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2012 – A BUMPER POLITICAL YEAR AHEAD!
Happy New Year! I hope this New Year brings you Happiness, Prosperity and Peace. This time next year we will be looking back at 2012 and from a political perspective, there are a great many potential changes that may occur. There are new legislative and congressional district drawn up, for the first time, by an independent commission – instead of the politicians. The fox will no longer be guarding the hen house! There is a new "top two" primary election system in place. There is a chronic state budget crisis (so what else is new – really!), potentially dozens of ballot initiatives and a state economy that is starting to emerge from a deep recession...and a presidential election where California may play some part in choosing the Republican challenger to President Obama. The new legislative districts, in theory, should produce a more moderate legislature with fewer legislators single-mindedly committed to their political backers and more willing to negotiate and compromise. Governor Brown hopes that voters will raise taxes next year by ballot initiative. However, his ballot initiative is just one of several tax measures headed to the November ballot. Unless the Governor can clear the field, the water will be so muddy that all of these ballot measures could be doomed. Of course, being California, raising taxes isn't the only issue that voters will decide via the ballot initiative: others include eliminating the unions' power to collect political funds from members' paychecks automatically, returning the legislature to a part time body, a state spending limit (where have I heard that before?!) and overturning the Dream Act college aid for illegal immigrants. There will only be a few ballot initiatives in June because the Governor and the legislature decided that everything will be in November when turnout is higher and thus minimize the chances of the union paycheck protection measure passing. The result is that Democratic turnout in June will be very low while Republicans could have a rare chance at influencing the GOP's presidential nomination if the multi-candidate race is still unresolved. A bumper political year! |
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