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The Greatest Generation? October 23, 2006 A lot of comments have been directed at this country’s "greatest generation," those who suffered the Great Depression, fought World War II, and then rebuilt this country from the ruins of those catastrophic events. I remember, as my generation attended college and entered the workforce, a lot of debate among my peers as to what we would do when we take over. We all thought we would "do it right," make this country a better place to work, live and raise a family. I think I can say, having inherited a sizable legacy from the "Greatest Generation," the baby boomers have pretty much screwed things up. My peers really thought they were smarter than anybody else. Just ask them. They will tell you how much smarter they are than you. You are greedy. If you keep your money, you will just spend it on selfish things, like food, clothing and shelter for you and your family. You have to give your money to them, so they can spend it on food, clothing and shelter for your family. Medical care? Education? If you choose your doctor or your children’s school and pay for it, you will refuse to make sure your kids are healthy or can read and write. If they choose your kid’s doctor or school and pay for it, your children will get quality health care or education. Of course, you have to hire them to do the work, and because they are so much smarter than you about what is good for you, they are going to require you, by use of government rules and regulations, to pay them a lot of money. They then use that power and money to enhance their power and money, not because they are greedy. Of course not, you are the greedy one, not them, because you don’t want to give them more of your money. As a result of the arrogance of my generation, our health care system is falling apart, and our education system has collapsed. Government is bloated, incompetent, and inert. My generation is so smart, however, that these problems cannot possibly be our fault, so we keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to make things better. Most of the initiatives on this November’s ballot prove this point. With the notable exceptions of Propositions 83, 85, and 90, the rest of the initiatives grow government, increase taxes, and/or expand government spending beyond all comprehension. When I joined the state legislature in 1992, total state general fund spending was $42 billion. Our bonded indebtedness was about $15 billion. The Legislature talked about floating a $3 billion school bond. Today, total general fund spending is $102 billion; our bonded indebtedness exceeds $50 billion, and we have floated $35 billion in school bonds in the last six years. My colleagues in the state legislature still think we are not spending enough money, that we don’t have enough money to build schools, and that the people of the state of California are still too cheap because they don’t want to pay more in taxes. When the "greatest generation" took over state government, they built an entire freeway system, a water system, a higher education system, and our entire K-12 structure on a state budget of less than $15 billion general fund per year. We can’t build a dam, a freeway, a levee, a school or a university on $102 billion. We can hire 50,000 new bureaucrats who will sit around and collect $100,000 a year to think about how they can build a freeway, school, dam, or university better, but they will never actually build anything. I wonder what our kids will say about us when we hand this mess over to them. READ MORE on PROPOSITIONS ON THE NOVEMBER 7, 2006 BALLOT
Prop. 1A: Transportation Investment Fund Protection. Will make it harder for the Government to borrow money from the Transportation Investment Fund (TIF). The State cannot borrow the money more than twice in any 10 year period, and must repay it within 3 years. Prohibits Suspension of Prop 42 if the money from a previous year has not been repaid. Any money borrowed to date must be repaid by June 20, 2016. SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty OPPOSE: Los Angeles Times Prop. 1B: Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, Port Security Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $19.925 billion of general obligation bonds for high priority transportation corridor improvements, port security projects, and mass transit projects, and local street and road improvement, congestion relief, and traffic safety. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan. SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes Prop 1C: Housing & Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $2.85 billion in general obligation bonds for various housing programs for the poor and homeless, infill development, and housing related parks. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan. SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes ; CA Republican Pty Prop 1D: Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $10.416 billion in general obligation bonds to provide aid to school districts, county superintendents of schools, county boards of education, the California Community Colleges, the University of California, the Hastings College of the Law, and the California State University to construct and modernize education facilities. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan. SUPPORT: Governor; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes Prop 1E: Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006. Authorizes the issuance of $4.09 billion in general obligation bonds for the purposes of financing disaster preparedness and flood prevention projects, such as the levees in Northern California. Part of the Governors Infrastructure Plan SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty OPPOSE: Asm. Ray Haynes Prop. 83: Jessica’s Law – punishments and restrictions on sexually violent predators. . Increases penalties for violent and habitual sex offenders and child molesters. Prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of any school or park, and requires lifetime Global Positioning System monitoring of felony registered sex offenders. SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty; CA Democrat Pty OPPOSE: Los Angeles Times; CA Attorneys for Criminal Justice Prop. 84: Flood Control. Natural Resource Protection. Park Improvements Bonds. Authorizes the issuance of $5.388 billion in general obligation bonds, for safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, state and local park improvements. Cost of about $10.5 billion over 30 years. SUPPORT: Governor; CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides OPPOSE: Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty Prop. 85: Waiting Period And Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor’s Pregnancy. Amends the California Constitution to prohibit abortion for un-emancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent or legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver. SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty. OPPOSE: CA Democrat Pty; Los Angeles Times Prop. 86: Tax on Cigarettes to fund Emergency Room Services. Imposes an additional tax of $2.60 per pack on cigarettes as well as increasing the taxes on other tobacco products for the purpose of funding emergency services at hospitals, nursing education, and to provide health insurance to eligible children. SUPPORT: CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides; Los Angeles Times; Am Lung Assoc; Latino Issues Forum OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty Prop. 87: Tax on oil extracted in California. Imposes a tax of 1.5% to 6% (depending on oil price per barrel) on crude oil extracted in California. Establishes the