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Voting Day …

Hopefully everyone is being a good American and going out an voting today. Not voting could be the reason we ended up with Dubya, so go out and vote for a Democrat. Make me proud.

Personally, I voted by absentee ballot. Always do and always will. In fact, this year something was passed that allows us to sign up to become a lifetime absentee voter. So, I signed up. No longer do I need to fill out the additional form to let them know that again I’ll be voting absentee.

I did mine a week ago or so. It consisted of three pages. A three page ballot Ú front and back. Most of the voting was pretty straight-forward. We need to choose a governor and some senators, and some commissioners and such. No problem. I usually flip through their arguments and rebuttals and try to vote for the one that sounds most like what I want.

Then come the justices. Anyone have a trick on how to vote for justices?? I dont know anything about these people, I dont have anything to read about these people and I have to decided whether or not they should remain or become a justice. Seems like my vote carries an awful lot of weight on a person I know absolutely nothing about.

Finally come the measures. California has seven big ones:

The Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act – This basically claims they’ll be creating low cost housing in the state and also provides shelters for battered women, low-income seniors and homeless families. It also provides housing for veterans and teachers. Great. Everyone except for me. It also does nothing to help out first time homeowners and most of the money would probably end up being funnelled to Los Angeles.

Kindergarten – University Public Education Facilities Act – This act provides new or updated facilities for school, colleges and universities. Seems like a win-win, until you read the small print. It tends to favor, again, Los Angeles. It also seems strange that Universities would be included since they generate a sizeable amount of money from tuition and grants. So, it can be concluded that the universities would get the bulk of the money since they are required to be more high tech and are larger. Where’s the tuition money going then?

Court Consolidation Act – Pretty much a stupid thing to have on a ballot. It basically is an update to a constitutional amendment. Doesn’t cost anything, it just deletes some reference in the California State Constitution.

Before and After School Programs – This provides programs for school kids, along with tutoring for homework. Those against it say that it will take money from other programs like the environment and health care. I think they are full of crap. Give the money to the kids.

Water Projects – This one provides $3 billion dollars to the water issue in California. Doesn’t provide money to build dams or reservoirs. I’m not to sure about this one. Something just didnt smell right about it.

Transportation and Motor Sales Tax Use – This one takes money we are already taxed on by purchasing a vehicle or gas and using it to pay for transportation related purposes. Seems that over the years, this money has been funnelled into other uses that are not transportation related. Seems to me that if we are being taxed on vehicles, that the money should go to fix the roads and other transportation issues.

Election Day Voter Registration – This one allows people to register to vote ON election day. It also creates a crime to commit election fraud. I didn’t like this one. Seems like someone registering at the poll could easily use a fake ID or pull a fast one on some feeble old person standing watch. Even with the new “crime”, the election would be over by the time they figured it out. Seems like it would make it easier for criminals or non-citizens to vote and change the election results.

Finally, San Francisco has a measure on the ballot to reduce the amount of money they give to homeless people. Most cities provide them with about $50-$60 a month, while SF provides them with nearly $400 a month. San Francisco is also known as a transients dream. This money is usually used to buy heroin and other drugs, or is used to buy liquor.

Seems like a no brainer to me. Take the large amount of cash away and maybe the homeless people will go too. Not to sound uncaring, but it seems to me they’ve been getting a free ride. Plus, on the money the city saves, they can build some shelters and buy food, where the homeless people can go and stay and have a meal. Again, I dont want to appear uncaring but these people obviously can’t be trusted to use the money to help themselves, so why not save the money and use it to provide some care for them instead.

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