1115.org

“Don’t you see? The rest of the country looks upon us like we’re left-wing Communist Jewish homosexual pornographers. I think of us that way sometimes, and I live here.”

Woody Allen was talking about New York City in that line from Annie Hall, but things have changed a lot since 1977. Swap Scientology and Kabbalah for Judaism, and you have California circa 2005. It’s hard to argue against the idea that the Golden State is the target of more jokes and derision than any other state in the union. New Jersey used to take heat for the toxic waste, and Florida made a last ditch effort to stem the demise of senior citizen jokes with an inventive strategy that included a ballot designed by a mental patient and an election official who looked as if her make-up was applied by a mental patient. A valiant effort, but not up to the task of topping California with our holistic medicine, macrobiotic food, gay marriage, Indian casinos, and—of course—our politics. And it’s our politics that regularly makes California look like it is an invention of a satirist of Allen’s caliber.

Modern California politics is littered with bad decisions whose effects still reverberate through daily life; the three-ring recall election that brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to power is only the most recent. That recall, along with ballot propositions intended to provide citizens with a measure of direct democracy, have caused the most damage through manipulation by outside special interests and ordinary power politics. In 1994, Proposition 187 divided the state over the issue of immigration. The scars of that battle over immigration color the state today, 11 years after its passage, despite being struck down as unconstitutional in 1998. But the source of California’s serious structural budget deficit goes back to 1978’s Proposition 13 and subsequent ballot propositions that mandated certain spending even as Prop 13 sharply limited property tax revenues and provided loopholes for businesses while the value of real estate exploded. The anti-tax crusade that propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House also had the effect of pushing up other, more regressive, taxes while pushing down California’s schools. In 1978, California’s sales tax was 5% and our schools were ranked first in the nation. Now the sales tax is 8.5% and California schools rank near the bottom of every national study.

In a fit of buyer’s (or was it sellers?) remorse, California voters in 1988 approved Proposition 98, which through a complicated set of calculations guaranteed certain levels of funding for schools. Just ten years after they decided that they were paying too much in taxes (most of which was going to schools), they voted to increase the share of the smaller tax base that goes to schools.

Lest the voters carry all the blame, it must be noted how much money is devoted to near-constant television and radio advertising, both in support of and opposition to ballot propositions. And with each measure’s listing in the official voter guide running up to ten pages multiplied by ten or more propositions per election (California holds its ninth statewide election since 2000 next month), its no wonder that the best-funded side usually wins. Of course this isn’t a secret anymore, and any company, industry or other wealthy group can invest in favorable propositions when the state legislature doesn’t roll out the red carpet.

Whereas anyone with an interest in California’s health and an hour of research would look at where the ballot proposition process has led and conclude that it is well-intentioned but seriously flawed and in need of repeal or reform, Schwarzenegger looks at it as an opportunity to reward his backers and confuse the will of the people to the point of subversion. A new Public Policy Institute of California poll has some interesting findings:

Yet despite numbers that would doom any candidate, ballot initiatives still beat out politicians due to the “War of the Girlie Men” brought on by Schwarzenegger’s election:

On his way to power via a recall election in 2003 (a circus more like a ballot initiative than a proper election), Schwarzenegger promised to work with legislators to solve problems and to balance the budget by cutting unnecessary spending. “Working with the legislature” ended up meaning “my way or the initiative process highway,” and a balanced budget was something that was simply impossible due to the conflicts of Prop 13, Prop 98 and other mandatory spending. Candidate and the Governor Schwarzenegger told the voters what they wanted to hear even though he had no intention or ability to deliver.

Usually it takes years for political karma to even out, but earlier this year, after only a year in office, Schwarzenegger’s numbers started a free fall that has yet to bottom. Unfazed, he pressed ahead with fundraising from big business to enact “reform” initiatives targeting unions and redistricting under the assumption that success would ensure him reelection in 2006. But with his initiatives below sea level, he was forced to quell rumors that he wouldn’t seek another term with an announcement of his reelection bid, 14 months in advance. The same PPIC poll shows that with the Governor’s approval rating at 33% vs 50% disapproval, his initiatives are in deep trouble:

With his star power on the wane, Schwarzenegger is no longer an asset to his agenda, and the fundraising race is taking it’s toll to the extent that the Governor himself (conflict of interest?) had to drop $1.25 million of his own money to prop up his redistricting measure. With this special election (in which no candidate is running for office) set to be one of the costliest ($180 million so far in advertising, plus another $60 million to pay for the election itself) in state history, Schwarzenegger might want to consider going all the way by E-Baying himself like his opponents did in a prank.

In a season four episode of The West Wing, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman walks around all day carrying a poll that found 68% of Americans think too much money is spent on foreign aid and 59% want it cut. Josh nearly blew a fuse contemplating the 9% of Americans who thought that too much was spent on foreign aid, but were against cutting it. On the basis of the PPIC poll, Californians are causing blown fuses of their own. They know that the system is deeply flawed and working against their interests, but they still support it more than their government.

In 1811, Joseph de Maistre said: “Every country has the government it deserves. ” Californians may be more neurotic than Woody Allen himself, but they have fallen for every sleight of hand and gimmick in the book. It has produced a series of crippling ballot propositions, as well as a Governor who trades on his fame and personal fortune and abuses a broken system to provoke outcomes that run counter to the greater good. Even left-wing Communist Jewish homosexual pornographers don’t deserve that.