Crossroads Endorsements – Vote Like You Mean It

I know you pretty well. I know your mind is made up on most to of these issues- particularly the ones closest to your heart and your wallet. But if you have any room for more cognitive thought- or if you are really among those still undecided after 18 months of constant media, here’s your list. Not just the what, but the why –

President ? I could vote Obama, but he’s got the state of California so tightly under wraps, I think this is the place to toss in the real protest vote. Jill Stein or Roseanne Barr getting any return in the double digits might make the powers that be wonder if there really are women in politics, and how many – and why they should pay attention. I’ll be relieved when Obama wins. And I want to see more women getting more votes across the board.

Senate? Diane Feinstein does qualify as female, but let’s understand that she is so conservative and wealthy, she’s not looking to do much for the working mothers of California; not unless you are working in management at a Fortune 500 company. Nevertheless, let’s toss her in one more time and see if we can get any more traction on the issues that effect us in daily life.

Congress? Karen Bass is also not on my list of personal favorites, but I’ll give her another shot at making it happen. I know she’s got the smarts, I just need to see her use them.

State Assembly? I do like Holly Mitchell. She is connected to her people and fresh enough in the office that I am very hopeful she can help to foster in some positive changes.

But the candidates are the appetizers here. The real meal is the props, and you need to feast with a purpose. This is the stuff that is going to be nourishing your city and your culture for the foreseeable future.

Prop. 30 – OMG yes. If we don’t find the the means to restore California to the educational paradise that it was for the last half of the 20th Century, then we can count on a huge increase in crime, addiction and other pointless behavior keeping people unhappy. If we can bring these schools back to the world-class standards we once had, we could save the planet. Really.

Prop 31 – Major Yes. Getting Sacramento’s hand out of our cookie jar and requiring real accounting and real accountability will improve just about everything.

Prop 32 – Big No. Unions are one of the few organized voices that working people have. Corporations already have ways to step around these restrictions. Saying that this will take political influence away from both unions and corporations is like saying that both welfare mothers and parachute parents will restricted in the amount of child care they can hire. Don’t do it.

Prop 33 – Um, well, no. This sounds good but it smells bad. People don’t buy insurance because they can’t afford it; punishing these same people with higher insurance rates just means there will be more uninsured drivers on the roads. Taking your discount rate with this law is just going to be an increased expense when you are in an accident with someone who cannot pay for coverage. You know that ANY law about insurance rates is pretty much written by the insurance companies- who do you think it going to do better on this bet, you or the house?

Prop. 34 – This is the biggest, most obvious yes on the ballot. The state should not have the power to kill people. The system we have now is an obscene waste of money. If this passes, it will give local law enforcement some much needed funding to deal with real crimes like rape and murder. You want to see criminals die ? Move to Texas.

Prop. 35 – Another huge yes, although this will simply increase the penalties. What, you thought slavery was already against the law? Well, that only counts for human beings, and since women are only occasionally considered human beings in the legal sense, it’s important that we reinforce this idea in every way.

Prop 36 – Yes . Major punishment should be accorded for major offense. If you have the stupidity or bad luck to be arrested twice, your third strike should be something truly offensive to merit life in the slam. Reducing prison population will saves us all billions of dollars, and countless numbers of lives that could be put to good use.

Prop 37 – Holy cow, yes. If you don’t want to know what your food is made of, then don’t read the labels. Those of us who do read the labels would like all the info they can fit on the package. The shitstorm of advertising telling you your grocery bills are going up if they have to print labels are complete lies. Your grocery bills are going up because drought caused by global warming and climate shift- and for that you can thank those guys at Dow and Monsanto.

Prop. 38 – Yes again. If you have any interest in public schools (and you should) you need to vote yes on 30 AND 38. One of these puppies has got to pass or we are all in deep yogurt. If they both pass, we could have quality education from preschool to grad school. If neither one passes, working parents are going to have to find even more creative ways to educate and care for their children on a possible four and half month summer break.

Prop 39 – Oh, yes. Didja see any pictures of Manhattan over the last two weeks? Are you enjoying the 90 degree temps that seem to be taking over what used to be known as the “rainy season” ? Do you think that clean energy needs to be one of the top government priorities? Yes, you do. Now vote for it, and it becomes law.

Prop 40 – Keep the districts or let the court re-draw? Since we had a panel of citizens doing the drawing, I call for a yes vote, and let’s play it as it lays.

Down to the dessert course – A few tasty letters from the county and the city –

Measure A – Appointed positions tend to slide towards cronyism. Keep it elected – vote no.

Measure B – I say yes, not because I think it’s going to have a significant impact on the health of porn stars, but because they are in the movie biz, they will have to make condoms sexy. For all of the boys out there learning the language of love online, this is a crucial phrase to have in your vocabulary. Lives will be saved, and love will triumph.

Measure J – Can we have public transit in 30 years? Worth investing- vote yes.

Measure Y – O Yes ! If you don’t even vote for anything else on the whole ballot, yes on Y. Let’s keep the paramedics close and quick and keep the after school programs open. There are so many wonderful things about Culver City, but they don’t happen for free. Half a cent – best value anywhere.

Wear your sticker with pride – You voted.