IT’S BEEN MY LONG-STANDING POLICY NOT TO TELL READERS HOW TO VOTE on candidates, because I assume interested people are competent enough to gather sufficient information on their own Excuse me while I sneeze ah, ah, BUSH, BUSH, BUSH!
Now, where was I?
On issues, however, I sometimes like to weigh in, for whatever a reader may think it’s worth. So here’s my advice on some of the key measures on the Nov. 7 ballot:
n Measures G, H: Competing plans for spending the county’s anticipated tobacco settlement money. H is a power grab by healthcare interests, G is a clever and more meritorious effort to trump H. But say no to ballot-box budgeting and nix them both.
n Proposition 34: Real campaign finance reform would be to have no spending limits, but full and immediate disclosure. This, by contrast, is another constitutionally questionable attempt to limit campaign spending, and therefore free speech. Vote no.
n Proposition 35: The latest in the never-ending skirmishes between cost-conscious policy makers and public employee unions/bureaucrats. This would allow state and local governments to farm out some work to private architects and engineers. Flexibility makes sense. Vote yes.
n Proposition 38: The school voucher initiative. It’s an almost certain loser, but God bless Tim Draper for trying. Business leaders and politicians give lip service to education being their No. 1 priority, but they head for the hills whenever somebody steps up to actually challenge the status quo. The best way to improve education, especially for the poorest and most disadvantaged kids, is to promote competition and parental choice. America has the finest higher education system in the world, yet close to the worst primary and secondary education systems among advanced countries. What’s the variable? Genuine competition. As the higher education example suggests, vouchers wouldn’t destroy public education, they would make it better. But in any case, the overriding priority shouldn’t be to preserve public schools, it should be to educate every child. Make a statement. Vote yes.
n Proposition 39: Conversely, there’s nothing that business leaders, former and current governors and other politicians do more easily than throw good money after bad on public schools. This measure would, among other things, reduce the voter threshold for approving school bonds from two-thirds to 55%. This is not the time to reward schools for poor performance,or to reward spin doctors for deceptive ads. Vote no.
