Friday, September 15, 2017

A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT I COULD GET BEHIND

by Bob Walsh

The formerly great state of California has a very active system for direct democracy. This has led, among other things, to a 600 page state constitution. Some of the stuff that gets there, like THREE STRIKES, are good things IMHO. And once they get there they are difficult for the legislature to diddle with too much.

California recently enacted a massive tax increase on motor fuel and vehicle license fees. Allegedly this will be used to fix California's crumbling road infrasctructure. In actual practice much of it will be siphoned off for pet projects of various legislators, leading to further demands for further gas tax hikes to REALLY AND TRULY WE MENA IT THIS TIME fix the roads.

Carl DeMaio is chairman of the Reform California group and is formerly a city councilman in San Diego. He is actively involved in a current recall attempt against a Democrap state legislator, which would very possibly deny the Democraps their current super-majority in the assembly.

The group is now preparing to gather 580,000 signatures to place an item on the 2018 ballot that would roll back that tax increase and would mandate that future increases be voted on BY THE PEOPLE before they become effective.

There is also another ballot initiative floating around that would merely repeal SB1, the bill that enacted the tax increase. It is being pushed by a SoCal Republican. An apparently legit poll taken by the University of California has asserted that only 35% of the actual voters and taxpayers in the formerly great state of California support the massive tax hike.

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