California Energy Alternatives Program Authority, an energy bureaucracy to disperse funds for alternative energy research, alternative energy vehicles, and energy efficient technologies. SUPPORT: CA Democrat Pty; Phil Angelides; Pres. Bill Clinton; Julia Roberts OPPOSE: Governor ; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty Prop. 88: Imposes a Parcel Tax for education funding. Imposes a $50 per parcel tax on all property in California, to raise funding for public schools to provide for class size reduction, textbooks, school safety, and computer systems. Will raise about $450 million annually. SUPPORT: Jack O’Connell, CA Sup of Education; Los Angeles Times OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Democrat Pty; CA Republican Pty Prop. 89: Public Financing of Campaigns. Candidate must collect a specified number of $5.00 contributions, (from 750 to 25,000 depending on the office, and money must be turned over to the state), they may receive public campaign funding. The amount of funding would depend on the office sought. For Assembly, they could receive up to $250,000 for the primary, and $400,000 for the general election. It increases the income tax rate on corporations and financial institutions by .2% to fund the program. It imposes new limits on private campaign contributions (For Assembly it would reduce the individual and corporate contributions from $3,300 to $500). Provides for each candidate who choose public funding and won their election, to receive $50,000 annually to pay for campaign expenses.. SUPPORT: Phil Angelides; CA Nurses Assoc; Sierra Club OPPOSE: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; Calif Chamber of Commerce; CA Republican Pty Prop. 90: Restrictions on the use of eminent domain by government. Amends the Constitution to bar state and local governments from condemning or damaging provide property to promote other private projects or uses. Provides for just compensation for government takings for public use. SUPPORT: Governor; Sen. McClintock; Asm. Ray Haynes; CA Republican Pty OPPOSE: CA Democrat Pty; Nature Conservancy; Sierra Club; CA Teachers Assoc ****************************** Rental Ban For Illegal Immigrants Enacted http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061019/news_7m19ecoun.html 10-19-06 With supporters calling it a historic day for the city and the United States, the City Council voted 3-2 yesterday to enact an ordinance that prohibits landlords from renting to illegal immigrants. In so doing, Escondido becomes the largest city in the nation to pass such a law, which opponents say will be challenged in court and hope never will be enforced. ****************************** Taxing gifts http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_D_op_17_ed_remittances1.31f4a8b.html 10-17-06 The Federal Reserve Board undermines America's border security efforts by encouraging illegal immigrants to pump billions of dollars out of the U.S. economy every year in the form of "remittances." Congress should tax remittance services and use the revenue for border security programs. U.S. banks collect hundreds of millions of dollars a year from immigrants who transfer money to relatives in their home countries. Given how lucrative such services are for banks, Congress is unlikely to crack down on the practice. But legislators don't need to ban remittances to discourage illegal immigration; taxation could accomplish the same goal. ****************************** In A Pickle Over Plans To Pay For Retirement http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/39174.html 10-16-08 When Tim Smith was running for City Council a few years ago in the Sonoma County town of Rohnert Park, he noticed a footnote in a city document that mentioned the public's liability for health care benefits the city had promised its employees in retirement: $39 million. That seemed like a big number for such a small town, and Smith, who is now mayor, began asking questions. Why did the city owe so much money? ****************************** Your Taxes At Work In Alabama http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez15oct15,1,2386875.column?coll=la-headlines-california 10-16-06 Whether you live in Eureka or Escondido, vote Democrat or Republican, make six figures or barely break even, one thing unites all Californians. We're being pickpocketed. For every dollar sent to Washington in federal taxes in 2004, the last year for which records are available, 79 cents came back to the state in spending, contracts and services. ****************************** Caltrans – Dodging Reform http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1314012.php 10-16-06 For more than three decades, the California Department of Transportation has dodged efforts to reform its controversial land-management practices. An Orange County Register investigation on Sunday showed how the department's appetite for property acquisition has turned neighborhoods into eyesores and deprived local government of millions of dollars in property taxes. ****************************** O.C. Supervisors OK Plan to Allow Deputies to Act as Immigration Officers at Jail http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocsupes18oct18,1,1301600.story?coll=la-headlines-california 10-18-06 Orange County supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to allow 24 sheriff's deputies to act as federal immigration officers so they can check inmates' legal status when they are booked into county jail. The program will expand efforts already underway by U.S. authorities to identify illegal immigrants in the county's jail system, by checking the status of foreign citizens brought into custody. ****************************** I Is Smart Study finds half of college graduates are only semi-literate Goldwater Institute, Center for Educational Opportunity http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article.php?/1151.html 10-17-06 Earlier this year, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) assessed the literacy of 1,800 graduating seniors from 80 randomly selected two- and four-year colleges and universities. What they found was not pretty. 20 percent of U.S. college students completing four-year degrees have only basic quantitative literacy skills. That means they are unable to estimate if their car has enough gas to get to the next gas station or to calculate the total cost of ordering office supplies. The study also finds that more than 50 percent of students at four-year colleges have only the most basic literacy skills, meaning they can't do basic tasks like summarize the arguments in a newspaper editorial. On both measures, students at two-year colleges perform even worse. ****************************** Educators Look To Duplicate Charter Success http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061020/NEWS01/610200320/1001/NEWS01 10-20-06 Charter schools outperformed their traditional public school counterparts on standardized tests in 2006, and educators in charter and traditional schools are hoping they can use the results to improve education everywhere. Not only did charter schools outperform traditional schools, according to a report released earlier this month by the California Charter Schools Association, test scores among charter schools that have been in existence for five years or longer tend toward the top. ****************************** Full legislative text, analyses and votes are available on the State web server at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov Assemblyman Haynes’ office can be reached at (951) 699-1113 in Temecula, California or in the Capitol in Sacramento at (916) 319-2066 To subscribe to this Memorandum by e-mail, please send a request to:
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