to Sacramento as a councilman, I've been disgusted to see how partisan things have become. Ideology and "winning" are more important than getting something done. They live in terror of their party base and are unable to face up to the challenges facing our society. Sentencing reform, union deals, contracting for services (especially in public works) and important issues with various taxes -- some needing to go up and some down -- are simply not possible. The 2/3 vote means everyone gets to make a deal. Clearly, it has not controlled spending. It has merely made good legislative work impossible because almost any legislator can get a deal on something they really want at the expense of us all. And that happens on both sides of the aisle.

Luckily, the voters passed Proposition 11 in the last election and took redistricting out of the hands of the legislature. Of course, that won't take effect until the 2012 election. So here we are with a legislator that didn't save for a rainy day. In fact, they cut taxes and raised expenditures at the same time. I will say it: cutting the hated car tax a few years ago was foolish. It left us with a gaping hole that we have been borrowing to cover. At the same time, there was no discipline to cut spending. The result is our current mess.

Propositions C, D and E are the ones that matter for the immediate problem. Though none of the three measures costs the taxpayers any additional money, I do not like taking money from these programs or borrowing as the case may be. I simply do not see an alternative that can make it through the legislative process.

Proposition 1A -- State Budget Changes

This is like the Whitman's Sampler of finance because it has so many parts. While it does not create new taxes, it extends existing tax increases on sales tax, vehicle license fees, and income taxes for some people (a very small number, but I'm sure that's not much comfort to those people). It creates a rainy day fund, which I really like. It puts a cap on future spending. It allows the governor more room on spending cuts. You cannot pick and choose these items. It's all or none. The none option would be a very bad idea.

The state budget has been a mess for years. Some say we have been overspending. Some say we haven't brought in enough revenues (that means taxes in English). I am willing to admit it's both. We should have made cuts years ago. We also should never have cut the car tax as far as we did. In any case, the result is we have been borrowing money for several years, in effect pushing off the problem. I hate borrowing. We now spend lots of money paying off recent years' debt. It's like living on credit cards. If we had not gotten in this mess, we could now borrow to see us through these rotten financial times. If we had a rainy day fund, like Lomita does, we could get through these rotten financial times. Such is not the case.

If this measure does not pass, the next few years will be tough. We are looking at horrible cuts to that will do lasting harm to our state and its citizens. You may think that will teach the legislature a lesson. No way. And they will likely get reelected too! It's a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Recommendation - YES

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Proposition 1B - Education Funding. Payment Plan

This one is easy. It makes sure that schools get funded in future years at least at their required minimum level of Proposition 98 the voters passed years ago to make up for the amount the state is using out of that pot now. There wasn't even a ballot argument filed against it.

Recommendation - YES

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Proposition 1C - Lottery Modernization Act

Modernization? What the heck does that mean? I should state I voted against the lottery when it first was on the ballot. It's a poor way to raise money. This measure would increase payouts and make other changes to encourage higher ticket sales. That part is fine I suppose. Part 2 is to borrow against that new revenue. More borrowing? Ouch! I really feel uncomfortable about this. Is the current crisis so bad that it's worth going into more debt? I'm really not sure on this one.  Since I don't see another source for that revenue, I guess I'll have to go along with it. Value to the budget: $5 billion one-time.

Recommendation - an unenthusiastic YES

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Proposition 1D - Raid on Children Services Funding (no, that's not the real name of it)

The real title is "Protects children's services funding. Help's balance state budget." It takes unused money from a tobacco tax voters passed years ago for children's services and puts it in the general fund. It does seem like there is some available funding there, but it would certainly be good to see it better used. Still, the fact is children will be badly hurt if these measures don't pass. Value to the budget: $608 million next fiscal year (starts July 1), and $208 million for the next four years.

Recommendation - YES

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Proposition 1E - Raid on Mental Health Services Funding (no, that's not the real name of this one either)

Like 1D, this measure takes unused money from a voter-approved income tax surcharge for mental health and uses it to balance the budget. We have a serious problem with mental health services in this state, which is in a large measure responsible for our homeless problem. The budget cuts we face without these measures will surely harm them as much or even more, so the use of these funds is simply a nasty necessity. Value to the budget: $230 million a year for two years.

Recommendation - YES

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Proposition 1F - Elected Officials' Salaries

This is the measure most likely to pass and least likely to do anything at all. If the measure withheld their pay if they didn't pass a budget on time, I'd be behind it strongly. Saying they won't get a pay increase when times are bad is strictly a feel-good measure to make us think we're doing something that matters. Even if legislators worked for free, it would not even make a blip on the budget. By the way, cutting their staff is an even more foolish idea I've heard knocked around. I know the staff people, and they do good work. Don't blame them because our legislators have been too cowardly to pass real budgets for years. I am probably the only person opposed to this measure, but I really resent having to vote on this sort of foolishness in light of the seriousness of the situation.

Recommendation - NO

As always, I reserve the right to be wrong and am open to your thoughts on the matter.

BW